If you are flying from Ronald Reagan Airport in Washington DC and happen to be on a oneworld route, your best option for a lounge is the American Airlines Admirals Club Lounge (Concourse E). There are other lounges as well, but they aren’t as nice; take a look at the underwhelming one in concourse C for example. 😴 But even with the best American Airlines has to offer in the capital of the English speaking superpower, I am far from being impressed.
Location
If you walk towards the E gates, you basically cannot miss the American Airlines Admirals Club Concourse E lounge. It is right there on your left indicated by a massive logo. There is no room for doubt – this is the American Airlines flagship lounge at DCA.
Decoration
The American Airlines Admirals Club lounge in the concourse E looks stunning. They have clearly put a whole lot of attention to detail. The lounge feels cozy with the fire place and there are plenty of comfortable seats too.
If you need to make a phone call, you are covered. There are phone booths for some privacy while calling. There is also plenty of helpful staff around to help you with your travel related issues. They clean super regularly too! As soon as you finish eating, they will collect your plate.
Food
The lounge has plenty of options for food for free. There are some warm dishes, a whole lot of vegetables and plenty of sweets to choose from. All in all, you can build a pretty healthy meal with the food options in the lounge.
I must also address the not so nice aspect of the lounge. There are better options for food, but those cost money. And not just a bit! $14 for a salad is quite a rip off price given that typically airport lounges serve everything for free. Imagine the poor business class passengers who have to throw some extra dollars in after paying a hefty price for their business class tickets! This is unacceptable, American Airlines! 😤
Beverages
You can get soft drinks for free, water coffee and tea. A glass of wine is included in the lounge access. That’s about it again. If you fancy anything more, you had better pay. Nobody cares even if you had oneworld emerald status – no money means no service. You might as well dehydrate for all they care. If you do want to burn some dollars, they have a bar with a bartender.
Conclusion
The lounge looks nice and has decent food. What I don’t like is that it is overly commercial. Yeah, I get it, we are in America, capitalism and all that sort of thing, yay. But why would I pay for anything in a lounge? I might as well go to any of the restaurants in the terminal. I think that American Airlines has really shown me what a true low-cost airline lounge would look like. For shame, American, for shame! 😵💫
