Travel Review: AA Flagship Lounge at Chicago O’Hare - ORD

One of the best parts of having status with a foreign OneWorld or Star Alliance airline is the ability to access AA and United lounges on domestic flights. From 2020-2022 I had Gold Status on TAP Portugal (as a status match from Delta Gold which was extended a year due to the pandemic) which allowed me access to United Lounges on domestic flights when flying United, which was a great perk, especially when flights were dirt cheap due to the pandemic. There were instances I would pay $100 round trip from New York to Chicago and had lounge access on both flights, which would have otherwise required a $495 per year membership fee or $59 per day to access the lounge.

While United allows access to its United Club lounges, it does not grant access to it Polaris Lounges with Star Alliance status. On the other hand, American allows access to its Flagship Lounges for all One World Sapphire and Emerald status holders. This is a serious perk, considering the Flagship Lounges are typically reserved for Flagship First and Flagship Business passengers. While a day pass to access most Admirals Clubs is $59 per day or $550 - $650 per year depending on your status, day passes are available for Flagship Lounges at a whopping $150 per day per person. Admittedly, the Flagship Lounges offer a significantly elevated experience over the standard Admirals Club particularly when it comes to the food and beverages available.

When I had American Platinum Status from 2018-2021, I was able to access the Flagship Lounges on International itineraries, but I was only ever able to actually check out the Flagship Lounge at JFK several times as most of my international itineraries originated in New York even though I was living in Chicago until 2019. I also had the opportunity to check out the Flagship Lounge at LAX when traveling in Transcon Business after upgrading with miles on a flight. While the Flagship Lounge at ORD has been open since September of 2017, it was one of the last Flagship Lounges to reopen after the pandemic closures and did not reopen until April 21st, 2022 after being closed for 2 years.

I recently had the opportunity to check out the lounge at ORD before a domestic flight taking advantage of my Royal Air Maroc Gold status (achieved via status match in March from My Delta Gold Status) which is One World Sapphire and allows access to Admirals Clubs and Flagship Lounges even on all domestic itineraries. Here are some pictures of my visit as well as my thoughts on the lounge.

Upon entering the lounge, all guests are offered a glass of champagne, which is Piper Heidsieck. I was actually pleasantly surprised by this as I do not recall this ever being offered before and from what I remember, the champagne offered in the self serve bar was usually nothing particularly special. At around $35 a bottle retail, this is actually a pretty solid high quality champagne being offered in the lounge. There is also a self serve wine area with a variety of reds and whites along with bottles of Piper Heidsieck.

The self serve beverage options in the lounge were pretty diverse and even included Red Bull, Fiji water and more. There is also a self serve Coca-Cola Freestyle machine.

The buffet selection featured a solid selection of food choices including sushi (which was actually pretty decent considering it was from an AA Lounge). While most Admirals Clubs have brought back hot food selections, they are still lacking and not usually very good.

On offer were nuts, chocolate covered pretzels, smarties, and skittles.

The seating area between the buffet and the main seating area has outlets with USB ports and offers a great view of the tarmac.

Near the buffet there is a seating area with bench seating and ESPN on TV.

The hot section of the buffet featured several warm items and even included a “local” dish, which in this case was Italian Beef. The hot food was just average, but certainly better than the standard Admirals Club fare.

There was a station with infused water as well as iced tea.

The menu offered a pretty solid variety for many different tastes. Overall I tried several of the items and most were pretty good. Nothing was outstanding, but overall it is a significant upgrade over even the best Admirals Club lounges.

A view of the cold buffet, with sushi, salads, cold cuts, and more. I would say the sushi was what actually stood out. It was actually not bad for airline lounge sushi.

The hot buffet was running low at many times throughout my visit, but the selections where pretty good. I will say they certainly are not what they were pre pandemic and were quite a bit more simple.

One of the highlights of the Flagship Lounge is the self serve premium bar. With many different premium liquors on offer, it is a significant upgrade over the Admirals Club Lounges, where the included beverages are limited and typically are typically several tiers down on quality.

Great view from some of the window seating

In the back of the lounge is a TV area, which at the time I visited was completely empty, whereas the lounge itself as about 2/3 full. This would be a great spot to hang out if you had a long connection.

Overall, the AA Flagship Lounge at ORD is a solid business class lounge which is a significant step up from the Admirals Clubs, especially at ORD. If traveling in International Business Class on American or Iberia out of ORD, or hold OneWorld status, I would certainly pick this over many of the the other lounges at ORD. A day pass to the Admirals Club would be sufficient for someone with a few hours to kill, but if you want to enhance your experience and splurge for the Flagship Lounge daypass, I would certainly make sure I have at least a few hours to spend there to make it worth while. I look forward to making it back to the lounge again several times before my status expires in March and I need to search for my next match!