The AA Flagship Lounge at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) continues to offer an elevated lounge experience with a nice buffet, though crowding was bad during my visit.
AA Flagship Lounge LAX Review
I stopped by the American Airlines Flagship Lounge at LAX after my flight from New York to Los Angeles. How did I have access, especially when I flew economy class on that flight? I enjoyed access because American Airlines allows same-day international business class passengers to access Flagship Lounges (or Admirals Clubs) for all connections and even upon arrival.
Upon entering the lounge in LAX T5, I was handed a black card that indicated I had Flagship Lounge access (in T5, the Admirals Club and Flagship Lounge share a common entrance and upstairs lobby). Upstairs, the card was collected and I was invited to step to the left and into the Flagship Lounge.
I had very little time this visit and the lounge was very crowded, so I did not reshoot pictures, which you can review below. In fact, my review below is still quite accurate, though I wish to provide an update on the food and drink options.
It was lunchtime and I surveyed the buffet. Options were plentiful and included:
- kale pesto and tomato rigatoni
- Ratatouille
- grilled elote
- Caribbean chicken
- Lamb sliders
A variety of soups, salads, sandwiches, and sweets were also available, as well as a live cooking station that featured miso-glazed salmon.
I love lamb and enjoyed a lamb slider as well as a Caribbean flavored chicken thigh (with nectarine salsa, sweet picked jalapeños, cilantro, and radish).
To finish off the meal, I had a trio of macaroon cookies.
Currently, the Champagne on offer is Piper-Heidsieck.
The lounge is located in LAX T4 across from gate 40 and is open daily from 4:00 am to 12:30 am.
Access is included for:
- Longhaul business and first class passengers on American Airlines or oneworld
- Passengers traveling to Boston (BOS), Miami (MIA), or New York (JFK) on a “flagship” marked flight in a premium cabin
- Oneworld Emerald or Sapphire members on a qualifying same-day international flight
- Concierge Key members traveling on a same-day American Airlines or JetBlue flight
Day passes can be purchased for $150 or 15,000 AAdvantage miles.
This remains an excellent lounge. Come hungry and leave happy. But seats will be at a premium during the afternoon rush.
My original review, first published on December 15, 2017, appears below.
American Airlines debuted a refreshed Flagship Lounge this week in Los Angeles (LAX).
The new Terminal 4 lounge is larger (12,000 square feet), brighter, and far more modern than its forerunner and represents a competitive premium international lounge product.
Ben from One Mile at a Time and I visited the lounge early yesterday morning. By the 4:45a opening time, a large crowd had formed outside the lounge door, though most guests were headed to the Admirals Club.
Gone is the hotel-style keycard formerly used to gain access to the Flagship side of the lounge. Instead, an agent just outside the door will verify your credentials or you can scan your boarding pass at two readers outside the lounge door.
Just inside the entrance, a weep-staffed front desk offered booking assistance beyond. Beyond that, the familiar semi-circle window remained, though this time with new furniture all around it.
AA Flagship Lounge LAX Restrooms + Showers
As you walk in, if you head right you’ll met a long hallway with pictures of classic Hollywood stars flying AA as well as bathrooms, showers, and the Flagship Dining room. I’ll review Flagship Dining in a separate post later today.
The shower suites (eight in total) were nicely appointed and spacious:
AA Flagship Lounge LAX Quiet Room
Between the bathroom and Flagship Dining is small quiet room with chairs and easy chairs. No cell phones permitted!
AA Flagship Lounge LAX Seating + Crowding
The good news for AA is that the lounge never got too crowded. By 8:30a it appeared the lounge was near capacity–an ominous sign considering the international departures to Japan and China that were soon to come. But the lounge never got so crowded as to feel uncomfortable.
You’re never far from an electrical outlet and USB port in the lounge…you won’t be fighting with your neighbor over that.
