Admirals Club Lounge at Boston Logan International Airport [Review]

After spending Christmas and New Year’s Eve in New England with family, my wife, 2 kids, and I were headed off on a bucket list trip to Hawaii!

But, as you might expect, January weather in New England can often throw a wrench in well-laid plans. Our vacation was no exception.

We were originally scheduled to fly out the following day on Delta Air Lines to Seattle and then on to Maui. However, a fast-approaching snowstorm canceled all departing flights a day in advance. So with 3 hours to spare, I booked us 4 business class seats on the last flight out of Boston Logan International Airport (BOS), getting us to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) at 1 a.m. Far away from the snow, but not quite Maui.

Fortunately, I had a few minutes to relax and book new flights to Maui during our visit to the Admirals Club in Boston.

After wrangling the kids, packing our bags in about 20 minutes, and making our way through the chaotic check-in line (amid others with canceled flights), the lounge was a welcome oasis.

Let’s take a look at this recently renovated lounge, how to get in, and what you can expect on your next visit.

What Are Admirals Club Lounges?

If you aren’t familiar, Admirals Clubs are the official lounges owned and operated by American Airlines. These lounges are located mostly in the U.S., but can also be found in select international destinations.

Select passengers, credit card holders, and paid members can enjoy a selection of complimentary snacks, drinks, showers, kids rooms, Wi-Fi, meeting rooms, and more.

Most of the food and beverage options are relatively basic, but there are top-shelf options available for an upcharge. For a more elevated experience, American Airlines offers Flagship Lounges in high-demand airports.

Hot Tip: If you are flying American Airlines soon, escape the chaos of the main terminal and find the location of every Admirals Club location in the U.S.

Admirals Club — Terminal B at Boston Logan International Airport

Location

The Admirals Club is located in Terminal B on the upper level, past security, near gate B4 at Boston Logan International Airport (BOS).

American Airlines uses Terminal B for both international and domestic departures, as well as domestic arrivals, so the lounge is available for the majority of American Airlines passengers passing through Boston. However, international arrivals use Terminal E, so you would not have access to this lounge unless you have a connecting flight.

The Admirals Club is easy to find. Just take a right after passing through security and follow signs for gates B4 to B12.

Gaining Entry

Since we were flying transcontinental business class, all 4 of us had complimentary access to the Admirals Club.

However, I am an authorized user ($175 per year) on my father’s Citi^®/AAdvantage^® Executive World Elite Mastercard^®, which also would have gotten us into the lounge.

Citi^® / AAdvantage^® Executive World Elite Mastercard^®

U.P. Rating 

The rating for this card has been determined by our own industry experts who know the ins and outs of credit card products. Bonuses, rewards as well as rates and fees are all taken into account. Compensation from the issuer does not affect our rating. We only recommend products we either use ourselves or endorse.

Access to Admirals Clubs, tons of added benefits, and a way to spend towards elite status make this a great option for American Airlines loyalists.

Citi^® / AAdvantage^® Executive World Elite Mastercard^®

Access to Admirals Clubs, tons of added benefits, and a way to spend towards elite status make this a great option for American Airlines loyalists.

Welcome Offer

Earn 70,000 American Airlines AAdvantage^® bonus miles after $7,000 in purchases within the first 3 months of account opening.

70,000 miles

UP's Offer Valuation*:

$980

Annual Fee

$595

APR

19.74% to 29.74% Variable

Credit Recommended

Upgraded Points credit ranges are a variation of FICO^® Score 8, one of many types of credit scores lenders may use when considering your credit card application.

Good to Excellent (670-850)

Why We Like This Card

The AAdvantage Executive World Elite card is a must-have for frequent American Airlines flyers who want Admirals Club lounge access, to earn more miles on their daily expenses, and a fast-track to American Airlines AAdvantage elite status.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Earn 10x miles on eligible hotels and car rentals booked through aadvantagehotels.com and aadvantagecars.com
• Earn 4x miles on eligible American Airlines purchases, and 5x miles after you spend $150,000 in purchases in a calendar year
• Earn 1x mile and 1 Loyalty Point on all other purchases

Cons

• $595 annual fee
• Doesn’t earn many miles on all other eligible purchases

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Card Highlights

• Earn 70,000 American Airlines AAdvantage^® bonus miles after $7,000 in purchases within the first 3 months of account opening.
• Admirals Club^® membership for you and access for up to two guests or immediate family members traveling with you
• No Foreign Transaction Fees on purchases
• Earn 1 Loyalty Point for every 1 eligible AAdvantage^® mile earned from purchases
• First checked bag is free on domestic American Airlines itineraries for you and up to 8 companions traveling with you on the same reservation

Financial Snapshot

• APR: 19.74% to 29.74% Variable
• Foreign Transaction Fees: 

