As I mentioned in the previous post, I had quite a long layover at JFK, as I arrived at around 10AM from Miami, and departed at around 5PM to Tokyo. With my ANA business class ticket I had access to the British Airways Club Lounge, so I wanted to review that in this post.
British Airways Lounge JFK Location
The British Airways Lounge is located in Terminal 7. Clearing security midday was a pain, despite the fact that it’s the quietest time of the day in the terminal. They had a single security lane open, and TSA agents were as lovely as you’d expect.
JFK Terminal 7 security line
Apparently one of the TSA agents working in the terminal gave incorrect information to a passenger (he claimed an infant needed a boarding pass, which wasn’t the case), so one TSA agent complained to the other “I told that b!&^% that that dumba$$ don’t work here, I don’t know where they found him.”
Apparently the TSA agent normally worked in another terminal, and didn’t know the rules.
A passenger filed a complaint against the TSA over this after passing security (since they feel their time was being wasted), and then I overhead the same TSA agent talking to the passenger and her supervisor (she was the one who first checked my ID, and then all of this happened when I was through the checkpoint). “Nuh uh, she lying she didn’t wait 45 minutes, that’s a lie and you know it.”
Keep it classy, TSA!
Once through security I headed up the escalator, turned left, and then went up another escalator, where the entrance to the British Airways Lounge is. I was welcomed by ANA agents, who were probably the only friendly JFK employees I interacted with all day.
Escalator to British Airways Lounge JFK
British Airways Lounge JFK Hours
The British Airways Lounge JFK is open daily from 5AM until 10PM.
It opens so early for the daytime New York to London flight on British Airways, then during the day it stays open for some other airlines, and in the evening it’s packed with British Airways passengers.
How To Access The British Airways Lounge JFK
Obviously the lounge is primarily for British Airways passengers, though access is also available to premium passengers on all other airlines departing from Terminal 7, with the exception of Alaska.
Presumably since British Airways has the only major lounge, they’ve had to strike agreements with other airlines. So the lounge can also be accessed by premium passengers on Aerolineas Argentinas, All Nippon Airways, Ukraine International, etc.
British Airways Club Lounge JFK Review
British Airways’ JFK lounge setup consists of several different areas, and in this installment I’ll be reviewing the one part I haven’t yet reviewed:
- There’s the British Airways Concorde Room, which is accessible by British Airways first class passengers
- There’s the British Airways First Lounge, which is accessible by oneworld Emerald members
- There’s the British Airways Club Lounge, which I’ll be reviewing here, and which can be accessed by all business class passengers and oneworld Sapphire members
- There’s the pre-flight dining facility, which can exclusively be accessed by British Airways business class passengers
In this post I’m specifically reviewing the British Airways Club Lounge, which is the main business class section of the lounge. Why? Because British Airways recently renovated it (the new space opened in April 2019), to get it in line with their new lounge aesthetic.
As a point of comparison, here’s my review of this lounge space before it was renovated.
British Airways Lounge Layout & Seating
The British Airways Club Lounge at JFK is about 22,000 square feet, so it’s quite large. When I visited the lounge it was more or less deserted, as is the norm during the day, since the lounge is essentially just open for ANA flights.
Meanwhile in the evenings this lounge gets crazy busy.
Just inside the entrance was an area with some dining tables, a small buffet, and a bar.
British Airways Lounge JFK seating
British Airways Lounge JFK bar
Across from that was an area with some more seating, along with a TV.
British Airways Lounge JFK seating
Behind that was yet another room with more seating.
British Airways Lounge JFK seating
Past that was the second largest area of the lounge, which just had a bunch more seating. This mostly consisted of just seats in rows facing one another, though there was also a communal table.
British Airways Lounge JFK seating
British Airways Lounge JFK seating
British Airways Lounge New York seating
British Airways Lounge New York seating
The Elemis Spa was in the very back of the lounge in this area, though it’s only open in the evenings for British Airways passengers.
British Airways Lounge JFK seating
Then there was the main room of the lounge, which was massive. There was more of the same seating as above, there were some dining tables, there were communal tables, etc. I’ll let the pictures more or less speak for themselves.
British Airways Lounge New York seating
British Airways Lounge New York seating
British Airways Lounge New York seating
British Airways Lounge New York seating
British Airways Lounge New York seating
British Airways Lounge New York seating
British Airways Lounge New York seating
British Airways Lounge New York seating
I found it interesting that the lounge had lockers, though there was a sign saying that they were “out of service due to TSA regulations.” Am I wrong in thinking that these are new? If so, I can’t help but wonder when they think TSA regulations are going to change?
British Airways Lounge JFK lockers
British Airways Lounge JFK lockers
The lounge largely lacked natural light and views. There were floor-to-ceiling windows at one end of the lounge, but you didn’t actually have a view of anything.
Physically I do feel like the lounge has been greatly improved. This is still hardly a cutting edge lounge, though before the renovations the lounge felt really tired. Now the furniture is in line with British Airways’ new design aesthetic.
British Airways Lounge Food & Drinks
The food selection in the British Airways Club Lounge was extremely lackluster:
- They have even less food than unusual during the day since it’s not their own passengers in the lounge, so I guess to some extent ANA should be blamed for not offering bettering catering for their customers
- Even during peak times the food selection is minimal, at best comparable to what you’d find in a US airline lounge; that’s because British Airways business class passengers have access to the separate pre-flight dining facility to eat
When I was in the lounge, the selection was limited to finger sandwiches, some pastries, cookies, chips, snack mix, and a pancake machine.
British Airways Lounge JFK snacks
British Airways Lounge JFK snacks
British Airways Lounge snacks
British Airways Lounge JFK snacks
British Airways Lounge JFK snack
British Airways Lounge pancake machine
On the plus side, the drink selection was a bit better, at least by comparison. There was a coffee machine, a large selection of self serve liquor, a pretty not-great selection of wine/prosecco, juice, and soft drinks.
British Airways Lounge JFK self serve bar
British Airways Lounge JFK liquor
British Airways Lounge JFK liquor
British Airways Lounge JFK wine
British Airways Lounge JFK wine
British Airways Lounge JFK wine
One awesome feature was that they had a cold brew “tap.” While the cold brew wasn’t my favorite, I love this concept, and would love to see something like this in more lounges.
British Airways Lounge JFK cold brew
British Airways also has a special partnership with Brew Dog, as they’ve created a special craft beer for British Airways. So there’s a whole section of the lounge dedicated to beer.
British Airways Lounge Brew Dog
British Airways Lounge Brew Dog
British Airways Lounge JFK Bottom Line
While this is far from being a world class lounge, British Airways’ JFK Club Lounge got a very nice makeover. The lounge was so tired before these changes, so it’s much better than before.
Ultimately the soft product continues to be lackluster, but then again, there are so many different “experiences” here, depending on which airline you’re flying, your status, etc.
If you’re just using this part of the lounge you’d almost certainly be disappointed, while the experience is much better in conjunction with the pre-flight dining, assuming you’re flying British Airways in business class.
If you’ve visited British Airways’ renovated Club Lounge at JFK, what did you think?
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