We’ve known for some time that American Airlines plans to open two new lounges at Philadelphia Airport (PHL). This includes a new Flagship Lounge, which should open its doors this summer (though we don’t have an exact date). While there are still more questions than answers, American has today shared some additional updates about what we can expect from this facility.
In this post:
American Flagship Lounge Philadelphia plans
Flagship Lounges are American Airlines’ premium international lounges. In line with oneworld lounge access policies, they’re open to both oneworld first and business class passengers on select itineraries, plus oneworld Sapphire and Emerald members on select itineraries.
Currently American has Flagship Lounges in Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Miami, and New York (well, the one in New York is technically branded as the Greenwich Lounge, but for all practical purposes, it’s a Flagship Lounge).
As you can tell, there are some major gaps in American’s Flagship Lounge network, in particular in Philadelphia. Initially American’s plan was to open a Flagship Lounge in Philadelphia back in 2020, though the pandemic caused that project to be put on hold.
Even as travel demand increased after the pandemic, American seemingly wasn’t committed to the Flagship Lounge Philadelphia, as the airline first focused its international operations in the Northeast on New York instead. However, with the American and JetBlue Northeast Alliance having ended, American has been shifting some focus to Philadelphia.
American plans to open a new Admirals Club and Flagship Lounge in Philadelphia this summer, in the A-West terminal. We unfortunately don’t know exactly when that will happen, though. Hopefully it’s in the earlier part of summer, given the peak season demand across the Atlantic. But I suspect that might not be the case, or else it would be described as a spring opening (since most of June is still spring, technically).
This additional lounge space should greatly help with lounge crowding in Philadelphia, which is currently an issue. While we’ll see if this materializes, American has also emphasized that it intends to continue investing in building the Philadelphia hub.
Design wise, we know that “the opening of the new Flagship Lounge and Admirals Club lounge will continue to create a harmonized design experience across all newly opened lounges that customers will instantly recognize.”
That should mean that the Flagship Lounge Philadelphia will look significantly different than the existing Flagship Lounges, since American has updated its lounge design since all the current locations opened. The Admirals Club Washington National was the first lounge location to feature the new design, but we’ve since seen lounges with the design open in Denver and Newark.
American has revealed that the culinary concept behind the lounge will be driven by James Beard Award Chef Randy Rucker, who is behind River Twice and Little Water. As it’s described, “expect dishes that highlight the rich, seasonal ingredients of the region, with each plate designed to please both the adventurous foodie and the traveler simply looking for a delicious meal.”
Here’s another interesting detail — while the lounge will have self-serve food and wine, the Philadelphia location will be the first Flagship Lounge to have a staffed bar for cocktails and more.
What about Charlotte and Phoenix Flagship Lounges?
People often wonder why American doesn’t have Flagship Lounges in Charlotte and Phoenix. After all, these are two huge American hubs, and there are no plans to have Flagship Lounges there. Why? Well, it probably comes down to a couple of factors:
- Charlotte and Phoenix are heavily focused on domestic and short haul international connectivity, so they don’t have all that many long haul flights
- Often airlines feel they don’t have to compete in fortress hubs that aren’t major international gateways
So as nice as it would be, expect that once the Flagship Lounge Philadelphia opens, that’ll be the extent of the network. Well, at least for now, until American shifts its strategy yet again.
Bottom line
American plans to open a Flagship Lounge as well as a new Admirals Club in Philadelphia this summer. Both lounges will feature American’s new lounge design, so this will likely be the nicest Flagship Lounge there is, in terms of design. The Flagship Lounge in Philadelphia will also feature a full bar, which will be the first time we see that at a Flagship Lounge.
Philadelphia desperately needs more lounge capacity, so this is a positive development. Here’s to hoping the timeline sticks, given all the delays that we’ve seen with this project.
What do you make of the American Flagship Lounge Philadelphia?
I cant wait for this one to open! I have a few trips coming up connecting through PHL, but I doubt it'll be open before my travels. Overall super excited though!
