How to Access American Airlines Admirals Clubs

AwardWallet receives compensation from advertising partners for links on the blog. Terms Apply to the offers listed on this page. The opinions expressed here are our own and have not been reviewed, provided, or approved by any bank advertiser. Here's our complete list of Advertisers.

In 1939, American Airlines opened its first Admirals Club at the New York-LaGuardia Airport. More than 80 years later, there are nearly 50 Admirals Club locations across the globe. In addition to access to Admirals Club lounges, a club membership also grants you access to over 50 partner lounges.

The American Airlines Admirals Clubs are a great alternative to the hustle and bustle of busy passenger terminals. The amenities include free wine and beer, complimentary snacks, light plates, and even private shower suites.

So, how exactly does one gain access to an Admirals Club? Can you get free access to the Admirals Club, and do any credit cards offer a complimentary membership?

In this post, we'll outline Admirals Club amenities and locations. Also, we'll explain how to access American Airlines Admirals Clubs and other affiliated lounges.

Admirals Club Amenities and Locations

Amenities at Admirals Clubs vary by club location. Some lounges have private shower suites and access to conference rooms. In comparison, others offer rather basic amenities like complimentary snacks, beer, and wine.

At a minimum, Admirals Club locations offer:

• Complimentary breakfast
• Complimentary snacks
• Free Wi-Fi
• Complimentary house beer and wine
• Customer service agents to assist with travel plans

As a general rule, lounges at American Airlines' hubs (think DFW and CLT) typically offer more extensive amenities. This is especially true when it comes to food and beverage options. Admirals Club locations at Americans' hubs often feature a hot bar during lunch and dinner with a self-serve pasta or taco bar. Of course, at some locations, there's also the live-action avocado toast and guacamole stations.

Breakfast at the American Airlines Admirals Club at Washington National Airport (DCA). Credit: Max Prosperi/AwardWallet

Depending on the lounge and time of day, Admirals Clubs typically offer a more relaxed and less crowded alternative to the main terminal areas. Like most airport lounges, American's Admirals Clubs have suffered from overcrowding in recent years. However, many Admirals Club locations have avoided the extreme overcrowding experienced at some Delta SkyClubs and most American Express Centurion Lounges.

Admirals Club locations

Admirals Club partner lounge locations

Notes:

*Must present your membership card and boarding pass at lounge check-in counter for same-day departure on an American Airlines-operated flight.
**Must present your membership card and boarding pass at lounge check-in counter for same-day departure on a Qantas-operated flight or an American Airlines-marketed flight operated by Qantas.
***Must present your membership card and boarding pass at lounge check-in counter for same-day departure on an American-operated flight, a Qantas-operated flight, or an American-marketed flight operated by Qantas.
#Must present your membership card and boarding pass at lounge check-in counter for same-day departure on an American Airlines- or Alaska Airlines-marketed and -operated flight (flight sold with American or Alaska flight number and flown on American or Alaska aircraft).
^##Must present your membership card at lounge check-in counter on an American Airlines-operated flight.

How Can You Access the Admirals Club?

Unlike some lounges (i.e., Lufthansa First Class Terminal at FRA and the Air France La Première Lounge at CDG), accessing the American Airlines' network of Admirals Clubs is rather easy and unrestrictive. There are actually multiple ways passengers can access these airport lounges, even if they don't have an annual membership.

There are seven methods to access to Admirals Clubs:

• Purchase an annual membership.
• Hold the Citi^® / AAdvantage^® Executive World Elite Mastercard^®.
• Travel in a premium cabin on a qualifying international or transcontinental flight operated by American Airlines or a partner airline.
• Earn AAdvantage elite status or elite status with a Oneworld airline.
• Purchase a day pass for $79 or 7,900 AA miles.
• Choose a membership as one of your Loyalty Point Rewards.
• Active U.S. Military in uniform traveling on flights operated by American Airlines.

The best way for a passenger to access an Admirals Club depends on how often you travel with American Airlines. For infrequent flyers who take an annual vacation, a day pass should suffice.

However, for frequent flyers that find themselves at the airport month after month or week after week, a membership is the best way to access the Admirals Club.

Related: The Best Credit Cards for Lounge Access

Purchasing an Annual Admirals Club Membership

American Airlines didn't begin selling memberships to its portfolio of lounges until 1974. For decades, annual memberships and individual invitations were the only two ways to access these clubs.

However, in more recent decades, purchasing an annual membership has become less and less practical for most travelers. Nevertheless, you still can purchase an Admirals Club membership outright.

