Before our flight out to Amsterdam on British Airways, we had a choice of lounges at Terminal D in DFW between the BA Lounge, American Airlines Flagship Lounge, AMEX Centurion, and CapitalOne Lounge. Coming out of security, the Centurion Lounge was a no go right off the bat. There was already a huge line out front and well even if we got in, there was no guarantee of space.
I’ve been to the BA lounge before at DFW. It can be crowded and there isn’t much comfortable seating there to just hangout. I actually just prefer the terminal over this lounge. So that brings us to the Flagship Lounge vs the CapitalOne lounge. Luckily both are located adjacent to each other at DFW so we could clearly see which one appeared more crowded as we got out of the lift.
On this particular Friday, it turned out that the Flagship Lounge was the more crowded (as far as I could see). In fact some passengers were confused as to where the four of us were headed and followed us to enquire about how to get into the CapitalOne Lounge. If it wasn’t clear both are located at D22 right across from each other on the 5th floor. Access is via the elevators.
Access Policy:
- VentureX Cardholders get unlimited access + 2 guests
- Venture Cardholders get access 2x per year
- SparkMiles Cardholders get access 2x per year
- For others: it’s $65 per person per visit.
My Card Recommendation at the Moment:
At the moment I would avoid getting the VentureX card and go for the Venture card which has a $95 annual fee and a great sign on bonus of 75,000 miles for $4k in spending. Venture X had a great intro offer with 100k sign on bonus and a $200 Airbnb credit, but that is no longer the case. I would get the Venture X as of now only if you frequent DFW like every week.
How we gained access:
My dad and I used our Venture X cards for access. It is my go to card for anything outside of bonus category (dining, grocery stores, and travel) spending. If you would like to use my link to sign up here it is. There is an annual fee of $395 which can be easily offset by the travel credit of $300 (usage on CapOne portal for hotels/flights) and a $100 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck
My Review
So I won’t go down into the weeds with my review since there have been numerous articles about the lounge from my boardingarea colleagues and they can be found here, here, here, and frankly everywhere. My buddy Andy Luten took some more professional shots than I did of the lounge as it first opened in 2021 so go look at his article for those stunning images.
Seating:
When I first arrived around 4pm, there was a decent amount of space available in the dining area of the lounge. Though all seating along the windows was taken. When it was time to board my flight at around 6, all seats in the lounge were taken, but there was nobody standing yet….. So it was definitely filling up fast as the evening departure bank approached. Also, there was an ant problem in the dining area where we were seated so we ended up switching tables twice. I guess someone spilled something sweet?
Dining Options:
There is some great food on offer and the honey baklava is truly as great as Andy and other bloggers make it out to be. Again sorry for the presentation, but it was pretty packed in the lounge by the time they reset the food.
When I arrived at 4 pm, many of the items were empty (nothing much to photograph) and it took them about an hour to refill. So take from that what you will.
Take-away Options
There are some decent grab and go options if you want to take some healthy snacks, sandwiches, and drinks for the flight. This is definitely great as airport food can sometimes be painful to pay for given its quality.
Vegetarian Friendliness:
The AMEX Centurion Lounges at the moment have more “filling” meal options for vegetarians in their buffet. The choices here are mostly cakes and pastries aside from the take-away fruit and sandwich options.
The Bar:
The bar is great and has some awesome mocktails and cocktails. They did seem a bit understaffed for this particular evening because getting a Diet Coke took longer than I would’ve liked. They do have root beer and some other drinks available through a fountain.
Views:
There are some great views of the operations at DFW and Terminal D. So it’s not socked in like the AMEX Centurion Lounge is at the moment.
Wellness
There are some Peloton bikes in the back and they weren’t occupied at all while I was there. Yoga mats and weights are also available. There’s a dedicated multi-faith room if you need it and there are some sleep pods.
Showers & Restrooms
Showers are available on request and restrooms are located at the center of the lounge.
Work:
Wi-Fi was fairly fast and power outlets were super abundant, though I would like to see more USB-C now rather than USB-A.
Overcrowding:
The cheaper annual fee for Venture X over AMEX Platinum will attract more guests. As I was leaving, there were no seats left aside from the bar.
Comparison to other lounges in the U.S
Best lounge in the U.S outside of the United Polaris Lounges is my opinion. I haven’t been to the AA JFK Flagship or the MIA or LAX ones so take that statement for what it’s worth.
Bottom Line
CapitalOne operates a great lounge at DFW. It checks off all the boxes of what one would want at a lounge including showers, food, seating, and taxiway views. Is it superior to the Centurion Lounge? No doubt. Will it suffer the same overcrowding issues? Very likely and very soon. Staffing is probably the problem they will run into first because it didn’t feel like there enough there in case the bar gets truly filled up. And of course they may run out of seating soon as the number of cardholders grow.
At this point DFW Airport probably needs one of the lounges to cover an entire upper floor of Terminal D or A like the Emirates Lounge in Dubai. Enjoy the lounge now while you still can folks!
What are you thoughts on the lounge so far? When is it the busiest?
Trip Report Index: The Tulips of Holland & the Heat of India
Introduction: How everything was planned/booked
Capital One Lounge DFW Terminal D
British Airways Club World/Europe (DFW-LHR-AMS)
Hyatt Regency Amsterdam
Our trip to Keukenhof – The Garden of Europe
Our Marriott Homes and Villas Experience (Bruges, Belgium)
Residence Inn Ghent
The Westin Mindspace – Hyderabad
The Taj Bangalore
Etihad Business Class (AMS-AUH-HYD)
Air France Economy (BLR-CDG-DFW)
Nice review! I’m looking forward to giving the lounge a try next month with a 2.5-hour layover.
Enjoy the lounge. It’s still fairly quiet on most days from what I heard.
Better than a Virgin Clubhouse? You must be joking. It’s a solid lounge but doesn’t even compare to a Virgin Clubhouse, even with Plaza Premium (unfortunately) managing the place. I’m not even sure it compares to the Centurion Lounge at JFK.
Oh yeah that’s true Virgin Clubhouse at JFK is probably better. I forgot about that one. Centurion lounges are way too crowded at every airport, but if they weren’t I would agree that those lounges are nicer.
I’ve visited the Capital One lounge twice and agree that it gets crowded at times. The food runs out quickly but with enough of the frozen Irish coffee, you won’t mind. They refill the food as fast as possible from what I’ve seen..
Where I disagree is the Venture X is easily better then the Venture. .$95 a year for Venture with no real perks .$395 for Venture X with yearly travel credits of $300 and a $100 annual bonus. Add that to global entry reimbursement $100, Presidents circle Hertz (which others will match), Priority Pass access at tons of lounges and concierge service and you look just silly to not get an X and cancel your other card.
For the average person that doesn’t travel much, the Venture X card isn’t the best bang for your buck at the moment. Especially with the regular Venture card having a great sign up bonus. I have an update on the lounge from a recent visit: it’s just as crowded as the Centurion, if not more. The food was out throughout my hour long stay and the only seat available was on the Peloton (I didn’t mind just saying). Of course the saving grace was the take out food. The grilled veggie sandwich was on point.