Trip Report & Review – American Airlines Flagship Lounge LAX Terminal 4

by Adam

I purposely redeemed with American for my return flight from Maui (OGG) to New York so that I could fly in first on one of their new Airbus A321 transcontinental flights from LAX to JFK (see – Disappointing American First Class Experience on the A321 LAX-JFK). The first class flight also granted me access to the AA Flagship Lounge at LAX located in Terminal 4.

This is part four of a five part trip report from my recent travels to Maui.

The lounge is located across from gate 40 and shares an entrance with the Admirals Club. Once your credentials are checked, you are given a special keycard to access the Flagship Lounge. Flagship Lounge access is granted if you are:

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Through the Flagship doors…

There’s another desk staffed with agents, though you won’t need to show your boarding pass again.

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The lounge was absolutely empty at 9PM at night.  There was a family of four and 3 single travelers, that was it.  Plenty of seating everywhere!

Seating was comfortable and there were many different seat choices to choose from, though I found them (and the lounge overall) to be a little reminiscent of the ’90s and a bit stodgy. It surely didn’t have a new and modern feel to it.

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Hot food choices included grilled chicken with dried cherries, olives, & chiles, teriyaki sesame roasted salmon, rice, vegetables, mashed potatoes, and a vegetable soup.

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Cold choices and desserts included quinoa, mixed greens, deli meat, cheeses, and sandwiches (lemon tuna salad / sun-dried tomato baby kale ricotta / Moroccan spiced chicken salad).
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The grab-and-go snack area included fruit, Kashi and Nature Valley bars, and Milano cookies.

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My dinner…

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There’s also a top-shelf bar and a variety of soda and juices to choose from…

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Showers and workstations are also available in the Flagship Lounge

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These massage chairs also reminded me of the ’90s hah!

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The lounge officially closes at 11:15PM, but the staff started shutting down around 10:45PM. I was asked how many drink coupons I wanted for the regular Admirals Club where I would need to relocate as they would remain open until 12:30AM.

Overall, the lounge was definitely nicer than a standard Admirals Club and I appreciated the hot chicken and salmon dishes. However, I think the fairest comparison in terms of offerings would be to an international carrier’s business class lounge (though that’s being generous with the food). This lounge just feels old (standard outlets, no USB chargers, ancient fax machines) and it certainly doesn’t give off the more modern feel of Delta’s newish LAX SkyClub offering (see – Trip Report & Review – Delta’s Updated LAX Sky Club).

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4 comments

Trip Report United Non-Stop Newark (EWR) - Honolulu (HNL) First Class February 6, 2016 - 4:14 pm

[…] American Airlines Flagship Lounge – LAX Terminal 4 […]

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Boraxo February 6, 2016 - 11:17 pm

Mediocre food choices -doesn’t hold a candle to Lufthansa, Emirates, Singapore regular business class lounges, much less F lounges. Top shelf liquor is about the only real perk.

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Moritz February 7, 2016 - 2:54 am

The view actually looks quite adorable and the food spread is absolutely decent for an US lounge. Nevertheless and with the connector being finished between TBIT and T4, I’d surely prefer the Qantas First Lounge. Nevertheless, I’ll give both lounges a try when connecting via LAX in just a few weeks (always a pleasure when you are OW Emerald) šŸ™‚

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American's Admirals Club Renovations Underway - Point Me to the Plane February 13, 2016 - 5:12 pm

[…] a less than impressive visit to theĀ American Airlines Flagship Lounge at LAX, I was curious to see if there were plans for any systemwide Admirals Club renovations. Admittedly, […]

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