The Lufthansa Senator Lounge in New York for Star Alliance Gold members feels like you are in a Lufthansa hub. It’s a great lounge to wait for your flight in an otherwise chaotic terminal.
Lufthansa Senator Lounge JFK Review
Location + Hours + Access
The lounge is located in Terminal 1, just past the security. Keep an eye out for it or you will miss it. It is open daily from 9:30AM to 10:45PM, serving not only Lufthansa passengers, but other Star Alliance passengers operating out of T1.
You’ll need Star Allinace Gold satus in order to access the Senator portion of the lounge. Priority Pass members have acess to the Lufthansa / Star Alliance Business Class Lounge located one floor below, though not between the busy hours of 2:00PM and 9:00pm.
The lounge is actually three-in-one. The first floor is a Lufthansa Business Lounge for business class passengers. The second level is a Senator Lounge (this review) with enhanced amenities intended for Star Alliance Gold members. And the top level is a first class “wining and dining” area reserved for Lufthansa First Class passengers.
Lufthansa Senator Lounge JFK Seating
The Senator Lounge, located on the middle floor, includes a large seating area, buffet, dining area, and bar. As you can see, it is fairly quiet in the late evening and even portions of the late afternoon once a Lufhtasna Group flight boards. Chairs are identical to what you’ll find in most Lufthansa lounges and power ports are readily available, though internet is quite slow.
These are recent pictures:
Below are pre-pandemic pictures – as you can see, very little has changed.
Newspapers and magazines were availble prior to the pandemic:
But are no longer availble:
Lufthansa Senator Lounge JFK Food + Drink
A buffet includes a salad bar, sandwiches, soup, hot dishes, breads, and desserts. In other words, you can enjoy a substantial meal here if you wish to eat before your flight and then sleep onboard.
Thankfully, the buffet is almost as good as it was before the pandemic (pre-pandemi pictures below for comparison purposes):
Lufthansa Senator Lounge JFK Bar
On the opposite end of the lounge, a bar offers a fair selection of beer, wine, and spirits. Cocktails are available upon request, though I did not see a bar menu.
Lufthansa Senator Lounge JFK Restrooms + Showers
Restrooms and a shower suite are available and were clean.
Lufthansa Senator Lounge JFK Service
Staff were quite friendly and I was particuarly impressed that as parties left, glasses and dishes were promptly removed.
CONCLUSION
I’m impressed that Lufthansa has constructed such a nice lounge at an outstation. While it doesn’t have all the amenities as a Frankfurt or Munich lounge (like barista-made coffee, sleeping rooms, or a smoking area), it is quite nice for Lufthansa and certainly an above-average U.S. lounge.
No bartenders? Really…
Must be self serve unless you need something complicated.
What time of the day was that? I have never been there without Lufthansa staff being around!
A few inconsistencies:
– it is a Senator Lounge – thus it is for Senators AND Star Alliance Customers
– the top level is not only for First Class Passengers but also for HON Circle Members
The picture of the wall clocks indicates the time to be 1930.
Alex, Senators are Star Alliance Gold members. I’ll have a separate review of First Class area up soon.
@ Matthew — Since when do Senator lounges have enhanced amenities? We have been SEN for years, and I have never noticed any difference between a SEN lounge an a Business lounge, except of course, the quality of the customers.
I have in FRA in terms of food selection. More hot options. There also used to be a special sandwich and pasta bar only in the Senator Lounge.
I guess the main pre-pandemic difference vs now is the Aeroflot 77W outside:)
Based on your pictures, the LH lounge options seem to pale in comparison to the BA Galleries lounge at JFK, especially after the BA lounge was updated in 2019.
BA Galleries is Pathetic with a capital P if you are flying anything other than BA. This senator lounge offers all F&b access to all eligible entrants, try asking what ANA passengers have over at T7, cup noodles and fruit, that’s about it.
Hence the reason to fly BA:). The lounge is outstanding if you do fly BA (better the Galleries lounges at LHR which I have never seen so packed and crowded as over the past few months).
Quite frankly, PP lounges are generally poor (with a few exceptions), and I am glad that BA are not diluting their offering for the purposes of PP, by having a dedicated area for BA passengers.
Is it true that JFK still has a mask mandate in place? I’m convinced I read that somewhere.
I think they do. Eveyrone ignores it.
Which lounges in Germany have a barista? I don’t think the Schengen lounge I visited at MUC back in April had a barista 🙁
As I recall, MUC Senator lounges on both Schengen and non-Schengen sides have baristas and Senator cafe (still closed) does too. In Frankfurt, Senator Lounge in B has it (as well as A26 business lounge, which was a former First Class lounge).
Just visited the LH Munich lounge in the H concourse. Used my ANA platinum status after the recent match promotion. The lady at the counter let me take 4 guests in (my wife and three youngish kids)! I hadn’t even looked at the rules for guests for star alliance gold access.
We really enjoyed the lounge. No views but really tasty food. Candy bar. I’ve cream bar. Decent drinks. Lots of space. Was strangely empty in the middle of the day.
Was the barista still there?
Hmmmm not that I saw. Nice coffee machines though. And very friendly (And understated service).
Incidentally a lot of Europe considers kids (I’m a positive way) as non entities. Museum entrance, lounge entrance etc.
@Matthew
Is it still mandatory to wear a mask? I am flying Austrian JFK-VIE next week.
Or is the Austrian website just not updated
I would go by the website – I am surprised if Austrian still requires it, though. Lufthansa and SWISS do not.
If I’m flying in J on Lufthansa to Europe, which lounge(s) can I access if I don’t have Star Alliance status?