The ‘City That Never Sleeps’ now has an airport lounge that never sleeps. The brand new Capital One lounge JFK airport opens June 19th – and it will quickly grow to 24 hours a day.

This new lounge features ordering of hot items, rather than those being relegated to the buffet. There’s a cheese monger, offering 45-minute cheese tastings with paired wines, and a coffee shop that offers ess-a-bagels baked on premises with lox, pastrami, smoked whitefish and more. And that’s in addition to the signature food and beverage program found in their other lounges.

Capital One considers this their new flagship lounge, and it’s their largest one at 13,500 square feet located in the retail hall of terminal 4. Terminal 4 is home to Delta as well as Virgin Atlantic, KLM, LATAM and Westjet. It’s also home to Aeromexico, Air Europa, Air India, Avianca, El Al, Etihad, and several other foreign carriers.

TSA does permit passengers departing from other terminals to access terminal 4 – but changing terminals involves re-clearing security.

The Coffee And Bagel Shop

Near the entrance to the lounge is what Capital One calls ‘The Bodega’. It’s their coffee shop, with made to order drinks. They also have sandwiches – and, crucially, they bake Ess-A-Bagels fresh. (Ess-a-bagel does par baking to 75% completion, and the lounge finishes baking them throughout the day.)

They have lox, chicken salad, egg salad, smoked whitefish salad – you can choose what you’d like on your bagel, and choose your type of bagel. So don’t just go with the default that’s listed on the board, like an everything bagel for your smoked salmon. This alone sets the lounge apart for me. I can grab a decent bagel on my way to catch a flight.

Also, don’t be shy because they list lox on the board as a p.m. item. It seems that’s just a suggestion. They’ll make it for you any time as long as they have it (though getting up to full operation could take a couple of weeks from opening).

The Capital One signature ‘Grab ‘n Go’ is here as well. While lounges historically discouraged you from taking food with you, to cut down on food cost, Capital One built takeaway into their model and places refrigerators near the entrance to their lounges to facilitate this.

The last lounge they opened was Las Vegas and I noticed the takeaway area was smaller than in their earlier lounges. They assured that wasn’t a reduction in their commitment to the concept. Here, takeaway is behind glass.

Instead of having a self-serve refrigerator, staff will give you whatever you’d like. You can still have as much as you’d like, but I expect that many people will be more bashful asking someone for multiples of various items than if they were left to their own devices. Capital One, though, says they’re investing in this high touch approach for better service, to bag items for guests and provide flatware.

The Capital One Lounge JFK Cheese Monger

The Capital One lounge at New York JFK offers really incredible cheeses. And they do a 45-minute cheese and charcuterie experience (11 a.m. – 7 p.m.) with live in-person reservations, where an attendant at the cheese station takes bookings.

The cheeses are actually interesting, not dumbed down for broadest lowest common denominator taste and not the ‘gourmet cheese plate’ you might find onboard American Airlines.

This is presented in conjunction with Murray’s Cheese in Manhattan, and cheeses and meets are presented with optional wine and beer pairings.

It’s really fantastic. The question will be how well this scales. You can’t make advance reservations. If you’re arriving early in the lounge (3 hours before your flight) I’d make a beeline for the cheese shop to see if you can secure a space for one of the limited seats at the cheese counter.

The experience ends with a lemoncello and black and white cookie. It’s a nice denouement – but also a signal that your tasting is over, and it’s time to move on to your next experience in the lounge so they can prepare for the next guests.

In addition to the cheese and charcuterie experience, cheese plates are available with the day’s selection on a walkup basis.

One Easter Egg you’ll find here, as in their other lounges, is the note on the underside of some of the cups – ‘on permanent loan from’ Capital One lounge. They know people are going to take these (you’re not supposed to!) so they lean into the branding.

The Bar

Capital One has a strong bar program, and they offer a number of unique local suggested cocktails as well as locally sourced beers and wine.

They also offer their “Rare Bottle Club” here – as at their other lounges – with premium offerings for sale. I’ve been in Capital One lounges a number of times and never needed to ‘buy up’ because I’m very happy with what is included complimentary, but there are certainly special occasion options should you be so inclined.

Here’s the bar menu:

To meet the quick service standards guests expect in an airport lounge – you can’t be waiting behind a raft of travelers for a drink when you’re also waiting on a flight – they have more than just beer on tap.

Here’s their ‘Child of Clay’ non-alcoholic drink of matcha, vanilla, oat milk, carob and bitter orange foam.

The bar itself is just a lovely space as well.

The Buffet And Made To Order Food

The New York JFK lounge food program leans into the buffet less than at their other lounges. They’ve introduced hot food items ordered via QR code, so that there will only be one hot item on the buffet. Cold items are out, but scan a QR code at your table and have menu items delivered. They’ll be watching to see how well this works to consider it for other lounges in the future.

Here are buffet items:

And here are some afternoon hot items:

In addition to the buffet and hot menu items, they offer ‘rituals carts’ with different features throughout the day.

• Morning Caffè Shakerato: Italian-style shaken iced coffee with various items that you can include (dietary supplements as well as liquor)
  
• Afternoon Tea Service: wellness teas and pastries
  
• Sunset Sips: champagne at golden hour
  
• Midnight Snack: comfort bites at or about 12:30 a.m.

