The Greenwich Lounge JFK has taken the old Flagship Lounge space, American’s business class lounge, and rebranded it. In fact very little has been done to that lounge. They’ve merely repurposed it, existing furniture and all.
There are (3) new joint American Airlines-British Airways lounges in New York JFK’s terminal 8, apart from the American Airlines Admirals Club.
- There’s the Chelsea Lounge which is the true first class lounge, akin to a BA Concorde Room.
- There’s the Soho Lounge, akin to a BA Galleries First lounge, which is a oneworld emerald lounge.
- And there’s the Greenwich Lounge which is the business class lounge.
While in theory the old main terminal Admirals Club that was given over to Flagship will be part of the Greenwich lounge, that part wasn’t yet open when I visited. And the old Flagship First Dining, which was inside of the Flagship lounge, will eventually become part of the Greenwich lounge JFK. However when I was there it was being used as an employee area.
Anyone that has access to the Chelsea and Soho lounges has access to Greenwich, which is located up an elevator on the left hand side of the terminal immediately past security. In addition, here’s the internal access cheat sheet:
Mid-tier elites from oneworld frequent flyer programs (e.g. a British Airways Silver member) can use this lounge even when flying American Airlines domestically, such as New York JFK to Washington National, Baltimore or Austin. However an American Airlines or Alaska Airlines mid-tier elite needs to be flying on a qualifying Flagship itinerary to use this lounge.
When you come up the elevator you’re greeted by a check-in desk to show your credentials for entering the lounge.
To the right is the old Admirals Club space that will be incorporated into this lounge.
To the left is a hallway that takes you into the main portion of the lounge.
In general I’ve always been a fan of this lounge. It’s large and attractive, though I was built out during American’s ‘institutional phase’ of lounge design. It’s too bright, and the lighting it a bit too hospital-like. Still, it is attractive and it has fantastic views.
If you have access to this lounge, and not to Soho, you really aren’t missing much. Outside of menu-based ordering in Soho which can be glitchy, and offers minimal items, the buffet is actually identical in the two lounges. And Greenwich has a self-serve bar, while Soho has a tended bar.
There are refrigerators with beer and non-alcoholic beverages (including bottled water to take away) in addition to liquor.
While I was there, both the soda machine and coffee machine were out of order, which seemed rather appalling for a lounge that had ostensibly just opened a couple of weeks prior.
The old Flagship First Dining area – a sit down dining room with its own bar and fantastic views – is to eventually provide more space to this lounge. It’s necessary, because at peak evening transatlantic departure times this lounge gets crowded. For now, though, it’s still in exactly the same configuration as before and it was being used for employees, not passengers.
There are a variety of seating areas in the lounge, both by the window and elsewhere.
On top of the bar area, there’s a separate champagne and wine station in the heart of the lounge.
Bathrooms were clean and well-stocked while I was there. Based on past visits, the showers are excellent.
There are quiet areas, work carrels, and a media room. In all, a well-functioning business class lounge and the buffet should have something for most passengers. It’s a nice place to wait for a flight.
Cannot help but think that not having an Admiral’s Club in the main terminal will be a negative for Admiral’s Club members. I really do not see why Oneworld Elites get up to three clubs in the main terminal and now Admiral’s Club members will get none unless flying on a qualifying itinerary. This does not see like a good move to me. Surely they could have maintained one main terminal lounge for us lowly Admiral’s Club members?
Great review. A US carrier with self-pour liquor is a rare sight.
I know you said it’s the same location as the old “Flagship Lounge” but your review could have been 3+ Years ago. It’s the exact F#$king space. Nice, but nothing new about it…
Great review. I was in the Greenwich Lounge yesterday. it is an unchanged Flagship Lounge, with BA and AA branding. It is a pretty good lounge overall, food is alright. Very cold and impersonal but not a bad place at all.
We visited the JFK Flagship lounge on December 30, 2022 and sad to see the soda machine is still broken. They only offered three beer offerings which were all stout beers. The JFX lounge is pathetic and surprisingly the LAX Flagship lounge was 100x better with food and beverage offerings.
I agree with “Dude” guy..
I fly out of JFK twice a month and its so annoying to have to schlep all the way to T3 to use the Admirals Club. I am EXP and I can not use ONE OF THE THREE lounges at T2 when my 777 to Miami is feet away.. I just find it completely ridiculous.
Laphroaig 10 at the self-serve bar, not great, but not terrible. Love me a peaty Islay single-malt. I’ll be there in a few weeks on a transcon business itinerary. Disappointing that EXP doesn’t get access to Soho on domestic flagship itineraries, but if I’m really not missing much as you say then eh. Honestly I hope BA is appalled at the implementation of the à la carte ordering implementation there as you’ve described it, because it sounds like they’re trying to replicate what they’re doing in BA Galleries First, which IMO works extremely well (I’ve been twice in the past 2 years, 4 times I guess if you’re counting individual visits on round-trips).
Also, the one thing I’ll add to your “remodeled JFK” reviews, is that I have used the new sapphire priority check-in area a few weeks back and it was god-awful. It was during the morning peak departure time, so mostly AA domestic traffic, minimal BA traffic until the evening, and therefore all the BA check-in desks were unstaffed and completely wasted space, leaving AA agents fewer desks to staff and work the queue, which had stretched out past the entrance to the enclosed priority area. Evidently they can’t flex the desks between AA and BA depending on time-of-day passenger volume/demand, which seems incredibly shortsighted.
When it was a flagship lounge you could pay for entry, do you know if this is still the case?
@Kindofabigdeal – not currently available
Visited last night (Jan 7). It was packed and hot. Very unpleasant experience. Left after a few minutes.
I was in the Chelsea Lounge upon arrival two days after opening,, fantastic!
Departure I was granted Greenwich a lounge… And wow, what a difference… The Coffee and Soda was broken way back when they reopened…. I complained heavily, and asked for a can of sparkling water, which they acted as if I was asking for a new car…. So many staff doing NOTHING.
Here March 2023 and the coffee and soda machines are STILL broken!