Who Can Access American Airlines Flagship Lounges & Flagship Dining Facilities?

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It’s hard to point to many aspects of American Airlines’ offering for which the word ‘premium’ would be an appropriate and non-ironic adjective. The Business Class cabins on the airline’s 777 aircraft are probably one example where the word ‘premium’ would not be out of place when describing the product, and the American Airlines Flagship Lounges and Flagship Dining facilities are two more.

I travel through Los Angeles quite a lot and, although I prefer to use the Qantas First Class lounge (in the Tom Bradley International Terminal) whenever I have a lot of time on my hands, the American Airlines Flagship lounge in Terminal 4 is a more than adequate option should I be a little pressed for time or if I simply cannot be bothered with the commute between terminals.

The Flagship Dining facilities are housed within American’s Flagship lounges but are considerably more exclusive and harder to get into than the lounges themselves – more on these facilities later in this post.

Since I wrote a brief post about the opening of the new American Airlines Flagship Lounge at Dallas Fort Worth last month I’ve had a number of readers get in touch with me asking for clarification about the rules of entry to the Flagship Lounges and the Flagship Dining facilities so here’s a roundup of what you need to know. 

Where Are American’s Flagship Lounges?

American Airlines currently has 5 open Flagship Lounges….

• Chicago O’Hare (ORD) – Terminal 3
• Dallas Fort Worth (DFW) – Terminal D
• Los Angeles (LAX) – Terminal 4
• Miami (MIA) – Concourse D
• New York (JFK) – Terminal 8

…and two more are expected to open this year or early next year:

• London Heathrow (LHR) – Terminal 3
• Philadelphia (PHL) – Terminal A

Where Are American’s Flagship Dining Facilities?

Of the 5 open Flagship Lounges, Chicago is the only location not to feature a Flagship Dining facility.

Who Can Access American’s Flagship Lounges?

Passengers may access a Flagship Lounge if they’re…

• Traveling in First Class or Business Class on a qualifying international or transcontinental flight marketed and operated by American or a oneworld airline.
• American Airlines ConciergeKey members accessing the lounge on the same day as the day of travel on any flight marketed and operated by American or a oneworld airline (regardless of the class of service).
• American Airlines Executive Platinum, Platinum Pro or Platinum status holders who are departing on or connecting to a qualifying international flight marketed and operated by American or a oneworld airline (regardless of the class of service).
• Oneworld Emerald and Sapphire status holders who are departing on or connecting to a qualifying international flight marketed and operated by American or a oneworld airline (regardless of the class of service).
• Oneworld Emerald and Sapphire status holders (excluding American Airlines elites) who are departing on or connecting to a domestic flight marketed and operated by American Airlines (regardless of the class of service).

Guest Access Rules

2 Guests:

• American Airlines ConciergeKey members accessing the lounge on the same day as the day of travel on any flight marketed and operated by American or a oneworld airline (regardless of the class of service).

1 Guest:

• Passengers accessing a Flagship lounge solely on the basis of being a First Class passenger on an international qualifying flight.
• American Airlines Executive Platinum, Platinum Pro or Platinum status holders who are departing on or connecting to a qualifying international flight marketed and operated by American or a oneworld airline (regardless of the class of service).
• Oneworld Emerald and Sapphire status holders who are departing on or connecting to a qualifying international flight marketed and operated by American or a oneworld airline (regardless of the class of service).

No Guests:

• Passengers accessing a Flagship lounge solely on the basis of being a Business Class passenger
• Passengers accessing a Flagship lounge solely on the basis of being a First Class or Business Class passenger on a qualifying transcontinental flight

Who Can Access American’s Flagship Dining Facilities?

The full name for Flagship Dining is actually “Flagship First Dining” and that should give you a very good idea of how restrictive the access policy is.

Airline status will not get you into American’s Flagship Dining facilities (although ConciergeKey members do occasionally get emails inviting them in).

You have to be booked into First Class on a qualifying American Airlines international or 3-cabin transcontinental flight to access the Flagship First Dining facilities or (and this is a niche play) you can access Flagship First Dining at JFK if you’re flying Cathay Pacific First Class.

American Airlines 777-300ER First Class

Guest Access Rules

1 Guest:

• Passengers accessing Flagship Dining on the same day they are booked into First Class on an international qualifying flight.

No Guests:

• Passengers accessing Flagship Dining on the same day they are booked into First Class on a 3-cabin transcontinental qualifying flight.

What Constitutes A ‘Qualifying Flight’?

Qualifying international flights include flights between the US and the following cities/countries/regions:

• Asia
• Australia
• Central America (for the purposes of Flagship Lounge access only)
• Europe
• Mexico City (MEX) (for the purposes of Flagship Lounge access only)
• New Zealand (for the purposes of Flagship Lounge access only)
• South America

Qualifying transcontinental flights include 3-class non-stop flights on the following routes:

• New York (JFK) and Los Angeles (LAX)
• JFK and San Francisco (SFO)
• LAX and Boston (BOS) – traveling on A321T aircraft only
• LAX and Miami (MIA) – traveling on B777-300 aircraft only (through October 26, 2019)