Emirates offers chauffeur service for first and business class passengers on paid tickets, as well as passengers on Emirates Skywards and Qantas Frequent Flyer award tickets (though not other partner award tickets), so we took advantage of that feature. The driver showed up exactly on-time, and we arrived at LAX at around 1:30PM, just over three hours before our 4:40PM departure to Dubai.
Emirates chauffeur service LAX
Emirates departs from Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX, and as usual, the terminal was quite busy.
Tom Bradley International Terminal LAX check-in
Emirates check-in was at the far right of the terminal, and there was no one in the first class line. At check-in I asked the agent to add our Alaska Mileage Plan numbers to our reservation (so we could earn miles with them), though he insisted they weren’t a partner. Fortunately the agents in the lounge were able to add our numbers, so it wasn’t a big deal, but that’s definitely a training opportunity.
Tom Bradley International Terminal LAX check-in
We were also presented with hotel vouchers for our layover in Dubai. Emirates offers the Dubai Connect program, where eligible passengers can receive a free hotel stay for their layover. However, they don’t tell you in advance which hotel you’ll stay at, so this is the point at which we found out we’d be staying at the Le Meridien by the airport.
Emirates hotel voucher at check-in
Security lines at TBIT tend to very long in the afternoons, so we used the “secret” security checkpoint, located at the far left of the lower arrivals level, where there’s a checkpoint that almost no one uses. That lets out in the connector between Terminal 4 and Tom Bradley International Terminal, and then we just had to take the elevator up to Level 6, where the lounge is located.
Emirates opened their own lounge at LAX in 2015, and I attended the media preview at the time, so this time around I was looking forward to seeing the lounge in action.
The Emirates Lounge LAX exterior
At the entrance we were welcomed by two friendly Emirates employees, who informed us that an announcement would be made for boarding. Just inside the entrance to the lounge is a long hallway with newspapers and magazines, prayer rooms, and bathrooms to the side.
The Emirates Lounge LAX entryway
Then that leads into the rest of the lounge, which is mostly one big room. The lounge features Emirates’ updated decor, which I find to be much more tasteful than their old design, which felt like a blingy cigar bar with way too much faux mahogany.
The Emirates Lounge LAX seating
To the very right of the lounge was the dining area, which had the buffet and about a dozen tables.
Emirates Lounge Los Angeles dining area
Emirates Lounge Los Angeles dining area
The rest of the lounge mostly had leather chairs arranged in rows facing one another.
The Emirates Lounge LAX seating
Emirates Lounge Los Angeles seating
Emirates Lounge Los Angeles seating
Emirates Lounge Los Angeles seating
Separating the dining area from the rest of the lounge was a long counter with seating.
Emirates Lounge Los Angeles seating
There was also a business center of sorts, with five computers and a printer.
Emirates Lounge Los Angeles business center
The lounge also has a terrace, which looks out over the main part of Tom Bradley International Terminal. There’s plenty of seating on the terrace, though I find it annoying that they don’t have any outlets in this area (which is the case far too often with these type of lounge designs).
Emirates Lounge Los Angeles terrace
Emirates Lounge Los Angeles terrace
Tom Bradley International Terminal is one of only a handful of terminals in the US that I’d consider to be “nice” by global standards, so this is one interior view that I quite enjoy.
Emirates Lounge Los Angeles terrace view
In the far corner of the lounge was a self serve drink station.
Emirates Lounge Los Angeles self serve bar
The main selection was in the dining area, where there was one of those domed food displays, which Emirates has in almost all of their lounges.
Emirates Lounge Los Angeles food selection
This had a variety of salads, fresh fruit, cheese, desserts, hummus, etc.
Emirates Lounge Los Angeles food selection
Emirates Lounge Los Angeles food selection
Then there was the main buffet area, with 10 hot dishes, including one soup.
Emirates Lounge Los Angeles buffet
There was cauliflower and leek soup.
Emirates Lounge Los Angeles soup
Other options included lamb with carrots and mashed potatoes, poached salmon with spinach, marinated chicken skewers with Vietnamese noodles, penne with mushroom and cream sauce, stuffed tomatoes with black olives and parmesan, roasted potatoes, green beans, baby carrots, and turnips, vegetable curry, and more.
Emirates Lounge Los Angeles hot food
Emirates Lounge Los Angeles hot food
Emirates Lounge Los Angeles hot food
Emirates Lounge Los Angeles hot food
There was a solid selection of self serve liquor.
Emirates Lounge Los Angeles liquor selection
There was also wine, including Veuve Clicquot champagne (which is pretty nice for a business class lounge, though I was saving my alcohol consumption for onboard).
Emirates Lounge Los Angeles wine
There was also a coffee machine, as well as a selection of tea.
Emirates Lounge Los Angeles coffee machine
Then there were soft drinks, juice, water, and beer.
Emirates Lounge Los Angeles soft drinks
As mentioned earlier, back near the entrance was a selection of magazines and newspapers.
Emirates Lounge Los Angeles magazines & newspapers
The bathrooms were always in pristine condition.
Emirates Lounge Los Angeles restroom
There were two showers in the bathroom. Emirates takes the same approach to showers in most of their lounges, and this is one thing I don’t like. The showers are inside the main restroom, so the shower room is just that, and doesn’t have a toilet or sink, or much space to move around.
Emirates Lounge Los Angeles shower room
I spent a bit of time in the lounge working given that I was getting on a longhaul flight, though the Wi-Fi was frustratingly slow.
Boarding was schedule for 3:40PM (one hour before departure), so we left the lounge at around 3:15PM, so that we could first do some plane spotting.
Tom Bradley International Terminal
Once in the main area of the terminal, gate 152 was towards the left.
Tom Bradley International Terminal
Tom Bradley International Terminal is great for plane spotting thanks to the big windows with direct views of planes, and right near us was an Alitalia 777, Air New Zealand 777, and Air Tahiti Nui A340.
Alitalia 777 LAX
Air New Zealand 777 LAX
Air Tahiti Nui A340 LAX
And of course there was our beautiful A380.
Emirates A380 LAX
As we got to the gate I noticed that we had one of the new automated boarding gates. This essentially allows you to scan your boarding pass and look at a camera, so that you don’t actually have to show your passport again. Awesome or creepy?
Emirates departure gate LAX
Emirates departure gate LAX
Sure enough, at 3:40PM boarding did start, though only pre-boarding. On Emirates that typically seems to be half the plane, so it was another 15 minutes before we could board.
Emirates Lounge LAX bottom line
Emirates is so consistent with their ground experience, almost to a fault. All of their lounges around the world look almost identical. Emirates lounges do often stand near the top of some of the best airport lounges.
On one hand these lounges aren’t that impressive as a first class passenger, since they’re a shared space. So it’s not that they have better champagne or a la carte dining for first class passengers (at least outside Dubai). However, these are really solid business class lounges, and over the years they’ve grown on me quite a bit.
Emirates lounges have buffet food that actually tastes good, which I find to be quite rare in airport lounges. I also appreciate the variety of food options they have, which should suit just about any preferences.
The lounges also generally never get too crowded, given how closely Emirates can control the experience. They don’t contract the lounge out to other airlines, so the lounges only ever have Emirates passengers.
If you’ve visited an Emirates lounge, what was your experience like?
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