Lounge Review: American Airlines Flagship Lounge Chicago O’Hare Airport (ORD)

The AA ORD Flagship Lounge is a decent domestic lounge for US lounges: there’s some food and drinks, there’s usually a place to sit, the wifi is usable, and there are electrical outlets. But this lounge is clearly not up to par for international first class, or much less international business class lounges. I feel sorry for the JAL passengers who are used to the awesome JAL lounges in Japan and then get this lounge flying out of ORD.

The lounge is located near K19, which is near the end of the terminal.

My favorite place to sit in this lounge is in the former smoking room that’s now a quiet room. Even when the rest of the lounge is a little bit more crowded, this room usually doesn’t have many people in it, perhaps because you have to open a door to get inside.

There are a variety of food options, although nothing is terribly appealing. There’s usually fruit and vegetables, soup, cheese, crackers, desserts, and other appropriate items depending on the time of day (e.g. breakfast foods in the morning). When the JAL flights are departing, there will usually be some sushi, although I would not trust it. I really don’t understand when people get excited about lounge sushi in the US (people seem to love the lounge sushi in the United First Class Lounge at SFO, but it’s really not good…).

There’s an extensive self-serve alcohol selection, but I really don’t know anything about alcohol, so I can’t tell you how good or bad it is. I just know that there are a lot of bottles.

One small pet peeve about this lounge is that there are no showers. If you want to take a shower, you need to go to the regular Admirals Club. The closest one is at the intersection of the H and K gates.

Overall, there’s not too much remarkable about the lounge. The lounge agents are generally very friendly and helpful, but the lounge itself is a little tired-looking, and the amenities on offer are sparse compared to non-US international first class lounges.