Flagship First Dining is American’s most exclusive lounge facility, and I was looking forward to checking out the DFW location, which is the last one I hadn’t yet visited.
Flagship First Dining is also the only time you’ll be served Krug champagne when flying American Airlines, so that in and of itself makes this place pretty awesome. 😉
American Flagship First Dining Dallas Fort Worth (DFW) Review
Overall American Airlines has done a good job with overhauling their international premium lounges. While American has five Flagship Lounges, four of them have Flagship First Dining. I’ve reviewed Flagship First Dining in New York, Miami, and Los Angeles (the Chicago Flagship Lounge doesn’t have Flagship First Dining, due to the lack of first class at the airport).
These are intended to be international first class lounges that offer a la carte dining, a quieter ambiance, and elevated service.
American Flagship First Dining DFW Access Requirements
Flagship First Dining is reserved for:
- Those traveling in American three cabin 777-300ER first class to/from Asia, Europe, or South America same day, even on connecting itineraries; these passengers are allowed to bring one guest into Flagship First Dining
- Those traveling in American three cabin first class between New York and Los Angeles/San Francisco (though this isn’t very useful for the DFW facility); these passengers aren’t allowed to bring any guests into Flagship First Dining
- For the past couple of years, Concierge Key members have received two passes for Flagship First Dining every year, which they can use whenever they want
- While in general flying oneworld first class doesn’t get you access to Flagship First Dining, there are specific agreements that American has with partners:
- British Airways first class passengers can use Flagship First Dining at DFW
- British Airways first class passengers can use Flagship First Dining at MIA
- Cathay Pacific first class passengers can use Flagship First Dining at JFK
On top of all that, American is currently running a test where they’re selling Flagship First Dining access to Executive Platinum and Concierge Key members traveling on long haul flights.
American Flagship First Dining DFW Hours
While the Flagship Lounge is open daily from 5AM until 10PM, Flagship First Dining is only open from 8AM until 10PM.
While Flagship Lounges try to be open for all the hours where passengers could possibly use it, Flagship First Dining is only open over hours where there’s actually a significant amount of demand.
The first departing flight with three cabin first class is at around 11AM to Hong Kong. However, the first arriving flight with first class is from Sao Paulo at 5:20AM.
So they’re definitely excluding some passengers by not opening earlier, but I guess they’re fine with that.
American Flagship First Dining DFW Location
Flagship First Dining is located inside the Flagship Lounge. This is located in Terminal D, between gates D21 & D22.
Flagship Lounge DFW exterior
The entrance to Flagship First Dining is about halfway into the lounge, and you’ll see the door on the right side.
Flagship First Dining DFW exterior
Flagship First Dining DFW exterior
When you arrive at the Flagship Lounge you’re supposed to be informed of access to Flagship First Dining, and if you want to use it, one of the agents is supposed to walk you to the facility.
For what it’s worth, I arrived at the Flagship Lounge the moment it opened (at 5AM), though the agent didn’t inform me I was entitled to using Flagship First Dining. I get that the facility wasn’t open, but you’d think they’d explain to me what the facility is, and that it opens at 8AM.
Of course it wasn’t an issue for me since I knew about it, but from the perspective of someone who doesn’t know…
American Flagship First Dining DFW Layout & Seating
American’s Flagship First Dining at DFW is 1,440 square feet, and seats 54 people. It’s quite a beautiful facility, and is similarly designed to other Flagship First Dining locations.
Just inside the entrance is the bar area, which has four high-top seats by the bar, and then two pairs of awkwardly placed seats around the bar — I’m not sure what purpose they serve, exactly.
Flagship First Dining DFW bar
Flagship First Dining DFW bar
Flagship First Dining DFW bar area
Flagship First Dining DFW seating
Then there’s a partition, and on the other side is the main dining area, which has just under 20 tables. Most of the tables seat two people each…
Flagship First Dining DFW seating
Flagship First Dining DFW seating
Flagship First Dining DFW seating
Flagship First Dining DFW seating
…though there are also some tables seating four people.
Flagship First Dining DFW seating
Flagship First Dining DFW seating
The one slight disappointment with Flagship First Dining DFW (well, in addition to everything else… stay tuned), is that the lounge doesn’t have amazing views.
