Review: the British Airways Concorde Room lounge at New York JFK airport

This is my review of the British Airways Concorde Room lounge at New York JFK Terminal 7.

I don’t think I have been here before, to be honest.  That is not as odd as it seems since a short overnight flight from New York to London is not the best way to experience British Airways First Class or maximise the value of your Avios points.  I would have taken a Club World seat if one was available or, preferably, the new American Airlines business class seat, but the option wasn’t there.

My other New York trips since I started this site have concluded with flights on Singapore Airlines First Class (to Frankfurt, reviewed here) or airberlin (see here and here, and a new airberlin long haul review is in the pipeline).

Terminal 7 has a private security channel for premium passengers.  The problem is that it only has one scanning machine.  Given the large number of premium passengers and premium seats flying out of Terminal 7 – including the ‘all business class’ Open Skies services to Paris – the numbers don’t work.  A staff member was desperately trying to get people to walk to the other side of the terminal to use the normal lanes which were apparently empty.

I was probably part of the problem as I ended up needing FIVE trays for my hand baggage after they insisted it be broken out in certain ways ….

The good news, once through security, is that you are just 10 seconds from the entrance to The Concorde Room.   Like the Heathrow version (which I don’t like, see my Heathrow Concorde Room review here), this lounge is exclusively for ticketed First Class passengers and the top tier of Gold Guest List card holders.

There isn’t a huge amount going on in the lounge, but that isn’t the point.  It is meant to be a quiet space where you can have a proper meal and a waiter-delivered drink.  There is more ‘going on’ over in the main lounge.

Here is part of the seating area (click on any of the photos to enlarge):

…. and opposite:

Tucked around the corner is a small business centre:

If you don’t want a formal meal, snack are limited:

…. and, by the bar:

Whilst I didn’t get a picture, the selection of magazines is woeful – clearly ‘pay to play’ is at work.  (That said, the Heathrow Galleries are also ‘pay to play’ AFAIK but they do seem to draw a line.  Not here!  At least it wasn’t as bad as What Pool and Hot Tub? which Singapore Airlines is happy to give out at Heathrow ….)  There was a decent selection of newspapers.

Here are the dining booths:

The food choices that night were,as appetisers:

Tuna slider with avocado, charred lime, sriracha chips, brioche bun (see below)

Eckerton Hill Farms heirloom tomato with buffalo mozzarella, shallot red wine gastrique, sea salt

There is also a salad option which you can have as well as, or alongside, a starter or main.

The choice of mains was:

Filet Mignon with pea ravioli, baby carrot, celeriac puree and au poivre sauce

Miso glazed pork tenderloin with braised baby leeks, corn and boiled potatoes

Seared polenta crusted monkfish with cockle mariniere broth, pistou and samphire (see below)

Vegetable pot au feu with limami consomme

And finally for dessert which only had one option:

Passionfruit crumble with pistachio crumb, micro mint, Summer berries and passionfruit coulis (see below)

There was also Black River blue cheese with lavender honey as an additional option afterwards.

And that is about it.  If you want a pool table, book yourself on Virgin! (here is my review of Virgin’s JFK lounge).  The Concorde Room is a quiet, relaxing space where you can have a decent – although not life-changing – meal before your flight.

It isn’t the Lufthansa First Class Terminal, by any means.  I would happily go there again but I would not recommend spending the extra Avios for First over Club World purely on the basis of visiting the New York JFK Concorde Room.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2024)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital on Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 12th May 2024, the Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa card is offering a bonus of 30,000 points, convertible into 30,000 Avios. You must have a Limited Company to apply. Click here to learn more and click here to apply.

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.

There are also generous bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These cards are open to sole traders as well as limited companies.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.