Read more from this trip – Christmas in Argentina:

• American Airlines Admirals Club LaGuardia Airport LGA
• American Airlines First Class LGA-DFW
• American Airlines Flagship Lounge DFW
• American Airlines Premium Economy Class DFW-EZE
• Park Hyatt Buenos Aires
• Park Hyatt Mendoza
• Casa De Uco Vineyards & Wine Resort
• American Airlines Admirals Club Guarulhos International Airport GRU
• LATAM VIP Lounge Guarulhos International Airport GRU
• American Airlines Business Class GRU-JFK

Introduction

Lounge Visit Details:

• Date visited: December 25, 2019
• Where: JFK – John F. Kennedy International Airport, Terminal 8
• Class: Business Class Lounge

The Dallas DFW Flagship Lounge is American’s newest lounge having just opened in May 2019. I was excited to compare this lounge to the New York Flagship Lounge, which I’ve been to numerous times. American Airlines is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas so I had high expectations of this location.

Access

American Airlines Flagship lounge has some of the most complicated access rules. Here’s a detailed breakdown:

Category	Primary passenger	Guests
Concierge Key Members	Members traveling the same day on any flight marketed and operated by American or a Oneworld airline regardless of cabin.	Immediate family (spouse, domestic partner and/or children under 18) or up to 2 guests
First or Business Class passengers	Passengers on a qualifying international¹ or transcontinental² flight (JFK-LAX, JFK-SFO) marketed and operated by American or a Oneworld airline	First Class passengers: 1 guest (children over 2 count as a guest), Business Class passengers: none
AAdvantage Executive Platinum, Platinum Pro and Platinum members	Members regardless of cabin on a qualifying international¹ itinerary	1 guest (children over 2 count as a guest)
Oneworld Emerald or Sapphire members	Members departing on or connecting to any flight marketed and operated by American or Oneworld airline regardless of cabin	1 guest (children over 2 count as a guest)

¹Qualifying international flights include flights from the U.S. to Asia, Australia, Central America, Europe, Mexico City (MEX), New Zealand or South America
²Qualifying transcontinental flights include 3-class nonstop flights between: New York (JFK) and Los Angeles (LAX), JFK and San Francisco (SFO), LAX and Boston (BOS) – traveling on A321T aircraft only, LAX and Miami (MIA) – traveling on Boeing 777-300 aircraft only

Hours / Location

The Flagship lounge is open daily from 5:00am – 10:15pm. It’s located in Terminal D between gates D21 and D22. Terminal D is used by Oneworld alliance carriers for most of their long haul flights including American, British Airways, Japan Airlines, Qantas, and Qatar.

The location of the Flagship Lounge really wasn’t convenient for my itinerary. My flight from New York landed at Terminal C and my onward flight to Buenos Aires left from Terminal A. Why go to the lounge in Terminal D you ask? I’ll tell you: Giraffes love new Flagship Lounges and wouldn’t be caught dead in the Terminal A Admirals Club. Thanks to the airside Airtrain I was able to visit the lounge without budgeting in too much extra time.

When you enter through the sliding glass doors you’ll find a seating area before the check-in desks.

Seating

The Dallas Flagship Lounge is fairly large measuring 23,130 square feet. It has a seating capacity for 350 people or giraffes. There’s plenty of seating in a variety of configurations suitable for solo travelers, couples and groups.

After proceeding through the check-in area you’ll find 2 red leather swivel chairs facing the departures screens. If you’re the nervous type of flyer who likes to constantly check the departures screens these seats are for you.

The lounge is long and narrow. Along the window you’ll find seats arranged in blocks of four. Opposite this seating area are pairs of chairs facing each other.

If you’re traveling alone and want to enjoy tarmac views while getting some work done you should head to the long table seating. Each of the seats has access to power ports.

Some of my favorite seating in the lounge is the high back chairs. The chairs are extremely comfortable, offer a good amount of privacy and each seat has individual power ports.

Towards the back of the lounge you’ll find a television lounge with three LCD TVs. During my visit the only options were cars or sports so I moved on. Why can’t they play some National Geographic?

If you’re a sleepy giraffe head to the Quiet Room for a snooze.

In the Quiet Room you’ll find grey leather upholstered chaise lounge chairs with individual power ports. The room may be quiet, but it certainly isn’t dark. If you plan on taking a nap make sure you bring a sleep mask and don’t forget to set an alarm.

Food and Beverage

The iconic champagne bar that I’ve grown accustomed to in the New York Flagship Lounge is front and center in Dallas as well. I love the ultra modern chandeliers above the champagne bar.

I was thoroughly disappointed with food options at the Dallas Flagship Lounge. Several of the hot food items were empty including all of the protein options. I arrived 3-hours before closing time so I assumed the lounge attendants would replenish the hot food items during my visit, but that didn’t happen. Not pictured is a roast beef carving station that was closing when I arrived.

It was Christmas so perhaps they were running off a modified food service schedule? I’ll provide an overview of what was available. They had:

• Roasted sweet potatoes

• A child’s size portion of asparagus

• Sharp cheddar scalloped potatoes

• Cabbage and corn salad

The sweet treats looked marginally better. They had chocolate fudge and peanut butter fudge brownies. Judging by the quantity left they were very popular.

In one of the glass doored beverage refrigerators they had Perrier sparkling water and JUST boxed water, which is natural still spring water that comes from Glens Falls, NY.

Pro tip: Grab a box of water on the way out of the lounge and drink it on the way to the gate. It’s important to stay hydrated when traveling on long haul flights.

In stark comparison to the food, the hard liquor selection is phenomenal. They have multiple options for top shelf gin, tequila, vodka and whisky at a self serve bar.

If you’re more of a wine drinker there are some solid options including Condado de Haza, Ribera del Duero – 2015 ($22 per bottle), Seabold Cellars Pinot Noir ($35 per bottle), Editorial Cabernet Sauvignon ($55 per bottle), Lorenza Rosé ($21 per bottle) and Château de l’Escarelle Rosé ($22 per bottle).

The Dallas Flagship Lounge is currently serving Bernard Lonclas Selection Brut champagne ($35 per bottle). I personally didn’t like this, but a lot of others seemed to enjoy it.

Passengers traveling in Flagship First Class have access to American’s Flagship Dining facility within the Flagship Lounge. Sadly I didn’t have access. I could only dream of the rich and famous giraffes behind the door drinking Krug.

After lounging around for a bit and charging my phone it was time to head to make my way to Terminal A.

Overall Verdict

First Class Giraffe Approved

The lovely brand new facilities and impressive beverage selection make this lounge worth a visit. The food service was abysmal and disappointing, but I’ll give American a pass due to the holiday. I’ll have to come back to the DFW Flagship Lounge on a normal day and re-review the buffet. If I’m a lucky giraffe I may even be able to review Flagship Dining.