In this post, I’d like to take a look at American Flagship Lounges, which are the carrier’s premium international lounges. Separately, I’ve written about American Admirals Clubs and American Flagship First Dining, which are American’s two other types of lounge concepts.
In this post:
What are American Flagship Lounges?
While Admirals Clubs are primarily American Airlines’ membership clubs, Flagship Lounges are American’s premium international lounges. These lounges are intended to offer a differentiated experience for those traveling internationally and/or in premium markets.
The logic is that international travelers generally expect a bit more from the airport experience, and American wants to compete there when it comes to its ground product. That’s especially true when you consider the long haul joint ventures we see in place with airlines like British Airways and Japan Airlines.
In addition to generally nice (but sterile) design, you can expect that American Flagship Lounges feature more elevated dining options, with a variety of hot and cold food, as well as a more premium selection of complimentary drinks, from champagne to a wide variety of liquor.
Nowadays all of the “big three” US carriers have their own versions of these premium lounges, as there are also Delta One Lounges and United Polaris Lounges. I’d argue that at this point, American’s premium lounge offering is the weakest among the three carriers, with the upside being that there are less restrictive access requirements.
American Flagship Lounge locations & hours
American Airlines currently has six Flagship Lounges, located in Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, and Philadelphia (the New York location has different branding, as I’ll cover below). On top of that, there are two new Flagship Lounges in the pipeline (though patience will be required:
- Charlotte (CLT) will be getting a Flagship Lounge, though there’s not yet a timeline
- Miami (MIA) will be getting a new Flagship Lounge, replacing the current one, though we don’t know when it will open
Let’s go over the very basics of each of these lounges, including their locations, hours, and square footage.
American Flagship Lounge Chicago (ORD)
The American Flagship Lounge Chicago is open daily from 5AM until 10PM, and it’s located in Terminal 3, where concourses H & K meet. The lounge is spacious, at 25,000 square feet.
American Flagship Lounge Dallas (DFW)
The American Flagship Lounge Dallas is open daily from 5AM until 10:15PM, and it’s located in Terminal D, between gates D21 and D22. The lounge is around 23,000 square feet, so it’s also a great size.
American Flagship Lounge Los Angeles (LAX)
The American Flagship Lounge Los Angeles is open daily from 4:30AM until 1AM, and it’s located in Terminal 4, near gate 40. At around 15,000 square feet, it’s the second smallest Flagship Lounge in the system. Still, it doesn’t usually get too busy, given how much smaller American’s long haul network has gotten out of Los Angeles.
American Flagship Lounge Miami (MIA)
The American Flagship Lounge Miami is open daily from 5AM until 10:30PM, and it’s located in Concourse D, near gate 30. At around 29,000 square feet, it’s the largest Flagship Lounge in the system.
American Flagship Lounge Philadelphia (PHL)
The American Flagship Lounge Philadelphia is open daily from 8AM until 9PM, and it’s located in the A-West Terminal, between gates A15 and A16. It’s 13,750 square feet, making it the smallest Flagship Lounge in the system. It’s also the newest lounge, and the only Flagship Lounge to feature the carrier’s updated lounge design concept.
Greenwich Lounge New York (JFK)
Technically this is no longer a Flagship Lounge, but for all practical purposes it is. American & British Airways have co-located in Terminal 8 at JFK, so the Flagship Lounge has been rebranded as the Greenwich Lounge. However, in terms of food offerings and access requirements, it’s essentially a Flagship Lounge.
The Greenwich Lounge New York is open daily from 4:15AM until 1:15AM, and it’s located in Terminal 8, near gate 12. The lounge is around 27,000 square feet, making it the second biggest lounge in the network. Separately, the terminal has the Chelsea Lounge and Soho Lounge, which are even more premium.
American Flagship Lounge access rules
So, who can access American Flagship Lounges? You can access them either based on your elite status, based on the type of ticket you’re on, or you can even buy access under certain circumstances. These are also oneworld lounges for the purposes of reciprocal access. Let’s break it down by entry method.
oneworld Sapphire & Emerald Flagship Lounge access
If you have oneworld Sapphire or Emerald status, you’re potentially eligible to access Flagship Lounges, and can bring one guest with you. However, the type of itinerary on which you can access these lounges varies based on what program you have status with.
If you earn oneworld elite status through a program other than Alaska Atmos Rewards or American AAdvantge (a non-US program), you can access Flagship Lounges whenever flying a oneworld airline the same day, even if it’s entirely domestic. This includes even short, domestic flights.
