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American Airlines Flagship Dining Room DFW
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American Airlines doesn’t face a great amount of competition at its DFW hub in terms of creature comforts.  There are four Admirals Clubs, which are perfectly sufficient but nothing spectacular.  There is not a Flagship Lounge like at more competitive hubs (ORD, LAX, JFK).  Honestly, American’s clubs didn’t really need to be excellent because there was no other lounge for any other airline that was much better at DFW.

All of that changed when American Express opened its Centurion Lounge in DFW’s Terminal D.  American was surprised and upset by the news of the impending opening, but was powerless to stop it.  I personally cancelled my Admiral’s Club membership because I ended up in the Centurion Lounge every time I was at DFW.

Recently, American announced a new Flagship Dining program at it’s Terminal D Admiral’s Club.  It’s not much, but represents American acknowledging they need to get better at their home hub.  I checked it out while waiting for my first flight of an amazing trip.

You are eligible for the Flagship Dining room if you are traveling in international First Class on a oneworld character or are on an international itinerary while holding oneworld Emerald status.  Basically if you would otherwise be eligible for the Flagship Lounge elsewhere, you’re in.

When I say it’s not much, I mean it.  It’s a room.  A decently sized room, but still just a room.  With the service personnel kind of standing around looking at everyone eating.  Anyway, back to the review.  When you first walk in you see a drink station with the typical soft drinks you’d expect, although they had some nice(r) beers and sparkling wine.

a table with wine glasses and bottles

Drink station

a bowl of soda bottles and glasses

Soft drinks

a bowl of beer bottles and ice

Beer

The room was very crowded when I was there (during the prime transatlantic travel time) so I initially had to stand but eventually found a seat and started working on my Shiner Bock.

I walked over to the buffet and was pleasantly surprised with the items.  While the food isn’t to the quality of the Centurion Lounge it’s definitely a step above the normal Admiral’s Club fare.

a buffet table with plates of food

Buffet

a plate of food with a sandwich on it

Sammiches

a group of small square glasses with food in them

Hummus

It was a nice selection of salads and cold cuts.  Down the line a bit they had soups and awesome little desserts.

a plate of chocolates with red liquid

Desserts

a plate of desserts on a table

MOAR DESSERTS

I ate a plate of food and then: got bored and ended up back at the Centurion Lounge.

Is the Flagship Dining room worth a stop?  Sure, if you don’t have access to the Centurion Lounge.  While it’s not the most amazing thing ever I hope it represents American investing in DFW and hopefully someday bringing a Flagship Lounge back to its home airport.

Have you been?  What did you think?

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