AA Flagship Lounge LAX Breakfast
Upon arriving at 4:45a, a large breakfast spread was waiting, including a comprehensive buffet of food from around the world. One of the two buffet stations featured hot breakfast items including
- scrambled eggs
- frittata
- bacon
- sausage
- potatoes
- bread pudding
Best to avoid the egg white frittata:
Unfortunately, the warm items were not all that warm.
On the other buffet, a more international selection included salads, sushi, cold cuts, fruit, yogurt, and breads:
Cereals as well:
I do have a question for AA: why serve yogurt in bite-size portions? Why not offer larger bowls?
At 8am, an omelet bar opened with two cooking stations. I thought the lines would be out of control, but they were not. In fact, the guy wasn’t even all that busy.
AA Flagship Lounge LAX Lunch
Around 11am, the buffet made a transition to lunch. Lunch items included chicken, potatoes, mixed vegetables, salmon, rice, dumplings, and a variety of salads, cold cuts, cheese, and desserts.
Having dined in the Flagship Dining Room, I did not try any of the lunch items.
AA Flagship Lounge LAX Drinks + Champagne Bar
In the buffet area, two refrigerators offered beer, soft drinks, including bottles of San Pellegrino and Acqua Panna spring water.
Eight teas from Tealeaves were available:
A special Bloody Mary area offers everything you need to create what I consider to be one of the most putrid beverages available.
Liquor is self-serve.
On the other side of the buffet is the lounge’s wine and champagne bar. I price shopped the alcohol available:
Champagne
- Bollinger – $59
Rose
- AZUR Rosé of Syrah 2016 – $32
Red Wine
- le Volte Dell Ornellaia 2015 – $24
- Decero Malbec 2015- $17
- Band of Vintners Consortium Cabernet Sauvignon 2015 – $26
White White
- Patient Cottat Sauvignon Blanc 2015 – $13
- Thierry et Pascale Matrot Bourgogne Chardonnay 2015 – $17.50
- Telmo Rodriguez Basa White 2015 – $13
Coke Freestyle machines and coffee machines were also available at two locations in the lounge.
AA Flagship Lounge LAX Business Center
A business center offers two desktop computers and a printer/scanner/fax.
AA Flagship Lounge LAX Access Rules
The Flagship Lounge is accessible to travelers:
- Traveling in intercontinental first class
- Traveling to New York JFK in first class
- AA Executive Platinum
- Non-AA oneworld Emerald members traveling on any oneworld flight in any cabin of service
CONCLUSION
The new AA Flagship Lounge at LAX is a big improvement over the old lounge. Food selection is a plus, though AA needs to do a better job of keeping the lounge warm. Wi-Fi functioned reasonably well, the lounge never got too crowded, and plenty of electrical outlets and USB ports provided plugs for every guest. It’s a quality new lounge and impressive for its size.
Don’t forget the great view as well–
Next up: a review of the Flagship Dining experience.
OW Sapphires have access, too – correct? Fantastic report, btw.
The inclusion of so many pictures is a huge bonus – giving the reader a very comprehensive look at this new lounge! Meal coverage is quite helpful as well – I look forward to your dinner review. What is the guest admission policy?
I believe that’s “White Wine” and not “White White” in your wine prices section. Also, the access rules seem a bit lacking. IIRC, EXPs on domestic flights don’t have access. I think you forgot to include Concierge Key, transcon business class, long-haul business class, and, as Abidjan posted, OW Sapphires (plus AA Sapphires on long-haul flights).
Otherwise, a nice review!
The access info is incorrect. EXP does not automatically receive access. However, all CK have access.
Access is incorrect. See here: https://www.aa.com/i18n/travel-info/clubs/flagship-lounge.jsp;reportedLocation=HomePageB3&reportedTitle=&_locale=en_US&cint=DSP%7C%7C20171218%7CADC%7CMKT%7CBSP%7C%7CLPM_FlagshipLounge
As one who flies JFK-LAX a lot, and PL on all three of the majors, the Flagship lounges and 3 class AA planes are a key differentiator to me. Especially, compared to the abysmal lounge experiences in EWR with UA and DL’s SkyClub overcrowding.
