American Airlines Admirals Club Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD) Concourse H/K

After paying $100 for Admirals Club membership, I didn’t have to wait for too long to start earning the RoI. The American Airlines Admirals Club Chicago O’Hare Concourse H/K is located in Terminal 3, and I must say this lounge did not disappoint in any way despite the limited service. With plenty of seating areas, full-service bar, spotlessly clean restrooms, 5 shower rooms, lots of power outlets, and most importantly, friendly staff.

CHECKING IN

Checking in was smooth and only took a minute. I had just arrived on a red-eye flight out of Seattle with an award-redemption ticket on Alaska Airlines. With a 5-hour layover before my next connecting flight to Atlanta, I had plenty of time to spend exploring the lounge.

After checking in at the concourse level, you’re directed to the elevator around the corner which then takes you to the lounge on the third floor. The same elevator serves the passengers going to the Flagship Lounge which is located on the second floor. During my visit, the Flagship Lounge was closed since there was only 1 international flight being operated by American Airlines at that time. The Flagship Lounge is only accessible to First or Business Class passengers flying on a qualifying international or transcontinental flight.

Related: The Club At LAS

Exiting the elevator (depending on which elevator car you use), left turn will take you to the front desk area on the third floor, while right turn will lead you to the main seating areas. There are 8 service desks on the third floor, and agents are available to help you with any flight-related services.

SEATING AREA

The lounge is well appointed with plenty of comfortable seats at multiple seating areas. As a matter of fact, there’s room for everyone. Though I wonder what the lounge would look like at its’ maximum capacity. As per the sign on the wall, the lounge can accommodate a maximum of 816 people.

Despite the slowdown in travels due to the global pandemic (Covid-19), the lounge was fairly busy during my visit.

The lounge wasn’t just big, but also one of the recently upgraded admirals club. The makeover really added elegant taste to the lounge. With plenty of power outlets and USB ports at every seat, the Admirals Club at ORD indeed makes airport lounging very desirable. As expected, some of the seats were marked as “do not use” in order to comply with social distancing.

There are multiple communal tables at different sides of the lounge facing the apron. You’ll also find high-back chairs present in the lounge.

FOOD & BEVERAGE

The dining area also has more than enough dining tables and chairs. You’ll also find another high-top communal table in this area.

Though the lounge still offers full-service bar, there was no dining available during this time. A bag of pre-packaged snacks was available at the bar. Oranges and bananas were the only available fruits.

There were 2 Automated beverage machines as well as different types of LaCOLOMBE coffee.

MEDIA

There are multiple flight information display systems at the American Airlines Admirals Club in Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD). There’s a magazine shelf with limited magazines (due to covid-19) towards the entrance / exit of the main seating area.

QUIET AREA

Since one of the reasons why many people visit the lounge before their flights is to get away from the busy terminals or boarding gates, this lounge also caters for that reason. The quiet area has day beds available where you can lounge and stretch before or after your flight. There are also additional cubicle-style seats in the quiet area.

RESTROOMS & SHOWERS

The restroom was spotless during my visit. Although wasn’t that big, but the shower kind of made up for that. The shower was unavailable since the lounge was still offering limited service, but there are 5 shower rooms available. I believe this number of shower rooms will actually limit wait time for travelers. The restroom offers C.O. Bigelow Apothecaries bath products.

The Admirals Club ORD concourse H/K did not disappoint as far as plane-spotting is concerned. The lounge provides great views of the aprons through the floor-to-ceiling windows.

OTHER AMENITIES TEMPORARILY UNAVAILABLE

The lounge has a Mother’s Room which was closed during my visit. There’s also a Kid’s Room which was temporarily unavailable as well.

WIFI INTERNET

WiFi is available at this lounge and works with no issues. Although the WiFi will enable you to get things done, especially business activities, but The Points Engineer found the download speed to be just an okay speed. Upload speed on the other hand was great for an airport lounge. The WiFi test provided 39.47Mbps download speed and 35.23 upload speed as seen in the picture below:

For access to the Admirals Club, please see my previous post here

BOTTOM LINE

The Admirals Club Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD) provides a comfortable and quiet environment to relax. The 5 shower rooms were a great touch by American Airlines. This contemporary club was very welcoming, and did provided a great level of comfort during my visit

Kayode

Nigeria-born, California-based.

Kayode currently holds higher status on multiple airlines and hotel programs. He has visited 4 continents, 30 countries, and 35 of the 50 US states.

He began his adventure journey after selling his first cellphone ever, and used the money to apply for his first passport. He said to himself, “I’d rather have a passport than a cellphone”. And since then, he has been globetrotting.