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I reviewed the Admirals Club Phoenix amidst another surprise trip
If you read us very often you’re probably aware of the fact that we love a good surprise trip. I’m still posting about my mom’s epic $125k surprise birthday trip around the world, and my lovely lady and I went to Austin for her birthday last year, took my dad to a colts game a couple years ago, and this time around…I was flying to Indiana to surprise my folks over July 4th weekend. I actually wanted to fly in earlier, but the only avail that opened up was on Sunday. It actually worked far better because my parents suspected I may surprise them, but then when Friday and Saturday came and went they’d given up hope. That’s the best time to strike 😉 I took advantage of the final days that the Prestige offers free Admirals Club access and stopped in to the Admirals Club in Terminal A for a bit.
Check out the insta-story of the whole surprise.
The Admirals Club Phoenix in terminal A is located near gate A8
Take the elevator
Prestige ends its Admirals Club benefit on July 23. This is probably our last visit for a bit.
The lounge is quite nice, however small, but didn’t seem to be overly crowded while we were there.
For a small lounge I thought it utilized the space it had very well. Plenty of varied seating with power, and of course Wifi.
Miles love a good bar shot. And a bar photo.
Food:
The biggest complaint I have about Admirals Clubs in general is that the food is slim pickings. While you can order food in most of the Admirals Clubs, you have to pay for it. I’d say the coolest feature was the coke machine. I love a good fountain soda.
Small but adequate work center.
Overall:
My flight from Phoenix to Indianapolis was delayed by roughly 30 mins, and the delay was really the only reason I ended up in the lounge. My connection was pretty tight and I was planning going from one flight straight to the next, but in the end, I’m glad I took the time to check it out. The lounge was fresh, clean, and a positive direction for AA to take with their lounges. I’ll be flying business to Europe in a couple of months and am interested to see how the Admirals Club in Terminal 4 is coming along. My plan is to check it out and the Qantas First lounge at TBIT. While I think these lounges are great perks associated with premium credit cards, I’m not sure I could ever justify the expense if I had to pay the annual fee out of pocket.
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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