Quick question, Is Greenwich Lounge really a "flagship"? I am Emerald with JL, while Greenwich is nice, I always opt to go to SoHo, and if I get to fly on LAX-JFK Flagship First, then of course Chelsea is the way to go....
I cant wait for this one to open! I have a few trips coming up connecting through PHL, but I doubt it'll be open before my travels. Overall super excited though!
Quick question, Is Greenwich Lounge really a "flagship"? I am Emerald with JL, while Greenwich is nice, I always opt to go to SoHo, and if I get to fly on LAX-JFK Flagship First, then of course Chelsea is the way to go. But I would consider SoHo or Chelsea as flagship rather than Greenwich, whats your thoughts on this?
A small step in AA reaffirming their commitment to PHL as the primary international TATL gateway.
It can't open soon enough. The main Admirals Club in B/C has been infested with mice, cockroaches, and has been closed several times because of that. There are areas of the club closed off, including the need for a temporary bar.
and what makes you think the same thing won't happen here?
Phoenix I get b/c it only has LHR (and that only seasonally iirc?), but CLT has LHR/CDG/DUB/FRA/MUC/MAD & maybe a couple I’m missing. Seems like more than enough for an outpost
Has LHR on AA and BA. That’s it.
PHX and CLT are not even the same. PHX only has two flights a day where passengers would be eligible based on flight or AA status alone (foreign Oneworld would work more). CLT makes sense with departure counts closer to PHL/ORD. The fortress argument works for CLT, but there’s little case for PHX.
If the Charlotte metro continues growing at its current trajectory and AA is able to ramp up Europe destinations from it, then yes, I agree with CLT getting a Flagship. NC leads the pack for growth, just behind Texas and Florida, with CLT and RDU metros at the forefront. CLT is the 2nd largest financial hub in the US, at some point soon, it'll be a very relevant top metro in the US.
The only...
If the Charlotte metro continues growing at its current trajectory and AA is able to ramp up Europe destinations from it, then yes, I agree with CLT getting a Flagship. NC leads the pack for growth, just behind Texas and Florida, with CLT and RDU metros at the forefront. CLT is the 2nd largest financial hub in the US, at some point soon, it'll be a very relevant top metro in the US.
The only thing holding it back at that point would be airport infrastructure in terms of available space, which is very less than ideal at CLT.
@Ben, UA has indeed already announced a Polaris Lounge in DEN. Similarly, Delta has discussed they plan to expand the D1 lounge concept to other fortresses. I believe you have covered these things before and worth mentioning in context.
Regardless, I agree to some extent that the fortresses are lower priority, but it seems like almost all of the airlines do have plans in place to add proper business class lounges, if even SLC, DEN,...
@Ben, UA has indeed already announced a Polaris Lounge in DEN. Similarly, Delta has discussed they plan to expand the D1 lounge concept to other fortresses. I believe you have covered these things before and worth mentioning in context.
Regardless, I agree to some extent that the fortresses are lower priority, but it seems like almost all of the airlines do have plans in place to add proper business class lounges, if even SLC, DEN, and PHL are getting them.
AA has been steadily expanding CLT, and it will have more Flagship eligible Europe itineraries, I could see it happening eventually, the main blocker is actually the CLT airport construction. PHX on the other hand has been losing their Europe. flights, and their LHR got reduced to seasonal, so I would not be expect it to get it a Flagship Lounge.
@ yoloswag420 -- Didn't realize United announced Denver Polaris Lounge plans. Good point, post updated!
@Ben in other news Bloomberg reporting VS reducing its JFK and SEA frequencies for W25/26
Seems like it was as expected. They swapped frequencies with VS out of SEA.
So DL will run the 1x daily in winter, while VS reduces down to 4x and it'll be at similar levels as other winters. This is the whole point of the JV to coordinate schedules.
I presume this is because of the weakening European point of sale to the US.
I never carry cash. This makes it difficult to tip bartenders in situations where the drinks are free. I never know what to do at hotel lobby happy hours, lounges or any other situation where you’re getting free food or drink. How do you tip 20% when there is no cost? Maybe do an article on the etiquette of this?
