Phoenix airport is building a six gate expansion at Terminal 3 North. The upper mezzanine level will have space for a 10,000 square foot lounge. The project includes a connector bridge to the existing terminal 3 and there are plans for a future tunnel to terminal 4. The project broke ground in April and is expected to be completed in 2027.
Credit: Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport
It’s the lounge that’s part of this plan that interests me. It should be near United, Air Canada, Alaska, JetBlue, Frontier, Spirit, Sun Country, Allegiant, and Porter gats. (Allocations of these specific gates has not been announced, but these airlines are currently walkable to the new lounge space.)
The new lounge will include an exterior terrace with views of Camelback Mountain. And it strikes me that Capital One should be the frontrunner for the space. Here’s why I see other options as less likely:
- The primary conisderation for tenant selection in airport documents is economics, and banks pay more.
- This is meant to be a common use lounge, not an airline club. Escape is already in the airport, and so is The Club via their partnership with Chase. They could be interested in a standalone The Club, but this is bigger space than they typically acquire.
- American Express and Escape lounges are already in the airport, and so is Chase, though those lounges are undersized.
Phoenix airport document show they will explicitly score lounge proposals on “Financial Return to the City” on the lounge and uses minimum annual guaranteed rent there, the economics suport a bank or high volume operator.
The contract solicitation for the lounge was supposed to come out “summer 2025” but it appears that slipped. Still, we should see an award in early 2026, with opening in 2027 or 2028.
Terminal 3 carries about 25% of airport traffic. And this lounge would be well-situated to serve non-hub airlines (i.e. passengers of airlines other than American and Southwest).
The lounge operator will almost certainly go to Capital One, to another bank looking for more space, or to The Club which – while already in the airport to some degree and which tends to do smaller spaces – has the wherewithal to do something this large. That said, I wouldn’t be shocked to see a bid from Plaza Premium Group or primeclass though those seem like longer shots to win.
Very exciting! I’ll try not to get my hopes up too high though just in case…
Nice. But outdoor in 100 deg weather… no thanks.
Good to have any additional lounges at PHX but when will we see some relief for those of us that suffer in the tiny, jammed pathetic Admiral’s Clubs in Terminal 4, which services 75% of the airport traffic?
Outdoor seating would be ludicrous in Phoenix, where it would be too hot to use 75% of the year. And What about Priority Pass? They need a presence at Sky Harbor and are non-specific to any particular airline.
Maybe not outside from May to September but the rest of the year would be fantastic. I’ve lived here since the late 70’s and 90 degree weather is absolutely doable. “It’s a dry heat” is absolutely true.
@Craig Jones, There are many, many days in Phoenix when temperatures are nowhere near 100 degrees. And 100 degrees in the shade (with low humidity) isn’t uncomfortable at all – at least to those of us who live here. LOL
Why would Cap 1 spend so much to put a lounge in T3 before a connection to T4 opens? The lounge would probably be empty, which would be great, but it doesn’t seem like it would be worth the investment. 10,000 sq.ft. is way too much, but Alaska could pretty reasonably operate an outstation lounge here. PHX must be their largest non-hub airport.
@L737 — I, too, am in the ‘set expectations so low that I’m never disappointed’ club. However, for your sake, I hope Cap One does pull this off.
Personally, I’m content with the Chase lounge at PHX. (As the ‘dark wizard’ in Futurama, once said: “Sapphires?? With those I could open the gates of Kerash!”)
And, to the typical haters, like @George Romey, who regularly complain that PHX’s Admirals Clubs are overcrowded (well, they sort of are), I’d say, such a large, new lounge should help with that, by providing another alternative for all those folks ‘storming’ the AC.