American Airlines Plans A Lounge Upgrade A Month For 3 Years—After A Decade Of Closures And Cutbacks

American Airlines now says they will deliver a new, renovated or expanded lounge nearly every month, on average, over the next two to three years. After watching the airline close clubs, spend money making others look like a modern hospital, and treat Mastercard guacamole as a premium amenity, that’s a huge change. Speaking at Future Travel Experience last week, Chief Customer Officer Heather Garboden also said American is rethinking its Flagship Lounge experience, and she made clear the value proposition: lounges are “an important part of our program and our credit card.” Better lounge experiences help to close the margin gap with Delta and United, and to attract premium customers who will take and spend on its cobrand credit card. National Airport E Concourse Admirals Club The Clubs American Closed The US Airways management team that took over American saw plenty of opportunities to reduce lounge costs. While they did open a new Houston club in 2017, we saw a number of closures – Hartford and Greensboro were even specifically called out by the airline as cost cuts at the time. Airport Closure Buffalo November 2015 San Juan December 2015 Hartford October 15, 2018 Greensboro October 15, 2018 Caracas October 15, 2018 Santiago, Chile 2019 Tokyo Narita March 2020 There were also duplicate club closures at Raleigh-Durham and Washington National in 2014. Closing the old US Airways Club on the C pier was a mistake, leaving too little space for passengers in the overcrowded legacy American lounge. American also later consolidated Boston lounges and closed JFK’s B club in September 2018 to expand Flagship. Caracas wasn’t just about lounge economics. Philadelphia’s A-East club closed when the new A-West lounges opened. A-West should have been Flagship only, with A-East retained as the Admirals Club. Instead, Flagship gets absolutely pecked in the evenings before transatlantic departures. They Spent Money On The Wrong Design American announced a lounge refurbishment program in 2015. It was a terrible result, with institutional lighting and furniture. I’ve often described the aesthetic that debuted at Dallas – Fort Worth A as ‘modern hospital’. The much warmer design that began appearing with Nationala airport’s E concourse in 2022 is genuinely beautiful. Natural wood, better lighting, a fireplace, and different places to sit and work make the space feel welcoming. Denver and Newark followed in 2023. Philadelphia’s A-West Admirals Club and Flagship Lounge opened in May 2025. I can happily spend hours in the National E club. The food hasn’t been Delta’s, but the surroundings are excellent, and a lounge that’s quiet enough to work in can be worth more than a better buffet in a crowded room. They used to tout food improvements where Mastercard funded the guacamole and avocado toast. Now, I wouldn’t call the Admiral’s Club food gourmet and I’ll still complain about serving ‘Sicilian brisket’ in Central Texas along with ‘angry pasta’. But it’s genuinely getting better. Citi Has Moved From Selling The Access To Putting Its Name On The Lounge I covered the addition of Citibank branding to Admirals Clubs in March. American announced an April rollout at Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles and Miami, with more locations planned through the year. Citi gets an airport presence through American’s existing network. American gets a bank with an even greater stake in making those clubs worth visiting. The branding puts Citi’s reputation alongside American’s. And the pricing has been updated, too. In 2023, the Citi Executive card went from a $450 annual fee to $595, and the ability to hand out ten free authorized user cards with lounge access disappeared. Food improvements were promised along with the card refresh and higher club membership prices. On August 23, 2026, the Executive card fee rose to $695 for new applicants, with existing accounts transitioning according to their renewal notices. Membership and unlimited visits remain included, along with guest privileges. Authorized user pricing remains $175 for up to three, then $175 for each additional user. American simultaneously raised a new full Admirals Club membership to $1,200 – $1,400 depending on status. The $750 Single membership excludes guests and partner lounges. Existing members have until October 3 to renew under the previous pricing. Paying Citi $695 gets you more lounge access than paying American $750, and the full membership bought from American can cost twice as much as the card. American has made buying the card the obvious choice for an eligible U.S. customer who wants regular access. That customer can then generate revenue for both companies every time they use it. The refreshed card also adds up to $500 in annual American Airlines Vacations credits, divided into two $250 periods; up to $100 for eligible inflight and club purchases; and two more 10,000 Loyalty Point bonuses at 165,000 and 240,000 qualifying points. Those status bonuses don’t require spending on the card. Citi’s Globe and Strata Elite cards each distribute four club passes a year, too. American can sell more access as it adds capacity. I find clubs accept them even when they have signs out saying they aren’t selling day passes. What’s Open, And What’s Coming The new National, Newark and Denver clubs were a gorgeous design. Philadelphia delivered both an Admirals Club and a Flagship Lounge on May 22, 2025, in a combined space of about 25,000 square feet. Charlotte got the first Provisions grab-and-go location that August. New York’s American – British Airways Chelsea and Soho lounges, which opened in 2022, were another substantial premium investment, although I preferred the old JFK Flagship First Dining to Chelsea. My recent inventory of airline