Meanwhile if you earn oneworld elite status through Alaska Atmos Rewards or American AAdvantage, you can only access Flagship Lounges when traveling same day in the following regions:
- Between the US and Asia
- Between the US and Australia, Fiji, and New Zealand
- Between the US and Europe
- Between the US and South America (excluding Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela)
You can access Flagship Lounges even during connections not at your international gateway, as long as it’s same day travel.
oneworld first & business class Flagship Lounge access
You can access American Flagship Lounges when traveling same day on a first or business class ticket on a oneworld airline in an eligible market. Business class passengers can’t bring any guests, while first class passengers can bring one guest.
What are eligible itineraries for the purposes of Flagship Lounge access? Qualifying business and first class itineraries include the following:
- Between the US and Asia
- Between the US and Australia, Fiji, and New Zealand
- Between the US and Europe
- Between the US and South America (excluding Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Suriname and Venezuela)
- Between New York (JFK) and Los Angeles (LAX)
- Between New York (JFK) and San Francisco (SFO)
- Between New York (JFK) and Orange County (SNA)
- Between Los Angeles (LAX) and Boston (BOS) — only when flying on A321T
- Between Los Angeles (LAX) and Miami (MIA) — only when flying on wide body
- Between Dallas (DFW) and Honolulu (HNL)
- Between Dallas (DFW) and Kona (KOA)
- Between Dallas (DFW) and Maui (OGG)
- Between Chicago (ORD) and Honolulu (HNL)
Concierge Key member Flagship Lounge access
Concierge Key is American’s invitation-only elite status, and those members can access Flagship Lounges when flying same day on a oneworld flight, even if it’s not international. So for these purposes, having Concierge Key is almost like having oneworld Sapphire or Emerald with a foreign frequent flyer program.
Concierge Key members have a further benefit, as they can bring up to two guests, or immediate family members (spouse and children under 18).
Buy Flagship Lounge access for $150
If traveling the same day on an American Airlines or oneworld flight, you can purchase Flagship Lounge access for $150 or 15,000 AAdvantage miles per person. You’d have to be spending a lot of time there for this to be worth it, in my opinion.
Bottom line
Flagship Lounges are American’s international business class lounges, among the better ones that you’ll find in the United States. At least compared to Delta One Lounges and United Polaris Lounges, Flagship Lounges have pretty easy access requirements. They’re accessible by select premium cabin passengers, as well as elite members. It’s always a treat to visit these lounges when traveling on an eligible flight.
Hopefully the above clears up any questions about accessing Flagship Lounges, though if I missed anything, please let me know.
What has your experience been with American Flagship Lounges?
Seems you can access now on all international flights without the Carib exclusions. Not sure when they updated that and neither did ChatGPT.
Was in the DFW Flagship this weekend and was massively disappointed. The MIA lounge has been deteriorating but the DFW lounge was markedly worse.
Overcrowded at the 7-9pm peak--AA, BA and QF passengers all crammed in.
Only available seats were at the tables in the cafeteria area, but most had dirty plates on the tables. Later found one which was clearly an overspill as it just faced onto the walkway.
Food selection was limited,...
Was in the DFW Flagship this weekend and was massively disappointed. The MIA lounge has been deteriorating but the DFW lounge was markedly worse.
Overcrowded at the 7-9pm peak--AA, BA and QF passengers all crammed in.
Only available seats were at the tables in the cafeteria area, but most had dirty plates on the tables. Later found one which was clearly an overspill as it just faced onto the walkway.
Food selection was limited, overly complex and unappetising. At least Miami has an OK cheese and cracker selection. The freshly prepared section in DFW was also closed-- with a sign "reopening at 6am tomorrow" like that is any use anybody in the lounge. But it may not have been a big loss as the one in Miami which used to freshly prepare guacamole has been replaced with somebody pouring tomato sauce on pasta.
Staff were super friendly, chatting to everyone. Maybe should have been clearing the dirty plates. A trolley full of dirty dishes sat in front of me for 20 mins.
The Bollinger self-pour is definitely a step-up. Perhaps that is where all the budget has gone.
Might make me stop complaining about BA's LHR First lounge.
@Ben - We used to get access flying on a business class ticket to/from Mexico City but I guess those days are over with?
For JFK, Chelsea and Soho are better than Greenwich, but, of course, not everyone gets access, and also, when Chelsea and Soho close, they revert to Greenwich (think after-midnight flights on CX, QR, JL, etc.)
Should note that CLT will be getting a Flagship lounge.
https://news.aa.com/news/news-details/2025/American-Airlines-announces-lounge-investment-at-Charlotte-Douglas-International-Airport-MKG-LNGE-08/default.aspx
@ Samar -- Whoops, of course, thank you! Added that to the post.
Finally, the CLT is getting some attention...
Now I wait for a Flagship lounge in PHX. Probably will be waiting the rest of my life…