Chase Sapphire Card Opens Two New Lounges At New York City Airports

Forbes Lifestyle ForbesLife Chase Sapphire Card Opens Two New Lounges At New York City Airports Larry Olmsted Senior Contributor Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. I am an award winning travel journalist & bestselling author. Follow me on Instagram travelfoodguy or Twitter @travelfoodguy Following Click to save this article.

You'll be asked to sign into your Forbes account. Got it Jan 16, 2024, 05:30am EST Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin This circular bar anchors the brand new 2 story Chase Sapphire Lounge by The Club at LaGuardia ... [+] Airport in NYC. (C) Chase Sapphire Frequent flyers, Chase is changing the face of air travel in New York in a big way with a high profile new lounge opening today, while a second location is coming in one week—at the busiest of the city’s three major airports.

Last year Chase launched its first full service U.S. airport lounge, inside Boston Logan International Airport, the start of a campaign to compete with American Express’ Centurian Lounge network and other airline and non airline lounge operators. I was among the early travelers to visit after it opened and wrote about it in detail here at Forbes .

Since I fly out of Boston frequently, I have been back several times since. Even though I belong to United’s lounge network, and their Boston location is one of the more pleasant ones, often showcasing local foods, I now go to the Sapphire Lounge instead as long as I have time (it’s a little further from the United gates I frequent).

The new LaGuardia lounge includes bookable "Reserve Suites," which cost extra but come with caviar, ... [+] special food and fancy wines. (C) Chase Sapphire Even when I fly internationally from Terminal E I now make the extra walk, because my Priority Pass accesses Air France’s business class lounge, which is one of the worst, and the Sapphire Lounge is much better—plus the Air France Lounge is often so crowded they suspend Priority Pass privileges.

In the numerous times have visited in the past few months, at all times of day, the Sapphire Lounge has never once been too crowded, the issue that seemingly plagues every other good airport lounge, including American Express’. As promised, Chase is continuing to expand its Sapphire Lounge network , with Las Vegas, Philadelphia, Phoenix and San Diego locations “coming soon,” but the newest addition opens today in New York’s LaGuardia airport, after a media preview.

The most interesting thing about this new lounge is that it is much bigger than the Boston one, nearly twice the size at almost 22,000 square feet, and the Boston Louge is quite large. This is especially notable because Logan gets more passengers than LaGuardia (around 33 million versus 29 million last year).

This is encouraging in terms of the hope that this location also does not get overrun. MORE FOR YOU Samsung Prepares Stunning Free Offers For Every Galaxy S24 Pre Order Trump Breezes To Victory In Iowa Caucuses Amid Lower Voter Turnout Here’s How The Iowa Caucuses Work—And What Time To Expect Results The new lounge has a fireplace and many different seating options.

(C) Chase Sapphire The new Chase Sapphire Lounge by The Club at LaGuardia Airport (LGA) spans two floors, and is located inside security on the fourth floor of extensively renovated Terminal B , which was just named the World’s Best New Airport Terminal at the 2023 World Airport Awards by Skytrax.

It was also the first U.S. terminal to receive Skytrax’ highest 5 Star rating for Best Practices. Terminal B is home to United, American, JetBlue, Southwest and Air Canada. The Lounge is much more focused on design and material than the Boston one, which is cozy, while this is strikingly modern, luxurious and architecturally fascinating.

The two level design is built around a circular central bar and open atrium, with lots of curved furniture, and the pieces are from big names such as Cappellini, Poliform, Moroso and DePadova. Like Boston, it has a wide variety of seating areas and options, from fancier takes on diner style booths to regular tables to couches in front of a fireplace.

But while Boston is adorned with some local sports memorabilia and black and white city photos, LaGuardia dramatically showcases a much wider variety of artwork from the J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. private art collection, including some pieces commissioned from local artists. There's a Game Room for the young at a heart.

(C) Chase Sapphire One week from today (January 23), Chase will partner with Etihad Airways in a rebranding of Eithad’s existing lounge at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK). It will reopen as the Chase Sapphire Lounge by The Club with Etihad Airways, adding what are becoming the signature elements of Chase’s network, local foods, wellness spaces and more.

There has not yet been a media preview, and Chase is tight lipped about more particulars. But we do know that the JFK lounge is inside security at Terminal 4, in the Mezzanine above Gate A2. Terminal 4 is not only the largest one at JFK, it also claims to be the only privately operated terminal in the nation, and is home to 22 airlines, with more than 22 million annual passengers served by over 12,000 employees.

It even has its own blog! JFK is New York City’s busiest airport, ahead of Newark, and Terminal 4 houses many international carriers, including Eithad, Emirates, El Al, China Airlines, KLM, Singapore, Virgin Atlantic, Latam, WestJet and more, as well as domestic airlines Delta, Jet Blue and Hawaiian.

The LaGuardia Lounge is the brand’s largest to date (the first full service location was in Hong Kong, and there’s a micro version in Austin, TX) and like the Boston location, offers both self serve grab and go in the form of interesting small plates and made to order dishes from a QR code menu, delivered to your table.

In each location the Club partners with a local restaurant to give a sense of place, and here it is Joseph Leonard , an American bistro in the West Village. Example dishes include seared salmon over braised leeks with crème fraiche; Roast beef sandwich on toasted ciabatta roll with melted raclette cheese and horseradish dressing; and a braised brown lentil ragout with roasted seasonal vegetables and curried coconut yogurt.

The new lounge is design forward, and displays art from the J.P. Morgan private collection. (C) Chase Sapphire The Chase lounges also have a bigger variety of soft drinks and full bar that is much better stocked than most airline lounges, plus specialty cocktails and mocktails. In this case the list is by New York’s Apotheke Mixology , with different options than Boston.

LaGuardia also adds made to order barista beverages featuring fresh roasts from local chain Joe Coffee . But the biggest news at LaGuardia is the introduction of Chase’s first “Reserve Suites.” These three units are private, by advance reservation rooms with a dedicated suite attendant and special menu from Jeffrey’s Grocery , an American seafood, oyster and raw bar specialty restaurant in the city’s West Village.

The Reserve Suites by Chase also offer a signature caviar service upon arrival and elevated wine list curated by New York City wine bar and retailer, Parcelle. Suites also have private bathrooms with showers and TVs with PlayStation 5. Chase Sapphire Reserve cardmembers must book their suite at least 72 hours before their flight, and they say you can find booking and pricing details on the Chase Mobile app, under Benefits & Travel, but I’ll make it easy for you: Suites 1 and 2 both hold up to 8 guests and run $3,000 while the smaller Suite 4 holds up to four and runs $2,200.

Suites 1 and 2 can also be combined into a mega 16 perosn suite for $6,000. After you pay for the Suite, all the food, reserve wine and caviar service is included. Like Boston, La Guardia has dedicated wellness rooms, but the ones here add a menu of complimentary treatments from Face Haus, a women owned facial bar on the Upper East Side.

There are at least five options offered, for men and women, on a first come first served basis. You can also grab a complimentary Fly By Face Haus Skincare Travel Kit. The new lounge also has a game room with pinball, shuffleboard, jukebox, and photobooth, plus a kids’ playroom and nursing room for those flying with kids.

Just as in Boston, admission will be primarily for Chase Sapphire Reserve cardmembers, who can visit as often as they like, for free, along with up to two free guests (additional guests at $27). J.P. Morgan Reserve Cardmembers with Priority Pass will also have this access to the Sapphire Lounges. Priority Pass members who are not Chase Sapphire Reserve cardholders can visit once per year for free, and then will be charged an entry fee of $75 each time (this is one visit network wide, not per location).

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