American Airlines Admirals Club and Flagship lounges - DFW & CLT

[smckay]

I’m currently in the US on a jaunt and have hit a few lounges in the AA network.
First was the admirals club at DFW, terminal C.
Entry was fine, nearly a little bit a glitch but then she saw Emerald on the boarding pass and I was in.
This is a big lounge but not spacious of seating. Plenty of space between seats but that has reduced the actual seat count.
I didn’t get pics (but have a heap of video).
2 food stations serving up chicken with non-soggy green beans, humus, crackers and lettuce leaves.
The bar was small and busy, and you were obliged to hand over a dollar bill for each drink.
Next up was the Admirals Club in CLT, Terminal B. The check in lady suggested this over the D terminal, and my new besties at the bar confirmed this being the better lounge as it was smaller and not crowded.
Gaining access was easy, no awkward pauses this time.
Kimberley was running the the bar and she was efficient and friendly.
In this lounge, only select drinks were on the house, everything else was charge. Beer choices were Miller Lite and a local IPA. Wine was an Aussie Chardonnay Semillion. The red had the same name but I couldn’t see the origin.
Bourbon, gin, vodka all included, some random ‘bubbles’ and if you wanted piper you got your card out.
Food was limited; same chicken bean combo, humus, crackers, cheese.
2 cake choices.
Views over the tarmac with long bench‘s. LOTS of power points, even at the bar (QF! Please take note)
They had a limited food menu, I saw sandwiches and toasted tortilla.
Comparing to a QF domestic club it was much better and even probably surpassed the Sydney J lounge for ambience, age and facilities.

American makes you pay for lounge access so it was interesting talking to a FF at the bar who was complaining about how many points needed to access and how it increased yearly. I suppose this is one good benefit of the Australian FF schemes.

 

[Lynda2475]

As you are WP you could have accessed the much nicer Flagship First Lounge at DFW. I always head there allowing 15 mins to get train back to other terminal if needed.

 

[Princess Fiona]

As you are WP you could have accessed the much nicer Flagship First Lounge at DFW. I always head there allowing 15 mins to get train back to other terminal if needed.

I would agree
Flagship Terminal D unless you are on a very short connection elsewhere.

 

[smckay]

Ahh see I was on a 2 hour turn around for a CLT flight.
Today, I had a DFW-YVR and hit up the Flagship First lounge. Review to follow

 

[smckay]

Final US leg of my jaunt was DFW-YVR.
A lesson was learnt yesterday - my bags were tagged through from CLT to YVR, even though it was an overnight connection in DFW. I queried the check in lady about it and got the impression that the bags would come out at DFW and all I needed to do was a bag drop the next day as I had boarding passes.
Wrong. Bags stopped in DFW and sat ‘downstairs’ waiting to be loaded onto the flight the next day. Rookie mistake made - I didn’t pack spare clothes, Bose headphones or chargers. The kid at the luggage desk basically handed me a pack and said I’m sorry for the inconvenience. Pretty sure I was more sorrier, I'd been out in 80 degree heat all day, covered in sunscreen and a throbbing headache (I didn’t pack headache pills in my carry on for fear of the security wanting to investigate). And when I was finally reunited with them I find that some undesirable has rustled through a carton with some car parts, presumably looking for easy pawn shop stuff. Dammit.
But I digress. 7am th next morning at the airport for a 9.30am departure and I went off to the Flagship lounge. Entry was super easy, scanned the boarding pass and I was in.
As noted above, this is a much nicer lounge in size and facilities. I particularly liked the omelet station where you custom-ordered an omelet. Real coffee with real beans extracted in front of you, a wall full of booze of every type, yet strangely the beer fridge was locked or Old Mate who tried to open it didn’t know the process.
3 each red and white wines, including a white from NZ and multiple bottles of Piper champagne (is there a better sound than POP!)
The food buffet was a bit limited but had the staples of real scrambled eggs which were still moist, bacon cooked to within 3mm of life, pastries and fruit.

Water choice was a carton and San Pellegrino, there were bagels and cream cheese.
Plenty of seats, spaced nicely apart. The long bench facing the tarmac is a good way to watch and charge devices as they have USB points in abundance.

The washrooms were neat and tidy and nicely finished.

