An American Airlines Flagship Lounge is the premium lounge product at the airline. These facilities are available in New York, Miami, Chicago, Dallas and Los Angeles and purchasing access will cost you $150.

While that may seem steep, for some it might well be worth it. To get the most bang for your buck, you would want to get to the airport nice and early to maximise your time in the lounge. Hell, I’ve arrived seven hours before a flight before to have both breakfast and lunch in a lounge and I loved it!

What Do You Get In A Flagship Lounge?

Having visited both the Chicago and New York Flagship Lounge, my opinion is they are streets ahead of the Admirals Club lounges. In fact, they are on par with some of the better lounges around the world.


Like eating? Well, you will be able to find something for every taste. In addition to the salmon above, I’ve seen filet of beef, sushi, garlic mashed potato and all types of salads. In fact, you’re best checking out my review of the New York Flagship Lounge, as I took pictures of ALL the food on offer that day.


Naturally there are coffee machines, red wine, white wine, all sorts of mixers, spirits and even bubbles. All of that is included when you visit, which is the same as all good airline lounges around the world.

Is Flagship Lounge Access Worth $150?

Regardless of the extensive, fresh and very decent food selection, it is still an airline lounge, and an airline lounge in the United States at that. I find that US lounges always manage to feature beige in the seating somewhere, as well as seats which look ergonomically challenging. Let’s just say you don’t visit a lounge in the states and expect to be wowed by the interior design like you are with a Cathay Pacific lounge.


Still, they do have some design flourishes as well as free Internet access and views. Still, $150 is pretty steep and you’d really only be paying that for a special occasion like a honeymoon or landmark birthday. Or perhaps even just to have tried the lounge once, I know I’d do it as a one off.

Overall Thoughts

It is interesting seeing American Airlines sell access to their Flagship Lounge. Airlines are gradually monetising the lounge experience for those without access, so this is perhaps not too surprising.

At $150 it will certainly keep the facilities exclusive as I can’t see people rushing to pay that, especially when they might only arrive two hours before flight. Of course, it must be mentioned that oneworld Sapphire and Emerald frequent flyers who hold status with airlines outside the USA have access to these lounges for free.

What say you? Would you pay $150 for access to the American Airlines Flagship Lounge or not a hope? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.

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