Flagship First Dining at JFK has incredible views of the apron, while Flagship First Dining DFW is located in the interior of the lounge, so it faces lounge seating. That being said, given the setup, they actually did a good job of creating picturesque windows that still have views of the apron and runways.
Flagship First Dining DFW view
Ranking the Flagship First Dining setups, I’d say my favorite is New York, followed by Los Angeles, followed by Dallas, followed by Miami.
American Flagship First Dining DFW Food & Drinks
Ugh. Let me start by saying:
- In general breakfast is the least “impressive” meal; when I was there they were only serving breakfast, while at the other Flagship First Dining facilities I’ve always had lunch or dinner
- Maybe it was just an off day?
Here’s the Flagship First Dining breakfast menu:
Here’s the Flagship First Dining wine and cocktail menu:
I ordered a coffee to start — unfortunately American doesn’t even have proper barista made drinks in Flagship First Dining, so you just get the same coffee they have in the regular Flagship Lounge.
Flagship First Dining coffee
I decided to order two things, and both were brought out to me at the same time.
Flagship First Dining breakfast
First I ordered shakshuka. I was delighted when I saw this on the menu, because it’s probably my favorite breakfast dish, and I order it just about whenever I see it on a menu.
This was absolutely disgusting, and the worst shakshuka I’ve ever had. In what world is this even shakshuka? I felt like I was being served a microwaved plate of that mild chunky salsa from Chipotle, rather than a proper shakshuka dish. The texture was disgusting, the dish was lukewarm, and just bleh. On the plus side, that is an egg on top (as it should be), and not sour cream (as I initially feared, based on how it looked).
Flagship First Dining breakfast
I figured at least the other dish would be better. I ordered the quinoa yogurt parfait, described as offering acai vanilla greek yogurt, quinoa, flax seeds, and fresh seasonal berries. Forget that this wasn’t even a traditional “parfait” presentation, but more importantly, yuck, this was every bit as disgusting as the other dish. The yogurt was a horrible texture and tasted bitter, and the quinoa was sour.
Flagship First Dining breakfast
I’m not expecting Michelin-starred food, but what is it with the execution of these dishes?
I ordered a glass of Krug to wash this down, and that of course didn’t disappoint.
Krug in American Flagship First Dining
American Flagship First Dining DFW Service
Unfortunately the service was just mildly better than the food quality. Flagship First Dining has a host, and on the plus side she was incredibly friendly, though the extent of my interaction with her was her bringing me to the table and presenting me with the menu and wine list.
American Flagship First Dining table setting
Flagship First Dining is supposed to offer a restaurant-style dining experience. Shortly after sitting down the server asked “do you know what you want?” There was no, “hi, I’m _____, and I’ll be taking care of you today.”
Some people think I’m nuts for wanting people to introduce themselves, but think of any restaurant dining experience you have, even if you’re going to the Olive Garden. Doesn’t it always start with the server introducing themselves by name? But I guess that could be a safety concern…
There was just nothing “good” about the service:
- If American is going to serve really expensive champagne, you’d think they’d want to capitalize on the goodwill generated by that and bring you an empty glass, bring out the bottle, show it to you, and then pour it at your seat; in this case the server just brought out the glass already poured
- While I’m sure I could have requested it, I was just asked “water?” rather than being asked if I wanted still or sparkling water, etc.
- There was only one server working, and while Flagship First Dining was empty at first, about half a dozen tables were taken towards the end of my visit, and it took literally 15 minutes to get a drink refill
Flagship First Dining becomes better with every glass of Krug
Flagship First Dining DFW Bottom Line
In general I’m a huge fan of American’s Flagship First Dining. It’s something that’s so nice that I’m shocked when I use it, and have a hard time believing this is a product of American Airlines.
I’m hoping it was just an off day, but well, this experience felt very American Airlines. the food was legitimately horrible, and the service wasn’t good at all, in terms of friendliness, attentiveness, and professionalism.
But there was Krug, so there was that…
Again, I’m really hoping I just visited Flagship First Dining on a bad day. The JFK facility is In a completely different league, in my opinion, at least based on this experience.
If you’ve visited Flagship First Dining lately, what was your experience like?
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