American Airlines Set to Debut Flagship Lounge in Philadelphia Next Year

American Airlines will reportedly cut the ribbon on two new lounges at its hub in Philadelphia (PHL) in 2025, including the airport’s long-delayed Flagship Lounge, a lavish retreat for premium travelers on international trips.

American Airlines currently operates Flagship Lounges in Chicago (ORD), Dallas (DFW), Los Angeles (LAX), Miami (MIA), and New York JFK airport, where it’s branded the Greenwich Lounge.

Philadelphia, the carrier’s secondary transatlantic hub after JFK, is in conspicuous absence. But American Airlines has been promising to bring a Flagship lounge to the City of Brotherly Love for years. The space was initially supposed to open in 2020, but the pandemic obviously scuppered plans.

Then, as air travel resumed, American focused elsewhere on the East Coast, forging a partnership with JetBlue to challenge Delta and United’s dominance in New York and Boston (BOS). With that Northeast Alliance struck down last year by a federal judge, American is finally turning its eyes back to Philly, where it holds a 65 percent market share and its four existing lounges are bursting at the seams.

American will now add two additional spaces in Philadelphia to its lounge network: a new Admirals Club lounge and a Flagship lounge. No details about the amenities or size of the lounges have been revealed; beyond that, both will be located in Terminal A-West.

The Admirals Clubs are the carrier’s standard airport lounge, open to first and business-class ticket holders, AAdvantage and oneworld elites, and those who shell out for a $79 one-day pass. American already has four Admiral Club locations in PHL, including one in Terminal A-West, which has already closed to make way for the new lounges.

American Airlines Admirals Club Lounge, Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport / Photo: AA.com

However, while details are scarce, its latest Admiral Club should draw eligible passengers from across the airport.

The new space is likely to follow a refreshed design that American Airlines has already rolled out in its new spaces at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA), Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR), and Denver International Airport (DEN). In those spaces, streamlined furniture and industrial metal features sit easily with cozy fireplaces, warm color palettes, and local foliage.

While the latest Admirals Club will likely be both slick and inviting, international travelers will want to head to the more upscale Flagship Lounge, reserved for first, business, and loyalty program elite travelers on international and some transcontinental itineraries.

Photo: Courtesy of American Airlines

Qualifying flights from PHL currently include departures to London (LHR), Dublin (DUB), Paris (CDG), Nice (NCE), Amsterdam (AMS), Athens (ATH), Barcelona (BCN), Doha (DOH), Rome (FCO), Lisbon (LIS), Madrid (MAD), Venice (VCE), Zurich (ZRH), Copenhagen (CPH), and Naples (NAP), among others. Travelers’ itineraries should indicate whether their seat has been ticketed as “Flagship” with lounge access.

Existing Flagship Lounges have menus curated by local chefs, cocktail and wine bars, shower suites, and personalized service. However, American has yet to open a Flagship Lounge since introducing its new design concept in 2022, so the PHL Flagship Lounge could well be even more luxurious.

So far, American has kept mum about the amenities and designs of its new Philadelphia retreats. A spokesperson said that the Flagship and Admirals Club spaces “will continue to create a harmonized design experience across all newly opened lounges that customers will instantly recognize.”