SOBE ER DOC

I would not hold my breath on AA adding many lounges in the US. Pre-merger they closed MCI and post-merger they closed BUF...which was always busy when I was there.

I would not be surprised to see AA prune a few more from the network including GSO and PIT.

HofstraJet

I was quite surprised when I was at GSO and saw an AC. Understandable why it exists, but I agree that if/when the lease runs out, I can see them closing it. With LUS, it was in their backyard so it made sense. Less now post-merger.

50ae

I live in Dallas and this doesn't bug me. I always get dropped off at D and use the Centurion anyway but even if you only have AC the train is only 10 minutes to your gate so it's not a big hassle.

aztimm

I'm always surprised to see non-hub airports that do have a lounge. I always thought the point of a lounge was to have a place to get away between flights, which generally won't happen except at a hub.

The first time I flew to Austin, I was really shocked to see not only an AA lounge, but also a UA one.
The few times I've been in the AA lounge at AUS (before going elsewhere to connect for an international flight) it has always been rather dead. I've chatted with the lounge staff and they said it is like that all the time--except for a few hours before the afternoon BA flight to LHR, then it gets crazy.

As for LAS, HP and then briefly US, had a lounge there. But it was prior to security. The staff there were always very nice and friendly.
I'm not sure if it is still there, but I've used a gym (I think 24 Hour Fitness) before flights a few times, which made a great way to pass time waiting. It was also prior to security

Often1

The issue is not how many flights --- or more properly passengers --- but projections as to how many will purchase or earn membership coupled with the cost & availability of space.

I do suspect that the sell for getting people to pay is focused largely on use of hubs. With no checked bags, OLCI, Pre-Check and a low boarding group, there is no particular reason to arrive at a departure airport for routine domestic flights much before the T-15 cut off.

nrr

With AMEX PLAT and Citi Prestige, you get access to PRIORIY PASS Lounges. [If I am taking a 1 AM red-eye out of LAS, after the AMEX CENT lounge closes at 11 PM, a walk several feet to the PP lounge (which now closes at 12:30 AM).]
Re DFW, sometimes it is MUCH less walking to use (via Skylink) a lounge out of terminal: I arrived at C37 (nearest AC is C19-C20), Skylink entrance near C32, going to D, exiting near D24 gets you VERY close to both AC and AMEX CENT lounge.

3Cforme

There's lots of evidence against that frame of thinking. AA/DL/UA all have clubs at way more airports than they do hub operations. BA has clubs in places other than LHR...

Clubs are a competitive tool. I will posit that presence of a club aligns with quantities of paid premium cabin travel and/or relatively high average fare coach tickets (ie big corporate contracts) - with some threshold passenger traffic number on AA at a specific airport.

Think of DTW - an airport that lost its AC it the cutbacks following 9/11. AA had a long presence at DTW - way, way pre-deregulation - focusing on automotive industry traffic. AA had effectively given up on competing against NW in Detroit as evidenced by just 1x daily to MIA, ER3s to LGA, and single-class CR7s and ER4s to ORD. Without premium fare(s) traffic there's no reason for a club. AA got some nice facilities in the 'new North' terminal in 2008 but hasn't brought back an AC. UA didn't build a club there, either.

ashill

I'm a cut it close traveler for sure, but with either traffic or the potential for missed public transit connections, it's rare that I can time a trip to the airport with less than a 15 minute uncertainty in when I'll arrive, and even with precheck, security takes anywhere from 1 to 15 minutes without the extreme outliers (median is probably 3-5). So I definitely, myself, feel a need to aim to get to the airport at least 45 minutes before departure. If things go smoothly, that leaves me a good amount of time to kill, so if I were willing to pay for a lounge membership (which I'm not!), I'd be at least as interested in one in my home airport as at connecting hubs. That said, I live in a hub city, so it's a moot point for me.

ellinj

Not an entire airport but I would love to see one in the E concourse at CLT.

bearsfanord

LAS is one that really sticks out to me. Tons of business traffic and conventions. Also has to be one of AA's largest non hub operations right?

TSparky

You can add IND to the list. Although it does have a Delta lounge.

GSO was a shocker too. I also think it is ripe to be closed.

fastflyer

The Kansas City Admirals Club had been around for decades. Back in the 1980s and 1990s it was upstairs above the old ticketing area. One agent did double duty at the desk and at the bar. I remember an ancient fax machine and lots of beige decor. KC then remodeled its three terminals circa 2000 (replacing the parquet floors with terrazzo and largely removing the second floor spaces). AA enlarged the club and moved it by gate C-79. That incarnation operated until 2012. Just a few weeks ago, that space was demolished and made contiguous with gates 81-85.

Also, there used to be a Delta Crown Room/ Sky Club in terminal B.

aztimm

Having hubs in an overseas spoke makes perfect sense and is a definite exception to my spoke rule. I've used the BA lounge at IAH (actually while connecting from a US flight), and although it was small, it was very nice and got quite busy before the flight to LHR.

I know that BA also has a lounge in PHX, again makes sense as there could be connecting traffic. Plus people tend to arrive earlier for international flights, or at least I do.

And AA has several lounges around Europe and definitely at NRT. For NRT, I've used it when connecting from JL flights in Asia when I wanted to shower before an AA flight back to the USA, as the JL lounges don't have showers in the biz lounge.


All that said, I do wonder how many people purposely plan to arrive early for a domestic flight, say IAH-PHX/LAX and would pay to make it worthwhile for AA.

weirdlyndon

BUF used to have a US Air Club until the merger.

brewdog11

With AA building up at MSY, and with the recent addition of flights to LHR and FRA on BA and Condor, respectively, I am a little bit surprised that there isn't one. I'm curious to see what will happen lounge-wise in the new terminal once all the concourses are connected. Maybe we'll get lucky with the new terminal.

There is a glass door marked "international departures lounge" near gate C1, but I haven't seen anything become of it.