America Airlines – American Adjusts International Lounge Access Policy
American Airlines is updating its lounge access policy as of April 1, 2021, and for a “limited time.”
As it’s described, this updated policy is intended to “streamline” lounge access. For most people this change will be good news, while for some people it will be bad news (maybe).
American offers Admirals Club access on all international flights
Starting April 1, 2021, the following customers will receive Admirals Club access when traveling on any international itinerary to & from the US, plus flights to & from the US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico:
- Ticketed first class customers
- Ticketed business class customers
- AAdvantage Executive Platinum members
- AAdvantage Platinum Pro members
- AAdvantage Platinum members
The change here is that previously Admirals Club access wasn’t offered on flights to Canada, the Caribbean, and Mexico (except Mexico City). For “short” international flights, access was only offered to Central America and Mexico City.
So this is fantastic news all-around. It means that all international destinations qualify for lounge access, and not just select international destinations.
Why is this change limited time? As a spokesperson explains:
We’d like to keep the update in place during these challenging times for the industry, but we’ll continue to follow CDC guidelines to ensure we are adhering to capacity levels in our lounges.
In other words, it sounds like American wants to keep this policy around, but doesn’t want to promise anything as being permanent, because there may be some capacity issues in the future if all these passengers have lounge access. I can’t imagine how busy the Admirals Club Toronto would be if this policy sticks around.
The one thing I find confusing is why this policy change only kicks in as of April. This coincides with Alaska Airlines joining oneworld, though I’m not necessarily sure why that should matter.
American cuts Flagship Lounge access on some international flights
Starting April 1, 2021, the following customers will no longer receive Flagship Lounge access when traveling to Mexico City and Central America, but rather will be directed to the Admirals Club:
- Ticketed first class customers
- Ticketed business class customers
- AAdvantage Executive Platinum members
- AAdvantage Platinum Pro members
- AAdvantage Platinum members
The Flagship Lounge is American’s premium international lounge, and historically premium cabin passengers and elite members to those destinations received Flagship Lounge access.
As American justifies this change, this is in order to “minimize confusion,” and the airline believes that this “policy will make the travel journey easier to understand for customers.”
Keep in mind that Flagship Lounges aren’t even open at the moment, due to lack of demand. However, it sounds like this cut is permanent.
American is adding Admirals Club access for all international flights
This policy change makes sense and is generally good
As an Executive Platinum member I’m sad to lose Flagship Lounge access to Mexico City and Central America, though logically this change does make sense, and I do believe it eliminates some confusion:
- Now anyone flying in a “Flagship” branded premium cabin will get Flagship Lounge access, while all other international premium travelers will get Admirals Club access
- It never made a whole lot of sense to me that (for example) a ticket to Central America got lounge access, while a ticket to the Caribbean didn’t
- I can’t count the number of people I’ve seen people turned away from lounges over confusion regarding which lounge they had access to
This is also overwhelmingly positive for travelers. The number of people who gain Admirals Club access here greatly exceeds the number of people who will have “downgraded” lounge access.
Flagship Lounge access is being cut for some international travelers
Bottom line
American Airlines has updated its lounge access policy for international travelers. As of April 1, premium passengers and elite members will receive lounge access on all international flights. Those who travel to Canada, the Caribbean, Mexico, etc., will surely appreciate this.
The only downside here is that Flagship Lounge access is being cut for Mexico City and Central America. While I’d rather that not be cut, frankly I think that’s fair enough, especially to avoid confusion as much as possible.
What do you make of this change to American’s lounge access policy?
