Disclaimer: Although I was offered one-time entry to the Los Angeles American Airlines lounges, some of the following photos were taken during a prior unrelated visit.
AA Flagship Lounge, right by gate 41; the place is open from 04:30 – 25:00 (1am the next day). Check-in with one of the agents downstairs, then depending on the entry rules you might get a plastic card indicating that you can enter the Flagship Lounge. As you likely guessed, the Admirals Club is opposite the Flagship Lounge, and has fewer food options. However, the Admirals Club side still has champagne (if that’s your jam), and a grab-and-go menu (which costs extra).
n.b. Terminal 4 is quite dismal; if you don’t have lounge access, I recommend that you check-in as late as possible, or you just take the brief walk to the high-ceiling Tom Bradley International Terminal, aka Terminal B. More on this later in the post.
Flagship Lounge
Having never been in a “Flagship Lounge” for American Airlines, I had zero expectations.
I will sum those expectations up as having been almost pleasantly surprised (now if only we could solve that loud talker issue by making part of the lounge a Faraday Cage).
Layout
Come to think of it, for a flagship anything, it wasn’t a particularly big place. Perhaps the bigger DFW/ORD/MIA hubs have more seating than this one?
After yet another flight from Japan, I was famished, so I went over to the breakfast buffet:
By the way, the champagne in the Flagship Lounge is Bollinger.
Admirals Club
I headed over the the Admirals Club side for a bit, because I wanted to see how it would compare. Indeed, the eats options weren’t as vast, and some superficial design flourishes (e.g. nicer seats) weren’t present. But there was still a “quiet room” (not terribly well enforced), and enough lighting.
By the way, to place a time stamp on this review, bye bye, Terminal 5!
Temporary Admirals Club in Terminal B/Tom Bradley International Terminal
Given that my flight was leaving from the international terminal, I left the flagship lounge with sufficient time to visit the temporary Admirals Club, close to gate 151. This temporary lounge — temporary in the sense that it will be around until Terminal 5 is reopened — operates daily from 04:30 to 24:15 (12:15am the next day).
In spite of being small, the terminal’s high ceilings make it more enjoyable.
Food options were similar to those at the primary LAX Admirals Club. Note: I dug the cannolo cup.
At each of the three lounges, staff were mostly helpful.
Have you been to either of the LAX Admirals Clubs? What is most important to you when you go into any lounge around the world?
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