American Airlines Opens Up First Class Lounge Dining To Business Class Passengers, Reopening LAX After 6 Years

American Airlines is re-opening Flagship Dining in Los Angeles later this year. It’s been closed since the start of the pandemic six and a half years ago. Starting September 15, they’re also expanding access to Flagship Dining which is currently open at Dallas – Fort Worth and in Miami, inside of business class Flagship lounges. The feature will be available to Flagship Business customers – basically an itinerary that qualifies for Flagship lounge will also mean access to Flagship Dining. It’s no longer Flagship First Dining. Flagship Dining Dallas – Fort Worth The vision for these lounges is clearly changing. American is eliminating Flagship First Class as they retrofit Boeing 777-300ERs (the only long haul aircraft with first class above business) with new business class suites and replace the Airbus A321T on cross-country routes with the A321XLR which has new business suites and premium economy. Instead of eliminating sit down dining in their Dallas, Miami (and Los Angeles) lounges, they’re opening up access. This gives them a competitor product to what’s offered by United Polaris lounges and Delta One lounges. However, I expect it to mean a step-down in experience. What has been special about Flagship First Dining – what’s made this the single best lounge product in North America, in my view – is that it’s a quiet escape from even the buusiness class lounge, with excellent food and wine. It looks like the food may be moderated a bit. Flagship Dining LAX Flagship Dining DFW This is a strong new strategy for Flagship Dining, it elevates American’s business class ground product to be something more premium, even as it likely degrades the special experience they’ve been offering in First Dining. They have a new Thomas Keller partnership with paired wine (KHK Hillside Cabernet which retails for $125) and chocolate. This cab will also be in Flagship lounges and in the Chelsea lounge at New York JFK (but not Greenwich – the Flagship equivalent there – or the oneworld emerald Soho lounge). Meals, though, aren’t Thomas Keller-branded. Instead the menu is “refreshed” – which was presumably necessary for volume and cost with the new scale they’ll be serving – by “American’s culinary team.” They’ll hae a four-course menu, “showcas[ing] flavors unique to American’s hubs, including, but not limited to:” I expect a Flagship burger – that’s long been standard. The one they used to serve at New York JFK, before that space became a part of the Greenwich lounge there, was incredible. This doesn’t look like nearly the premium or ambitious menu they’ve traditionally offered. While possibly still delicious, we’ll have to see what the rest of it looks like. Given that these dining rooms will become very crowded – the press release even anticipates electronic wait lists for you to join (certainly before evening departures), hopefully they’ll retain the new QR code ordering of menu items in the lounge as well, which is great. Flagship Dining Miami I think this is a smart move, but I personally lament it a bit. These spaces have been truly special, precisely because they’re largely deserted, offering good food and wine and service as a true escape from the airport. And offering access from just 20,000 miles for three people (based on AAdvantage status), inclusive of business class lounge access, I’ve thought it was one of the great secrets in travel. Topics on this page