Inside the British Airways Lounge at JFK Airport

As you might know, I am a frequent flyer on British Airways. And one of the perks of my silver status is access to the airport lounge, whenever I fly. So, travelling back from New York was no exception obviously. We’ve been to the lounge at JFK a couple of times before and it didn’t really make my Top 5 if I am honest. However, they have recently undergone a massive refurbishment. Meaning I was quite excited to check it out as we headed back to London after our recent week in New York. And what can I say. The new BA lounge is way better than the old one. Curious? Let me take you inside the British Airways Lounge at JFK airport for a quick nose around.

Saying the old lounge was no good is moaning at a very high level. There wasn’t anything really wrong with it. It was just a bit knackered. But not the worst BA lounge I’ve ever been in. 

But in general, I wouldn’t call JFK my favourite airport. Well, actually I can only speak for Terminal 7, the British Airways terminal. As this is the only terminal, I have ever visited at John F Kennedy Airport. But I find it rather dull and boring. Not many shops, not much to do and no great restaurants to speak off (unless you are after the culinary delights of Dunkin Donut and Burger King. Then T7 is just the right place for you).

The old BA lounge at JFK had all you needed obviously. Free Wi-Fi, a few power sockets (although rare and sought-after like gold nuggets), some food and drinks. But the greatest feature of the lounge must have been the massive M&M sweetie jar. Sad to say, this has gone in the new lounge. But that is the only dampening really.

But I am waffling on. Let’s get back to topic, so that I can tell you all about what to expect inside the British Airways lounge at JFK. 

What’s on offer inside the British Airways Lounge at JFK

Like most other BA lounges, the one at John F Kennedy airport covers all the basics. Plenty of seating, a variety of comfy armchairs and meeting style tables. As well as workbenches along the wall (for those that don’t fancy balancing their laptops on one knee while typing …. Yep, you guessed right, this is exactly the balancing act I went for to start typing this post).

To allow travellers to charge all their devices before boarding their flights, most seats come with sockets and even USB chargers. Nothing worse than boarding an overnight flight with an almost empty battery. Also, there is this thing about devices having to be charged before boarding a flight to / from the US. So better make sure you do charge up. 

But it is not just your phones, laptops and iPads that can recharge inside the British Airways lounge at JFK. Obviously, you can too. 

Food and drink inside the British Airways Lounge at JFK airport

There is loads of food on offer. As we visited the BA lounge in the evening, I can only tell you what they offered for dinner. But I would expect the breakfast and lunch offerings to be similarly varied. 

I was pleasantly surprised at the variety of food and drink on offer inside the lounge. Yes, the main BA lounges will usually offer some hot and cold food in buffet style. Same here. There was mac n cheese and chicken wings, a salad buffet, cheese and crackers, some fresh fruit, soup. And we happily munched our way through it all. 

And even though the M&M jar has disappeared, the BA lounge at JFK still offers a variety of sweeties to keep you happy.

As we set to explore the lounge a bit further after dinner, we stumbled across an entire restaurant. At first, I assumed this was only for first class and business class passengers. But since it was fairly quiet, I started chatting to the hostess at the entrance. And it turned out, that it was free for everyone to dine in the restaurant. Dammit, if only we had known that before. But then again, only because we already had food, didn’t mean we couldn’t sit down and have another little snack. I mean, what else are you to do to kill time before your flight?

The restaurant inside the British Airways lounge at JFK is self-service. And some dishes are buffet style, ready to pick up. Like a DIY poke bowl (complete with instructions luckily). Other food will be prepared fresh for you as you order, like a variety of burgers. Since we already had dinner and it was fairly late, we ignored the hot dishes and went straight for dessert. Who could say no to cakes, cannoli and chocolate covered strawberries?

In terms of drinks, the lounge at JFK also had some extras to offer. Instead of the usual fridge with drinks and mixers, there was an entire cocktail bar. Who could resist a free cocktail? Obviously not me. Not really surprising, given how happily I would accept free cocktails every time I am at the Eurostar lounge in Paris.

If you are not into cocktails, you could also have various Brewdog beers on the tap. 

Amenities inside the British Airways lounge at JFK airport

Since we had an overnight flight from New York to London, we ensured to pack a change of clothes into our hand luggage. Nothing worse than staying in your street clothes for an entire long-haul flight. Especially if you’ve already spent an entire day in them. 

Usually, I would just grab my bag and go to the restrooms to change. But this time we noticed the Elemis Spa not far from us. And Mr T decided to go and ask how much the showers would cost. And if he would need to bring towels, shower gel etc (which we obviously did not have in our hand luggage). Turns out that the showers inside the BA lounge are actually free to use. All you need to do is reserve a slot. You don’t even need to bring anything. Towels, shampoo and shower gel are all provided. Perfect. Since it wasn’t busy, reserving a slot was straight forward and meant we both could have a shower without any delay. Perfect way to relax before boarding an overnight flight.

How to get inside the British Airways lounge at JFK

As with all other British Airways lounges, access is limited. You can’t just show up and enter. Or buy a priority pass. 

Instead, the two ways to get into any BA lounge are the following:

• Have a business class or first-class ticket
• Be a BA executive club member at silver or gold level or One World member at sapphire or emerald level

Most airports have alternative lounges on offer that entitle you to enter by purchasing a ticket (and if you have a long wait ahead of you, this might well be worth it). 

Sadly, this first visit inside the refurbished British Airways lounge at JFK might well have been my last. As I have flown a lot less these past months (instead I’ve started frequenting the Eurostar train between London and Paris), I am most likely going to lose my BA silver status in a few weeks. I have done enough flights to at least stay bronze, but that does not entitle me to enter airport lounges.