Jzlerner

Hello,
Anyone know if kosher food is available in AA flagship business lounges in LHR (T3 I think?) and MIA?
Thanks

wrp96

At LHR, the AA lounges are still closed. Currently in T3 you would have access to the BA, CX, and QF lounges.

Sorry I don't know if kosher food is available in those lounges, but wanted to at least let you know what lounges you can access.

Jzlerner

Are you sure? Wouldn't make sense to move back into T3 and keep lounges closed.

And regarding MIA?

enviroian

Yes, he's sure.

JJeffrey

It makes perfect sense given that it will take AA months to reopen a lounge the size of the LHR AC and the move back to T3 was thrown together in about 3 weeks due to lots of unforseen circumstances.

FAA1996

AA passengers can use Cathay, Qantas, or BA lounges in T3. Found the Cathay Lounge super crowded, whereas the Qantas lounge was a nicer experience but without an F section. Not sure if they have kosher food, but hopefully you can find some in one of the three.

Jzlerner

Great thanksAnyone know anything about Miami lounge?

dw

Since actual Kosher food will need to be prepared in a Kosher kitchen, I do not believe any of these lounges would have any freshly made items that qualify, with the exception of pre-packaged snacks that might be on offer, and perhaps the soups since those are not prepared on site and are transferred directly from the bags they ship in to the pots they put out.

Jzlerner

You are right. Kosher kitchen is needed and I wouldn't expect any lounge to have that. However, what I would like to see and what frankly I expect to see is kosher meals available. In my home airport of LHR, BA and VS have agreements with the company that provides their flight meals to also cater in their lounges. The food is understandably better then what you get on flights. I'm assuming that's due to lack of constraints: more time and space to prep. (Kosher food must be made in a kosher kitchen but can be heated up in any old oven).

Anyway

Reason I'm asking abt AA lounge is cos I only fly out of T3 on VS. When on VS I always go to VS superb lounge with superb food.

As I'm writing this I'm remembering that BA has a lounge in T3 for the couple of flights it operates from there. That will probably have kosher food.

Thanks for all the help and answers from everyone

D3Kingg

Kosher catering would not be provided unless a flight to Tel Aviv was delayed or cancelled.

IADCAflyer

Depends on the level of attentiveness you expect the kitchen to adhere to kashrut requirements. If one is reform or conservative, the level may not be so stringent. If you are orthodox, it is highly unlikely that any airline outside of ElAl will be able to meet the requirements. We're talking 1) separate appliances and cleaning protocols, 2) separate cooking utensils, 3) separate silverware and servingware, and -effectively- a separate kitchen.

There are differences of opinion within orthodox authorities as to if you can even do certain things in the same facilities...

So, not so simple.

Jzlerner

Unfortunately, you are mistaken. As is the case with kosher food on the plane you will notice they are served to passengers who request them, usually in aluminium foil/oven safe plastic. The reason for this is because according to kashrus standards they are allowed to be reheated in any oven/microwave as long as they are double wrapped. This is including orthodox Jews. So yes, it's not that hard for them to have frozen kosher meals on hand and reheat them when required. It's exactly what they do on planes so why can't they do it in the lounges? Ps: with kosher meals, the cutlery is served wrapped on the tray. All this comes from the kosher food manufacturers so there's really not much the airline has to do other than pop it in the oven

aj411

I think the net is that you are lucky there are any lounges that cater to your needs. Enjoy them, thank them and, if it is a major concern, give those airlines your business.
Their concern isn't to feed you like you are trapped there for hours (as in a plane) but to offer something to give value to most of their members/customers.
No two lounge brands have the same offerings so any expectation of that is unreasonable. We all have our preferences and wishes but they are jsut that - wishes.

As for lounges, I have found very few that cater to basic, majority dietary needs. Most have marginal food and no way to tell major health information like salt, fat or gluten content which impact a vast majority of those traveling with them. Actually, reverse - all are high sodium, fat and about as unhealthy as you can get with no way to tell how bad. I'm left with celery adn carrot sticks most days to stick to my prescribed diet. Just how it is. I make suggestions nad comments when appropriate and a few have improved over the years but never an expectation for them to meet my individual special needs

Jzlerner

I guess we're used to different lounges🤷‍♂️. Most lounges of decent airlines in the UK cater to a lot of requirements. It might not be on display but it's possible to ask and they whip something up. Last time I was in VS lounge a Muslim man next to me asked if they had any Halal food. The staff returned 10 minutes later with a 3 course meal for him. Guess in the US it's just different.

One more point, the reason why I kind of have this expectation is because of the lounges I'm used to. And when I booked this flight it was departing from LHR T5 which has many BA lounges with lots of kosher food. So it would be a bit of a let down if after its move to T3 there would be no kosher food

IADCAflyer

You're asking for two things. In chiding me and claiming that I was incorrect regarding jewish dietary laws, you were asserting that the airlines could simply order pre-packaged meals and double wrap them for use in a potentially non-kosher oven.

Here you're saying that the VS lounge actually made a from-scratch meal for a muslim passenger. Again, if you're setting that as the standard, then you have to have a kashrut kitchen along with all the utensils, silverware, and serving ware that goes with it.