Review: American Admirals Club LAX Terminal 5

Is the improved food is a sign of things to come for all Admirals Clubs? Or is this just a "special" Admirals Club?

The new club at D15 in Miami doesn't have those sandwiches.

@ Pat -- I believe this is temporary because there's not a Flagship Lounge at the moment, but let me follow up on that.

idk all of these clubs remind me of corporate open office/breakroom floor plans. On a more practical note, would it kill AA to save some paper and post the wifi password on the flight information screens like BA does?

I visited the lounge around 8 pm on 9/2/17. The front desk agent was actually very nice and helpful. The thing that confused me a bit is that she very clearly said that the T5 lounge closes at 11:30 pm and that the lounge in T4 stays open till 1:30 am. She, i fact, was going over to the T4 lounge after the T5 lounge closes to take on the duties there. This is despite the emails I got from AA informing me that the T4 lounge was closed. I, unfortunately, didn't have time to go and check whether theT4 lounge was open or not. There were a few servers walking around in the lounge asking people if they could bring something from the lounge. The only other admirals club where I have seen that is at the Flagship Lounge at JFK and one specific person at DFW Term D. Overall, it was a good experience at the LAX T5 Admirals Club.

I tried to purchase a day-pass to get into the LAX T5 Club for a shower, and the entry-desk agent told me that T5 wasn't accepting day passes until construction on the T4 lounge was complete. Fair enough (even though it was rather empty). But then she mentions that "if you apply right now for our credit card, I can give you a day pass". This really rubbed me the wrong way - seemed like a selling tactic by AA that undercuts the "reason" why I couldn't buy a day pass. I understand that revenue from the $450 fee is more than the cost of a day pass, but it's just another example of the recent frequent, unannounced changes to the terms of AA's programs. (And i get the merits of the credit card; I'm just not a super-frequent flyer and fly to a lot of airports that don't have AA clubs (smaller cities)). Put a bad taste in my mouth.

It isn't a minor thing that the staff is disinterested in helping. And it absolutely should grind *everyone's* gears that this sort of customer service is occurring. It's literally their job to be of assistance. Anymore I won't even be that polite; I just flat out ask, "Excuse me, are you working today?"

Then proceed to contact customer service directly after the encounter so the names/details are fresh in my memory. There's no need to be social-media-aggressive about it like people seem to enjoy these days with videoing the encounter and such, but a well-worded missive to AA's Twitter feed or Facebook account seems like a good idea.

Nice lounge; however, why are the teles constantly on the corporate propaganda "news"? Operation Mockingbird type stuff. Get a variety of newspapers, and quiet. That swill american news is a joke. Simply, brain washing and mind control of the failed empire.

The service difference you encountered, Delta v. AA, reflects my experience (and I say that as a very loyal AA flyer and less loyal DL flyer, by nature of where I live). While both airlines have gems in their workforces, on the whole I find that DL has done something in recent years that has dramatically increased the general quality of the interactions I have with their employees. For instance:
--When boarding a DL flight, it's routine for the gate agent to look me in the eye as my boarding pass is scanned and, at the very least, say "have a good flight." On many instances, that's been combined with a specific thank you for being DL elite, followed by use of my last name. On AA, I consider it a win if a gate agent even looks at me when scanning the boarding pass, much less says something pleasant.
--When boarding a DL flight, I am almost always welcomed aboard by a smiling flight attending at the aircraft door. On AA, this is hit-and-miss--more often than not, the FA is fiddling around in the galley.
--When I approach a DL gate counter, I am almost always acknowledged, even if the agent says "give me a moment while I finish something up." At AA, the typical behavior is to stand at the gate counter and have to speak first in order for the gate agent to offer any kind of assistance.

It's actually made me wonder what DL is doing, in-terms of staff training, etc., to create such a consistent experience.

Those sandwiches look better than the offerings I saw the last time I was in the "Flagship Lounge" T4 earlier this year.

Dreadful.

whats the difference between an Admiral Club and a Flagship Lounge?

WiFi pw actually changes quarterly or less often.
The lounge is nice, especially given how bad the T4 one was because of the construction.
It bugs me that the T5 lounge does not open until 5 am. I was on the 6 am transcon last week and was surprised by this. Since they moved the transcons to T5 because of the lounge, I would think a 4:30 opening time at the latest would make sense. As it was there was a line at 5 to get in and then they had a hard time opening the doors.

Great review! Way better food than any UA or DL lounge except for the new UA Polaris lounge, but that has always been a strong point for AA even with paid food offerings. Too bad AA has gutted award inventory, though it seems there is always the occasional dump.

I find the whole new look of Admirals Clubs cold and uninviting. The feel like the reception area of cheap corporate offices. Bad lighting. TVs everywhere.

Food somewhat better than before, but still terrible coffee options.

Boraxo - When was last time you went to a DL SC? DL stepped up food offerings over a year ago. Smaller clubs don't have as much as bigger/international flight lounges. However is laughable to say that AA spread is more even compared to small DL SC. The buffet you see was where DL had HOT food. Chicken breasts, cooked veggies, hot pasta dish, etc. Obviously works, but AA went all cold snack items.

Wow, looks much better than when I was there in January of 2017.

I think you lucked out visiting at an off time. This was the most grossly overcrowded lounge I have ever seen, I left within 10 minutes on entering due to a lack of seats ahead of my LAX to SYD flight a few weeks ago. Hopefully the oevercrowding will be eased with the reopening of the T4 lounge.