American Airlines Flagship Los Angeles Lounge
The American Airlines' Flagship Lounge at Los Angeles now has showers, quiet rooms, a hot and cold buffet, and a "chef action station" where dishes are made-to-order.
The main American Airlines lounge has 1,300 of square yards of space open to business and first class passengers on international routes as well as and non-stop transcontinental services to New York.
Los Angeles American Airlines Flagship lounge review
The American Airlines Flagship Los Angeles Lounge is now vastly improved, and indeed now a quite pleasant place to be.
You enter by the common entrance at Gate 40 via the Admirals Club, where at the downstairs reception desk the agent will give you a black card that allows you entrance on the left beside the customer service desk upstairs. The agents there greet you again and double check your credentials. Then you have arrive the First Class haven. Which is all pretty poor, with much better alternatives in TBIT.
The main American Airlines lounge has 1,300 of square yards of space open to business and first class passengers on international routes as well as and non-stop transcontinental services to New York.
There are floor-to-ceiling windows with great views over the tarmac, curved ceilings, and light wood panelling. There are banks of seats at the windows, and inland the buffet.
The American Airlines' Flagship Lounge at Los Angeles now has showers, quiet rooms, a hot and cold buffet, and a "chef action station" where dishes are made-to-order.
The newly revamped lounge has new seats, and lamps with integrated USB chargers. There are also laptop benches lining the windows.
There's a separate dining room just for American Airlines' first class passengers on long-haul international flights, plus those en route to New York.
As you walk in, there is what seems to be a rather empty showcase area. It is very rare to see anyone sitting here, even though it is a genuine pleasant space, with large circular lights and four seats around a round table right in the middle, and seats around the three sides, and a nice view of the terminal.
If you head to the right, there are bathrooms, showers, Flagship First Dining, and right at the end if you keep on going, a quiet room, which is again often deserted: here there are four square seats in the middle, and recliners at the windows for a nap. It is a good place to sit and get work done in quiet.
If instead you go left at the entrance, there is a media room with a dozen seats infront of two TVs: you can download an app to hear the telly.
Next up is a corridor with great views, and 1+1 seats around tables: again, it's a nice quiet space. Down this corridor on the right is the business centre, with three PCs and a printer. This area has a good open seat arrangement, although it lacks work cubicles unlike the old lounge.
After passing the newspaper rack, finally, you come to the largest room, which is the 'old' area of the Flagship lounge, and this huge room has firstly a sitting area, then dining area, buffet and bar.
At the far end are some more TVs, and a comfortable sitting area.
Food
First class passengers and oneworld Emerald Frequent Flyers can head to the Flagship First Dining area, which offers a full-service waiter service. Dishes include the Flagship Burger.For everyone else, the main dining area is in the main area lounge, where there is a huge long bench, with a wine trough in the middle, and smaller 1+1 dining tables by the windows.
Inland from the windows are is the refectory counter - and there is a vast variety compared to the older lounge.
There are two main fridge areas, and then a long rack of hot dishes.
In the fridge closest to teh door there are the smaller lighter dishes, with beef on top of beetroot salad very good. Further along are more mainstream salads, and then the desert section. Those small iced squares aren't chocolates, they are small cakes.
Finally you come to the hot food, with 10 dishes all laid out with plenty of space, including fish meat and chicken dishes, plus rice and pasta, vegetables, and stir fry. Then there are two bowls of soup.
Finally, right at the end of the buffet is small area with Asia food, including Vietnamese pho: a noodle soup, plus chicken, prawns or tofu, mixed with a selection of fresh ingredients.
The American Airlines Flagship Lounge Los Angeles dining area has a full cooked breakfast in the morning, then from 11am lunch with a couple of hot meals.
However the quality of the food is pretty poor. The scrambled eggs and beans are as cheap and can be. The bacon is OK.
At night, the food tends to vanish early on, leaving you just with salad and cheese.
Bar
The major saving grace of the American Airlines Flagship Lounge Los Angeles is the bar. It's all self serve!In the trough in the middle of the long bench are plenty of bottles of quite good wine. Alas, for champagne, the Bollinger didn't last, and now it's middle of the range bubbles, but still very good.
There is a self serve cocktail menu, and New York mixologist Pamela Wiznitzer designed the cocktail menu. There is even a Bloody Mary station.
The selection of beer is quite amazing, with everything from Stella to Guinness, Sam Adams to IPA to Asahi.
It is really very good, and free pour.
Bathrooms
There are spacious shower suites, and bathrooms at the end of the hall.The shower suites are really beautiful, being spacious, well lit, and with many CO Bigelow amenities.
Business Facilities
A small business centre has two windows computers and printers, with complimentary WiFi throughout the lounge, which is staggeringly fast. Really, really, the fastest wifi you'll find in any lounge at LAX.Access
American Airlines First Class passengers departing on an international flight, or on a three-class nonstop transcontinental flight. Or oneworld First class, oneworld Emerald & Sapphire (so long as not AA Frequent Flyers).
Video: American Airlines Flagship Lounge