Although, I think the Flagship food offerings are substantially better in LAX than JFK. I am hoping AA JFK kicks it up a notch with their new lounges.
As today’s Telegraph in the UK reports, the Middle Class have ruined the Lounge experience for everybody, with their constant needs and wants.
In the first few paragraphs I think you mistakenly say it’s in T5, when it’s in T4 (which you correctly state later on)
I know you don’t post much about business travel, but effective Nov 30, American is sunsetting their AirPass business program, which was a prepaid program that gives you amenities such as status, lounge access, etc for corporate customers who prepay money up front. Big benefits (including even the invite only status levels) for corporate customers who spend big.
AA is basically surrendering these large corporate accounts to UA and DL. A pretty significant move. I talked to a few friends who work in sales for United and they think this is going to be massive for them.
So what do you prefer, this or the Polaris lounges?
Whichever one at the time has less clowns like you who hate anyone who disagrees with your view of the world you self righteous F#$k. No one wants to not be able to enjoy their snack thinking the person next to them is someone like you. Plus your constant smiling as you look at them and toward the mens room gets old quickly.
Dave Edwards is a racist piece of trash that keeps returning to this blog to post irrelevant crap
It’s not really relevant to you what Matthew thinks, because you won’t step foot into a lounge, much less a plane. After all, you don’t travel. You can defend genderfluid, degenerate criminals from your mom’s basement just fine, no need to dirty up the lounge with your presence.
Apparently, triggered racist homophobic bigots travel in pairs lol
I wouldn’t be surprised if they were the same person posting under different names.
Good thing these dinosaurs are dying out…
It’s hard for you to accept with your room temperature IQ but there are in fact many people who vehemently disagree with you simping the degenerates who perpetuate lies about stealing designer bags, or monkeypox being a non-degenerate disease.
By the way, you call literally everyone who disagrees with you “RaCiSt HoMoPhObE BiGoTs” so coming from you it doesn’t really mean much, like your vapid attempt to be relevant to travel asking about Flagship or Polaris. Because, you know…you don’t travel.
Nice try troll, but the only degenerate here is you. Regardless of how many names you keep posting under. And I’d say I travel about as much you do, if not more.
Also, my question to which lounge Matthew prefers is much relevant to travel than most of the hateful nonsense you post.
Actually you would be surprised and I’m sure Matt has the ability to check where the posts are coming from and if VPN’s are being used.
It must kill you 50% of Americans feel the exact same as Jan, myself and many other posters on here do.
We don’t care that you like c#ck, as unnatural as it is for a man, but we do care when you people try to shove it in our face literally and figuratively.
You either are gay or you have a kid that disappointed you when you found out he likes it in the old garbage dumper.
But for some reason you are a very angry and hateful person Aaron. Maybe try therapy?
I doubt 50% of Americans are racist homophobic trolls like you and Jan.
I’m not the one angry, threatened, or horrified by America’s changing demographics Jan. Er, sorry, Dave Edwards, or whatever name it is you are using for this post.
Maybe your just projecting your closeted frustrations onto others, who knows…
@Aaron: I prefer the Polaris Lounge because of the a la carte dining and less crowding.
Thanks for the review. 2 questions: if i have acces in MIA for transcon, i get access to
AX at arrival? And if i stayed here for a couple of hours, what would happen to my luggage in the belt?
You do have access on arrival. Baggage would eventually be collected and placed in a storage locker. Someone might actually call you about it from the baggage office.
Have you had any word on when/if FFD will reopen in LAX? I miss it and have a few opportunities this month to use it and would be very happy if they did I.
I have a bad feeling that it is not going to re-open. Let’s hope for the best, but AA has given no indication it will happen.