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Before my flight to Japan on Japan Airline’s new business class, I paid a quick visit to the Greenwich lounge after checking out the nearby superior Soho lounge. While I’ve been to the Greenwich lounge several times thanks to my various free upgrades to business class on American Airline’s A321T, I always enjoy each visit since it is one of the nicer lounges in the United States.
Overall, the food options here are decent and the lounge itself is spacious and welcoming. It is far better than the Admirals Club at JFK, which should mean something.
How To Access The Greenwich Lounge In JFK Terminal 8
This lounge is the easiest to access among the Oneworld trio at Terminal 8. However, that is not to say it is easy to access by any means, which is why it is still a great lounge.
The Greenwich lounge is open to the following guests:
- Qualifying AAdvantage and Mileage Plan members: Access whenever flying on a qualifying same-day international flight marketed and operated by a Oneworld airline (AA Platinum, MVP Gold)
- Flagship Business: Access when flying in Flagship Business in a qualifying same-day international, transcontinental, or Hawaii flight marketed and operated by a Oneworld airline
- Other Oneworld Sapphire: Access if you’re a non AA or Alaska Airlines Oneworld Sapphire member flying on any Oneworld flight
Notably, the entry requirements are a bit tighter for those with AA/Alaska status since there are a significant number of those folks flying in/out of JFK. However, if you have international Oneworld Sapphire status (eg Qatar Privilege Club Gold), you’re able to access the Greenwich lounge as long as you have an eligible same-day Oneworld flight.
Flagship Business routes are defined as follows:
International: Seats ticketed as Flagship® Business between the U.S. and:
- Asia
- Australia
- Europe
- Middle East
- New Zealand
- South America (excluding Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela)
Transcontinental: Seats ticketed as Flagship® Business between:
- New York (JFK) and Los Angeles (LAX)
- JFK and San Francisco (SFO)
- JFK and Orange County (SNA)
- LAX and Miami (MIA)
- LAX and Boston (BOS)
Hawaii: Seats ticketed as Flagship® Business between:
- Dallas / Fort Worth (DFW) and Honolulu (HNL)
- DFW and Kona (KOA)
- DFW and Maui (OGG)
- Chicago (ORD) and HNL
In my case, whenever I get upgraded to a Flagship Business seat on the transcon route, I know immediately that I’ll have full access to the Greenwich lounge, even upon arrival.
Where Is The Greenwich Lounge In JFK Terminal 8?
Map of JFK Terminal 8
JFK’s Terminal 8 supports all the Oneworld airlines, which makes it an enormous terminal. Thankfully, the Greenwich lounge is located right after security; all you need to do is take a left at the major intersection in the middle of the terminal. To be specific, Greenwich is located around the opposite side of Gate 12.
Greenwich lounge entrance
Greenwich lounge entry reqs.
What Are The Greenwich Lounge’s Hours?
The Greenwich lounge is open for an impressively long time, from 4:15 am to 1:15 am.
My Impressions Of The Greenwich Lounge: Spacious & Bright
Although the Greenwich lounge elevators can be a bit funky at times, I did eventually manage to get my way up. Check in at this lounge is always pretty smooth; you just need to give the agent your eligible boarding pass and some form of ID so they can validate that you’re the right person. With a quick scan and check, the agent ushered me through to my immediate left, which is the general Greenwich lounge entrance.
When you step into the general lounge area, you’re greeted by a very large seating area with direct views of the tarmac.
Greenwich lounge main room
There’s plenty of seating, with many window seats that allow you to get an incredible view of planes taking off.
Window seating
Tarmac
In this room, there’s also a hot buffet and drinks station, but we’ll cover the food and dining in a separate section below.
The alcohol in this room consists of some hard liquors and then an infinite number of Piper Heidsieck champagnes, which is a decent, mid tier champagne that retails for about $40 a bottle. It still surprises me that they’re able to offer this champagne at this lounge.
