My home airport of Miami International (MIA) isn’t exactly award-winning. I mean, the airport did recently rank first place for lost bags, but I don’t think that’s the kind of accolade that most airports are after.
Historically, the lounge situation at the airport has been rather grim, but that’s slowly changing. American is building a new Flagship Lounge, a British Airways Lounge is opening, and a new credit card lounge is also expected to be announced soon. Now there’s yet another positive development.
In this post:
Air France will open its own lounge in Miami
I’m subscribed to receive email updates about the Miami-Dade Airport Committee Agenda. These airport meetings often contain all kinds of interesting nuggets, given that airport construction has to be approved in advance. I just received the agenda for the upcoming meeting, and was hoping to learn more about which parties submitted a bid to open a new lounge in Concourse E. Instead, I discovered something else.
Air France plans to open its own lounge in Miami, per this 96-page document. The expectation is that the lounge will be 7,370 square feet, and it’ll feature both an indoor space and an outdoor terrace. If I’m looking at the diagram correctly, the indoor space will be 6,370 square feet, and the outdoor space will be 1,000 square feet. This would be the first lounge at the airport to have an outdoor terrace, so that’s cool. 
The lounge will be located in Concourse H, on level three (one level above the concourse), near gates H12 and H15. Air France flights currently typically depart from the higher gates of Concourse J, which is connected airside to Concourse H. I wouldn’t be surprised if Air France departures move over to Concourse H once the lounge opens, as there are some wide body gates over there as well.
Exact details about what we can expect from the lounge remain to be seen, though Air France is pretty consistent with its lounge offerings. The plan is that this will be a 10-year lease, with the possibility for a five-year extension. Air France will be on the hook for spending $7-8 million on construction, and will then have to pay roughly $96,000 in monthly rent.
The airline is expected to start making full rent payments as of March 2028, so I suspect that’s when the lounge is likely to open. As you can tell, that’s a long time from now, so we’ll have to be patient! Of course that timeline can always change.
This is exciting for the Miami lounge scene!
Currently, Air France premium passengers are sent to Delta’s Sky Club, which is hardly an exciting facility, and is also pretty consistently crowded. So the new Air France Lounge should be a massive upgrade over the current offering.
Air France does an excellent job with its outstation lounges, and also does a great job with the number of outstation lounges it has. In the United States, the airline otherwise has lounges in Boston (ORD), Houston (IAH), Los Angeles (LAX), New York (JFK), San Francisco (SFO), and Washington (IAD). The lounges are modern, a good selection of food, and a full bar, including pretty high-end drinks.
Given that Miami is an airport that consistently has La Premiere (first class), I suspect the lounge will also have a dedicated first class space. That’s because Air France has such an area at all of its US lounges that have first class.
Even beyond the specifics of this lounge, I’m just happy to see Concourse H & J get more lounge capacity. In addition to Delta’s facility, the terminal otherwise only has the Avianca-TAP Lounge, LATAM Lounge, and Turkish Airlines Lounge.
Bottom line
Air France plans to open its own lounge in Miami, and it’s expected to be around 7,400 square feet, including a 1,000 square foot terrace. The lounge will be located in Concourse H, and should be great, in line with Air France’s typical lounge offering in the United States. I look forward to learning more!
What do you make of plans for an Air France Lounge Miami?
What's interesting is the alliances for LATAM, Turkish and TAP and how a new Air France lounge fits in. By the way, not all of their lounges are good. I was recently in an Air France lounge at CDG which was underwhelming. Like most airlines, I think it is hit or miss if it is a good lounge or not.
I'm a little skeptical about the outdoor part, but definitely welcome to see any kind of improvement in MIA's meager offerings.
Typo alert: I don’t know in what city ORD airport is located, but it’s not Boston. :)
But in all seriousness, speaking of ORD, AF is building a new lounge in ORD in the international terminal. Will be next door to the fabulous LOT lounge.
For SkyTeam, that terminal will now have this new AF lounge, the (arguably) best Delta SkyClub in the system, the subpar SAS lounge, and the infamous SwissPort Priority Pass lounge.
Did Mayor Cava finally get the Skytrain fully operating? Last time I was there it did not go to the A gates.
Maybe Cava is out there pushing the train on the tracks to claim it's working.
Airport is a trainwreck.
Former South Floridian.
This will be awful due to the skyteam-ness
There actually isn't too much long-haul Skyteam service out of MIA year round. Air France is one of the only Skyteam airlines to serve MIA year round. KLM and SAS only serve MIA in the winter season. Air Europa flies year round to MIA, but their flights operate out of the Concourse E satellite terminal (which isn't connected airside to Concourse H - where the AF lounge will be). ITA Airways is no longer part...
