Review - Chase Sapphire Lounge by The Club with Etihad Airways
Chase Sapphire Lounge by The Club with Etihad Airways
October 7th, 2024
A Word from the Chef:
After reviewing ~50 airlines, I’ve finally decided to part out the lounge reviews from the flight reviews. It wasn’t like I didn’t always know that was the logical thing to do, but who promised to be the sharpest and the brightest…
I wish we could start off with a bang for the debut piece of lounge reviews. However, we will instead be treated with something that’s borderline offensive, which is the Chase Sapphire Lounge by The Club with Etihad Airways. Talk about a mouthful! It’s not the lounge itself that was offensive, but rather the fact that it was the lounge for Etihad’s first class passengers. I accessed this lounge prior to my first class flight to Abu Dhabi, which you can check out here. Spoiler alert - it wasn’t very first class either.
There’s actually a bit of a backstory to this. The Chase Sapphire Lounge by The Club with Etihad Airways was, at one point, you guessed it, just the Etihad Airways Lounge. You see, in the heyday of Etihad Airways, it used to operate its own lounge at JFK (among IAD and LAX). Due to years of consistent losses, Etihad embarked on a turnaround plan, with one aspect entailing the spinoff of its lounge network. Chase, in an effort to compete with Amex in terms of airport experience, took over the former Etihad Lounge at JFK.
That creates a problem, though. You see, the space of the lounge remained the same, and there was only enough square footage for Etihad passengers. Etihad didn’t stipulate in its agreement with Chase that its passengers receive priority access. When I arrived at the lounge, I was told there would be a 20-minute wait, as a first class customer! I wish you were there to see the fume coming out of the top of my head. It would have propelled a turbine. I reckoned I must be on some prank TikTok. The receptionist told me to leave her my number, so she could text me when a seat became available, and I responded “What is this? The Polo Bar?”.
Plat Principal:
As you can see from the picture below, there were quite some people loitering around waiting to be admitted. The guy in front of me in line was in Etihad business class and was also told to come back later. How pathetic and beyond forgivable. I can’t think of another airline in the world whose customers have to wait for the lounge…
Chase Sapphire Lounge by The Club with Etihad Airways at JFK Entrance
Chase Sapphire Lounge by The Club with Etihad Airways at JFK Reception
The first thing that struck me after I was finally allowed to enter the land of the divine, no like it literally struck me so forcefully that I almost blacked out, was the harsh overhead lighting. I’m what they call a homosexual, so I absolutely cannot stand bright lights.
As for the crowd level, again, a picture is worth a thousand words… It wasn’t until my third lap was I able to find an empty seat in the back corner of the lounge. There were just so many people…
Chase Sapphire Lounge by The Club with Etihad Airways at JFK
And people.
Chase Sapphire Lounge by The Club with Etihad Airways at JFK
And people.
Chase Sapphire Lounge by The Club with Etihad Airways at JFK
And fucking people.
Chase Sapphire Lounge by The Club with Etihad Airways at JFK
Brimming in every direction you could see. Ugh, I hate people.
The Sapphire Lounge offered a small selection of buffet items, which were all individually plated. I’m glad this is increasingly becoming the norm. Have you noticed the change in lounge clientele in the States these years? Yeah…
The majority of food and beverage options were available à la carte. You can see the menu below.
I figured a strong libation was warranted at this point, so I ordered a la puerta, which was pretty good.
Chase Sapphire Lounge by The Club with Etihad Airways at JFK Cocktail
For food, I sampled the sapphire noodles and the sapphire burger. The quality was passable.
Chase Sapphire Lounge by The Club with Etihad Airways at JFK Food
Chase Sapphire Lounge by The Club with Etihad Airways at JFK Food
Digestif:
Contrary to what you might conclude from the venom I have spewed out so far, the Chase Sapphire Lounge by The Club with Etihad Airways (again what a stupid name) was very much a great lounge, for Chase Sapphire cardmembers. It had a decent food and drink selection, updated design and even free-flowing Piper-Heidsieck. But I wasn’t there as a Chase Sapphire cardmember. I was an Etihad first class passenger. The capacity was always gonna be an issue. Everyone and their mistress’s dog-walker in NYC have the Chase Sapphire Reserve card. You know what I think Etihad should have done? Send its first class passengers to the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse or the newly opened Delta One Lounge. If you’re gonna bother having a first class, then keep it first class.