The American Airlines Flagship Lounge concept is quite new. These provide an upscale experience for international First Class and Business Class passengers, as well as those flying the premium transcontinental routes from New York to Los Angeles and San Francisco.
I previously visited the Flagship lounge in Chicago and you can see the food on offer in that lounge here. When visiting New York, I had much more time to spend taking pictures, so you will get a full review of the lounge below.
Flagship Lounge Entrance
Immediately after security are the lifts to the lounges, which means no having to walk for miles to find them. Once at the top, you are directed to the lounge itself.
- Clearly marked lifts
- Press the button with the stars
- I think we go in here
- The first thing you see
When I arrived, it was around 8am so the lounge was quite quiet. This meant I could run around taking photos of everything without disturbing people.
Flagship Lounge Decor
While the lounge is a relatively large space, it is broken up quite nicely by division into different sections. When you enter, immediately to your right is the food service area, but we won’t look at that just yet. On the left are the toilets and the areas with televisions.
- Televisions
- Seating for the TVs
- Magazines
- A look at some dining seating
A bar is situated in the centre of the space with black bubble lighting which is quite striking. Having a lighting feature over the bar is also something British Airways do in their lounges.
- Bubble lighting
- There’s the self-service bar
- Seating and artwork at the far end
- A different view over the bar and seating
There is plenty of seating, but the most popular ones are those facing the windows looking out over the tarmac. It took me a little while to score one of those but I was happy when I did.
Flagship Lounge Breakfast
There is a large variety of buffet food available and after sampling various options, I can report that the quality of the food is excellent also. At breakfast time, there are options for just about everyone.
- Egg Whites and Freshly Scrambled Eggs
- Turkey Bacon and Chorizo Sausage
- Country Breakfast Potato
- New York Sharp Cheddar Strada
- Apple Fritters with Vanilla Glaze
- Assorted Bakery Basket
- Locally Sourced Cheese and Mediterranean Meats
- Devilled Egg and Poached Pear
- Seasonal Fruit and Quinoa and Apple Salad
- Blueberry Cream Cheese, Chive Cream Cheese and Salmon Cream Cheese
- Breads and Bagles
- Salt, Pepper, and Sauces
You must think I have a great memory to remember all the dishes, right? RIGHT?! No, I just have no shame. After taking a photo of each dish, I went back the other way taking a photo of each sign so I’d be able to describe them correctly here.
Quiet Rooms, Work Areas and More Seating
An entire room is devoted to being quiet. Here mobile phones are not allowed and people are expected to sit down and shut up. A careful creep inside found one or two people asleep and the sound of silence prevailing.
- Inside the quiet room
- God I hate beige!
Back out in the real world, the lounge features some interesting pod type things where you can do some work at a desk yet remain connected to the overall vibe.
- Work alone or in a pair here
- Seats in front of the window
- Window to the left, food ahead
- Another end of lounge view
- Comfortable seating at the tables
- Another bar view – the entrance is also in front beyond here
Having so many different kinds of seating could feel a little schizophrenic however it works well together. It’s that division of space again, you see.
Flagship Tea and Coffee
You can get your coffee from a machine which has a touch screen with little pictures of what you may want. This saves having a barista service like they do in the Qantas Business Lounges in Australia.
- Coffee machine
- All the coffee bits
- TEALEAVES tea
- Almond milk, Half and Half, Soy milk, and 2% milk
Tea drinkers are spoiled for choice with English Breakfast, Imperial Oolong, Earl Grey and Green tea to name but a few. You also have at least four different kinds of milk to choose from, none of which seems to come directly from a cow.
Fancy a Bloody Mary?
On Sunday, the alcoholic drinks such as Champagne, wine and so on don’t appear until 10am in the Flagship Lounge. While the main bar was stocked, in another area was a Bloody Mary station.
- Welcome to Bloody Mary Heaven
- Pick your poison
- More bits
- Nearby are the lollies!
Any kind of Bloody Mary would be able to be made here. Had I noticed this had been set out, I would have had one but as it was I was on my way out when I spotted it. Drats!
Soft Drinks and Toilets
Well, they kinda go hand in hand, don’t they? Have one and you’re likely to need to visit the other. Certainly not a case where I can use the words vice versa though!
- Various soft drinks, water and juice
- This fridge is also similar
- Lots of white basins
- Urinals for the men
Toilet facilities are white, white, white and also kept quite clean. There are shower facilities in the Flagship lounges however I did not visit them on this occasion.
Champagne and Wine
Self-service Champagne is available which is Delamotte. In addition, there is red wine called Educated Guess, Les Doux Tours Sauvignon Blanc, Talbott’s Kali Hart Chardonnay and some other things besides.
- Another bar view
- Educated Guess red
- Delamotte Champagne
- The Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc
- I really don’t know what this is
- Another bottle of something
The Champagne was fine and I had a couple of glasses of it. Here are four more views of the lounge from different angles to show you the rest of what it is like.
- Dining tables
- The lamps are quite nice
- The basic dining tables at the entrance
- Condiments and glasses
Wireless Internet is available in the lounge and it is fast and free. This is so important when travelling away from home and is one thing the United States always gets right. Plenty of charging points are also available to support lots of device use.
Flagship Lounge Lunch Time
Around midday all the breakfast food is removed from the buffet station and in its place comes the lunch offering. Once again I did my pictures of all the food, followed by all the signs.
- Filet of Beef with Wild Mushrooms
- Smoked Salmon Crostini
- Corn and Edamame Succotash
- Garlic Mashed Potato
- Brussel Sprouts with Turkey Bacon and Onion
- House Chips
- Sweet butter, something and Locally Sourced Cheeses
- Mediterranean Meats and Bean and Papaya Salad
- Watermelon Salad
- Coleslaw Turkey Salad
- Not sure!
- Salad and Dinner Rolls
- Desserts are fantastic
- Faultless
- Sweet and delicious
- One of the errors on the signs
Overlooking the errors on some of the signs, the food presented is pretty excellent. I sampled a little bit of this and that, but did manage to have all three desserts twice. So I have a sweet tooth, sue me!
Overall Thoughts
American Airlines Flagship Lounge in New York is an excellent place to spend time between flights. You want for nothing when it comes to food, drink, Wi-Fi, quiet areas, places to work, places to eat or just to sit and watch the world go by.
Importantly, the lounge never felt crowded, even when it became busier around lunch time. I can’t stress enough how much a busy lounge just feels like the terminal with free food and drink thrown in. Lounges should be calmer and more relaxing otherwise what is the point?
Have you visited the Flagship Lounge in New York? What did you think? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.
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