I recently treated my dad to a birthday trip to revisit some of the places in Asia where he hadn’t been since serving in the Navy 40 years ago. During the trip we visited Tokyo, Hong Kong & Macau. You can find more background here.
Star Alliance First Class Lounge LAX Review
To start our epic birthday trip, my dad and I met in Los Angeles with him flying in from Sacramento and me flying in a bit earlier in the morning from Las Vegas. Unfortunately I couldn’t get great timing with our flights, so we arrived a little over four hours before our Singapore Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Tokyo was set to depart.
After checking in at the Singapore Airlines Suites desk when it opened four hours before departure, we re-cleared security and headed up to the Star Alliance First Class Lounge. In LAX Star Alliance has both a first class and a business class lounge. Both lounges are located next door to each other on Level 6. We arrived to find a small crowd outside the business class entrance, but quickly located the separate first class door off to the right.
Upon entering we were immediately greeted, escorted inside and given menus for the a-la-carte dining. The Star Alliance first class lounge LAX is a big rectangular room with casual seating areas off to the right, a small buffet to the left and an intimate dining area towards the back. It also has restrooms in the rear and a private entrance to the business class lounge as well. This allows you to use the facilities of the business class lounge without having to exit and re-enter.
The agent who was working the entrance was the only one working the entire lounge. She was very efficient and friendly. After we settled in for awhile, she eventually took our orders for food and waited on us in the dining area. As the lounge grew more crowded, it was evident that she was a bit stretched, but she did her best.
Food & Drink
As for the food offerings, the small buffet had a selection of cold items such as cheeses and fruits along with miso soup and vegetarian spring rolls. None of it was spectacular, but it wasn’t bad either. While I forgot to take pictures, I had the Chicken Caesar Salad from the a-la-carte menu while my dad had the Salmon Burger. We both enjoyed them.
If you are looking for libations, there is plenty on offer, although you won’t find super premium liquor. Still, there is enough to satisfy most people with a wide range of liquors, beers and wines. All of the alcohol was serve yourself which is a bit strange for a first class lounge, but it didn’t bother me at all.
This & That
Considering this lounge is in the same airport, I feel like I have to compare it to the Qantas First Class Lounge at LAX. I found the food and service in that lounge to be a step above. The Star Alliance Lounge felt very good by U.S. standards while I felt the Qantas lounge stacked up a bit better when compared to nice international lounges. Neither would be considered world class though.
One nice thing about the Star Alliance Lounge First Class Lounge is its access to the business class side. You can of course get food and drinks over there, but more importantly you can access the showers and the outside terrace as well. The Business Class lounge is large and crowded and while we enjoyed a brief visit (especially to go outside) the quiet of the First Class area was definitely more relaxing.
This was my dad’s first first class lounge experience and he definitely enjoyed it. For example, much to my dismay, he was excited to tell a friend who called him all about it in such a loud voice (his hearing isn’t great and he didn’t realize he was being loud) that the whole lounge and perhaps the whole airport heard him. Of course he quieted down and I joyfully remembered that part of being someone’s child is getting to be embarassed by them then I thought of all of the fun ways I will get to embarass my son when I am old. 🙂
Bottom Line
Overall, the Star Alliance First Class Lounge LAX is a nice relaxing space to use before catching an international flight. While it isn’t the best first class lounge in the world or maybe even in LAX, it is a very good lounge with decent food offerings, an alright selection of drinks, comfortable seating and a decent level of service. I wouldn’t hesitate to visit again.
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Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
[…] Review: Star Alliance First Class Lounge LAX. […]
Thanks for the review. What are the requirements to use the lounge?
Hey Mike. Passengers travelling in first class on an international flight or Star Alliance Gold elites traveling in any class on a flight departing at LAX. (For United elites it has to be an international flight.)
Actually – the champagne in the F lounge is quite decent/reputable (and pricey). Beau Joie runs ~$80 for the white and ~$110 for the rose.
Thanks for the review. The facts you uncovered on this one tell me I’m not missing much vs the biz class lounge though.
$12 retail bottles of wine and a sit down menu that is Applebees inspired = not up to international first class standards. They should be serving $20-$40 bottles of wine and some main course options that aren’t inspired by a backyard grill.