I should add comment on one more ‘snack’ item. Capital One has a different signature chocolate at each lounge and landing. These are by the reception desk and given out as you leave. The chocolate for the JFK lounge is ‘Coffee & Milk’. (My personal favorite is ‘Laurel & Olive Oil’ at the DC’s National Airport.)

The Rest Of The Capital One Lounge JFK

The lounge has two private rooms that are reservable once inside the lounge. You can make a booking at the front desk or via QR code. They’re available for 45 minute time slots, with 15 minutes between guests for cleaning and reset.

There are seven individual private restrooms, which is the most they’ve outfitted a lounge with so far. I really like the private restrooms, but it can mean a wait. I often see lines for the bathroom in the Dallas lounge.

Only one shower is available, and you can book it via QR code or at the front desk. It’s available for 30 minute blocks of time, and they allot 15 minutes to flip it for the next guest.

Finally there’s one parent’s room with a changing table and bottle warmer.

Every seat in the lounge has individual power outlets and USB-C ports.

The Lounge That Never Sleeps

In much of the world you’ll find airport lounges open 24 hours a day. In the Mideast and India you have flights in and out in the middle of the night. This is not common in the United States.

Admirals Clubs, United Clubs, Delta Sky Clubs, Centurion Lounges, and Chase Sapphire Lounges all close for at least a few hours, for cleaning and because there’s little demand (so little to justify the cost). This is New York, and it’s the heavily-international terminal 4, so the Capital One New York JFK lounge will be the first of its peers to stay open 24 hours.

There will be a scaled back floorplan during this period, since there won’t be as many passengers and that accommodates cleaning and limits the need for staff. And they won’t offer a full food complement. There’s an overnight menu you can order from however.

The Capital One lounge JFK deli (‘Bodega’) will eventually be open from 5 a.m. until midnight.

The Capital One Lounge Network

Capital One has lounges at Dallas – Fort Worth; Washington Dulles; Denver; and Las Vegas. Now they also have New York JFK. No additional locations have been announced.

In addition they have a Capital One Landing, which is their airport restaurant concept, at Washington National airport. They are opening one at New York LaGuardia as well.

I really like Capital One lounges a lot. Overall, I enjoy them more than Chase lounges, which I prefer over American Express lounges. They do a great job with their food and beverage program.

And they manage crowding well – American Express copied their queue management where you can list to enter the lounge virtually, so if it’s crowded you might add yourself to the wait list when you head to the airport or when you make it to security. Once inside their lounges, there’s seating and room to move around even when there’s a queue to get in.

I like the Capital One Landing at DCA best, because the food is really quite good (it’s food I’d be happy to have outside of an airport).

At the same time, they have the smallest footprint. American Express has been at it for 12 years, and Capital One not yet four years. They have a big head start, and were able to lock down spaces. Meanwhile, Chase has done a good job partnering for space (Etihad’s lounges at New York JFK and Washington Dulles) and Chase has been willing to take subpar space to get a foothold (Phoenix, and the short-lived Austin ‘terrace’). Capital One needs more of these lounges!

Capital One Lounge JFK Airport Access

Capital One lounges are available available on an unlimited basis to Venture X and Venture X business primary cardholders. They also receive two complimentary guests per visit through January 2026. Starting February 1, 2026, only cardmembers who spend $75,000 on their card in a year will receive complimentary guest access. Paid guests are $45 ($25 for guests under 18, kids under 2 are free).

Authorized users on Venture X and Venture X Business accounts currently receive complimentary lounge access and guests as well. However, starting February 1, 2026 authorized user cards remain free but including lounge access will be an option at $125 per card. Authorized user cards with lounge access will receive complimentary guests on the same basis as the primary cardmember.

Capital One Venture and Spark Miles cardholders can pay-in for access at $45, and non-cardmembers can pay-in for $90. You must have a confirmed boarding pass for a departing flight scheduled within 3 hours to access the lounge.

Is New York JFK Terminal 4 Now The Best For Lounges In The Country?

JFK’s terminal 4 features two Delta Sky Clubs and a Delta One business class lounge; American Express Centurion lounge; Chase Sapphire lounge (Etihad lounge); Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse (Priority Pass in the morning, but they charge for food and drink); plus rather poor Air India and Hello Sky lounges which accept Priority Pass. There’s also an Emirates lounge and a Minute Suites. Now there’s a Capital One lounge, too.

Las Vegas and Dallas – Fort Worth will eventually have the big 3 in American Express, Chase and Capital One offerings. For now, that’s limited to New York JFK.

I’d rate the Capital One lounge JFK airport above the American Express lounge (similar size, split across two levels, and the food won’t be as good) and the Chase lounge (which is smaller and shared with Etihad). I’d also rate this lounge above the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse – even leading up to Virgin departures when they stop accepting Priority Pass. I assume that it won’t be less crowded than the Delta One lounge during peak hours, so that one may be better, but access is heavily restricted there.

Having more options, of course, will help with crowding across the board because some customers will have American Express, Chase and Capital One cards that confer lounge access, as well as Priority Pass cards. Those guests will spread out more, so the introduction of the Capital One lounge may make some of those other spaces better as well. And it’s a new reason to choose to fly Delta domestically from New York.