American Airlines Flagship Lounge | Los Angeles Airport

American Airlines Flagship Lounge at LAX

The recently renovated American Airlines Flagship Lounge is located in Terminal 4 at Los Angeles International Airport. The lounge can be found about midway up the main corridor about 2 minutes walk after you’ve passed through the TSA Security screening section.

You can access the lounge if you’re travelling First or Business on a qualifying international or transcontinental flight marketed and operated by American or a oneworld® airline. First Class customers can bring one guest in, Business Class customers need to leave their guests outside at the local Dunkin’ Donuts*

*choice of food outlet is up to you, but DD is right next door.

There are two automatic doors, one to enter and one to exit. Pro tip: don’t try and enter the lounge through the ‘exit’ door. You will inevitably stand there waving your arms at the sensor before a kind American man tells you you’re at the the wrong door. You’d look really stupid and people would laugh, and you really don’t want that.

main lounge area with wine bar, buffet, and ceiling grapes

Lounge and services

The flagship lounge uses the same space as the previous Admirals Club lounge but now it’s restricted to customers traveling in First/Business it’s a lot quieter than when I was here last time. The space is divided into a few areas, the main lounge area is around to the left with a large buffet (see below), plus table seating, armchair style seats and a long bench for solo travellers. There were plenty of power points but these were the US 2-pin plug style, not a universal socket, so you’ll need an adaptor if you don’t have a US plug on your device.

The staff were really attentive and consistently cleared plates and glasses from tables, so the place is kept really clean. I was here for around 12 hours (long story, missed a flight, you know) so got to watch the staff going about their duties. Everyone I spoke to was really friendly and polite.

There are 8 showers in the lounge. To use these you can request a key from reception. The showers are spacious and complimentary body wash, shampoos and conditioners are included. The showers are cleaned after each use and I found the whole shower / toilets area to be very well maintained.

The lounge also looks out over one half of the Apron for Terminal 4 so you can watch the American Airlines aircraft coming and going. The automatic blinds are lowered to protect you from the afternoon sun, and raised again in time to watch great sunsets over the airport.

watch the planes, but don’t get carried away and miss your flight

Food and drinks

The main lounge area has a buffet style food service with hot and cold options. There was also a ‘street taco’ station active during the afternoon where you could request a taco of your choosing to be prepared for you. I didn’t do this myself but it looked great, and if my wife was here she would have smashed one of those for sure.

There is a separate ‘wine bar’ with self-serve champagne and wine. Spirits, US and International beers, soft drinks, and sparkling water are also available in the self-serve fridges.

buffet salads

 

hot foods, not many veggie options but what was there looked nice

 

if you ignore Budweiser this is a pretty good selection of beers

 

bonus points for Fever Tree tonic for your G&T

 

Summary

The lounge is a great improvement over the previous incarnation and the food and drink options are great. If you’re transiting through LAX and have time to visit it’s well worth coming here. When you show your boarding pass, if you’re travelling in First/Business on an eligible flight you’ll get a black ‘Flagship’ invitation to come into this lounge.

I’d recommend getting a seat around to the left after you enter, in the main lounge area. There are large departure boards to keep track of your flight whilst you stare out of the window at the planes and enjoy the food and drink options.

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