Category Archives for Lounges.
Capital One’s LaGuardia Landing won “Most Instagrammable” airport location, but its better award was for food and beverage — and the bigger question is which bank lounge network is actually best. Capital One has the strongest New York and D.C. play, Chase is building genuinely excellent large lounges, and Amex still has the biggest footprint, making the right premium card depend heavily on where you actually fly.
American Airlines is raising Admirals Club membership prices sharply, with full memberships costing as much as $1,400 per year. The move makes the Citi Executive card look like the intended path for lounge access, especially as American invests in better clubs, improved food, and a broader premium revenue strategy.
Chase Sapphire Lounges are dropping Priority Pass and LoungeKey access on August 15, limiting free entry to eligible Chase, Ritz-Carlton, and J.P. Morgan Reserve cardmembers. That should mean fewer crowds and shorter waits, while cardmembers on connecting itineraries get a longer 5-hour access window before departure.
The 18,000-square-foot Chase Sapphire Lounge opens July 16 across from Gate D25 in DFW Terminal D. After a preview, I’d rank it as Dallas’ best bank lounge, with elevated food, a dedicated whiskey room, bookable facials and relaxation pods, showers and Chase’s first grab-and-go experiment.
Airport lounge guests are stealing cups, books, artwork, utensils, and anything else not bolted down. Capital One seems to know it, even branding its lounge cups as being “on permanent loan.”
Food and beverage workers at American Airlines’ Phoenix Admirals Clubs walked out amid a contract fight with Compass Eurest, just as American promotes upgraded lounge dining. The airline says customer impact should be minimal – which says as much about the lounge offerings in Phoenix as the contribution of the employees of its contractor.
Chase’s planned Miami Sapphire Lounge will bring nearly 14,000 square feet of premium lounge space to Concourse E, with proposal details showing a Cuban coffee window, rum bar, dining areas, and Miami-inspired design. Based on the project timeline, the lounge may not open until 2029.
American Airlines has opened its second Provisions by Admirals Club space at New York JFK between gates 12 and 14. The 3,700-square-foot grab-and-go lounge restores a main concourse Admirals Club-style option for many JFK travelers, with hot and cold food, barista-made Lavazza coffee, bottled drinks, and the same access rules as regular Admirals Clubs.
Air France La Première may be the best airport lounge in the world, but almost nobody can access it. These are the lounges I’d actually build a trip around, from Qatar’s museum-like Al Safwa lounge and Cathay Pacific’s The Pier to Qantas First in Sydney, American Flagship First Dining, Capital One Landing, Air Canada Signature Suites, and Lufthansa’s First Class Terminal.
Airport lounges now invest in real coffee bars and trained baristas, but some still will not stock whole milk. Seattle’s Centurion Lounge and Alaska Lounge offer the modern coffee-bar lineup — oat, nonfat, 2%, maybe half-and-half — leaving whole milk as the orphan option in a constrained airport lounge world.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
