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Admirals Club Chicago ORD Terminal 3 Review
The Admirals Club Chicago ORD review is part of the weekend wedding in London trip report. In case you haven’t been following this trip report it was a super fun, yet hectic, trip to London. I left on a Thursday to fly to SFO, stayed overnight at the Hyatt Regency San Francisco, flew on Friday night through Dusseldorf on Air Berlin, and finally made it to London on Saturday night. The wedding was the following day and then on Monday morning we routed through Dublin so that we could nab a great business class deal and fly on American’s 777-200. All in all, it was awesome!!! In order to nab that great business class deal, we had to position ourselves to Dublin, circle back to LHR only to route through Chicago before getting back to Los Angeles. While we were at ORD we had the opportunity to check out the Admirals Club Chicago ORD in Terminal 3.
The Deets:
- When: August 2016
- Where: Chicago ORD Terminal 3 – H Concourse
- Who can get in:
- Credit card holders
- Citi Prestige
- Citi Aadvantage Executive
- International biz and first class passengers on One World
- Transcon biz and first class passengers on AA
- One World Sapphire and Emerald elite members flying internationally or on a flight that is longer than 5 hours with a connection same day or before 6am the following day.
- Credit card holders
Location
The Admirals Club lounge is located in the H concourse in Terminal 3; however, you can still access the lounge down the K concourse you’ll just have to use a hallway that cuts over towards the entrance.
Check In:
Easy Peasy. The desk agent was as nice as could be and even explained the various ways one can enter the lounge. I was very sleepy and gave her my ticket with my Citi Prestige, and she informed me that because I was on an international itinerary it was unnecessary…let’s just write that one off to sleep deprivation 😉 She gave me and my girlfriend each a premium drink ticket and pointed us towards the elevators.
The Lounge is HUGE
This is the largest Admiral’s club I’ve ever been in and rivals some of the biggest I’ve been in period. The seating just goes on and on and on and on. Chicago is one of American’s hubs so it’s to be expected that they would have a large lounge, but by any measure this thing is huge. Take the elevator upstairs and just begin to wander…you’ll definitely make your Fitbit happy.
On to the bar area
Before getting to the main bar area the was a small selection of food for purchase. At this point I wasn’t that hungry and just wanted a refreshing drink and a nibble or two.
On beyond the bar/eating area I found the work center and family room
I just took you on a tour “left” from the 2nd floor reception…if we had turned right we’d see
There are also multiple shower stations. I asked for a key to check one out
The shower stations were very nicely sized. I’d say that the entire lounge is feeling a little bit dated, but the sheer size of it makes it so nice as an escape from the noisy and crowded terminals of ORD.
Overall
There is a distinct vibe in this lounge, something to me at least, that felt Chicago. Maybe it was the subtle art deco influences or the fact that everyone was really nice, but I enjoyed my time at this lounge and felt like I at least said hello to the Windy City. Even when the airport is busy I would suspect that seating wouldn’t be a huge issue as there is sooooooooooooooo much of it. In fact, I would even venture to say that this lounge has more seating than Kim Kardashian has nude selfies. WAYO!
I would say that this lounge provides something most lounge goers seek: quiet, privacy, and a snack. Lounges of this size are few and far between and it was so nice to be able to grab a drink and find a nice quiet place to talk and watch the planes come and go. It’s not going to bowl you over with luxury, but it will give you the opportunity to take a load off and chill.
Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card went through a major refresh in 2026 adding new bonus categories, travel protections, statement credits, and remains one of the best travel starter cards in the market. It earns Premium Ultimate Rewards that can be transferred into over a dozen partners many of which are US based including Hyatt, Southwest, United, IHG, and Marriott. Note that Hyatt is now a 4:3 transfer partner
Welcome Offer
Earn 100,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account openingÂ
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
Earn
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travelâ„
- NEW ACCELERATED EARN CATEGORY: 3x points on gas and EV charging
- NEW ACCELERATED EARN CATEGORY: 3x points on vacation homes at top brands
- Cardmembers will earn 3x points on vacation homes at these top brands: Airbnb, Vrbo, Plu Guide, HomeAway, Homestay.com and Vacasa.
- 3x on dining, including eligible delivery services for takeout & dining out
- 3x on select streaming services
- 3x on online grocery purchases
- (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- 2x on all other travel
- 1x on everyday purchases
- 5x points on Lyft rides Earn 5x total points on eligible Lyft rides including ride share, bike and scooter rides and subscription and membership products through September 30, 2027.
- 5x total points on Peloton equipment Earn 5x total points on eligible Peloton equipment and accessory purchases over $150 through December 31, 2027.
Benefits and Credits
- $100 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travelâ„
- NEW: $120 Global Entry, TSA PreCheck or NEXUS fee credit Cardmembers will receive one statement credit of up to $120 every four years as reimbursement for the application fee charged to the card.
- NEW: Complimentary Apple TV subscription for one year
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Complimentary DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees & lower service fees for a min. of one year when you activate by 12/31/27. Plus, a $10 promo each month on non-restaurant orders
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.
Main Cast:Â
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.Â
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is great starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.
If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex®  and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Chase Ink Business Cash® , Chase Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into the Sapphire Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee remains quite low at $95 a year and if you use the $100 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travelâ„ you’ll wipe out that annual fee every year. It has great bonus categories and other useful statement credits to enhance your travel.
One thing that is a bummer is Chase lowered the transfer ratio to World of Hyatt from 1:1 to 4:3.Â
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