Admirals Club Upgraded Food Options

By Ramon

Ramon is the creator of Travelling Companion. He focuses on flight review, hotel reviews, and helping stretch your travel dollars, miles, and points further. ​​

On any flight, the experience begins on the ground and one of the most important ground amenity for me is an airline's airport lounge. If I have access to a lounge it can provide a respite from the chaos of the terminal and a place to recharge and gain access to refreshments. In this post I am going to focus on the upgraded food options offered in American Airlines' airport lounges. American Airlines' lounges are called Admirals Clubs harkening back to the days when these lounges required a membership and flyers could access the lounges regardless of the airline being flown. However, starting November 1, 2019 Admirals Club access was limited to passengers flying on an American Airlines, Alaska Airlines, or OneWorld marketed or operated flight. I receive access to the Admiral's Clubs when flying with Christina through the  Citi AAdvantage Executive World Elite card. This card allows access for the cardholder and up to two traveling companions. 

Admirals Club/Flagship Lounge Entrance LAX

While I appreciate many aspects of the airport lounge experience when flying domestically or on short haul flights the most important amenity are the complimentary food and drinks. This is an area where American Airlines has long lagged. Typically, what you can expect on the drink front is water, orange juice, machine-made hot beverages including coffee, rail liquors, wine, and beer. 

Admirals Club Drink Options

On the food front Admiral's Club options have been what I can only describe as sad. The options included bagels, unappetizing fruit, yogurt, soup, and cereal.

Admirals Club Traditional Food Options

Admirals Club Traditional Food Options

Beginning in 2018, American Airlines began upgrading its food options introducing both freshly made guacamole in the afternoon and avocado toast in the morning. In 2019, American Airlines extended the food options to include build your own mac-and-cheese bars in the afternoon and breakfast tacos in the morning. During my 2018 travels, I had the opportunity to try both the freshly made guacamole and the Avocado toast. I had the guacamole on several occasions and found it to be boring, tasteless, and the chips to be too salty. 

Admirals Club Guacamole

However, I must give American Airlines credit for the avocado toast. In 2018 I looked forward to eating the fresh avocado toast during my morning flights. 

Made-to-Order Avocado Toast

The options for avocado toast toppings included mozzarella cheese, tomatoes, yellow and red onions, ham, and my favorite avocado toast topping salmon.

Avocado Toast Toppings

I found the avocado toast to be tasty and better than some of American Airlines domestic First Class breakfasts which I will discuss in my upcoming posts. ​​

Admirals Club Avocado Toast

Take Away
Historically, I believe that one of the weakest aspects of the American Airlines' Admirals Club experience was the food. I give American Airlines credit for upgrading the food to provide additional options. My experience with these options has been mixed. I found the freshly made guacamole tasteless while the avocado toast was delicious. I still don't think Admirals Club's food options are great or likely to replace a full meal but it is nice to have more snacks options when waiting between America Airlines flights. My advice would be to have a full meal in the terminal if are hungry but try out the new options if you are flying American Airlines and in need of a snack.