New oneworld airport lounge opens in Los Angeles

A new oneworld lounge opened at Los Angeles International Airport this week.

Designed and run by Qantas on behalf of oneworld, it is a huge facility.  Phase 1 which has just opened is a 400-seat business class lounge.  This will soon be expanded to 600 seats.  An additional 200-seat First Class lounge will also open.

British Airways flyers will be able to access it under standard oneworld rules – BA Gold card holders and First Class ticket holders can use the First Class lounge whilst BA Silver card holders and Business Class ticket holders can use the other lounge.

The press releases states:

The stylish and spacious Business Lounge has a contemporary design reflecting Californian culture, combined with signature elements from each airline, built around a communal fireplace and central glass atrium providing natural light

In the lounge’s dining area, visitors can choose from menus, designed by renowned Qantas chef Neil Perry, based on signature Qantas Lounge favourites with influences of multicultural California, including Italian, Mexican, Chinese, Korean and US West Coast street food.

Californian food carts similar to the pop-up dining concept offer freshly prepared dishes such as crumbed cod tacos with red cabbage slaw and lime chipotle mayo and Asian-spiced chicken wings.

At the cocktail bar, customers can select signature cocktails or premium wines, or have the barista service create the coffee of their choice. The lounge also offers an enhanced hot and cold buffet, faster WiFi, new workstations and nine shower suites with Aurora Spa amenities, with seven more shower suites to be available soon.

Qantas, which has developed and will manage the new facilities on behalf of its fellow oneworld members, has partnered with Sofitel to offer a service experience consistent with the standards across its Sydney, Melbourne, Hong Kong and Singapore lounges.

This includes a hosted experience for customers travelling in First, Qantas Platinum Frequent Flyers and oneworld Emerald members with exclusive services including shirt pressing, shoe shining and priority access to showers.

Upon completion the Business Lounge will also include a Family Zone.

As is standard in the US, I understand that premium alcohol will NOT be free apart from house beer and house wine.

The lounge will be used by passengers flying on Qantas, BA, airberlin, Iberia, Japan Airlines and LAN.  It will not be accessible by American Airlines or US Airways passengers as they operate from other terminals.

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How to get FREE airport lounge access via UK credit cards (September 2024)

Here are the four options to get FREE airport lounge access via a UK credit card.

The Platinum Card from American Express comes with two free Priority Pass cards, one for you and one for a supplementary cardholder. Each card admits two so a family of four gets in free. You get access to all 1,500 lounges in the Priority Pass network – search it here.

You also get access to Eurostar, Lufthansa and Delta Air Lines lounges.  Our American Express Platinum review is here. You can apply here.

If you have a small business, consider American Express Business Platinum instead.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 22nd October 2024, the bonus on American Express Business Platinum is increased to up to 80,000 Membership Rewards points, worth 80,000 Avios. You will receive 8 points per £1 spent for the first three months, on up to £10,000 of spending. Click here to read our full card review. Click here to apply.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold is FREE for the first year. It comes with a Priority Pass card loaded with four free visits to any Priority Pass lounge – see the list here.

Additional lounge visits are charged at £24.  You get four more free visits for every year you keep the card.  

There is no annual fee for Amex Gold in Year 1 and you get a 20,000 points sign-up bonus.  Full details are in our American Express Preferred Rewards Gold review here.

HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard gets you get a free Priority Pass card, allowing you access to the Priority Pass network.  Guests are charged at £24 although it may be cheaper to pay £60 for a supplementary credit card for your partner.

The card has a fee of £290 and there are strict financial requirements to become a HSBC Premier customer.  Full details are in my HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard review.

PS. You can find all of HfP’s UK airport lounge reviews – and we’ve been to most of them – indexed here.