The price of an annual membership starts at $750 for new members with AAdvantage Executive Platinum status. However, the annual membership increases to a whopping $1,600 for a new family membership in which the primary member holds no elite status.

Members can renew their membership up to 120 days before their membership is set to expire. Additionally, members can renew at a discounted annual rate.

These are the Admirals Club membership rates as of July 2023:

A paid annual membership allows members to access all 47 Admirals Club locations plus partner lounges.

It might come as a surprise, but purchasing an Admirals Club membership outright is not the best and most cost-effective way to obtain an Admirals Club membership. Rather, the most cost-effective (and often the most practical) way to obtain a membership is with the AA Executive Card.

Credit: American Airlines

Complimentary Admirals Club membership with the Citi^® / AAdvantage^® Executive World Elite Mastercard^®

The AA Executive Card comes with a complimentary Admirals Club membership for the primary account holder and authorized users. American Airlines' premium co-branded credit card also offers a welcome bonus of 70,000 miles to new applicants after spending $7,000 within the first 3 months of account opening.. The card has a $595 annual fee, which is cheaper than the cost of an Admirals Club membership.

Citi^® / AAdvantage^® Executive World Elite Mastercard^®

How to Apply

Citi^® / AAdvantage^® Executive World Elite Mastercard^®

Annual Fee$595

Welcome Offer Earn 70,000 American Airlines AAdvantage^® bonus miles after spending $7,000 within the first 3 months of account opening.

Show more

Why We Like ItHighlightsEarning Rates

The AA Executive Card card is by far the most cost effective way to gain access to American Airlines Admirals Club lounges. Even better, you can extend the benefit to authorized users (for a fee), and this card offers a free checked bag, on domestic AA flights, priority checkin and boarding, and a credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck.

• Complimentary Admirals Club membership for the primary cardholder
• Admirals Club membership for authorized user accounts
• First checked bag free on domestic AA flights for you and up to 8 companions
• Priority check-in, TSA screening lines, and boarding
• 10,000 bonus Loyalty Points after you spend $40,000 in purchases within the year
• Global Entry or TSA PreCheck credit
• No Foreign Transaction Fees

• Earn 10X miles for every $1 spent on eligible hotels booked at aa.com/hotels and eligible rental cars booked through aa.com/cars
• Earn 4X miles for every $1 spent on eligible American Airlines purchases (increased to 5X miles through the end of the calendar year after you pass $150,000 in purchases annually)
• Earn 1X mile for every $1 spent on all other purchases

On top of complimentary Admirals Club access, the card offers these additional benefits:

• First checked bag free for the cardholder and up to eight companions on the same itinerary
• Priority check-in and priority boarding
• 25% savings (as a statement credit) on inflight purchases of food and beverages
• Up to $100 statement credit to reimburse your TSA PreCheck or Global Entry application fee (available once every five years)
• 1 Loyalty Point for every 1 eligible AAdvantage^® mile earned from purchases
• 10,000 bonus Loyalty Points after spending $40,000 on eligible purchases during the status qualification year

For more details, check out our full review of the Citi^® / AAdvantage^® Executive World Elite Mastercard^®.

Accessing Admirals Clubs with your AA Executive Card

If you add your AA Executive Card to your AAdvantage profile, you don't need to have the card with you to get into the Admirals Club. Staff at the entrance will be able to verify your membership with just your AAdvantage number. However, if you haven't added your credit card to your AAdvantage profile, you can access Admirals Clubs with your card, boarding pass, and valid government I.D.

Your Admirals Club membership is good for access to all Admirals Clubs and partner lounges. Additionally, those with the AA Executive Card can bring immediate family members or up to two guests into the club during each visit.

Travel in business or first class on an eligible route

Another way to gain access to American Airlines Admirals Clubs is to travel in business or first class on select routes on flights operated by American Airlines and its partner airlines. When traveling in premium cabins on eligible routes, lounge access is complimentary. However, the keywords here are “select” and “eligible routes.”

Some tickets in American Airlines' premium cabins give you complimentary access to Admirals Clubs. Credit: J.T. Genter/AwardWallet

Here are the cabins, routes, and airline partners that grant travelers access to American Airlines' network of Admirals Clubs:

• International, transcontinental, or other eligible domestic flights marketed and operated by American Airlines, a Oneworld partner airline, or marketed by JetBlue and operated by American
• Flights between the U.S. and
  • Asia
  • Australia
  • Canada*
  • The Caribbean
  • Central America
  • Europe
  • Mexico
  • Middle East
  • New Zealand
  • South America
• Qualifying transcontinental routes marked as flagship, including
  • New York (JFK) and Los Angeles (LAX)
  • JFK and San Francisco (SFO)
  • JFK and Orange County (SNA)
  • LAX and Miami (MIA)
  • LAX and Boston (BOS)
• Qualifying flights to Hawaii marked as flagship, including
  • Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) and Honolulu (HNL)
  • DFW and Kona (KOA)
  • DFW and Maui (OGG)
  • Chicago (ORD) and HNL

*As noted by American Airlines: “Except on flights operated by Alaska Airlines, access is not granted when flying from the United States to Canada, the Caribbean and Mexico. Departing or arriving flight must be the same day or before 6 a.m. the following day. Non-revenue passengers aren’t eligible.”