Seconded. Far as I can tell, the options are "keep cash on hand in small bills at all times" (annoying/impossible) or "ask if bartender has venmo" (annoying/rarely works)
It's annoying/impossible to keep cash on hand at all times? Really, it's impossible? Cheapskates have the greatest excuses. Too funny.
Stop tipping.
Also never carry cash. If I feel especially moved to tip in those kinds of scenarios, I ask for the bartender's Venmo. Never had anyone turn me down, usually tip $5-$10.
@rrappynot, @ben and the commentariat can feel free to tell me whether or not that's cheap bastard behavior :)
I personally overtip as a rule (30-40% at bars/restaurants, $12-20 on deliveries) because I came up working a variety of service industry jobs through high school and college. I know how challenging and unrewarding it can be and the whole discussion about living wages is a separate philosophical issue as far as I'm concerned, as long as we have no meaningful movement toward paying a living wage in most levels of American policy.
That...
I personally overtip as a rule (30-40% at bars/restaurants, $12-20 on deliveries) because I came up working a variety of service industry jobs through high school and college. I know how challenging and unrewarding it can be and the whole discussion about living wages is a separate philosophical issue as far as I'm concerned, as long as we have no meaningful movement toward paying a living wage in most levels of American policy.
That said, I treat airline lounges the same way I treated our in-house coffee shop at a company I once worked for. We were instructed by management to please not tip, because the staff were paid a living wage with benefits for the specific purpose of providing us with the amenity of a full-service coffeehouse as a perk of working there. Now, I'm not sure what the exact "living wage" was that was paid to those baristas, but they seemed pretty content and never hinted at wanting a gratuity. The same has held true for the vast majority of lounge bartenders whom I've always thanked but haven't tipped. So I assume they are appropriately taken care of as staff serving a specialty purpose as an amenity for high-value travelers.
"I never carry cash"...is such a lame excuse. You know you're going to be in a situation where you're going to be drinking for free. It's not like it took you by surprise - why not make sure you have some cash, if even just for this?
Isn’t opening a new Flagship Lounge before substantially improving long haul business class product and service a bit like putting lipstick on a pig?
There are new 789-Ps they have just started adding to the fleet this month as well as A321XLRs starting to come mid-year with their new suite product.
@Jeremy - right, and that's good news. Thing is, American is dead last in the big American three for soft product and service. Even w/ the shiny baubles on these new new Flagship Suites, they still only offer marginal improvement over the hard product of Delta One and come with vastly inferior service. And while Delta doesn't exactly offer haute cuisine - their food is still better than American onboard food as well.
Could win...
@Jeremy - right, and that's good news. Thing is, American is dead last in the big American three for soft product and service. Even w/ the shiny baubles on these new new Flagship Suites, they still only offer marginal improvement over the hard product of Delta One and come with vastly inferior service. And while Delta doesn't exactly offer haute cuisine - their food is still better than American onboard food as well.
Could win out over Polaris, but that may be an ignominious distinction.
What do you think?
I think AA has cut corners in things like amenity kits and does lag DL in overall service, but I disagree that it's vastly inferior.
I see it as more AA bridging the gap and to offer a slightly better product vs UA's Polaris but but slightly behind DL's Delta One. Now in fairness, it will take AA at least until the end of 2026 for this to become their predominant international business product...
I think AA has cut corners in things like amenity kits and does lag DL in overall service, but I disagree that it's vastly inferior.
I see it as more AA bridging the gap and to offer a slightly better product vs UA's Polaris but but slightly behind DL's Delta One. Now in fairness, it will take AA at least until the end of 2026 for this to become their predominant international business product when the 77W retrofit completes, most of the 50 A321XLRs, and 10 more 789-Ps will arrive.
Allegedly AA wants to return to more premium service, so let's see if it's just empty rhetoric or if actual actions are undertaken to support this. The product is coming - now it's about the rest. Usually new products come with corresponding soft product upgrades, so I would hope there's something planned. If no marketing, lounge upgrades, brand affiliations, or actions are undertaken then the writing will be on the wall until there's new leadership.
@Jeremy - this is a nuanced perspective that I take no issue with. Well reasoned, well written. Time indeed shall tell.