To begin my epic trip to Bangkok and back on all the premium First Class products of the Middle East airlines, I flew…American Airlines. I had to position to Chicago as that is the only US location where Emirates currently flies the Gamechanger product on a daily basis.

I arrived at Atlanta around 8:45am and thankfully there was no wait for Clear/Pre-Check at that hour on a Sunday. I went to the American Airlines Admirals Club in Concourse T to wait for my scheduled 11am flight to Chicago O’Hare. I had a backup flight booked on Delta around 1pm just in case there was an issue with my AA flight.

Last time I was at the Atlanta Admirals Club was in summer of 2024 and I reviewed the breakfast offerings. I wasn’t going to review it again, but I was able to get a peak at the lunch offerings too, so I thought it might be helpful for those of you with AA lounge access passing through Atlanta.

The reason I could access this lounge is because I have British Airways Gold status thanks to a status match last year and then a paid business class ticket to extend the status through early 2026. BA Gold is One World Emerald status and with that status on a non-US airline (i.e., not American or Alaska), you can access Admirals Clubs (and Flagship Lounges) on any OneWorld itinerary, even a domestic flight. You can also bring a guest.

When I arrived, it was breakfast time, and even since the last visit, it seemed like the food options had been elevated. There was banana caramel bread pudding and Canadian bacon, which made a change from the usual egg bites and sausage at the Delta SkyClub. Also available were cereals, fruit, yogurt, oatmeal, smoked salmon and all the spreads for breads and bagels.

I chose to try some of the hot food and it was tasty.

For drinks, they have the usual automatic espresso drink maker found in most lounges along with fountain soda. There’s also a full bar, which was open but not serving alcohol until 10:30am on a Sunday per Georgia law.

It looked like my plane, which was coming in from O’Hare was just about running on time as it left the gate. Then for some reason, it seemed to return to the gate and sit there. In the end, it was delayed about an hour. I had plenty of slack in my schedule so I wasn’t too worried about the delay, but I also knew that until the plane was actually in the air, my return flight to Chicago could get canceled by AA. That’s exactly why I had the Delta flight booked for 1pm.

In the end, my plane took off and was headed to Atlanta which was a relief. I had not been upgraded on the Delta flight anyway. I waited long enough at the Admirals Club that they brought out the lunch items around 11am. I got to take a look at the offerings. There were cold cuts, salads, hummus, cold veggies, a chicken dish, hot veggies, two soups and several dessert options.

I was actually impressed. This is at least equivalent to what is served in SkyClubs, which was a big improvement over the last time I was in an Admirals Club for lunch/dinner several years ago. I didn’t really eat anything other than a bit of hummus and veggies, but the quality of everything looked pretty good.

There’s a small separate seating area over toward the bathrooms in this club, otherwise it’s just one room with armchairs. There’s also some whole fruit towards the bathroom area.

Overall, I was pretty happy with the incremental improvements in the food at the Admirals Club, even since last year. The club is old and in line for a renovation fairly soon. I’m not sure if it will fully close during the renovation, but I expect so, given that it’s such a small space. Hopefully, they will be able to finish it quickly. The club did fill up a bit before I left, but there were still plenty of seats available.

My plane eventually arrived and we were running about an hour late. I headed over to the gate to catch the flight. It was uneventful and we made up a bit of our delay en-route. The service in First Class was actually quite good and I enjoyed the choice of local Chicago snacks as a change from what Delta offers (although I don’t think they were as good overall).

The lack of free Wi-Fi is pretty glaring in 2025, when Delta has had it for years now on most planes. The lack of an entertainment screen is also pretty disappointing, even if I just mostly would watch the moving map and listen/watch to my own entertainment. Overall, American just can’t really compete with Delta other than having the great 4.5k/9k award tickets using Alaska miles which make it almost impossible to pass up when available on a route we use like Atlanta to Chicago or Washington. The lounge access (for now) helps make the AA choice a bit more palatable.

Up Next: Chicago O’Hare Layover: Busse Woods Loop Trail

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