Although I quickly reviewed this lounge early last year when we began our trip to Kenya, I wanted to give an update as American has supposedly upgraded the food in their lounges since that time. We gained access through my temporary OneWorld Emerald status. I scanned my boarding pass and the agent waved us through without needing to see my wife’s boarding pass, making me think I could have guested anyone in, even someone flying another airline that morning.

The lounge is in Concourse T not far from security. After going through Clear or Pre-Check, you turn left and pass the PlaneTrain escalators. Unlike the Concourse T SkyClub, the Admirals Club does not overlook the apron/taxiway and just has a few small windows that look out over the roadway in front of the terminal.

It’s a small lounge and was busier than I’ve seen it before on this Friday morning, but there were still plenty of seats. There was a decent breakfast buffet, somewhat comparable to the SkyClub, although the choices were a bit more limited. I do like that American actually lists the food options on a menu board. I think Delta should do this as well.

I found the food a bit better than the last time we visited, with egg bites, sausages, smoked salmon, bagels and spreads. You could definitely make a decent breakfast out of the available options. There was a small drinks area near the staffed bar with coffee, juice, soft drinks and water.

Seating was mostly the same armchairs except for a few dining tables, but we found a place to plug in our devices and munch on some breakfast. The lounge feels a bit claustrophobic without big windows overlooking the taxiways. There’s a walkway to the restrooms and they have some fruit available there. There’s also some more seating hidden back near the restrooms if the lounge ever gets really crowded.

It’s almost always better to have a lounge to visit than sitting by the gate, so I was thankful for the access provided by my BA status. I’ll review the DCA lounge in the next post.

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