- OneWorld Welcome: Introduction
- OneWorld Welcome: American Airlines Flagship Lounge New York
- OneWorld Welcome: American Airlines Business Class New York to London
- OneWorld Welcome: American Airlines Arrivals Lounge London
- OneWorld Welcome: Malaysia Airlines First Class Golden Lounge London
- OneWorld Welcome: Malaysia Airlines First Class London to Kuala Lumpur
- OneWorld Welcome: Grand Hyatt Kuala Lumpur
- OneWorld Welcome: Malaysia Airlines First Class Golden Lounge Kuala Lumpur
- OneWorld Welcome: Malaysia Airlines First Class Kuala Lumpur to London
- OneWorld Welcome: Hilton London Heathrow Terminal 4
- OneWorld Welcome: American Airlines Flagship Lounge & British Airways Galleries First Lounge Terminal 3 London Heathrow
- OneWorld Welcome: American Airlines Business Class London to New York
Update: See this post for a full, detailed review of the renovated Flagship Lounge JFK.
Our flight from Seattle landed a few minutes early, and we made it to the lounge by 3:30PM. Interestingly there was a concert of some sort going on right outside the Admirals Club, which I believe was part of a JFK concert series. Weird.
Concert
The Flagship Lounge is located inside of the Admirals Club, so if you have access there’s another agent at the Flagship Lounge door that lets you in. The Flagship Lounge is American’s first class lounge, though OneWorld Emerald members also get access, so even though we were in business class we could use it.
Admirals Club entrance
Flagship Lounge entrance
The lounge was on the full side, as it usually is in the afternoons before the bank of European departures. The lounge is on the large side, with several blocks of seating areas, a relaxation zone, desks, and a dining area.
Flagship Lounge seating
Flagship Lounge seating
Flagship Lounge seating
Flagship Lounge seating
My favorite part about the lounge is probably the views of the tarmac. Royal Jordanian seems to always park in front of the lounge, which is at least a bit of exotic traffic. 😉
Royal Jordanian arrival
As we arrived they were still serving “afternoon tea,” which includes the following:
Afternoon tea selection
Afternoon tea selection
Afternoon tea selection
Sweets
In addition to the food was a well stocked self serve bar.
Self serve bar
Self serve bar
Later in the afternoon the menu changed to dinner, which included the following:
Dinner
Dinner
Dinner
Dinner
We left for our 6:15PM flight at around 5:30PM, given that gate three was only a short walk away.
Terminal
Terminal
Our plane
Departure gate
Finnair plane parked across from us
At around 5:45PM boarding was called, starting with first and business class.
On the whole the Flagship Lounge can’t compete with top first class lounges, though as a business class passenger entering based on status, it’s pretty tough to beat.
If one thinks it through a bit, DEPARTURE Lounges are a bit silly. Regardless of cabin class, most pax can arrive for check-in in a clean and well-fed state. Where the lounges are of true benefit is at en-route airports (think layover) and upon arrival. In the last two cases, when flying in a coach seat, I've been known to PAY $$ for lounge access. A coach seat plus a lounge fee is nearly always...
If one thinks it through a bit, DEPARTURE Lounges are a bit silly. Regardless of cabin class, most pax can arrive for check-in in a clean and well-fed state. Where the lounges are of true benefit is at en-route airports (think layover) and upon arrival. In the last two cases, when flying in a coach seat, I've been known to PAY $$ for lounge access. A coach seat plus a lounge fee is nearly always less costly than is a better class cabin for the flight itself. I've never heard you mention this option - OK, I know - you almost never have to fly coach... Some of us do. Please share your thoughts. Thanks. -C.
Many kooks on here
Re conflict of interest discussion from the other post, I feel like commenters have a conflict of interest themselves because, as internet commenters, they must always be way up on their high horse. So I don't feel like they are good evaluators of whether someone has a conflict of interest because they are biased.
@Lucky: Apologies - I thought this was a continuation of the 'free' AA Biz Clas trip JFK-LHR you described earlier in the week. FWIW - I was trying to point out no matter what anyone may think of the 'subsidy' - your review was absolutely spot on and fair - IMHO. Keep on doin' what you do.
@wwk5d: ...opps - over the NZ Lounge."
Qf first lounge in Syd and mel is where it's at
@ nyc6035 -- I paid for this ticket, not sure what conflict of interest I'd have?
@ Mark -- You'll have Admirals Club access and not Flagship Lounge access, unfortunately.
@ Lantean -- Nope, that gets you access to the Admirals Club.
@ wwk5d -- The Admirals Club is on par with other domestic US lounges, which is to say it's uncompetitive with business class lounges of foreign carriers.
"the Virgin Lounge wins over the Virgin Lounge"
Huh?
@Jack yes...they are pretty nice lounges. That said:
I've grown tired of The Wing - if you don't eat noodles there isn't much to it - although the espresso bar is nice. The Cabin has a good breakfast - but no showers. The Pier is nice enough with showers - but I don't recall the food as being memorable.
I may not be being completely fair to CX as I've recently been on the...
@Jack yes...they are pretty nice lounges. That said:
I've grown tired of The Wing - if you don't eat noodles there isn't much to it - although the espresso bar is nice. The Cabin has a good breakfast - but no showers. The Pier is nice enough with showers - but I don't recall the food as being memorable.
I may not be being completely fair to CX as I've recently been on the F side of both the Pier and Wing - and I find the F Lounge Services - VERY nice...the new F Wing is in some ways better than the TG F Lounge - particularly if you're not into message services.
The Virgin Lounge as a Biz Lounge by comparsion has a sit down menu; a champagne bar; pool table, message services & a haircutting facility. The NZ Lounge has a fairly good buffet and a great selection of NZ Wines (thinking about it more - the Virgin Lounge wins over the Virgin Lounge).
@nyc6035 : ever tried all the HKG CX lounges ?
Pasties or Pastries?
Cayanne or Cayenne?
So...if the Flagship Lounge is a nice business class level lounge, how bad is the Admirals Club?
Does Amex platinum card give me access there? Thx.
@Mark No, you have to be AA EXP or OW Emerald to get access to the Flagship Lounge.
I recently took advantage of the low business class fares from NYC-IPC. I'm on Lan for my MIA-SCL segment, codeshared by AA. I'm also an AA Gold. Will I be able to access the Flagship in JFK?
"On the whole the Flagship Lounge can’t compete with top first class lounges, though as a business class passenger entering based on status, it’s pretty tough to beat."
Conflict of interest or not - that's a pretty fair assessment of the JFK Flagship Lounge.
That said - my opinion - the LHR Virgin Lounge or the AKL NZ Lounge are the hands down Biz Lounge Winners.