Rewards Center

American Airlines AAdvantage Frequent Flyer Program

For anyone who doesn’t have the AAdvantage Executive World Elite card or isn’t flying a qualifying American Airlines or partner business or first class flight, here are the other ways to get into the Admirals Club:

• Purchase a day pass for $79 or 7,900 miles
• Purchase an annual Admirals Club membership for $850 or 85,000 miles
• Have American Airlines AAdvantage Executive Platinum, Platinum Pro, or Platinum status while flying any cabin internationally on American Airline, a Oneworld partner, or marketed by Aer Linus and operated by American
• Fly business or first class on a flight marketed by Aer Lingus and operated by American Airlines
• Have either Oneworld Emerald or Sapphire status, regardless of the cabin, when flying American Airlines or a Oneworld partner
• Be uniformed military personnel flying on American Airlines

The Admirals Club at Boston Logan International Airport is open daily from 4 a.m. until 8:30 p.m.

First Impressions

The Admirals Club in Boston is instantly recognizable if you have been to any other location in the past few years.

The new decor is fresh and vibrant, and a much-needed upgrade from the Admirals Club that welcomed guests for years at Logan.

Unlike locations in New York, Orlando, and Miami, the entrance and entire lounge are all on the same floor, which makes navigating it a bit easier.

After entering from the frantically busy terminal, we showed our boarding passes, were welcomed into the lounge, and made our way to the back.

Since it was just after Christmas, there were some nice poinsettias throughout the lounge, which helped give a nice warmth to the space as the winter winds howled outside.

As we normally do, we headed to the kids room, which was located in the back corner of the lounge near the bar. This was great because we got to walk past all of the potential seating options before settling down … and because it was next to the bar.

Fortunately, there was a nice chair and table set up right outside the glass walls of the kids’ room for my wife and I to relax while the kids played.

The lounge was clean and bright, and although it wasn’t packed, it had a good amount of people in it — all of whom had the same sense of relief that they were going to get out of town before the storm.

Seating

There was no shortage of seating options at the Admirals Club in Boston. Each section of the lounge had multiple options for comfortable chairs or stools.

Close to the entrance were these big red swivel chairs and work cubicles built into the walls.

Towards the middle of the lounge were plenty of armchairs with tables, power outlets, and TVs.

There was even a cinema-style room with big chairs, 2 TVs, and tables with built-in wireless chargers. This would be a good spot to watch a sporting event.

Close to the bar were a bunch of high-top tables and tall chairs, which was a popular spot towards the end of the evening as more people were relaxing and enjoying a glass of wine.

And, of course, our preferred spot — right outside the kids’ room!

Kids Room

As a parent, having a kids room in an airport lounge is so valuable — for us and fellow travelers.

It’s already stressful traveling with kids, and as well-behaved as you think your kids are, they are still kids! Sometimes it’s hard to be on perfect behavior in a fancy airport lounge — not that adults necessarily are. That’s why having a dedicated space for them to bounce around can be great.

It allows the kids the be more free, which helps them to be more relaxed, which helps the parents relax, and the kids don’t bother other passengers. It’s a win, win, win!

The kids room at the Admirals Club in Boston is nothing more than a glass closet, but it had a TV, kid-sized chairs and tables, and fun decorations — and it was pretty much soundproof!

The big glass walls made it easy for my wife and I to enjoy ourselves from outside the kids’ room while still keeping an eye on our 2 kids as they enjoyed some cartoons.

Food and Beverage

Admirals Clubs aren’t known for their fine dining options like you might find at an American Airlines Flagship Lounge. But for light snacks and drinks, it’s a decent spot to stop by.

And if you like guacamole, you might get lucky with some fresh-made guac in the evenings or avocado toast in the mornings!

Food

As far as complimentary food goes, the options are pretty limited.

If you just want some bar snacks, the options are not too bad. Throughout the lounge, there are some self-service dispensers.

During our visit, they were stocked with M&Ms, a Bartenders Blend of pretzels and bagel chips, and a Buffalo Stampede Snack Mix with peanuts, smoked almonds, Buffalo Nuts, guacamole bites, and everything sticks.

I’m not going to lie, that Buffalo Stampede Snack Mix paired very well with a cold beer after sprinting to and through the airport.

There was also the standard lineup of cookies, Rice Krispies Treats, fruits, and some soup along the counter.

We were in Boston, so obviously one of the soups was clam chowder. The other soup option was vegan chili. We tried them both out of curiosity. Neither were terrible. Good for a cold evening, but we were saving room for guacamole.

Depending on the time of day, a fresh, made-to-order guacamole station may be open during your visit. We got lucky as it was closing right when we arrived, but the attendant waited for us to drop our bags before closing up shop.

I don’t claim to be a guacamole expert, but this guac was really good.

