So, I'm looking at going to Rome from the US. I see some flights on AA.com that say 'Flagship available' on the Business box, but many do not. Many without are AA flights. The AA site says must be 'ticketed as Flagship' to get Flagship lounge access, even if Plat/Pro/ExPlat. Is that not the actual case as long as it is a 77-something going international?

Any longhaul business class on AA is considered "Flagship" regardless of what may appear at aa.com in the search results.

It's terribly confusing the way AA has tried to word the rules and the aa.com inconsistencies makes it worse. Depending on what and how you search sometimes it appears, sometimes it doesn't.

Basically just forget all about the "seats ticketed as Flasghip" nonsense. If you are flying AA metal (or a oneworld partner) to Europe in business class, you get Flagship Lounge access.

So I know flagship says you just need a same-day oneworld flight (with my AS OWE status), and I have a J leaving JFK for that day which will get me into Soho.
But I'm self connecting ORD-JFK, and trying to see if which carrier I fly with matters. Must I fly with AA from ORD-LGA/JFK to get into ORD flagship? Or can I book other carriers and just show/scan my ex-JFK J boarding pass?
TYIA

Show your Soho qualifying BP to the FL agent at ORD and you should be allowed entry. You need not fly with AA from ORD-LGA/JFK to access the Flagship Lounge in ORD, only a One World Airline (although I'm unsure of any other airline that will get you there on that route).

Damn, well only oneworld airline that operates ORD-JFK|LGA direct is AA. I was hoping I could fly on idk B6 or DL or UA for that segment. Ah well. Time to get price scalped.

If you want to guarantee that you get into the ORD Flagship Lounge then you need to book AA for the ORD-NYC segment. It's possible you could get in merely by them scanning your qualifying JFK-XXX boarding pass, but it's also possible they will want to see your ex-ORD boarding pass and not let you in if it's not oneworld.

If other carriers are substantially cheaper than AA then it's really a personal decision of whether you want to pay $X more to access the ORD FL.

I have always shown my qualifying BP and nothing else. Even on separate tickets I have never been asked for departing ticket. YMMV

So I won't find out since I ended up with AA anyways because they were the cheapest for that Sunday. It's a hidden city lol, and I will abuse my status to get same-day confirmed to an earlier ord-jfk flight on Saturday prior :D cancel/ditch 2nd leg when I get to nyc. This route cost like $70 in main back in 2010s smh.

Long lax layover
 

Here is an interesting itinerary that I wonder if I qualify
JFK - Lax in Biz then Lax-OGG in F
Layover in Lax is 17 hrs or so
arrive 12:06am, leave at 525pm technically the same day …

cbrown5294,

Access shouldn't be a problem.
If you're not heading to a hotel, the issue will be that none of the clubs are open until 0430.
Admirals Club is open until 0030 but they probably won't let you in for 20 minutes when they've pretty much cleaned up everything except the self service.

yes actually my home is in La, just doing a stop to repack etc before heading onto Hawaii

I am late to the thread but as a data point at ATL from a few years ago I had no issues scanning my JFK-HEL boarding pass to get in the AC when flying ATL-JFK on a separate ticket on DL.

I recall doing this years ago and was ok but wanted to double check.
flying Lax-Jfk on redeye in Biz
can I use the lounge (Greenwich) on my arrival for a shower and bite ?

Yes for sure you do. And if you haven’t been since FL days be sure to check out the brewery and the bridge. Though not sure they open that early.

Don’t expect a hot shower. 20 degrees less max temp than Chelsea’s awesome hot shower.

oh Chelsea is known for cold showers?! That’s not good lol