jjLDNY

Was the agent someone that may have recognized you? If not, at least we can chance it still.

KARFA

Personally I think you can forget access for all GGLs on any AA flight to Chelsea. Maybe that's what BA would like, but it's also clear AA are calling the shots and basically said no. This lounge complex may be touted as a joint effort between BA and AA, but I think it's clear BA actually seems to have very little say in what's going on and is very much a junior partner.

HFHFFlyer

I’m assuming not even BA would try to pass off the Chelsea lounge as a proper first class lounge, so that very much corroborates this analysis. It’s AA’s circus and AA’s monkeys.

Koru Flyer

Which is curious as in 12 months or so AA will have no F class and will just be selling the lounge trade up. And maybe that is all it is about at the end of the day. A slightly better place for AA to upsell J passengers to?

Why BA sold its soul to this, I have no clue, premium market, only F product (in time), commercial sales and it it screwed over its best customers to save what? I can see a MBA case study right here in time...

KF

xenole

The problem is that it's not a better place. It works on the fact that many here, and those who fly believe "first class lounge" to be the place they have to be if they're flying F, have certain statuses etc. A lot won't venture anywhere else even though offerings may be the same and/or a better lounge with natural light etc.

lost_in_translation

I think it's simpler than that. This is conjecture but AA probably didn't even really want a separate Chelsea lounge and would have been happy with one big Soho equivalent lounge for OWEs and international business / premium transcon, given that's the real core of their customer base from JFK. BA instead probably pushed them to create a separate F lounge given the very different BA customer base from JFK and, given AA didn't really want the lounge in the first place, it ended up in the reject lounge space it is and AA put minimal effort in...

P.S., for all the moaning here, be glad your usual US route isn't ORD like me

Vasco Pridat

My 5 cents here.. Currently having dinner. Arrived in BA F yesterday and continue to lax in F today. My first visit. No Krug. Not even the ruinart from their own menu. The food is OK. The wine menu? Extremely poor. I remember the times pre pandemic when they had 100dollar bottles of wine and you could compare the US chardonnay to the Chablis.The 2007 Saint emillon at the GF T3 was hell superior to what they have here. The flagship first dining at DFW last month was superior to the Chelsea cuisine at least. And I always loved the ccr for its atmosphere and the food was pretty special in my eyes, too. And why? Probably that's what you get when you have too many people included in the decisions process.

MaxFlyer

Visited for the time yesterday afternoon. I was let in by the BA agent who was staffing the desk. I just said that I’m BA good flying transaction flagship business with AA. I like the lounge in general but the lack of windows and natural light make it more of a casino style. No one came to me asking if I wanted anything. The 4 staff members stood by the side chatting.

I left after 10 minutes and went to Soho. I found the atmosphere a lot nicer especially with the natural light. The buffet food was okay.

The gentleman that use to sit at the front of the old CCR desk in T7 spotted me and we had a chat and he showed me around. I asked how they were settling in and he said ‘growing pains’.

I would go to the Soho over the Chelsea.

Vasco Pridat

We must have been there together? March 10th before the 4pm flight to lax?

The staff was super attentive with me and before I sat down she asked for a menu and brought champagne. Guess not very consistent.
What I really liked was that it was super quite so even the usual guy on the phone felt uncomfortable with being noisy. Haha

MaxFlyer

I was on the 4:59pm flight to LAX. I must have arrived at Chelsea around 3:45pm only staying got 10 minutes before going to Soho.

I agree that it was relatively quiet, although there was a guy with his kids sitting in the middle section to the left of the formal dining area taking a bit too loudly, however, he was trying to teach his kids the importance of being grateful for being able to travel like they were.

Football Fan

They better have some Krug or LPGS or Dom tomorrow .

HFHFFlyer

Sounds super!

MaxFlyer

I was just allowed entry flying BA in business as a gold by an AAgent without any issue.

Football Fan

Only LP Rosé tonight. Can't win every time lol.

MaxFlyer

Sole Meunière