I awoke at the beginning of the year like many of you: excited about the big-ticket things coming in 2019.  For some, it was watching the Avengers take on Thanos in Avengers: Endgame.  For others, it was seeing Robb Stark take on Joffrey in Game of Thrones (…I admittedly haven’t kept up with GoT #teamRobb #neverforget).  For me, though, and for many DFW-based frequent flyers, 2019 was about one thing: the opening of the new American Airlines Flagship Lounge at DFW Airport’s Terminal D.

The new Flagship Lounge is here.  And it is fantastic OMG THEY HAVE CHOCOLATE COVERED BACON AND JAPANESE TOILETS YALL.

a room with chairs and tables

Where is the new Flagship Lounge?

The entry for the new lounge will be at the Airline Clubs facility next to gate D21 at DFW Airport’s Terminal D.  Note: the Admirals Club entrance will remain at D24.  If you’d like to see my reviews from the other Flagship Lounges I’ll link them here:

LAX Flagship Lounge Review
LAX Flagship First Dining Review
JFK Flagship Lounge Review
JFK Flagship First Dining Review
ORD Flagship Lounge Review

Who Can Enter the new Flagship Lounge?

  • First and Business Class passengers on qualifying international itineraries (domestic First Class will not get you in, unless you’re connecting onward that day to a qualifying international flight)
  • American Airlines Platinum, Platinum Pro, and Executive Platinum status holders on qualifying international itineraries, regardless cabin of travel
  • Oneworld Sapphire and Emerald members on international itineraries (so if you’re BA Gold, for example, and are flying in the USA, you’re technically on an international flight, compared to the home country of the program you hold status with)
  • ConciergeKey status holders

Can you skip all the information and get to more pictures already?

Yes.  American was kind enough to invite me to a media preview of the new lounge so I could get some “cleaner” pictures of the facilities before it officially opens.  We were welcomed to the lounge by Janelle Anderson, VP of Global Marketing for American Airlines, who emphasized American’s investment into premium customer experiences, from the new Bang & Olufsen headphones to Casper bedding and, finally, incredible spaces like the new DFW Flagship Lounge.

a woman standing at a podium

After her remarks she invited us to explore and enjoy.  I was running around like a crazy person with my cameras and tripods but I’m very proud of these images and hope you enjoy them!

The Flagship Lounge Entryway and Overall Layout

When you walk into the new Flagship Lounge there’s quite a few words that will immediately come to mind, but the first among them will be LONG.  The lounge stretches over a football field long down its main corridor with enormous windows providing incredible views of lovely American widebodies at the gate and the runways and field behind.

a man walking in a room with red chairs and tables

Seating areas are abundant alongside the windows, with numerous power outlets in each area (many with wireless charging capabilities as well, a nice touch).

As you walk down the corridor with the tarmac views on your left, to your right you’ll see an incredible open dining area adorned with some incredible artwork and decoration by local artist Deborah Hartigan Viestenz.

a room with red chairs and a table with a bowl of flowers

a group of people in a room with a long table and chairs

As you continue down the main path there’s a lovely little elevated bar table next to some flight status display screens on the right, after which are the restrooms.

a room with a long counter and a bar with a large chandelier

As you continue your walk down the corridor you’ll find some incredible looking windows.

a row of chairs in a building

Inside of those windows you’ll find the epic Flagship First Dining room, but we’ll get to that later.  Past Flagship First Dining you’ll find another drink station with a Coke Infinity machine, coffeespresso machine (probably not the technical term for it), and some fruit and water.

a fruit in a dispenser

Past the refreshment station is a fairly expansive seating area (it would be easy to go to the lounge and miss it, so make sure you explore the whole space!)

a room with couches and tables

In the background above you’ll see the TV room.  I was going to go and take a picture of it but the TV was playing some 24-hour news station, which I can’t stand to listen to, so I kept taking pictures of other stuff instead.

a room with chairs and a lamp

This was standing over by the TV room.  There’s a little nook in the background designated as a quiet room.  I went in to take a look and it was, indeed, quiet, with lounge chairs available for anyone who needed to grab a quick nap.

a room with couches and chairs

At the very end of the lounge were more lounge attendant stations.  Having satisfactorily walked the entire length of the Flagship Lounge I turned back to make my way to a spectacular little oasis: Flagship First Dining.

a woman walking in a room with chairs and a table

Flagship First Dining

The Flagship First Dining Room is a very exclusive area within the Flagship Lounge.  You can access it if you’re flying in First Class on a qualifying international itinerary (basically if you’re flying in the front of an American 777-300ER or are connecting to First on a trans-continental A321), and that’s pretty much it.  (No official word on whether First Class passengers from British Airways and Qantas will be able to use Flagship First Dining, but discussions are said to be ongoing).  Concierge Key members receive Flagship First Dining invitations as well.