There actually isn't too much long-haul Skyteam service out of MIA year round. Air France is one of the only Skyteam airlines to serve MIA year round. KLM and SAS only serve MIA in the winter season. Air Europa flies year round to MIA, but their flights operate out of the Concourse E satellite terminal (which isn't connected airside to Concourse H - where the AF lounge will be). ITA Airways is no longer part of Skyteam. And I don't know if Aeromexico gives lounge access when flying out of MIA, but if so, then they are one of the only airlines giving automatic access to the AF lounge. So, it shouldn't be as bad as one would assume at first.
I wonder if Lufthansa is looking for lounge space in Miami. It's one of their biggest outstations in the US, yet they send their passengers into subpar and overcrowded partner lounges.
Maybe another wake up call for ALL THOSE who still praise Lufthansa Group to heaven!?
This Airline Group first needs to get the cash together to invest in a proper product in the air, before investing in MIA ground experience!
Too many open issues and really bad things going on and right at their doors now!
Next might be a strike again of Lufthansa pilots, so i think the PR department of...
Maybe another wake up call for ALL THOSE who still praise Lufthansa Group to heaven!?
This Airline Group first needs to get the cash together to invest in a proper product in the air, before investing in MIA ground experience!
Too many open issues and really bad things going on and right at their doors now!
Next might be a strike again of Lufthansa pilots, so i think the PR department of Lufthansa Group sure has to do a LOT of homework soon to keep the flying public happy?
An expensive MIA lounge might be long overdue, but i bet at the VERY far end of Lufthansa-Group "to do" list!
AF don't have a large number of outstation lounges- just one in France and 2 in the rest of Europe. They're definitely nowhere near the likes of TK or Emirates.
An interesting detail that's not been spotted in the post or comments is that AF lounges provide access to STE+ domestic flyers, so a large number of DL elites may be able to make use of the new facility.
@ Throwawayname -- The domestic lounge access perk at select lounges specifically excludes those who earn elite status through Delta SkyMiles. So as a Flying Blue elite it would be potentially useful, but not as a SkyMiles elite.
Ah, fair enough, I hadn't realised that!
I disagree with this statement - "Air France does an excellent job with its outstation lounges..." The newly renovated AF Lounge in BOS still sucks. No real windows. Its tiny. It has offered the bare minimum of food and drink. Its also a PP and has historically also invited KE and other Skyteam pax. Instead of putting money into that dump, AF should have contributed to the build out of the DL One Lounge such that AF KL pax could use it.
@ Ben -- I haven't been there since it was renovated, but I agree, the Boston location is definitely one of the weaker ones out there. However, finding available lounge space at an airport is challenging, and the lack of natural light and size are largely beyond Air France's control. Yes, it would've been great if the Delta One Lounge were bigger instead, but presumably there wasn't any more space to expand it, or else...
@ Ben -- I haven't been there since it was renovated, but I agree, the Boston location is definitely one of the weaker ones out there. However, finding available lounge space at an airport is challenging, and the lack of natural light and size are largely beyond Air France's control. Yes, it would've been great if the Delta One Lounge were bigger instead, but presumably there wasn't any more space to expand it, or else it would've been done.
No matter how hard airlines try with lounges, there are some airports where it's just hard to get desirable "real estate," and this is clearly one of those situations.
If you think their BOS lounge is bad, you should try the one in FRA!
that's for FRA-CDG shorthaul. BOS is all longhaul. apples and orangs
@Ben, the length of the flight it makes no real difference. FRA's a huge airport so it's not like you can turn up 20 minutes before departure, and many passengers will have long-haul connections at CDG/AMS, some of which will be too short for them to use a lounge at the connecting airport.
True re: real estate but the expansion of Terminal E was new build. LH and BA got lounges that permit direct boarding to A388 gates. So there was clearly a chance for airlines to negotiate with Massport. To me the Skyteam lounge situation in Boston says something bad about Skyteam lounge coordination and/or that getting a bigger DL lounge in the new E was cost prohibitive. Would be curious if you can find out. Can...
True re: real estate but the expansion of Terminal E was new build. LH and BA got lounges that permit direct boarding to A388 gates. So there was clearly a chance for airlines to negotiate with Massport. To me the Skyteam lounge situation in Boston says something bad about Skyteam lounge coordination and/or that getting a bigger DL lounge in the new E was cost prohibitive. Would be curious if you can find out. Can you do some digging? :) :) Some airports like SCL, DXB, and YVR have have a Skyteam branded lounge. But in BOS, Virgin, Delta x2, and AF all have different lounges in E. Yet they're not only all Skyteam members but also they're in the same JV! Seems like a real fail on Skyteam's part that the new DL One Lounge in Terminal E is the only DL One lounge where AF and KL pax aren't allowed.