To access Admirals Clubs using an eligible ticket, you'll need to present both your boarding pass and a valid form of government I.D. You'll also want to note the guest access policy when accessing the Admirals Club using an eligible ticket. Unless you are traveling in international first class (Flagship First), you are unable to bring a guest into the lounge. International Flagship First passengers can bring one guest who is departing or arriving on a Oneworld flight.

Access Admirals Clubs with AAdvantage elite status on select itineraries

Depending on your status and your itinerary, you might already have access to Admirals Clubs. Those with Platinum status and above can access the lounge when traveling on qualifying flights, regardless of cabin. These include flights between the U.S. and

• Asia
• Australia
• Canada
• Caribbean
• Central America
• Europe
• Mexico
• Middle East
• New Zealand
• South America

If accessing the Admirals Club via status, you can bring one guest who is departing or arriving on a Oneworld flight.

There are two additional passengers who receive Admirals Club membership free of charge: ConciergeKey elites and AirPass members.

Related: A Complete Guide to American Airlines AAdvantage Elite Status

Purchase an Admirals Club day pass

Traveling on American Airlines but don't want an annual membership or don't hold elite status? American Airlines allows passengers to purchase a day pass both online or at check-in at an Admirals Club. Keep in mind that the use of an Admirals Club day pass is subject to capacity constraints.

An Admirals Club day pass is available for $59 or 5,900 AAdvantage miles. Day passes are good for 24 hours from the first club check-in and are available for those traveling on any Oneworld flight or a flight marketed and operated by JetBlue (except flights to Europe).

If I were to start my travels in St. Louis (STL) when the club opens at 4:30 a.m., I could access as many Admirals Clubs as I would like until 4:30 a.m. the following day. That would include connections in Chicago (ORD) and New York (JFK) if I passed through those airports and had a boarding pass.

With a day pass, you can bring up to three children (under age 18) as guests, so long as they have boarding passes for same-day travel on AA or a partner airline.

Choose Admirals Club access via Loyalty Point Rewards

You can earn Loyalty Point Rewards starting at 15,000 Loyalty Points during a qualification year. However, the earliest point at which you can choose an Admirals Club membership is 250,000 Loyalty Points. You can choose two rewards at that level, and choosing the Admirals Club membership uses both of your choices.

It's also possible to choose six (6) day passes to Admirals Club, using just one of your choices. This perk is available starting at 175,000 Loyalty Points earned in the qualification year.

Related: American Airlines AAdvantage Loyalty Point Rewards

Active U.S. Military in Uniform

The final way to access American Airlines Admirals Club is to be an active U.S. military member in uniform traveling on a flight operated by American Airlines. These travelers can enter Admirals Clubs with their boarding pass and military I.D. Additionally, military personnel can bring immediate family members or up to two guests during their visit.

Note that two lounges are excluded: The Airspace Lounge in San Diego (SAN) and JAL Sakura Lounge in Honolulu (HNL). Given the sizeable military presence near those airports, this isn't surprising.

There are multiple ways passengers can gain entry into American Airlines Admirals Clubs. Credit: Max Prosperi/AwardWallet

The Bottom Line

American Airlines Admirals Clubs offer an inviting and relaxing space for eligible travelers and members. With 47 Admirals Clubs and an additional 50+ partner lounges, there is no shortage of locations to visit during your travels.

There are several ways to access Admirals Club locations, including buying a membership or traveling in premium cabins on eligible itineraries However, the most cost-effective and practical way to obtain an Admirals Club membership is with the AA Executive Card. This comes with an Admirals Club membership as part of the $595 annual fee.

Are you an Admirals Club member? What are your favorite Admirals Club lounge locations?

AwardWallet Tip of The Day

Did you know you can see the transaction history for most of your loyalty program accounts in AwardWallet? In your AwardWallet account dashboard, click the + sign next to the account you want to view. Then, click the History tab to see your individual transaction history.
Show me how

Hide image