A couple of months ago American Airlines announced updates to its lounge access policy. This is a reminder of that, as these changes kick in as of today (April 1, 2021), and apply for a “limited time.” Unfortunately the changes are a bit worse than we were initially told.
As it’s described, this updated policy is intended to “streamline” lounge access. For some people these changes will be good news, while for others they will be bad news.
American offers Admirals Club access on all international flights
Let’s start with the good news. As of April 1, 2021, the following customers receive Admirals Club access when traveling on any international itinerary to & from the US, plus flights to & from the US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico:
- Ticketed first class customers
- Ticketed business class customers
- AAdvantage Executive Platinum members
- AAdvantage Platinum Pro members
- AAdvantage Platinum members
The change here is that previously Admirals Club access wasn’t offered on flights to Canada, the Caribbean, and Mexico (except Mexico City). For “short” international flights, access was only offered to Central America and Mexico City.
This is fantastic news all-around. It means that all international destinations qualify for lounge access, and not just select international destinations.
Why is this change limited time? As a spokesperson explains:
We’d like to keep the update in place during these challenging times for the industry, but we’ll continue to follow CDC guidelines to ensure we are adhering to capacity levels in our lounges.
In other words, it sounds like American wants to keep this policy around, but doesn’t want to promise anything as being permanent, because there may be some capacity issues in the future if all these passengers have lounge access.
I can’t imagine how busy the Admirals Club Toronto would be if this policy sticks around (of course the border between the US and Canada is largely closed right now, so for the time being demand is very limited).
With domestic travel having recovered the way that it has in recent weeks, I can’t help but wonder if we’ll start to see some lounge capacity issues sooner rather than later.
American cuts Flagship Lounge access on some international flights
Now on to the bad news. Also as of April 1, 2021, the following customers no longer receive Flagship Lounge access when traveling to Mexico City, Central America, and Northern South America (Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, and Suriname), but rather will be directed to the Admirals Club:
- Ticketed first class customers
- Ticketed business class customers
- AAdvantage Executive Platinum members
- AAdvantage Platinum Pro members
- AAdvantage Platinum members
The Flagship Lounge is American’s premium international lounge, and historically premium cabin passengers and elite members to those destinations received Flagship Lounge access.
As American justifies this change, this is in order to “minimize confusion,” and the airline believes that this “policy will make the travel journey easier to understand for customers.”
Keep in mind that Flagship Lounges aren’t even open at the moment, due to lack of demand. However, it sounds like this cut is permanent.
American is adding Admirals Club access for all international flights
This policy change makes sense, but is a mixed bag
As an Executive Platinum member I’m sad to lose Flagship Lounge access to Mexico City, Central America, and Northern South America, though logically this change makes at least some sense, and I do believe it eliminates some confusion:
- Now anyone flying in a “Flagship” branded premium cabin gets Flagship Lounge access, while all other international premium travelers get Admirals Club access
- It never made a whole lot of sense to me that (for example) a ticket to Central America got lounge access, while a ticket to the Caribbean didn’t
- I can’t count the number of people I’ve seen turned away from lounges over confusion regarding which lounge they had access to
So whether or not these changes are positive really depends on where you usually fly. I would guess that the number of people who gain access to Admirals Clubs exceeds the number of people who have been “downgraded” from Flagship Lounges.
Then again, for the time being the downgraded lounge access is a moot point, since Flagship Lounges are closed.
Flagship Lounge access is being cut for some international travelers
Bottom line
American Airlines has updated its lounge access policy for international travelers. Now premium passengers and elite members receive lounge access on all international flights. Those who travel to Canada, the Caribbean, Mexico, etc., will surely appreciate this.
The downside here is that Flagship Lounge access is being cut for Mexico City, Central America, and Northern South America. While many people will no doubt be frustrated be these changes, I do think there’s something to be said for the logic of “Flagship Business” passengers getting Flagship Lounge access, and others getting Admirals Club access.
What do you make of this change to American’s lounge access policy?
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