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This is part of the Italy/England Trip 2016
- One World Business Class Lounge Los Angeles Review – Tom Bradley
- SkyTeam Korean Air Lounge Los Angeles Review
- LAX-LHR American Business Class 777-300ER
- London Terminal 4 SkyTeam Business Class Lounge Review
- LHR -FCO Alitalia Business Class A330
- Marriott Rome Park Hotel
- Viator private tour Vatican
- Boscolo Rome Exedra
- NUN Assisi Relais and Spa
- Le Anfore (business class) Lounge
- London Radisson Blu Edwardian New Providence Wharf Review:
- London Terminal 3 British Airways Galleries Lounge Review
- London Terminal 3 Admiral’s Club Review
- LHR-LAX American Business Class 777-300ER – mini cabin
I Love that Priority Pass got me into the Korean Air Sky Team lounge
- Where: Tom Bradley International Terminal
- When : May 2016
- Who can get in: Sky Team Business or First passengers, Priority Pass / Pass Select members, Sky Team Elite Plus on international ticket
- Hours of operation: 9am to 1am
If you are meandering over here from Terminal 5 because you have tons of time to kill before your International Delta flight, it’s the first thing you will see on the left hand side after walking over from Terminal 4.
I was not ticketed with any Sky Team partners and gained access through Priority Pass Select. It is one of the best perks of having a premium credit card.
- It’s a free membership with any American Express Platinum Card (How I got it)
- Citi Prestige
First’s thing first – Impression: WOW! I feel like I’m walking into a large Park Hyatt lobby
This lounge is elegant, sleek, meticulously well maintained, and uber modern. Whereas the One World lounge across the hall feels like a sexy Grand Hyatt, this lounge feels totally different. It feels Asian. It’s truly remarkable how design evokes a feeling of transportation: a few steps in and you have left Los Angeles altogether and could be sitting in any airport in Asia. I’m not sure the square footage, but when I was there, it was hardly used and considerably smaller than the One World Lounge.
Off-peak is the best time to hit up a lounge. Miles was able to snag so many photos, so quickly, and without looking like a complete weirdo, only a partial weirdo and that’s only cause he’s a real pain about his “angles.” I may convince him to unfollow Kim Kardashian – he’s been picking up some bad habits.
The Food – keeping with the design attributes…minimal-ist
There was finger food, fruit, and some salad items. I was in the lounge around 6pm and the food presentation was no meal replacement. What was there as very fresh and tasty tho, and on the bright side there were tons of beverage options and other little snacks.
The Bar – “eh”
Honestly, for a lounge that oozes uber posh refuge, the bar was unstaffed and only had a handful of spirits. There were a couple different wine selections, no champagne, and a fridge full of sodas, water, juice, and a few beer selections. I’m not being snooty, but I just came across from the One World Business Class lounge and it had a legit bar, so this is underwhelming.
The Facilities – POSH
Specifically, the showers were baller. Although there were only 3 of them. Honestly tho, if the lounge is typically this empty, 3 would showers is enough. In fact, all of them were open – although I was here at 6pm and not 9am, but they were all empty.
D’OOOOOOOOOPE
OK, see ya later, I’m gonna chill here
The Feel – modern luxury
It’s a very well done lounge and feels only a couple years old. It’s a certain type of clean – Singapore clean, yes that’s it. I must have seen people sweeping, vacuuming, or tidying a half dozen times in the 90 minutes I was in there. Ideally located, yet small and divided into little areas with one large seating corridor that wraps around like an L. Aside from that, the coolest part of the lounge is the outdoor seating area where you can raise your nose high while looking down at all the Ploebs who have yet to learn the tricks of the trade. To think, years ago, I was one of them thinking every single person in those glorious lounges had to rub shoulders with Robin Leach. Now I know, you can be an shifty little monkey and find ALLLLLL sorts of ways into luxury.
Overall: For sure, “a go to”
Look, is this lounge totally worth traversing a couple terminals to get to? Depends on the person. It’s a very nice lounge. It doesn’t offer real meal alternatives, but it does have decent food and it does have free drinks. If you arrive in any terminals that connect here and you’d like a shower, or have a few hours to kill – Do it, no question. It certainly feels like you’re on holiday, is incredibly clean, and offers a great refuge from the mind numbingness that can be travel.
A little aside: I was sitting next to a couple who were in the lounge thanks to her Amex Plat card and the Priority Pass Select membership that comes with it. He had never been in the TBIT and was jawdropping his descriptions. Literally, he phoned multiple people saying that they were in a killer lounge, felt already in Europe, and were enjoying free food and drink. Now THAT is what I’m talking about. That’s a fresh perspective and one that I honestly think is worth mentioning. This lounge kills domestic offerings, and clearly this dude was even more amped to be on his trip.
I started planning trips for friends and family years ago and one of my objectives was to make the Journey TO the vacation more enjoyable. Far too often we ‘grind it out’ getting there when we could be enjoying the journey just as much. Now, I do my best to make sure the vacation starts the moment you leave the house. After all, life is about the journey, not the destination.
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
Welcome Offer
60k Points after $4k spend in 3 months
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
- 60k points after $4k spend in 3 months
- Worth $750 in Chase Travel℠ and way more if you maximize transfer partners
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 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)
- $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
- The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
- 2x on all other travel
- 10% Anniversary Bonus
- Every year you keep the card, your total spend will yield a 10% points bonus. If you spend $10k in a year, you’ll get 1k bonus points
- Chase Sapphire Preferred continues to redeem at 1.25c in the Chase Travel℠ and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver ( primary ), purchase protections, etc.
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- Redeem in Chase Travel℠ for 1.25 cents per point
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2024
- $95 Annual Fee
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:
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.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is exceptional 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: Ink Business Cash® , Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.
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