Gate 14, Terminal 8, John F Kennedy Airport, New York

Introduction

This is my review of the American Airlines Soho Lounge at JFK’s Terminal 8. Technically, this is a joint venture between American Airlines and British Airways, who now share lounge facilities in JFK’s Terminal 8.

The Soho Lounge is the ‘intermediate’ step between the Greenwich Lounge and the Chelsea Lounge.

It’s an excellent lounge, and one well worth a visit – I thought it was fantastic!

Opening Hours

The lounge is open daily from 04:30 to 22:30 – which is about when the last international flight begins boarding.

Entry Conditions

This is a lounge intended British Airways Gold Members and OneWorld Emerald Members.

I don’t believe it is available to passengers flying in certain cabins, unless they are OneWorld status holders.

Handily, the large board outside tells you what you need to know about entry!

How to Get There

The lounge is very easy to find, after Security you will find the elevators dead in front of you.

If you’ve arrived on a connection, heading towards Gate 14 you’ll find the elevators on the right.

Once you’re at the elevators, you’ll be directed to either the Soho or Chelsea Lounge.

Layout

The lounge is what I would perhaps describe as an eating/drinking/relaxing lounge.

There are some great views over the apron of the airport, and some very nice lounging and eating/drinking areas.

For drinking, there is a very nice bar area.

Towards the back of the lounge, there is a ‘fireplace room’, which reminded me of the Alaska Lounge in Seattle. This does have some areas for working – but I couldn’t see a printer!

For working, there are a couple of phone booths – but I could see no working ‘booths’, printer or iMacs, unlike the Greenwich Lounge and Admirals Club.

Food and Drink

Drinks

Drinks are either available from the bar, or self-service. The bar offers everything you could ever want, including cocktails.

Generally, I thought the drinks were excellent – although if you don’t like Brooklyn Brewery beers you may be a little stuck – especially as they’d ran out of Guinness when I visited!

Lunch/Dinner

There are two ways to grab food in the Soho Lounge.

The first is via self-service, which had an excellent range of hot dishes, salads, cheeses, snacks and the like.

Alternatively, all the tables had a QR Code attached to them, which using an App you can order a variety of hot foods, salads and deserts.

Because I believe in comparing for consistency, I ordered a burger! It took around 15 minutes to arrive, and it was pretty good – better, I’d say, than the Cathay Pacific Lounge in Heathrow’s Terminal 3!

Wifi

The Wifi I found to be extremely quick and I was easily able to work and do everything I needed to do.

Showers

I was leaving on the 22:25 back to London, and I always take a shower before flying overnight.

I believe there are around 4 or 5 showers in the Soho Lounge. This doesn’t seem to be quite enough for the lounge’s size, but when went for my shower there was one free.

Then shower was excellent, perfectly hot, brand new/modern – and had Dyson hairdryers!

I am always conscious of not being smelly when arriving after an overnight flight, and mindful showering may wash off any deodorant I may have on – so I was grateful for the worlds smallest deodorant when I asked for it!

Conclusion

Do date, this is THE BEST American Airlines lounge I have visited. It has everything – great food, great drinks, great decor, great showers and the ‘almost’ A La Carte dining put this lounge streets ahead of not only other AA Lounges – but many other lounges in general!

With that said, I would consider this a resting/eating/drinking lounge. There simply is nowhere to concentrate and do work, limited places to do calls – and no printer!

So, whilst this is an absolutely excellent lounge – next time I visit JFK, I’ll probably work from the Greenwich Lounge and move to Soho for eating.