Capital One Opens New Airport Lounge in Las Vegas

Despite hosting high-rollers and luxury-seeking partiers, Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) in the iconic city of Las Vegas historically hasn’t had many great lounges. So Capital One‘s latest opening is a welcome addition, offering select travelers a serene refuge in Sin City.

The credit card provider’s newest lounge, which opened last Friday, spans 8,200 square feet with room for 135 guests.

Photo: Courtesy of Harry Reid International Airport

While there are nods to the glitz of the Strip, from the mirrored lobby ceiling to the sprinkle of “disco glitter” on the Desert Palmer cocktail, the space is as much about self-care as it is about indulgence, making it the perfect stop after a weekend of Vegas debauchery.

The design draws inspiration not from the endless carpets and neon lights of the casino floor but rather from Nevada’s natural environment. Rendered in earth tones, the lounge conjures the sunset over the state’s deserts and sandstone cliffs.

Photo: Courtesy of Harry Reid International Airport

Situated by the concourse’s rotunda and with airfield views, the space is bathed in natural light—enough that there’s a local Palo Verde tree growing by the welcome desk and greenery throughout. You’re worlds away from those windowless, time-warp casinos here.

Capital One also commissioned local artists to produce more than 50 pieces for the lounge, including landscapes depicting nearby natural wonders such as the Mojave Desert and Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes and portraits of Nevadans.

Cocktails to coffee

The glitter-topped Desert Palmer is actually a mocktail. If you’re looking for hair of the dog, the bar is well-stocked, with craft cocktails such as the frozen “Green Goblin” (Fords gin, dry Riesling, kiwi, pineapple, and absinthe vert) from Las Vegas steakhouse and cocktail bar Herbs & Rye, served from a slushie machine, and the “First-Class Bloody Mary,” made with a Scotch bonnet and Serrano chilis-infused vodka exclusive to the lounge.

Photo: Courtesy of Harry Reid International Airport

“Cop in a Rain Coat” is a nod to Hunter S. Thompson’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (never trust a cop so clad, he says) but with an ingredient list more sedate than his (Mijenta Blanco tequila, cactus pear, pomegranate, blood orange, and rosemary).

In every city it opens a lounge, Capital One partners with a local brewery to create “the Perfect Airport Beer.” In Vegas, it’s the malty Vienna Lager from Las Vegas Brewing Company, Nevada’s only all-female brew team.

Photo: Courtesy of Capital One

While most of the drinks are complimentary, Capitol One also pours some rare, coveted bottles, including 1960s bourbon whiskey, through its Rare Bottle Club. However, you’ll have to pay for the privilege.

There’s also a coffee and espresso bar, with beans from local micro-roasters Vesta Coffee Roasters, and a self-serve bar of artisanal sodas, in wacky flavors such as pineapple cream, citrus hibiscus orange, and black cherry tarragon. You can also boost your drinks with additives such as nano potassium, nano magnesium purple passionflower, ashwagandha, and liposomal vitamin C, all with purported wellness benefits.

Meals to quick bites

To impress travelers fresh off Las Vegas’ much-hyped restaurants, the lounge’s food needs to be good. Luckily, it is. Served in small bites on individual plates and grabbed off a buffet, the dishes include caviar devilled eggs, steakhouse truffle short ribs, and chili sweet potato hash, made with local ingredients.

Photo: Courtesy of Harry Reid International Airport

If you don’t have time to linger, you can pick up a snack from the Grab & Go section in the lobby—another standard of Capital One lounges. Here, you can find cauliflower wraps, white bean chickpea salads, sandwiches, fruit cups, and sweet treats like Fruity Pebbles scones and stuffed doughnuts.

Photo: Courtesy of Harry Reid International Airport

There are also “Daily Rituals”—not yoga and meditation but rather treats delivered by roaming trolley carts. If you’re in the lounge at the right time, you might receive a “Morning Caffè Shakerato,” an Italian-style shaken iced coffee, optionally spiked, or an “Afternoon Tea Service,” brewing wellness tea from the Art of Tea, served alongside Japanese pastries and macaroons from Suzuya Patisserie. In the evening, you can greet the sunset with sparkling wine.

Relax or work

Beyond the food and drink, the bar offers ample spaces to relax or work. You’ll find reclining lounge chairs and a bookable relaxation room with dimmed lights, eye masks, blankets, and even a nap pod.

Photo: Courtesy of Harry Reid International Airport

If that “Shakerato” has left you alert and ready to go, you can reserve one of two glass-doored private workrooms or settle in at any seat—they’re all equipped with outlets.

The lounge offers six well-appointed gender-neutral restrooms, each with a changing table.

Door policy and opening hours

Capital One’s Las Vegas lounge is located in Terminal 1’s Concourse D, near gate 50, and is open daily between 5 a.m. and 11 p.m.

Like other Capitol One airport lounges, the Las Vegas space is open to holders of its Venture X, Venture X Business, Venture, and Spark Miles credit cards.

Photo: Courtesy of Capital One

If the card in your wallet is Venture X or Venture X Business ($395 annual fee each) you get unlimited access to Capital One’s network of airport lounges for yourself and two complimentary guests. Additional guests cost $45 per visit.

There’s a workaround for those guest fees for holders of the Venture X Card. Capital One allows you to name up to four authorized users of the card, each with their own access to the lounges. For Venture X Business cards, lounge access is limited to the primary cardholders.

Holders of the Venture ($95 annual fee) and Spark Miles (free first year, $95 after) can enter the lounge for the discounted price of $45 per visit. The general population has to pay $90 to get through the doors.

Guests can enter within three hours of a departing flight but not an arriving flight unless they have a connection.

The lounge isn’t huge, so expect a waitlist. The Centurion Lounge from rival American Express at LAS almost always has a crowd of guests outside.

Fortunately, Capital One’s mobile app makes waiting relatively painless. All eligible cardholders can check the lounge’s real-time capacity through the phone. Venture X and Venture X Business cardholders can even join the waitlist remotely through the app, even before they arrive at the airport. When their number comes up, they receive a text and have 15 minutes to arrive at the lounge.

Capital One’s other lounges are located at:

• Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW)
• Denver International Airport (DEN)
• Dulles International Airport, Washington, D.C. (IAD)

The credit card issuer also operates a dining experience known as “Capital One Landing” at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) in D.C., a unique concept hybrid of a restaurant and a lounge.

Later this year, Capital One will also open a full-fat lounge at New York’s JFK Airport and another iteration of Capital One Landing at LaGuardia (LGA) across town.