My gate was B12 so it was less than 10 minutes via the skytrain to the gate and I arrived just as Group 2 were called.

If you have the access then it is a much better choice than the Admirals Club. As this was only my first time at DFW as WP I probably should have wised up for the incoming flight from Sydney, but I don’t feel I missed anything by not coming here.

 

[Princess Fiona]

Final US leg of my jaunt was DFW-YVR.
A lesson was learnt yesterday - my bags were tagged through from CLT to YVR, even though it was an overnight connection in DFW. I queried the check in lady about it and got the impression that the bags would come out at DFW and all I needed to do was a bag drop the next day as I had boarding passes.
Wrong. Bags stopped in DFW and sat ‘downstairs’ waiting to be loaded onto the flight the next day. Rookie mistake made - I didn’t pack spare clothes, Bose headphones or chargers. The kid at the luggage desk basically handed me a pack and said I’m sorry for the inconvenience. Pretty sure I was more sorrier, I'd been out in 80 degree heat all day, covered in sunscreen and a throbbing headache (I didn’t pack headache pills in my carry on for fear of the security wanting to investigate). And when I was finally reunited with them I find that some undesirable has rustled through a carton with some car parts, presumably looking for easy pawn shop stuff. Dammit.
But I digress. 7am th next morning at the airport for a 9.30am departure and I went off to the Flagship lounge. Entry was super easy, scanned the boarding pass and I was in.
As noted above, this is a much nicer lounge in size and facilities. I particularly liked the omelet station where you custom-ordered an omelet. Real coffee with real beans extracted in front of you, a wall full of booze of every type, yet strangely the beer fridge was locked or Old Mate who tried to open it didn’t know the process.
3 each red and white wines, including a white from NZ and multiple bottles of Piper champagne (is there a better sound than POP!)
The food buffet was a bit limited but had the staples of real scrambled eggs which were still moist, bacon cooked to within 3mm of life, pastries and fruit.

Water choice was a carton and San Pellegrino, there were bagels and cream cheese.
Plenty of seats, spaced nicely apart. The long bench facing the tarmac is a good way to watch and charge devices as they have USB points in abundance.

The washrooms were neat and tidy and nicely finished.

My gate was B12 so it was less than 10 minutes via the skytrain to the gate and I arrived just as Group 2 were called.

If you have the access then it is a much better choice than the Admirals Club. As this was only my first time at DFW as WP I probably should have wised up for the incoming flight from Sydney, but I don’t feel I missed anything by not coming here.

I think you missed a lot. There is no real comparison between the AA clubs at DFW and the Flagship lounge.

Good that you got here though

 

[DC3]

Final US leg of my jaunt was DFW-YVR.
A lesson was learnt yesterday ….

There’s an old lesson . It’s about keeping the important stuff with you, and not placing in checked luggage. We can never be sure when we will see the checked luggage again.

 

[DC3]

I find that some undesirable has rustled through a carton with some car parts, presumably looking for easy pawn shop stuff. Dammit.

‘Car parts’ may have looked I bit suspicious on the x-ray. Good that someone took a closer look at that. You probably had a note in your bag from the TSA?

 

[smckay]

My wife chided me on that point, but I was tired and had a headache. Won’t do it again.
No note from the TSA and the carton had been ripped open. They are only exhaust extractors for an old Mustang which could have looked funny on an X-ray. I put some luggage straps around the box, so anyone official would have undone them and not left a flap hanging out.
I’m pretty sure someone saw an easy box, ripped it open, found some steel tubes, dirty washing and some magazines and decided not worth anything.

 

[Himeno]

‘Car parts’ may have looked I bit suspicious on the x-ray. Good that someone took a closer look at that. You probably had a note in your bag from the TSA?

TSA often won't leave their little "your bag has been searched" notes, especially when they've broken something. No note, and they can blame any damage/missing stuff on the baggage handlers.

 

[smckay]

TSA often won't leave their little "your bag has been searched" notes, especially when they've broken something. No note, and they can blame any damage/missing stuff on the baggage handlers.

That would make sense. being a cardboard box, they had pulled out the side flap and had a good rustle. It wasn’t like I packed it.
Also my suitcase looked like it had been tumbled around. All my neat packing had been undone and things were all over the place. Hate to think how they get handled.
Maybe it got rustled too as it sat there for 10 odd hours.