As I first reported in late August, American Airlines will renovate its D concourse Admirals Club at D.C.’s National airport beginning in early 2026.
American Airlines is renovating its popular Admirals Club® lounge in Concourse D of Reagan National Airport (DCA). The renovated lounge will span more than 10,000 square feet, adding approximately 50% more seating and giving customers more room to recharge and relax ahead of their journey.
Credit: American Airlines
Credit: American Airlines
What I wrote four months ago – so many readers are well ahead of American’s announcement:
We’re currently expecting a new-style Admirals Club in Austin, announced in November 2021, but the location of that lounge in the airport has changed and construction has not yet started.
And word on the street is that there are plans to close and renovate the Admirals Club on the D concourse at Washington National airport (the old US Airways club with ratty furniture, likely to take a year, while eventually freshening up but not renovating the legacy American Airlines lounge on the C concourse).
This is fantastic news for American to make public, albeit a bit late. That’s because the new lounge aesthetic really is fantastic. Their E (regional jet) concourse lounge at the airport is arguably my favorite standard airline club in the United States (although the Philadelphia Club has better food).
The D.C. E concourse Admirals Club has a very special protocol room behind the check-in desk.
Delta’s Sky Club food has declined somewhat since the airline introduced Delta One business class lounges, and the Sky Clubs no longer have to serve as spaces for the carrier’s premium customers at some hubs. And United’s lounge food isn’t great. Nonetheless both United and Delta do a better job with club food than American does.
Still, I remember when there was virtually no food at all in lounges – known as home to the ‘Snack Tower of Sadness’.
Lounge food is certainly upgraded since those days. And we’re getting Lavazza coffee rolled out. American has a grab ‘n go lounge in Charlotte that’ll be a template for growth elsewhere. And they’re planning business class Flagship lounges in Charlotte and a new one in Miami. So the lounge game at American is on the upswing.
What’s special, beyond the new lounge aesthetic, is American’s Flagship First Dining, still open in Dallas and Miami (and rumored to have a planned return coming to LAX).
That’s an experience unmatched by any other airline in the United States, and available to upper tier elites as a mileage redemption. It’ll almost certainly be offered bundled with Flagship Business Plus fares going forward, as American eliminates Flagship First class. Sadly the joint American-British Airways Chelsea lounge at New York JFK pales in comparison to the old Flagship First Dining there. Their business class lounges, of course, do not match United’s or Delta’s offerings.
It’s the faux-fireplace that does it for me, every time.
Good!
What this article touches on is that the JPLs at JFK could probably do with a little bit of attention. Greenwich is… I mean, the Piper H champagne bar is nice, but it could be a bit better, and some of the newer AA lounges are certainly nicer in comparison.
I’m sure it’s complicated as BA/AA presumably need to agree on everything, and kind of wish AA would just run the JFK lounges just as BA runs the LHR ones. At least in this era of AA actually having a decent lounge revamp program – something AA probably doesn’t get enough credit for.
I’ve noticed the last couple weeks across about 6 or 7 different Admirals Clubs in ORD, DFW, CLT, and JFK that the coffee urns have a sticker saying “CHANGE PLEASE” (usually it is red) across the brand on the front. Is that the new coffee brand? Or some sort of internal tag that is showing publicly through much of the system? I find it humorous either way.
Lounges really impress people who haven’t used them dozens of times. They are a way to win infrequent travelers, in my opinion. I just want to get to the gate and board my flight.
CHANGE PLEASE is an actual brand of coffee where the proceeds benefit the homeless. it could be an accounting move on AA’s part. Buy their product and somehow it’s a write-off.
The name CHANGE PLEASE splashed across the front of the urns is icky. Makes me feel the coffee is old / dirty.
@Peter — Speaking of JFK T8, yikes, the regular ole Admirals Club on the outer concourse needs some TLC. Like, the food is often so-lacking as to not be worthwhile. Since I returned to NYC, I’ve had access to Soho and Chelsea, so I’ve ironically not even bothered visiting Greenwich.
@nsx at FlyerTalk — I’m still ‘excited’ by some, even though I’ve been plenty of times; DeltaOne, the Polaris (at EWR at least), and Chelsea/Soho, still ‘do it for me’ each time.
@1990: I was in the JFK T8 AC the other day… at 5-6pm was pretty much empty which was fine by me. I still find it funny they have that whole like deli counter thing that isn’t used and the food is shoved into a dead end narrow hallway. They had deli meat and cheese and bread to make a sandwich which was fine by me. But yes, other than that left a lot to be desired. The facility itself…. eh, I don’t care so much though some of the chairs are rough. But it’s quiet and has outlets….
Oh, wow, @Joe, that’s cool. Now I get it ‘change please,’ like someone asking for spare coins. Thanks for sharing!
@1990 – yeah it’s not great, although it does have a shower room I guess, and a kids room. Certainly in need of attention. Looking forward to some time at Soho later on this month, although I still really like the Piper H champagne bar at Greenwich (and when with the family that’s where we go – not worth the energy to get P2 to OWE as well). I also like the area in Greenwich past the Brooklyn brewery room – it’s usually somewhat quiet (Soho is great but can get crowded at peak times).
I remember the days when lounges had pretzels and peanuts and not much else. I remember the old AA EWR AC had the fresh packages of cut veggies, considered to be something special.
But then again lounges were never crowded. You could find a corner to squirrel away. Today it’s like trying to find a quiet corner in Penn Station.
@NedsKid, @Peter — I much prefer the AC’s at MIA (both) where they seemingly always have an guac station up-and-running, whereas, JFK makes like 10 plates at 5PM each day, then ditches. Psh. On layout, I like what they did at JFK in the last year, taking out a few check-in counters, adding more seats in the entrance area, which prevented some over-crowding during rush-times. And, Peter has convinced me to stop by Greenwich next time (got a QR flight in the new year, so, why not!)
@George Romey — ‘baaack in myyy daaay…’ (George, I always look forward to your comments.)
@1990 – AC in MIA is far superior, although it can be packed. I haven’t tried it, but I feel like no one on staff would bat an eye if you just took an entire bottle of Piper H and two glasses to the back area at Greenwich. Grab some average pretzels on the way from the Brooklyn brewery area (if you can find someone to order them from) and make your own picnic. And then after 30 minutes head on over to Soho – hey, you’ve earned it.