77W_12A

I will be travelling to SJO in 3 weeks. Is there an Admiral's Club or a oneworld lounge at SjO?

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MODERATOR'S NOTE

There is NO Admirals Club and NO oneworld Lounge at SJO / San José, Costa Rica.

The VIP Lounge is an IB Contract Lounge only (no oneworld access benefits), but day access can be purchased. See JDiver's post #37 for current (31 Jan 2012) information.


For information on the SJC / San José, California Admirals Club, NOW CLOSED, see:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...17-2010-a.html

dstan
AA Forum Co-Moderator

rpmkwpw

Neither.

(extra characters because of minimum post length)

kersie

Has this changed or is this information still acurate? I didn't see a location on American's website but wanted to confirm as I am trying to decide whether it's worth getting a first class ticket (with lounge access on the SJO side much more important to me than on the JFK side).

Thanks!

pauleeepaul

Many Latin America airports have independent lounges that are open to J/F travellers (ie SPS.) AA also has lounge-like facilities in LA airports that are not ACs, and would not be mistaken for ACs, but provide some degree of privacy and civilization (ie POP.) Although I have been to SJO I don't know the answer to your question, but a quick review of prioritypass.com indicates they have a lounge affiliation in SJO- so joining them for ~$300 for a year may be a better investment than the F ticket surcharge. Enjoy the pura vida.

ricktoronto

If SJO is like MGA there is an airport run lounge (free for COPA and TACA) 1st class, discounted for some local Visa cardholders, that charges US$35 for a separate security entrance, three drinks and a plate of sandwiches and they do the checkin, boarding passes and luggage.

Apparently you can arrange arrival for the same price, clearing you though immigration and customs and getting your bags. The arrivals at MGA are so fast there is no point using that service but the departure lounge is great.

SJO probably has a variation on that. Check with a local or the airport web site or see if there is a COPA or TACA lounge on their sites, called Sala VIP or similar.

There is also a super VIP arrival facility for diplomats and people like Juanes and Paulina Rubio that is not for payment. I guess it is arranged by promoters etc.

JDiver

TACA does not operate a TACA Salón VIP at Aeropuerto Internacional Juan Santamaria, San José, Costa Rica; you can see a list of TACA lounges here.

COPA has a shared Presidents Club with CO at its hub at PTY.

Priority Pass seems to be the ONLY place / company that claims a lounge access at SJO - a search with Google et al in English and Spanish reveals nada. You could always ask there "Hay salón VIP?" (eye sol-LOAN veh ee peh? is fairly close for Inglitch speakers...)

snorkmaster

While I did not tajke advantage of the ounge when we were at SJO in August, I did notice a "Salon VIP" on the lower level -- its access is right by the "food court."

I do not remember the exact details and couldn't find anything online in a quick search, but I do recall the setup being similar to what ricktoronto mentioned for MGA -- I believe it was $25-35 with drinks and hot entrees included.

The website of the airport operator isn't working properly for me, but I imagine it has some details about the lounge too.

Unless you're fixin' for US franchises, the dining and entertainment options (other than free wireless) are pretty non-inspiring at SJO, so the lounge might be a good investment if you've got some extra time.

ricktoronto

Remember that they usually want reservations in advance (MGA does) so ask for the number on arrival or check the phone book under the airport authority and there should be a listing.

JDiver

For definitive information about a local lounge, since there seem to be largely guesses here, I'd actually recommend inquiring on arrival at SJO (perhaps at the AA or TACA counters if they aren't populated with queue-standers.) Latin American telephone books are often not so easy to figure out - and they will vary by location.

Ticos are very helpful - it's likely one will actually walk you to the VIP lounge. The only problem is that the frequent Latin lack of tolerance for directness might have someone walking you around the airport terminal buiding without any real idea of where the sala / salón VIP is.

kersie

Thanks all for the suggestions. I'm definitely going to look into these non-branded lounges, and I'm thinking I'll save my miles and stick with a coach seat (which I was happy to see open up on the same flights that previously I'd only been able to get first class on -- 30K miles for an otherwise $650 ticket seems like a great deal to me!).

BenjaminNYC

There's a lounge on the basement floor. The stairs are near the food court. I think it's about $35 to get in. They have wi-fi (which didn't work) free food and PAY FOR cocktails. IIRC, no F/J boarding pass will get you in.

col747uk

Can anyone give me details of what the Admirals Club at San Jose airport is like as if it not so good then will not arrive early. Planning on taking AA988 in Business Class to MIA.

cynicAAl

there is no AC in SJO. Not even a OneWorld lounge you get comp access to. There is a lounge on the lower level near the smoking lounge, but this is open to anyone who pays the $ 24 (I think) access fee. It's comparable to a smaller AC.

brp

Or the AC listing on AA.com, apparently.

Cheers.

shadesofgrey1x

Are there any Oneworld lounges in SJO, that I can access as an AA Plat?

The OW site indicates one but it is listed as 3rd party. Has anyone had experience with access to this lounge using either Plat privs on INTL Biz privs.

The other one listed is the SJC one being listed for AA since the OW site does not distinguish between SJC and SJO.