@Ben, it would be awesome if you could put together a list of lounges with outdoor terraces. Obviously it’s weather-dependent, but they are my personal favourite feature of a lounge - being able to get fresh air and be connected to the action outside.
The views from the lounge and terrace should be amazing! It's directly overlooking the taxiway and runway. You should be able to see a aircraft either starting their takeoff roles or (more often) rotating from the position of the lounge (especially the exotic widebodies taking off in the evening).
First they need to fix the escalators!
Since so many French people smoke, the outdoor area makes a lot of sense.
@ Christian -- Hah, though I suspect smoking won't be allowed on the terrace, since it's a US airport.
Outdoors. At an airport. In Miami. Pass. But if it gets less people in the other places, great.
I fly AF J quite a bit, and always opt for the LATAM hub lounge over the Delta Skyclub at MIA. Both AF and Delta agents consistently advise the LATAM lounge is preferable.
Hi Ben, first time commenting but was wondering why you choose to live in Miami considering you don’t seem to like much about it (bad airport, no english, horrible service, traffic, etc)
"Currently, Air France premium passengers are sent to Delta’s Sky Club, which is hardly an exciting facility"
You rated it a 4.5 stars in your linked review, which seems pretty high?
Is 4.5 out of 5 not a good lounge?
@ yoloswag420 -- A Sky Club is a domestic/credit card lounge by design, so the 4.5 rating is intended to reflect the comparison to an Admirals Club, United Club, etc. An international business class lounge is ideally on a higher level.
For example, Delta One Lounges are consistently way better than Delta Sky Clubs. But that doesn't mean I give all Sky Clubs a low star rating.
I see, but how do you evaluate Air France lounges like this?
There's many complicated factors, especially because it's an outstation, but also they're often Priority Pass accessible.
@ yoloswag420 -- I think you're putting more thought into this than I am. :p All I said is that the Sky Club isn't an exciting facility.
For example, if you're a La Premiere passenger, you currently get a roped off area in the Sky Club, with access to premium drinks, but that's it. Surely we'd agree it's a huge improvement if a la carte dining is introduced for those passengers, right?
For others,...
@ yoloswag420 -- I think you're putting more thought into this than I am. :p All I said is that the Sky Club isn't an exciting facility.
For example, if you're a La Premiere passenger, you currently get a roped off area in the Sky Club, with access to premium drinks, but that's it. Surely we'd agree it's a huge improvement if a la carte dining is introduced for those passengers, right?
For others, the terrace and the lounge's location (in terms of views) sound much more exciting than the existing lounge options as well.
Well with a projected opening of 2028, at least there won't be too much time left for the administration to further discourage travel TO the US and AF can enjoy their investment in the lounge !
I flew AF J out of Miami a few weeks ago and was sent to the LATAM lounge, not the SkyClub. As a Delta Platinum it was a nice change and was close to the departure gate. All of that being said, an AF lounge will be a great addition!
If moving to Miami weren’t career suicide (I work in big tech), I’d already be there. Brickell. I’d be out for a run around the perimeter of the Mandarin Oriental hotel every night.
After a few months the appeal of living in Miami wears off pretty considerably. Places like Brickell seem amazing for short visits, but after awhile you start to miss intelligent conversations, organized city government, non-lunatic driving, people with actual careers, and English.
This is true. Absolutely 100% true.
... Aprenda español, gringo !
...lol
As a native Miamian who moved away a number of years ago, I’ll bite: Why is working in Miami career suicide?
Ah, I miss my daily jogs around Brickell Key (which has the Mandarin Oriental on it). That won't exist for long though. Last I heard, there was a huge multi-skycraper project approved that would take over the space of the Mandarin Oriental, and the green space next to the hotel on that side of the island (along with the private hotel beach). I don't live their anymore so I haven't been following it.
@Miami-Resident isn't...
Ah, I miss my daily jogs around Brickell Key (which has the Mandarin Oriental on it). That won't exist for long though. Last I heard, there was a huge multi-skycraper project approved that would take over the space of the Mandarin Oriental, and the green space next to the hotel on that side of the island (along with the private hotel beach). I don't live their anymore so I haven't been following it.
@Miami-Resident isn't wrong. I was able to find intelligent conversations living in Brickell, but it isn't as prevalent as other cities if you are used to living in NYC, SFO, etc. It took some time to find the right people. I enjoyed the spanish aspect of the city though, it felt like I was living in another country.
Troll error: you are a fake lawyer, not in big tech. Please revise. Also try to find new sock puppets that don't wish for a bigger wang. Pun intended.
Good. We need less complainers living in Miami.
I'm just praying we get a direct flight to Japan at some point like it has been discussed the last few years.