Made fresh for each guest, you can add as many or as few extra ingredients as you like. The options were:

Served with a big handful of corn chips and plenty of options for hot sauce and sriracha, this is a solid snack. I opted for pretty much everything with the jalapeños on the side because I was sharing.

Without a doubt, the guacamole is the highlight of the food options at the Admirals Club, and it is free — just don’t forget to tip.

Those were all of the complimentary items. If you are still hungry, there was a menu with additional items available for an upcharge.

Some examples were:

Nothing to write home about, but if you don’t want to head out to the main terminal, at least you have some additional dining options available.

Beverages

Similar to the food options, many drinks were complimentary and most people can find something that they will like. If not, there were paid (top-shelf) options as well.

For non-alcoholic options, there was a Coca-Cola Freestyle machine for soft drinks, as well as water and iced tea dispensers.

And of course, there were multiple options for coffee and tea, including an espresso machine that made many types of coffee-based drinks.

For adult beverages, there was a full bar. While not everything was complimentary, there was pretty much 1 of every type of drink or spirit available for free.

The complimentary beverages included:

As usual, I had a beer and my wife had a glass of red wine.

Amenities

The Admirals Club lounge at Boston Logan International Airport, like the airport itself, is nice but relatively small.

There aren’t too many amenities to speak of, but everything that we needed was available.

Kids Room

I already mentioned the kids room above, but it’s worth bringing up again here because, to me, it is one of the most valuable lounge amenities — and one that is often overlooked.

The kids room was pretty small, had its 2 computers removed (probably due to COVID-19), and had a few chairs, but it was perfectly fine for us for our short stay. If we had to spend any more time, some books and toys would have been a nice touch. Hopefully, those make their way back shortly.

For any airline executives reading, I’m sure my kids will be more than willing to help with your market research about what kids are looking for in lounges!

Wi-Fi

Like all Admirals Clubs around the world, getting connected was quick and easy with the password of the month.

We got all of our devices connected without issue and my daughter was streaming Disney+ within minutes while we cruised social media.

Workplace Options

American Airlines has done a really nice job with the Admirals Clubs when it comes to functional spaces.

Almost every single seat available had some flat surface or table connected to it or very close by, often with USB outlets and wireless chargers built-in. These are items that go unnoticed most of the time unless they are missing.

According to the website, there is a 10-person conference room available to book as well, but I didn’t get to see it.

However, located near the front desk is a small business center area with computers, printers, and some small cubicles.

Showers

The Admirals Club in Boston does have showers, but I didn’t use them during our quick visit.

Staff and Service

The staff and service were excellent during our visit to the Admirals Club in Boston and were especially friendly to our kids.

We visited in early January 2022, right after the crazy travel period where flights were constantly being canceled due to short staffing caused by a spike in COVID-19 cases.

In general, everyone in the industry was exhausted. So adding a snowstorm, hundreds of canceled flights, and thousands of passengers scrambling to get out of town would have been a perfect excuse to be in a bad mood.

But to the credit of all the staff, the service and atmosphere were great. I think the vibe in the lounge was so good during our visit because everyone who was in the lounge had already gotten their ticket and passed security, and now all they had to do was relax for the rest of the evening. I know for my family, that was the case. Once we got into the lounge, we knew the stressful part was over and we could start to get into vacation mode.

From the woman making guacamole who waited for us to get settled, to the friendly bartender, and even the cleaner who asked if we needed anything so we didn’t need to leave the kids unattended, service was 10/10.

COVID-19 Protocols

As I mentioned, this visit was in January 2022, so the mask mandate was still in effect.

In general, when walking around, most people were wearing masks, and hand sanitizer was readily available.

Besides that, it was business as usual.

Final Thoughts

Overall, the Admirals Club at Boston Logan International Airport is really good and probably one of the nicest domestic lounges, if not the nicest, at Logan. It’s certainly one of the newest lounges — that is, until the Chase Sapphire Lounge by The Club opens!

For a domestic flight, you really can’t go wrong here. However, passengers used to the Flagship Lounge will certainly need to limit their expectations.

The lounge is modern and well-designed with plenty of comfortable seating options, workstation options, a kids’ room, and great views of the tarmac, thanks to the massive floor-to-ceiling windows.

Food and drinks are what you would expect from any Admirals Club. As long as you aren’t starving, there are some decent options — especially if you can get some guacamole and chips.

While I’m not sure I would fork over $79 for a 1-day visit (though that depends on how long the visit is), being able to access the lounge for free with the AAdvantage Executive World Elite card is a great perk. If you have this card or are flying on an eligible ticket, a stop by the Admirals Club in Boston is worth your time.

For us, the quick visit was a great way to get ready for our business class flight to LAX. I’m sure we will be back in the future.