American Airlines' New Flagship Lounge at ORD

In September of this year, American Airlines opened a new and vastly improved Flagship Lounge at O’Hare for its First and Business class passengers. The lounge is immense, offering a variety of seating options and amenities that will satisfy the most discriminating of travelers. The lounge has it all - a large staff to keep the lounge running smoothly; shower rooms; a dedicated cocktail bar; two buffet tables that offer some twenty mostly hot but some cold items (the salmon with teriyaki glaze was particularly good, cooked to a medium rare); a dedicated stand where a cook serves Chicago beef sandwiches made to order; and a wine table offering a variety of reds and whites, and where the Bollinger Special Cuvee was being poured. In the hour and a half I was in the lounge, 2 cases of it must have been opened; and not least, I have never seen so many power outlets in a lounge anywhere.

When I have time, I’ll do a report on a meal four of us had at Maison Pic, and a report on the Drome Provencale.

Good to know. Will give it a try next month.

George

To be honest, I would hate it if my life were such that it mattered to me a lot what O’Hare’s lounges were like.

Peter, which one were you in? We just went through ORD, and went to what I think is the Flagship lounge, 2nd floor. But there is a 3rd floor lounge as well, which I assume is even fancier. There was some pretty good food, full self-service bar, good seating. Nothing unusual, though the food was better and more plentiful than most.

The new Flagship Lounge is on the second floor, between Concourses H and K. The third floor lounge is the old Admirals Club, which is in need of improvement.

Does this count as an Admiral’s Club or is it only for people actually flying Business or First? And is that only Business or First intercontinental or also domestic (I’m guessing not the latter but you didn’t distinguish in the original post)?

Thanks!

Access to the Flagship Lounge is for first and business class passengers flying international or domestic (NY to LA /SF) on an AA or OneWorld partner. As I understand it, the Admirals Club will continue to operate on the third floor.

and the AA club on the third floor has been completely redone. They just finished it.

George

So which is “better”, 3rd floor or 2nd?

The way I understand it, business and first always get access. As a Platinum, I get access only for international travel, but not solely domestic (i.e., on this last trip we were connecting from CDG to SFO through ORD, so get lounge access at all three).

2nd floor

The Flagship Lounge is on the second floor and pretty nice. The 3rd floor is the Admirals club, and it is just an Admirals club.
Easiest way in is to have mid level or better status on AA and be flying internationally…
Here are the 4 ways to get in:
1-- Qualifying First and Business class
Get access if you’re traveling in First or Business on a qualifying international or transcontinental (none out of Chicago) flight marketed and operated by American or a oneworld® airline.*
Qualifying international flights
Flights between the U.S. and:
Asia
Australia
Central America
Europe
Mexico City (MEX)
New Zealand
South America
2-- Qualifying AAdvantage® Executive Platinum, Platinum Pro and Platinum
Get access if you’re departing on or connecting to a qualifying international flight marketed and operated by American or a oneworld® airline (regardless of cabin).
Qualifying international flights
Flights between the U.S. and:
Asia
Australia
Central America
Europe
Mexico City (MEX)
New Zealand
South America
3–AAdvantage® ConciergeKeySM
Get access if you’re departing on or connecting to any flight marketed and operated by American or a oneworld® airline (regardless of cabin).
3-- oneworld® EmeraldSM and SapphireSM (NOT AA issued)
Get access if you’re departing on or connecting to any flight marketed and operated by American or a oneworld® airline (regardless of cabin).**

Better off at the sushi restaurant at terminal two.

Clearly it is more important to some people than others.

George

Totally agree. I view pretty much any occasion in which I have to use a lounge like that a defeat and a failure of planning. The one exception is when arriving in Europe in the am; I do like to take a shower before heading out from the airport. Otherwise . . . not really interested

Ha, unless you’re flying private jet, eventually you’re going to be in situations that require stops and waits in airports - not to mention delays and cancelled flights. You can do it closer to your destination, or you can do it at various hubs. We just flew through Philly, from SF, on the way to Venice. Very nice to be able to access the lounge in Philly to get away from airport crowds, have a drink and a snack. Same on the return through ORD. You’re lucky that you live on the east coast (did I just say that? :wink: ), so you can hop on a plane and be in London or Paris in 8 hours. From the west coast it’s a lot more painful, and the non-stop flights are limited if you are going somewhere other than the biggest major cities.

Thankfully I don’t travel on business any more, but for 20+ years I spent a lot of time in airports.

I never got the whole lounge thing - and used to routinely make fun of a coworker who would go to the airport early so he could go to the lounge and work since he thought it was a big status thing (he thought lots of things were). A few months ago though I had to do a meeting during a flight connection and using the lounge was wonderful - good wifi, good power outlets, quiet enough to be heard and food besides. I’m not about to pay for access but I won’t turn down passes to use lounges in the future.

Wait till you are stuck in an airport for 7 hours due to delays. I can’t tell you how many times the agents in the lounge have saved me countless hours. They truly know what to do when the shit hits the fan. I would pay double what I currently do.

George

This.

Plus I’ll be blunt. The bathrooms are cleaner. There. I said it.

Currently the United business class lounge at SFO is reduced in size while they’re building the new Polaris lounge. I don’t think there is any worse place at SFO than that lounge. It’s stuffed with people like an ORD concourse in the middle of a snowstorm. Last time I flew I walked through it for about 30 seconds and then went to find a seat on the concourse.

When I come home from Asia I do like going to the airport with plenty of time and relaxing in the lounge, particularly the Asiana lounges at Incheon with their massage chairs. The ANA lounge at Haneda is nice too. I think there’s a superlinear relationship between stress and the number of Americans in the lounge.

I never saw the point of lounges until Arnold insisted we spend time at the Cathay Pacific lounge in Hong Kong. Being able to take a shower and relax, charge my devices and have good food (as opposed to what’s served on the plane) and a well mixed drink was not only a very welcome break but a positively enjoyable part of the trip.

I’ve never seen a lounge in the US that compares, including one of the much touted Centurion lounges.