The new Chase Sapphire Lounge Boston Logan airport is better than expected. I visited just before noon on a Friday and it was busy but not overcrowded. The food and drink options were good. There was too long of a wait for a shower and a ‘wellness room’. Overall the first U.S. Chase Sapphire Lounge by The Club is a great addition to the pantheon.

Located in the B-C connector at Boston Logan airport, it’s a long walk from the American Airlines gates (the Admirals Club is at B4, and this lounge is near B40). It’s past the United and Spirit gates and through the food court. It is well-located also to JetBlue (on the C concourse).

Access And Locations

This 11,650 square foot lounge is open 5 a.m. – 11 p.m. and is similar in size to many American Express Centurion lounges.

The first Chase Sapphire lounge was opened in Hong Kong. Boston is the first in the United States, though there’s a separate separate ‘Sapphire Terrace’ open in Austin.

Known additional locations include Dallas – Fort Worth; Las Vegas; New York LaGuardia; Philadelphia; Phoenix; San Diego; Washington Dulles.

You enter with a Priority Pass card. This is a fail, in my opinion.

• You should be able to use your Chase Sapphire Reserve card to enter
  
• Anyone with a Priority Pass card can enter, and it’s complimentary once per year. That will add to crowding.
  
• Meanwhile Sapphire Reserve and J.P. Morgan Reserve-issued Priority Pass cards allow unlimited visits with two complimentary guests. That’s a lot of guests.

There should be something extra for J.P. Morgan Reserve cardmembers. That product is intended for J.P. Morgan Private Bank clients, aiming for a minimum of $10 million assets under management (although legacy Private Client customers can retain their cards). Amex Centurion Lounges have features for Centurion cardmembers only.

Facilities

The lounge is divided into a number of areas. There’s the dining room, the bar area, and spaces for the various amenities (like kids rooms and relaxation rooms). And then there are seating areas that vary from living room-style, to traditional lounge seating, to work pods and high top tables and stools.

All along the far side of the lounge is windowline with a view out over airport operations.

Chase Sapphire Lounge Boston Dining

You can order via QR code anywhere in the lounge, so there’s no need to be in the dining room (which is most convenient for the buffet). We sat in high top chairs at a table across a walkway from the bar. I scanned the code on the table, and submitted an order with my phone. Around 10 minutes later drinks were delivered (it’s faster to go to the bar) and after 15 minutes food was delivered.

Menu:

• Beef meatball parmesan sandwich (San marzano tomato sauce, provolone)
  
• Shrimp risotto Milanese (Saffron, parmesan)
  
• Sticky buffalo chicken (chilled cole slaw, blue cheese dip)
  
• Sapphire burger (cooked medium, brisket blend, mustard aioli)
  
• Miracle Dan Dan noodles (smoked tofu, shiitake mushrooms, noodles)
  
• Kids grilled cheese

Cocktail, beer and wine menu:

• Locally-inspired Cocktails: First lighthouse, Revere’s #2, Bloodhound
  
• Signature Cocktails: La Puerta, Viaggiare, Fenway Vesper
  
• Wine: Cape Mentelle Sauvignon Blanc, Terras Gauda O Rosal White Blend, Empire Estate Dry Riesling, Maison Saint AIX Rose, Clos de Los Siete Malbec, Ramsay Pinor Noir, Raats Red Jaspar Stellenbosch, Gelida Brut Gran Reserva Cava, Leeuwin Estate Siblings Sauvignon Blanc
  
• Draft beer: Paulana Muchin Weissbier, Peroni Nastro Azzurro, Samuel Adams OP Exclusive

I ordered one of the draft beers and their bloody mary (“bloodhound”) and my wife had no complaints about either. I drank the Ramsay pinot noir – it’s an excellent $15 bottle, very smooth and easy to drink (and I felt would pair reasonably well with the burger). Though if you’re looking to get ‘value’ by drinking something pricier the malbec should retail for $25 (and so should the Leeuwin Estate Siblings sauvignon blanc).

We ordered a meatball sandwich, shrimp risotto, burger, dan dan noodles and grilled cheese for the three of us. Portions aren’t large, and in any case I wanted to see the execution on several dishes whether the three of us finished them or not.

The meatball sandwich but note that it is not large.

The shrimp risotto was basically a bowl of saffron and also a bit dry (and only one shrimp). It wasn’t bad for an airport lounge I suppose, but not great.

The noodles were more or less a bowl of chili oil. Not impressive.

The burger though was excellent and the fries were good too.

Chase Sapphire Lounge Buffet

The buffet included chowder; roasted brussel sprouts; parfait; grain bowl; salad; ricotta; gazpacho; raspberry bar and chocolate bar; lemon marscapone.

It was noticeable that items were pre-plated as small portions, creating ‘portion control’ which lowers food cost. You can take as much as you want, of course, and the pre-plating keeping things looking smart as well.

Amenities

Showers weren’t available for 2 hours 15 minutes from the time I reserved, and a wellness room was a 1 hour 45 minute wait – though I did not ask at the desk whether something might free up earlier than what was offered via online reservation. One tip would be to save the URL off the QR code for future use, to reserve something in advance. Perhaps they’d check that list against people already checked into the lounge, or would do so in the future, but seems like something to try. Update: I’m told “the space’s wifi is geofenced so this is not possible.”

The wellness rooms and showers are along the corridor with the restrooms, which are divided as men, women, gender-neutral, and a nursing room.

There’s also a family or kids room which I didn’t photograph because there was a… family with kids inside.

It was notable how fast internet was in the lounge.

How Does The Chase Sapphire Lounge Boston Compare?

Overall this is clearly the best Priority Pass-accessible lounge in the United States at the moment, and one of the best in the world. I’d rank it alongside the Primeclass lounge in Muscat and the SkyTeam lounge in Vancouver, and suggest that which one is best will depend on crowding at a given time. I’d also suggest the Chase lounge over the Priority Pass restaurant on the connected B concourse, Stephanie’s, since that’s where I had the worst lobster roll of my life.

I suppose more relevant comparisons would be against American Express Centurion Lounges and against Capital One. Again, the challenge that all of these lounges face is crowding. The Chase Sapphire Lounge Boston was busy on a Friday around noon in summer, but there were still plenty of seats available. I suspect that the lounge will get even busier. It’s only been open for two months, so it hasn’t reached full awareness yet (though it received a nice writeup in the Wall Street Journal in mid-July).

I like food to order. That was the biggest plus of this lounge. I also liked the lounge’s design elements. I find the American Express Centurion lounge motif tired, but it’s been around for over a decade. Capital One has only one lounge open so far – I like their bar, and their food, much more than the design of the Dallas lounge.

I’d say that Design-wise Chase so far is better than American Express or Capital One. I’d give the nod to Capital One on food (both dine-in and grab ‘n go, something the other two lack) though I appreciate having a fresh plate delivered to me in the Chase lounge. I may revise my ordering on design once I see the Capital One lounge at Washington Dulles, soon to open in the old air traffic control space there, and on food once we see Capital One’s new restaurant lounge concepts in partnership with Jose Andres Group.

The food in United Polaris lounges, American Airlines Flagship First lounges, and Air Canada Signature Suites is better than what Chase, American Express, or Capital One offer of course. The food in the American Airlines-British Airways Chelsea lounge is better, too.

The good news is that there are more great lounge options in the United States than there ever were before. The bad news is that passengers show up earlier and stay longer and that airlines and banks (and their partners) can’t build lounges fast enough, or secure nearly enough space in airports.