I was denied entry into the Chelsea lounge at JFK.

Apologies if this has been asked before. My parents and I purchased paid Flagship Business tickets from LAX-JFK-EZE. 3 weeks before departure, I accepted an offer in the app to upgrade the three of us from Flagship Business to Flagship First on the LAX-JFK leg.

At the Chelsea lounge, the attendant told me that we were not eligible to enter because our Flagship First was an upgrade, and access was only allowed for paid Flagship First. That didn’t seem right, but she checked with her manager. The manager said she’d give us a one-time courtesy to enter the Soho lounge instead of Greenwich.

I have been confused about the lounge access rules, but when I read the rules on AA.com, it seems to suggest that I just need to be “traveling” in Flagship First Transcontinental. There’s another section that says flights that are “ticketed” in Flagship First are eligible. I don’t know what “ticketed” means in this context, but it still seems like we should’ve gotten in.

What do you all think? It’s of course too late for us to get in, but it seems like I might have missed out on a benefit that I was very excited to share with my family.