Champagne
Hard alcohol
The main room also has a variety of private seating, where you can sit comfortably by yourself without being disturbed. I’ve taken calls in these little booths, which have proven to actually be quite comfortable with significant privacy.
Greenwich main room
Private seating
If you head over to the right side of the lounge, you’ll encounter something called the “Tasting Room,” which is a separate area in the lounge that features a bar with several special beers on tap. Here, you can order from a special menu and try a variety of yummy small bites like a bratwurst or fries. These items are actually made to order, which makes the experience ever more special.
Tasting room
Bratwurst
If you keep walking down this area, you’ll find yet another room. This area houses a mini “Admirals Club” type of area, with small bites and snacks that you’d typically expect to see in an Admirals Club. The room also has a full service bar with a large variety of drinks.
Bar & Tasting Room back entrance
There’s also ample seating for you to rest or to watch the tarmac.
Window seating
Views of mini admirals club
If you keep walking down this area, you’ll then encounter the business center like area of the lounge. You’ll find a printer and several quiet work pods with lots of privacy. Unfortunately, the seating isn’t padded so it doesn’t look super comfortable to work on for extended periods of time.
More private seating
Printer
Afterwards, there’s just one more area to explore: an open bar concept with a much different vibe than the rest of the lounge. While the lounge has this bright enclosed feel to it, this area has lots of plants and greenery to create a more outdoorsey vibe. Unfortunately, since I came to the lounge in the middle of the day, this area was closed off.
Outdoors-style bar area
Among other things, this lounge also has a quiet room and several areas where you can ask agents for help with your ticket.
Quiet room
Airline support
The Food At The Greenwich Lounge: It’s Not Only Chicken Thigh!
It’s typically rare to see a lounge offer something besides chicken thigh or cheap cuts of beef, so I remember being shocked when I saw that this lounge offered shrimp (one of my favorite foods btw). The hot buffet consists of several foods like shrimp, chicken, and salmon, which is a great variety considering the number of people visiting this lounge.
Hot buffet
Dips
You can also order food/drinks from the Tasting Room next door, which has some awesome beers. I was a pretty big fan of their bratwurst and black truffle fries.
Example plate with salmon
Tasting Room menu
The main dining area also has a drinks station and various other small bites, including hummus, mashed potatoes, and peppers. A pretty solid variety all things considered, especially given the options right next door.
Mashed potatoes + peppers
Drinks
If you walk a little bit over, you’ll also find a coffee and tea station. Here, you can make your own coffee via the machine or Twining tea from the display box. I still wish more lounges had baristas available.
Coffee
Tea
While I’ve never really eaten anything at the little “admirals club” style room in the back, there’s just a lot of smaller bites there. Definitely not as good as the food in the main dining room nor the Tasting Room, but it is there for you to eat!
The Showers At The Greenwich Lounge
Sometimes after a long flight, I’ll take a quick shower at the Greenwich lounge since I can access it on arrival as well. As usual, you need to go to the front desk and put your name down before you can go shower. It’s a pretty informal/disorganized process, but once you get in, you’ll have about 30 minutes.
The shower is definitely not bad and uses nice DS & DURGA products. However, I’ve always had issues with the water pressure/temperature of one particular shower suite there. So be warned!
Example plate with salmon
My Overall Rating Of The Greenwich Lounge JFK Terminal 8: A Deserving 8/10
I rate lounges based on a few general criteria:
- Food Quality & Variety: 8/10
- Cleanliness: 8/10
- Interior Design: 9/10
- Unique Amenities: 8/10
I think this lounge is pretty nice and deserves a strong rating. With a strong hot buffet and a cool side concept with the Tasting Room, there’s definitely a lot to explore and try out. The alcohol selection here is pretty good, with craft beers and decent champagne.
Greenwich also a good number of unique amenities, such as its showers, work stations, kid play room, business center, quiet room, and additional open style bar. Nonetheless, the lounge can get a little busy at times, which can make it a little less cleaner than one may like.
