Just visited AA’s temporary premium lounge at DFW’s Terminal D and I wanted to report back on how it looks. By now if you have flown through DFW Airport you will probably have noticed that the Admiral’s Club in Terminal D as well as the Flagship Dining experience in the lounge is closed for renovation. (You may also have heard about it from my friend Andy’s review)
This will be the case all the way until at least 2019 when they expect to open the new Flagship Lounge (there is an entire FlyerTalk thread discussing the topic). This is a bit of a downer for people connecting through DFW since there is no Flagship Lounge or Centurion Lounge at the airport as of the present moment. However with that being said, the AA Temporary Premium Lounge certainly beats out the Centurion Lounge in my book because it has a lot of space.
The lounge is located across from Gate D36 and you really can’t miss the place because there is an agent standing right in front of the automatic doors leading into the lounge. The lounge is open to first and business class passengers, and Oneworld elite passengers (Emerald or Sapphire) traveling in any class. So I can see this lounge getting crowded nowadays with the Centurion Lounge being closed.
Before we begin, I have to say kudos to American for having such a huge place up and running on a short notice. While it is nothing spectacular, it certainly has more than enough space to spend the time you have before your flight.
Right from the very beginning of the lounge, you can see that AA pretty much brought over all the furniture from the former Admirals Club in Terminal D and laid it out along the walls of this lounge.
Just past the front seating area is an area with AA agents willing to help you with your ticketing needs. On this particular day, it was clear weather all the way through so I am assuming that’s why that lone agent seated there left her perch.
Just past the desks is the buffet area featuring some light and healthy food options including some soups, salads, and quinoa as well as some pita bread alongside some chips and cookies. There was also quite a few boxes of Ramen Noodles lying around, which seemed to be a popular choice of many visitors to the lounge. They were all but gone when I was leaving the lounge. The bar seemed to have some alcoholic beverages, but as usual I didn’t really explore the options there.
If you can’t find seating just keep walking into the lounge past the food and bar area to arrive at even more seating:
There are also a few computers in case you need to print something or need to use a public computer. I only wonder when these will cease to exist just like payphones.
Bottom Line:
This is a lounge with great space, but very few amenities and certainly not what you expect at a “Flagship Lounge.” Given AA’s focus on DFW, which happens to be its biggest market, I don’t understand why it is taking them so long to launch at least a small scale version of the Flagship Lounge inside the temporary one. I honestly don’t spend too much time at airport lounges in DFW, but I can see others looking to it as a chance to get a decent bite to eat and perhaps grab a drink when connecting through. Comes to show really that you should never rely on an airline for quality meals in general. Now is the better time than ever to explore the great range of food options DFW airport offers inside the terminal.
