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American Airlines will temporarily change the name of its four Flagship lounges next week.
The lounges, which are available to first-class passengers on long-haul flights as well Oneworld alliance fliers with the top status of Emerald, will instead simply be called International Class First Class lounges.
The move, explained an American Airlines spokeswoman, is a prelude to changes the carrier is making to its Flagship lounge program in 2017.
American plans to renovate its existing lounges in New York JFK, Los Angeles, Chicago O’Hare and London Heathrow and to build new Flagship lounges in Miami, Dallas and Philadelphia.
As the upgrades are completed and the new facilities are opened, American will once again use the Flagship name. But the Flagship program will be different.
For the first time, long-haul business-class fliers will be allowed in. In addition, American will offer pre-flight fine dining in Dallas, Los Angeles, New York and Miami, though only for first-class travelers.
The first upgraded lounge, at New York JFK, is slated for an April opening.
American is going through the clunky process of changing the Flagship lounge branding only to change it back months later so that customers will learn that something new is happening, the spokeswoman said.
Sourse: travelweekly.com
