Lounge Access at ORD - AA Itinerary - BA Exec
 

Hi,

Been reading several threads and I think I am just confusing myself now.

I am BA Silver.

Am on an AA booked and ticketed ALL domestic First Class ticket from ATL to ATW via ORD. I have a 5 hour connection in ORD, and want to know if I can access a lounge...

Some places say yes, that the BA Exec gets me in, but others say not due to AA First Class ticket not allowing access.

Would someone be kind enough to clarify please?

Many Thanks,

BBB

You have lounge access as a OW Sapphire.

Many thanks. I thought it was the case and was wavering to that side of my confudlement, but thank you for replying :)

Yes, BA Silver upwards gets you access to lounges whichever class of travel on AA :tu:

Nice to see you round these parts again BBB!

I have only come to use and abuse your brains, so who knows how long I will be around... ;)

Bear in mind it's a lounge, but not as you know it. You get quite limited food and drink options and although I heard AA were starting to use BPs for drinks, you usually get a chit for paid "premium" drink. It's ok for a pitstop but on a 5 hour layover I'd go to one of the paid restaurants personally.

Indeed, thank you... I will go have something to eat in a proper restaurant, but that will still leave me a couple of hours where a slightly more comfortable seat will be welcome before being shoehorned into an ERJ145 :D

interesting perspective! years spent amongst the aa domestic lounges when i lived there, i'd rather sit in a comfortable and clean admirals club any day over a gross restaurant. there are few airports now that are newer construction with newer restaurants that are spotless but far more across the main airports seem to be a bit older and have a slick of dust or grease on every surface. thats what drove me to my first admirals club membership way back in the early 2000s.

but yes, if you are hungry, the average club will do little to whet your appetite!

Just a warning that the premium drink perk for BA Exec Silver and higher is suspended since June 2020 so the OP would only have access to house beer, house wine and some free spirits and digestives ( cheaper brands than the paid ones ).

By the way, if someone eats two cups of mac n cheese and drinks two cups of soup, plus some other snacks; I guess that that person wouldn't be hungry for a while.

Another reminder not mentioned in the thread is that the AA Flagship Lounge's are closed at the moment, so the OP would end up with the AA Admirals Club.

Thanks for the information, thankfully I don't drink so that is irrelevant to me personally, but I am sure others will appreciate the heads up.

As for food, I will be starting a very early day in SAV with a drive to ATL and ORD will be my first opportunity for a reasonable meal, and I won't get to ATW till late evening, so I probably will find something more substantial than some lounge snacks and powdered soup etc. But again, appreciate the info.

My day will start at about 05:30 with a drive to ATL from SAV, then the flight to ORD, and that will likely be my first opportunity for something substantial to eat, and I don't arrive in ATW till late evening, so as much as I would of course rather sit in a gleaming sparkling clean anything, if a restaurant is needed to consume something more than a lounge cuppa soup and snack bat, then a restaurant it will be, for the time it takes to eat.

But, of course, everyone is entitled to their own opinion and I respect your choice of seating location and dining preferences :)

yeah its down to what one can manage! plus depending on when you travel and the availability/limitation of food options at the time you travel would make a big difference, i agree.

Although it was just over a year ago, in Nov 2019 I was admitted (with no problem) into the AA Lounge at ORD, as a BA Silver, flying AA, arriving in Club, but flying out in Economy

+1

And well over half of the restaurants at all ORD terminals are closed due to low demand/health concerns. Your only "restaurant" option may be take out at a McDonalds and a seat at some gate. Filter the web page below for eateries in ORD T3 and you will see what I mean.

https://www.flychicago.com/ohare/eat...s/default.aspx

IMO a quiet seat in a lounge is infinitely superior to most other seating option at most US airports.