American Airlines Flagship Lounge LHR Review

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Main Seating Area

TL;DR

Although I visited before they began major renovations, the lounge still offered a quiet place to work and sit at London’s Terminal 3. However, there are other lounges in the terminal for OneWorld elite flyers that offer a superior experience.

The Good: Very Quiet and peaceful environment, easy to find power ports.

The Bad: Poor food spread, but they are planning to revamp the lounge food offering in the coming months.

The Noteworthy: The PannaCotta they had was delicious, I mean, wow! It was something out of this world.

For more lounge reviews, follow this link.

Note: This review is from one year ago, however most people will still find it relevant as few things have changed.

Arrival at LHR

I was coming in from another flight on British Airways from Rome. When we landed at Terminal 5, we had to take the tedious bus system. The whole bus transit took about 20 minutes. Then we had to go through LHR’s tedious security. After waiting a solid 25 minutes in the premium lane, I went through screening. It was the first time that I haven’t been searched. The day looked promising!

Terminal 3 Lounges

At Heathrow’s T3, lounges are found on a floor mezzanine below the main terminal. There you can find signage to almost every lounge in the Terminal. Since I didn’t have much time until my connection to JFK, I decided to just visit the American Flagship Lounge. I intended to compare it with the MIA Premium Lounge.

AA Flagship Lounge

As soon as I entered, a friendly agent scanned my boarding pass and allowed me in. There is a specific dining area, with tables for two. I didn’t see anyone eating there, and I decided to just try the buffet.

Flagship Lounge LHR Entrance
Flagship Lounge LHR Entrance

Closer to the buffet were other seating areas, these seemed more casual. They had a drinks menu, but all the food was self serve.

Dining Area
Dining Area
Second Dining Area
Second Dining Area

They had a fridge with water and sodas. Next to it were juices and liquor. In my opinion, the liquor selection was mid-shelf, nothing too fancy.

Drinks and Refreshments
Drinks and Refreshments
Alcohol Selection
Alcohol Selection

Further down there was a coffee machine, and I have to say, they have pretty good coffee on the ground. I still don’t understand why American serves horrible coffee in the air.

Coffee Machine
Coffee Machine

Food


The hot food selection consisted of English Breakfast options, as well as hot oatmeal. The food was good, but nothing you can’t get anywhere else.

Hot Food
Hot Food

The desserts and pastries were next to the hot buffet. They had fresh squeezed fruit juices, yoghurt, pastries and panna cotta. The panna cotta was almost the same one they have at the MIA Centurion Lounge. It was divine. I don’t often like sweets, but this is a whole different category.

Pastries
Pastries
Snack Spread
Snack Spread

Seating Areas

There is also a TV viewing area, with recliners and sleeper chairs. I don’t think many people actually sleep there because it was very bright. The tones of brown gave it an elegant feel however.

TV Viewing Area
TV Viewing Area

On another side of the lounge, there is a large seating area, which was sparsely occupied while I was there. In all honesty, I think there were only 10 other people at the lounge while I was there.

Main Seating Area
Main Seating Area

Landing Thoughts:

I found the lounge to be elegant in its decor, although it felt tired and worn. The food selection was sub par, but still counts as hot food. The desserts and pastries were the highlight of the lounge. I was very impressed by how empty the lounge was, given that they had a flight departing to JFK about 1 hour after I arrived at the lounge. I did see it start to crowed a few minutes before I left, but I think no more than 20 people were there at its peak.

The lounge is going to get a major facelift soon, as it joins the rest of the Flagship Lounges in the network. This will be a welcome renovation, and when they add better food options it will be a solid choice at Heathrow. For now, I would rather go to other lounges in the terminal.

 

What do you think? How was your experience at the American Airlines Flagship Lounge LHR? Let us know!

 

Here is a list of all my flight reviews: The Millennial Traveler Flight Reviews

Here is a list of all my lounge reviews: The Millennial Traveler Lounge Reviews

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2 comments
  1. Probably empty because most people have learned you can use the infinitely better Cathay Pacific or Qantas lounges instead of this dump.

  2. A very spartan lounge with meager food offerings. A much better choice is the Cathay Pacific lounge in T3

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