a glass door with a sign on it

You access through the door above and, during normal operations, would hand your invitation to a host/hostess, who would escort you to a table.  When you first walk in you can stop by the exclusive bar, one of my favorite places in the entire lounge from a design standpoint.

a bar with a bar and a group of lights from the ceiling

a room with a bar and chairs

As you make your way to the dining room, you owe it to yourself to stop and admire the amazing artwork!

a painting on the wall

The Flagship First Dining Room seats up to 47, which should be plenty for the relatively small amount of traffic it will get.

a restaurant with tables and chairs

a table with plates and chairs in front of a painting

Flagship First Dining is tableside service and has some incredible food/beverage options.  First, the specially designed cocktails, exclusive to Flagship First Dining.

a row of drinks on a bar

a row of drinks on a counter

You can see the cocktails below, along with a very welcomed champagne option for the frequent flyers out there.

a menu on a table

I tasted the cocktails (THAT is how dedicated I am to my readers) and they were delicious.  The Getaway and Flagship Lemonade were my favorites but all were tasty.

And now for the Flagship First Dining food.

a menu on a plate

The food at other Flagship First Dining rooms around the country is superb and my expectations were high this time around.  And man did American deliver.

a table with food on it

a plate of food on a table

a plate of food on a table

a cheeseburger and potato chips on a wooden tray

a plate of food on a table

The food looked incredible and I’m not sure there’s a better burger in the world (I’m serious) than American’s Flagship Burger.

If you know you’ll have access to Flagship First Dining, come with an appetite, you will not leave disappointed.  Especially with dessert.  They’ll give you a dessert menu but just say “pecan pie” and your life will no longer be the same.

The Restrooms

Ok, confession: I still feel awkward as all heck taking pictures in restrooms for the blog, but I did it anyway for my beloved readers.

The restrooms were nice on the inside, resplendent with nice skincare products and lotions.

a bathroom with a mirror and sinks

AND OMG THEY HAVE JAPANESE TOILETS WITH LITTLE WASHLET THINGIES

a toilet in a bathroom

I don’t want to get into too much detail about a toilet (there’s enough potty humor on this blog HAHA GET IT) but I thought that was an incredibly nice touch which guests will love.

The showers were one hallway down.  There were plenty of shower suites and they were incredibly nice.

a shower with a shower head and a bathtub

The Flagship Lounge Dining Area

The Flagship Lounge has a buffet-style variety of hot and cold foods for its guests.

a group of small bowls of food on a counter

a buffet table with food on it

a group of trays of food on a counter

a buffet line of food

The assortment of lounge guests started sampling the food options and I heard very positive feedback.

a trays of food on a table

a pan of broccoli and garlic

a tray of food on a stove

a plate of food on a table

There was a serve-your-own booze and Make Your Own Cocktail area with pre-made cocktail mixes from Austin Cocktails.

a bar with bottles of alcohol on the counter

a row of bottles of alcohol

a group of bottles of alcohol on a counter

The dining area also had one of my favorite areas in the lounge, the wine and champagne bar, inset in a seating area close to the buffets.

a group of bottles of wine

a row of wine glasses on a counter

The Details of the Flagship Lounge

The seating areas were varied and functional but there were so many nice touches of artwork and accents in the lounge, I just had to dedicate a section of this review to them.

a room with chairs and tables

a group of black balls from the ceiling

a circular ceiling with lights

a pair of black and white lights from a ceiling

a room with a wall and chairs

As the afternoon was turning into evening some incredible sunlight came into the lounge, so I put down my cocktail and grabbed my camera(s) once again.

a room with chairs and a window

a room with chairs and a lamp

a room with a long table and chairs

a room with red chairs and tables

I ended back up at the front of the lounge and captured my favorite picture from the day, which was the first picture from this article.  It was the perfect ending to a perfect afternoon enjoying this amazing new space.

a room with chairs and tables

Final thoughts on the new Flagship Lounge

Bravo American.  This lounge is a winner.  I’m not sure there’s a better lounge on US soil.  They made great use of the space they had, with each seating area seeming different than the one before, and logically organized things to keep the noise focused in one area and a serene feeling in others.  The access policy of the new Flagship lounges is incredibly liberal, so I have no doubt this lounge will get crowded but I think it has the seating for it.  The food options are on par with the big rival lounge at DFW (whose name rhymes with Pamex Blenturion) with much better views and more expansive seating capacity.

My favorite part of the DFW Flagship Lounge was how different and unique it felt compared to the other Flagship Lounges I’ve reviewed (Chicago, New York JFK, and LAX).  It felt uniquely Dallas, in other words.

Simply put: all eyes were on American and they had to get the DFW Flagship Lounge right.  They did.

 

Which picture is your favorite?  When are you going to visit the new lounge?  Tell me in the comments below!

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