What Are The Best Oneworld Emerald Lounges?

Now I’m curious: with first class shrinking, how many emerald and/or first lounges are left for OneWorld? How many in North America to pick from here? Are there any outside of London and Helsinki (does Iberia offer anything)? Are there even any in South America?

And yea, I should have been clearer: in EUROPE are there any outside of London and Helsinki.

Frankfurt has a JAL First Lounge

If I have Oneworld Emerald status as American Platinum Pro how do I prove it to gain access- for example if flying BA from LHR?

@ Flinn -- Just have the frequent flyer number attached to your reservation, and it should show on your boarding pass. Then when they scan you in, they'll see you're eligible for access.

@ Chucky -- As noted by Bjarne, the only other one I can think of in Europe is the Japan Airlines First Lounge in Frankfurt. Meanwhile in North America, it's mostly oneworld Sapphire lounges, and oneworld Emerald lounges are limited to the Qantas First Lounge Los Angeles and Soho Lounge New York. Maybe some British Airways locations also have a oneworld Emerald section, but it's not much to get excited about.

Ok thanks Ben. I usually do call BA and have them attach the number to get the free seat selection.

This is fine if you want to credit the flight to your AA account (or any other OW account you have E status with), but can you do that if you want to credit it somewhere else?

@ Mike C -- If you want to credit somewhere else, just have a digital copy of your card or account available, including the frequent flyer number. They can typically input that information manually.

As far as I can see, South America is pretty much a desert for OW lounges of any sort. AA has some, and in SCL, there are two Latam lounges, one giving access to BA and IB status holders and the other to QF when they are departing on their respective carriers.

It is rumored that JAL will close their F lounge (and maybe Sakura lounge) in FRA once terminal 2 is closed for renovation. As JAL has only one flight to Frankfurt from Narita and no longer offers first class, it would be hard to justify the cost to maintain a lounge in longer term. Interestingly, among OW carriers, only JAL has an airline lounge in Frankfurt so there would be a Oneworld lounge after T2 renovation?

I've done this a number of times. The entry agent might be unfamiliar with this manual process but you can reassure them it's possible.

To answer your question, there are about 20 One World Emerald lounges. In the US, it's LA and NY. The Qantas lounge at LAX is has a tired post-industrial decor. The BA lounges at SEA and ORD are closed as far as I know. The lounge at ORD was a dump.

This excludes first class specific lounges like Flagship First Dining, JFK's Chelsea Lounge, and Concorde Dining.

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Entertainment value 50%, educational value 0%.

Any matches to non-US OneWorld status? Beggars can't be choosers, so I'm willing to slum it in Sapphire. Coming from ITA Volare Club Executive and Delta Platinum...

As nice as the Qantas First Lounge in SYD can be, it's always given me 90s cruise ship vibes.

To the guy who wrote this ... The Qantas lounge at LAX is has a tired post-industrial decor ... mate you need spectacles.

What? Also, if you improve your status with Qantas you can dine in the reserved roped off area. That is always a pleasure.

There's no single FC lounge in South America!
In the whole continent there are only 3 Oneworld own lounges: Admirals Rio de Janeiro, são Paulo and Buenos Aires. The last is a double airline AA/IB. Also if you are flying AA you will be allowed also at GOL lounges both in GIG and GRU. This is for business class, Sapphire and Emerald status and above.

I have been Alaska MVP Gold every year since they acquired virgin America (and before that, Elevate Gold on VX). So, when AS became a full member of the OneWorld Alliance, I inherited OW Sapphire status. But there is a significant gap between the 40k miles needed for OW Sapphire and the 75k required for OW Emerald. (@Ben, OW Emerald is granted at 75k, no need to wait for 100k, which has added benefits wit hAS but not with OW).

Of course earning status is like a pyramid -- few people earn it the higher up one gets. I know I'll never get to OW Emerald (sigh), but it *would* be nice to visit some of these lounges. Alas, I can dream...

I was talking about the design and decor.

We just visited the Qantas Lounge in Sydney and it was fantastic, seated immediately at a table to dine and presented with a menu and wine list and asked whether we’d like sparkling or still water , coffee excellent and hot !! Food was ordered and came within 5 minutes (eggs Benedict) French Champagne a smoothie and brioche - just flawless and friendly attentive staff

Just the QF F LAX carpet makes you dizzy looking at it.

BA Lounge at IAD has a sit down dining section open to all classes of service if you are flying BA. If you are Emerald, but not flying BA, even if on a OneWorld International flight in J, you are not allowed to eat in the dining area. So Emerald is restricted. Not sure if other OW flights there now - but that was the case with CX did fly out of IAD. BA also restricts OW fliers in PHL.

I agree, reaching Emerald with any OW airline can be difficult, especially if you only fly domestic. I've managed it with QF but probably not this year (unless I score an offer to retain). If I fly a couple of TPAC round trips in J it's possible, but that's not easy. Sapphire is nice enough.

Is Toronto BA First just for BA golds or Emerald? I think it's pretty good. Small, but the a la carte dining was good when I went.

In no particular order as they are all top class:
CX
QR
QF
JAL

Thank you for the review and the list of OW lounges. For me, JAL followed by QR lounges are superior to QF lounges or CX lounges as quality has been consistent. I've always enjoyed the JAL lounges in Japan. QF and CX lounges are always overcrowded, be it first class or business class and food quality has declined over the last 10 years.

I don't believe BA has a lounge at YYZ post-COVID-19.

@Lucky, MH's Business Suite is still treated as F for lounge and mileage accrual purposes, just a different name. MH's keeping the Platinum Wing not just for Emeralds but also for Business Suite pax.

Lee: Just to confirm, you've accessed OW first class lounges with your OW Emerald status even though the frequent flyer account that had the Emerald status wasn't the one attached to the boarding pass?

And yea, I should have been clearer: in EUROPE are there any outside of London and Helsinki.

As far as I can see, South America is pretty much a desert for OW lounges of any sort. AA has some, and in SCL, there are two Latam lounges, one giving access to BA and IB status holders and the other to QF when they are departing on their respective carriers.

To answer your question, there are about 20 One World Emerald lounges. In the US, it's LA and NY. The Qantas lounge at LAX is has a tired post-industrial decor. The BA lounges at SEA and ORD are closed as far as I know. The lounge at ORD was a dump.

This excludes first class specific lounges like Flagship First Dining, JFK's Chelsea Lounge, and Concorde Dining.

There's no single FC lounge in South America!
In the whole continent there are only 3 Oneworld own lounges: Admirals Rio de Janeiro, são Paulo and Buenos Aires. The last is a double airline AA/IB. Also if you are flying AA you will be allowed also at GOL lounges both in GIG and GRU. This is for business class, Sapphire and Emerald status and above.

@ Flinn -- Just have the frequent flyer number attached to your reservation, and it should show on your boarding pass. Then when they scan you in, they'll see you're eligible for access.

What? Also, if you improve your status with Qantas you can dine in the reserved roped off area. That is always a pleasure.

I agree, reaching Emerald with any OW airline can be difficult, especially if you only fly domestic. I've managed it with QF but probably not this year (unless I score an offer to retain). If I fly a couple of TPAC round trips in J it's possible, but that's not easy. Sapphire is nice enough.