and credit card lounge projects shows how much American now has in development. Here’s the announced American pipeline: Airport Project Timing Los Angeles Reopen Flagship Dining, closed since March 2020. Late 2026. New York JFK 3,700-square-foot Provisions near gates 12–14: hot and cold food, barista coffee and agents. By the end of 2026. Chicago O’Hare New L-concourse Admirals Club exceeding 10,000 square feet. Existing club remains available during construction. Construction announced underway in February; no opening date announced. Washington National Rebuild Concourse D Admirals Club: more than 10,000 square feet and 50% more seats. Work scheduled to begin in early 2026; no reopening date announced. Austin New club exceeding 12,000 square feet, roughly twice the existing space, with American’s first outdoor lounge terrace. State filing targets June 2027 completion; American hasn’t announced an opening date. Nashville New Concourse A club: about 17,430 square feet including terraces and balcony, replacing the current C club. Construction expected to start in 2027; existing club stays open during the work. San Antonio First Admirals Club in the new terminal, identified in airport plans. Airport targets mid-2028 for the terminal; no separate American lounge opening commitment. Miami New Flagship and expanded D30 Admirals Club. Current Flagship becomes Admirals Club space; D15 stays. Nearly doubles the overall lounge footprint. No opening date announced. Charlotte First Flagship Lounge and expanded Admirals Club. No opening date announced. Dallas–Fort Worth 37,000-square-foot Terminal C Admirals Club and Terminal F Provisions. No individual lounge opening dates announced. Austin is finally more concrete than even when I wrote about it last week. The Texas project filing lists a $10 million renovation with a September 2026 start and June 2027 completion. I don’t expect them to hit June, but it gives me confidence in a 2027 opening. Dallas also has premium lounge space in the broader Terminal F plan. We know there’ll be a Provisions. I expect an eventual Admiral’s Club and Flagship lounge. The table represents roughly 13 separate lounges at ten airports. Garboden suggests we’ll see 24-36 over the next 2-3 years. The Food Is Getting Better, Too American’s June lounge changes expanded made-to-order QR-code dining across Flagship Lounges, added food options in Admirals Clubs, and improved offerings such as leaning into their charcuterie presentation more. There are recognizable partnerships with Lavazza and Bollinger, and premium drinks for purchase in Admirals Clubs (that can be paid with a statement credit on the Citi Executive card). I tried the new DFW Flagship dining earlier this month. My made-to-order food arrived in four minutes. The buffet looked better, the charcuterie was staffed so it didn’t turn into a picked-over mess, and the chef action station hadn’t disappeared. Rethinking Flagship Means Deciding Who Gets What Delta was last among the three big U.S. airlines to introduce a separate business class lounge product. I think Delta One lounges now offer the best overall business class lounge experience. American’s new Admirals Clubs can be more attractive than its older Flagship Lounges. I’ve rated Flagship First Dining above Delta One, largely because of exclusivity. You could walk out of a busy airport, through a business class lounge, and into a quiet dining room with excellent food and wine and staff who had time for you. A good meal is much more enjoyable when you aren’t surrounded by hundreds of other passengers. American is reversing that exclusivity. From September 15, Flagship Dining at DFW and Miami opens to American’s qualifying Flagship Business passengers, including long haul international, premium transcontinental and Flagship Hawaii customers. LAX follows when its dining room reopens later this year. Status-based entry to the surrounding Flagship Lounge doesn’t confer restaurant access. That’s a substantial improvement for business class, and it diminishes what made First Dining so special for the much smaller number of people who previously had access (redeeming miles was a fantastic value, including and especially on domestic trips). American is already planning for electronic waitlists. Garboden hasn’t announced a new Flagship access policy or a replacement brand, just that they’re rethinking the product. What could that mean? Dining capacity. Expanding eligibility doesn’t add tables, cooks or servers. More business class seats on the aircraft create more demand on the ground, too. How will they respond? Consistency across hubs. DFW, Miami and eventually LAX have the separate dining rooms. Chicago and Philadelphia don’t have the same setup. The Admiral’s Club should be an expansion of Flagship. Chicago was actually originally designed to offer First Dining. Charlotte’s first Flagship and Miami’s rebuild are opportunities to design for the product American now wants to sell. The reason to pay extra. Flagship Dining helped sell Business Plus. Once dining comes with ordinary qualifying business class, what benefits justify a buy up to a higher fare? Revised eligibility? American follows oneworld guidance for access to its Flagship lounges, making them available to elites flying coach on long haul international and to non-U.S. partner oneworld midtier elites even when flying American or Alaska domestically. They don’t treat dining under standard oneworld access. Could they become more restrictive? The best thing about these lounges, and what kept me engaged even during the dark times, were the agents. The staff in my home Austin club have kept me moving through delays and cancellations for years. New clubs, furniture, and meals give them more to sell. But the agent who welcomes you and fixes your trip is the real reason to stay loyal. Topics on this page