Chase is quickly catching up in the race for the most extensive credit card-branded airport lounge network.
On Thursday, the issuer shared its intent to bring a new outpost for the Chase Sapphire Lounge by The Club at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).
The new LAX lounge will be near the west gates of the Tom Bradley International Terminal, adjacent to Gate 148.
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All terminals at LAX are connected airside (post-security), so theoretically any traveler could visit this new outpost. That said, getting to TBIT can be a schlep, depending on what terminal you are departing from.
Chase didn’t share too many details about the new lounge other than confirming that it will measure 9,234 square feet. That’s definitely on the smaller size, especially for an airport at the scale of LAX, so I would fully be prepared to join a waitlist to enter the space.
The issuer promised more updates as construction progresses, but this space seems still a long way off.
How to get in: Best credit cards for airport lounge access
When it opens, it will compete with the existing American Express Centurion Lounge, which opened in 2020 in the TBIT. The Amex lounge measures nearly 14,000 square feet, and it has space for just over 500 guests.
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Based on the rendering, the Chase lounge appears to have airside views with lots of natural light, something that’s noticeably missing from Amex’s interior location.
Interstingly, Chase’s rendering of the facade entrance shows the lounge at an exterior terminal location, but that’s likely just a schematic to be replaced with the TBIT.
The Los Angeles outpost will become one of the issuer’s highest-profile locations. Chase already has lounges open in Boston Logan International Airport (BOS), Hong Kong International Airport (HKG), Dulles International Airport (IAD) and at both New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) and LaGuardia Airport (LGA). In fact, the two-story LGA location is perhaps the nicest credit card-branded lounge in the entire country.
In addition to the existing locations, Chase has a stacked pipeline of upcoming (confirmed) spaces, including:
- Harry Reid International Airport (LAS)
- Philadelphia International Airport (PHL)
- Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX)
- San Diego International Airport (SAN)
This expansion comes as the airport lounge wars have been heating up. Amex had long enjoyed a monopoly with the Centurion Lounge network that first debuted in 2013. Since then, Amex has expanded its network across the country.
Capital One then debuted its first lounge in Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) in 2021. This issuer now has three total locations — Denver International Airport (DEN) and Washington Dulles joined DFW — and one that’s confirmed to be in the pipeline at JFK.
Capital One is also building smaller dining-focused “landings” at LGA and at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA), the first of which is expected to open soon.
As for Chase, the issuer was the last of the big three to open a lounge. Its Hong Kong outpost welcomed its first flyers in 2022.
That said, the issuer has been growing quickly, and its impressive facilities incorporate many of travelers’ most requested amenities.
Travelers looking to visit the Chase Sapphire Lounge should take a look at TPG’s detailed access guide.
“We are excited to begin construction to deliver a best-in-class lounge experience to our Sapphire Reserve cardmembers who live in and travel through Los Angeles,” Chase shared in a statement with TPG.
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