Wait, First Class Doesn’t Always Grant You Lounge Access?

Last year when I traveled on United Airlines from Washington to Chicago (the ticket prices we calculated once we put in Economy Plus and an extra bag was about equal to what we would pay for First Class) I came across a surprise when we visited the United Club. When we arrived at the United Club, we presented our domestic first class boarding passes and were denied access to the lounge. Luckily, we were still able to access the United Club because we have a United Club Card. Before that, I embarrassingly enough had the misconception that United First on domestic flights would grant you lounge access, although in reality, it doesn’t. So when does first class not grant you lounge access and on what airlines?

When Doesn’t First Class Give You Lounge Access?

First of all, by “First Class,” I don’t mean international first class on Emirates, Singapore Airlines, Lufthansa, etc. On those airlines, you would obviously have lounge access to some of the world’s best first class lounges such as Lufthansa’s First Class Terminal in Frankfurt. What I mean is that domestic first class within the United States on most airlines does not grant you lounge access. I am specifically thinking of four airlines – American, Delta, United, and JetBlue. On most other airlines, any other sort of premium cabin ticket will grant you some kind of lounge access at most airports.

First, a bit of background: United, Delta, and American all have lounges at multiple large airports throughout the country, including multiple of them at their hubs and even some at airports that they don’t have a hub at. United’s main one is called the United Club, American’s is called the Admirals Club, and Delta’s lounge is called the Delta Sky Club. At these lounges, airlines offer free food (sometimes even hot meals) & drinks, comfortable seats, WiFi, airline customer service, (sometimes) showers, and overall are just good places to get away from the noise of the terminal. Please note that American and United do have another type of lounge – the Flagship Lounge and the Polaris lounge, respectfully, for their international business class passengers at select airports.

Airport lounges are great ways to be able to relax in a not-so-crowded area before a flight, get something free to eat, and are especially useful on long layovers. United, Delta, and American offer what they label as domestic first class (I’ll cover JetBlue later) as their premium cabin on almost all domestic flights. On most of those flights, the seats feature recliner seats without leg rests and sometimes feature personal on-demand entertainment. Unfortunately, when the cabin is labeled as United First, American First, or Delta First, passengers do not have access to any type of airport lounge (such as the American Airlines Admirals Club, Delta Sky Club, or the United Club) just using their ticket (unless they are connecting to an international flight in a premium cabin on that airline). That means that unless you are traveling on a special transcontinental route (I’ll discuss this later), in domestic First Class on American, Delta, and United, you won’t have lounge access.

I personally think that they should offer lounge access, but they don’t, for the following reason: overcrowding. United, Delta, and American have so many elites, intercontinental business class passengers, and premium credit card holders that their lounges are overcrowded. If they were to allow every first-class passenger within the United States to visit their lounges, then the lounges would be even more overcrowded than they are now and the airlines just couldn’t sustain it.

JetBlue, on the other hand, offers an amazing premium product with flat-bed seats with some seats that have closed doors on some transcontinental and Caribbean routes that they label as JetBlue Mint. JetBlue doesn’t have any lounges that they operate on their own or that they contract at any airports as of now. That does mean that you can never get lounge access on JetBlue, even when you are traveling in their Mint cabin. That leaves Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines as the only US airlines that give lounge access to all first class passengers.

So Who Gets Lounge Access?

Since domestic first-class passengers on United, Delta, and American aren’t able to get lounge access, who traveling on those airlines even does get lounge access? Below is a list of types of people who get access to airport lounges of each of the three airlines. For reference, American, Delta, and United label most of their flights to Central America, the Caribbean, and northern South America simply as Business Class.

American Airlines

• American Airlines’ main lounge is the Admirals Club and is available at multiple airports throughout the US and around the world.
• Passengers traveling in either American Flagship Business, Flagship First, or Business to Asia, Australia, Central America, Europe, Mexico City, or South America + 1 guest.
• Passengers connecting on an international flight in a premium cabin to Asia, Australia, Central America, Europe, Mexico City, or South America.
• Passengers with American Airlines Executive Platinum, Platinum Pro, Platinum, and Concierge Key status.
• Oneworld Saphire and Emerald status holders.
• Passengers who purchase a day pass to the Admirals Club. Day passes are available for $59 per person per visit. While not worth it on short connections, if you have a lengthy connection, the lounge access may be worth the price.
• AAdvantage Executive Card Holders
• Active US Military
• Please note that American Airlines also offers a lounge for international and select transcontinental (JFK-LAX/SFO) passengers in either Flagship First Class or Flagship Business Class.

Delta Sky Club

• Delta Air Lines’ lounge is called the Delta Sky Club and is available at multiple airports throughout the US and around the world.
• Passengers traveling in Delta One, Delta’s international (and on some transcontinental routes) business class or in First or Business Class on another SkyTeam airline.
• Passengers traveling on a domestic flight and are connecting on a same-day international Delta One flight.
• Passengers travelling in Delta Business Class to Canada, Mexico, and Central America (excludes the Caribbean).
• SkyTeam Elite Plus members (or Delta Diamond, Platinum, or Gold Medallion)
• Delta Sky Club Members (costs $545 per year individually, or $845 for three people)
• Delta Reserve Credit Card Holders
• Centurian Platinum Card from American Express (must be traveling on Delta)

United Club

• United Airlines’ main lounge is called the United Club and is available at multiple airports throughout the US and around the world.
• United Club Members (costs $550 per year or 70,000 miles)
• Passengers traveling in United Polaris Business Class (intercontinental flights), United Business (to Central America, Caribbean), United’s Premium Transcontinental Service in Business, or First and Business class on any other Star Alliance members
• Passengers connecting on a premium flight on United or other Star Alliance members
• Star Alliance/United Gold Status or higher (United Platinum/1K/ Global Services)
• United Club Card cardholders or United Explorer Card cardholders (two passes per year)
• United Club one-time pass holders (costs $50 per visit)
• Active US Military Personnel
• Please note that United has another lounge – the Polaris lounge which has a higher amount of amenities that is exclusively available to United Polaris passengers or long-haul Business class passengers on other Star Alliance Airlines.

If you don’t meet any of these requirements and you still want lounge access, there also are some other credit cards that give you lounge access at multiple airports that aren’t affiliated with any airline. For example, The Amex Platinum Card gives you access to Priority Pass, a lounge network that usually gives you access to multiple lounges at each airport and gives you discounts at resteraunts at airports.

Conclusion:

Unfortunately, United, Delta, American, and JetBlue don’t give lounge access to most of their domestic premium cabin passengers. I generally find it unacceptable to pay for a premium ticket and not get lounge access, especially as most airlines around the world do grant lounge access to premium passengers. However, this does prevent overcrowding at airport lounges that would just generally take a lot away from the airport lounge. If you do want lounge access, there are still multiple ways to get it without having elite status, such as getting a premium airline credit card or by purchasing a membership to an airline lounge.