Review: AA & BA Greenwich Lounge New York (JFK)

Silly observation, but I wonder why some bathroom stall doors swing out and the others swing in.

@ Chris -- Not a silly observation at all! I'm guessing it's about accessibility, and the stalls with doors that swing out are designed for those with special accessibility requirements?

So many lounges! It does seem confusing. Is there a 4th lounge for “regular” Admirals Club?

The soft drink machine seems to be constantly broken.

@ David P -- There is indeed an Admirals Club, though it requires taking the tunnel to the other pier. It's not nice at all, and desperately in need of a renovation.

@ Abidjan -- Yeah, very odd, eh? Guessing "supply chain issues" is the excuse.

Please for the love of god ban than WuMao ruining the comments.

Usually ones that swing out are for disabled people - it's easier to get a wheel chair in for example.

Indeed - the last two stalls with doors that swing out are accessible stalls - you can see in the mirror reflection that those stalls have grab bars installed. ADA code requires at least one accessible stall per restroom but in this case, it seems like during bathroom renovation, space constraint and plumbing code (required number of stalls for space it needs to serve prevented from installing a full size ADA compliant stall and reducing the number) resulted in two alternate sized ADA stalls. It's actually a welcome solution as most restrooms only have one dedicated stall and that is sometimes not enough.

Was in SoHo lounge two weeks ago. I like Greenwich better.

I was waiting for these reviews. Thanks!

It has been so confusing with all these options. So as Emerald by Finnair I can expect to go to the Soho lounge regardless of where I am flying.

Why?

@ Daniel from Finland -- Yep, that's correct! Soho Lounge review is coming very shortly, so stay tuned. 🙂

@ Rjb -- Very interesting, I'm curious as well. What do you prefer about the Greenwich Lounge compared to the Soho Lounge?

I don't know about NYC but the areas of London follow the lounges in terms of their cost.
Chelsea being the most expensive of the three, Soho in the middle with Greenwich being the most "attainable" of the three to live in from a cost perspective.

Thanks all, but another dumb question - if it's easier to get in and out of a stall with a door if you're in a wheelchair, wouldn't it also be easier even if you weren't? Thinking about maneuvering with my large backpack, I'd think yes (haven't thought of it much before, honestly). I think I'd want all the doors to swing out!

So where do the Admirals Club members go?

@lucky

Any idea why there is proper champagne for the masses in this lounge but an Italian sparkling in soho? That is really bizarre.

To the Admirals Club in Concourse C.

Don’t know Polaris in Neark, but st LAX, while the menu looked good, the food truly sucked (March 6).

I was there two weeks ago. It was a pleasant experience. As someone, who rarely has access to lounges, I appreciated everything about it. I arrived early and noticed it was getting crowded towards the 7-7:30 pm range.

@Lucky - Do you know what the lounge access rules are for Iberia Business Class passengers (non-elite) departing from JFK T8? I've heard reports that they do not receive access to the Greenwich Lounge and are instead redirected to the Admrials Club. The same also seems to be the case with the premium checkin facility. If true, this would be a big service quality differential, but I would not be all that surprised considering how cheap Iberia is.

I was there Wednesday morning. The lounge is the Flagship Lounge. Nothing has really changed, but for the bar and tasting area replacing Flagship First. The food and drink offerings were plentiful (they could improve the coffee a bit). Everything was clean and well maintained, but for some spilled drink and crumbs at the table adjacent to mine.

I was there early morning yesterday, before my flight to London. I found the lounge totally soulless, out of the three coffee machine, two were out of order, the third one ran out of milk…and no one in sight to help…not a good experience. Never the usual “charm” one gets from staff in a US airport….but then again, the terminal leaves a lot to be desired. Probably the only place in the world without a Starbucks.

A Beautiful detailed review. Only missing the bar bites from the tasting room. The all 'sound' so good.

they*

Is it possible to access on arrival? I've never been through JFK before, so not sure how customs and immigration works. Thanks.

If you don’t have a connecting flight in terminal 8 you would not have access on arrival.

I can’t speak to the lounge question (I’m OW Emerald), but you’re right about he check in. IB’s feels very much like a bastard step child.

Pretty much the reverse in NYC. (Adjusting for the types and quantities of housing stock.)

I passed through the old Flagship lounge plenty of times. It lacked seating at the busiest times, and it looks like they've addressed that. (Sufficiently is a different question...) But prior to the afternoon international departures, when the club was busy, the buffet was like a dumpster full of rabid raccoons. Not increasing area for food service will make that only worse now.

Can you access this on any AA business class ticket or only Flagship?

Hi there!

Was curious if flying business flagship or first flagship LAX > JFK, if you still have access to Greenwich lounge upon arrival to JFK? Platinum Pro AA status.

Thanks so much in advance!

I've been told that you can't access this lounge if you have an award ticket in flagship business. I've also been told you cannot access this lounge if you bought the ticket through JetBlue even though you're flying on American metal. Both of these things are ridiculous since these two scenarios are how I bought tickets for my family to travel with me on a trip.

Told by who? Looking at the access rules ( https://www.aa.com/i18n/travel-info/clubs/joint-premium-lounges.jsp), there’s no mention of award tickets not being eligible.

Has the Elemis Spa been removed from the Business Class lounge at JFK?

Since you say, most of the people passing thru are in the evenings so it would have been good to get a read on the food offerings in the evening, the old Flagship lounge was not friendly if you were a vegetarian and it was dirty, overcrowded and rude service staff, is this one an improvement?