Review of Plaza Premium First at DFW: Is This Upscale Airport Lounge Worth the Entrance Fee?

On March 9, 2026, Plaza Premium opened 2 new airport lounges at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW). Along with a traditional Plaza Premium Lounge, this date marked the U.S. debut of Plaza Premium First.

Plaza Premium First isn’t a typical airport lounge. Instead, it feels more like an elevated dining experience with à la carte menu orders and table service from waiters. Sure, it has much of the other stuff you want in a lounge, but it’s also free of the crowds, lines, and noise.

In exchange, there’s a fee to get in. And that’s on top of needing access to Plaza Premium Lounges to start with.

I paid $45 to visit Plaza Premium First in April 2026, a few weeks after it opened. Here’s what I got in exchange for the entrance fee.

How To Access Plaza Premium First

There are many ways to access Plaza Premium Lounges. Many of them participate in Priority Pass, for example, so you can visit a good number of these lounges if you have a membership from a credit card like the Chase Sapphire Reserve^® or Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card.

Alternatively, those with The Business Platinum Card^® from American Express or the Platinum Card^® from American Express have direct access to Plaza Premium Lounges regardless of the on-again, off-again relationship between Plaza Premium Lounge and Priority Pass.

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The Amex Platinum reigns supreme for luxury travel, offering the best airport lounge access plus generous statement credits, and complimentary elite status.

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The Amex Platinum reigns supreme for luxury travel, offering the best airport lounge access plus generous statement credits, and complimentary elite status.

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Make no mistake — the Amex Platinum card is a premium card with a premium price tag. With amazing benefits like best-in-class airport lounge access, hotel elite status, and tremendous value in annual statement credits, it can easily prove to be one of the most lucrative cards in your wallet year after year.

 

 

Pros & Cons

Pros

• The best airport lounge access out of any card (by far) — enjoy access to over 1,550 worldwide lounges, including the luxurious Amex Centurion Lounges, Priority Pass lounges (enrollment required), Plaza Premium Lounges, and many more!
• 5x points per dollar spent on flights purchased directly with the airline or with AmexTravel.com (up to $500,000 per year)
• 5x points per dollar spent on prepaid hotels booked with AmexTravel.com
• Annual and monthly statement credits upon enrollment (airline credit, Uber Cash and Uber One, Resy, lululemon credit, streaming credit, prepaid hotel credit on eligible stays, Walmart+ credit, CLEAR+ credit, and Equinox credit)
• TSA PreCheck or Global Entry credit
• Access to American Express Fine Hotels and Resorts and Amex International Airline Program
• Access to Amex transfer partners
• No foreign transaction fees (rates and fees)

 

Cons

• $895 annual fee (rates and fees)
• Airline credit does not cover airfare (only incidentals like checked bags)

 

 

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• You may be eligible for as high as 175,000 Membership Rewards^® points after you spend $12,000 in eligible purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership. Welcome offers vary and you may not be eligible for an offer. Apply to know if you’re approved and find out your exact welcome offer amount – all with no credit score impact. If you’re approved and choose to accept the Card, your score may be impacted.
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• With over 1,550 airport lounges - more than any other credit card company on the market* - enjoy the benefits of the Global Lounge Collection^®, over $850 of annual value, with access to Centurion Lounges, 10 complimentary Delta Sky Club^® visits when flying on an eligible Delta flight (subject to visit limitations), Priority Pass Select membership (enrollment required), and other select partner lounges.* As of 07/2025.
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When I arrived at the reception desk, an agent told me the Plaza Premium Lounge had a 30-minute wait. Curious about the Plaza Premium First — as I’d never visited one — I asked about the fee. I accessed the Plaza Premium First by showing my Amex Platinum card and paying a $45 copay.

Plaza Premium First is open daily from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Plaza Premium First Location

Both the Plaza Premium Lounge and Plaza Premium First are in Terminal D at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW). Within the concourse, you’ll see Plaza Premium branding on the upper level. An escalator leads to the check-in desk for both lounges. Both of these opened on March 9, 2026.

Alternatively, if you’re in the connector hallway near the DFW Centurion Lounge, you’ll see a small sign for the lounges above a hallway, which leads to an elevator to access the lounges.

On the upper level, the same reception desk functions for both sides of the lounge.

Guest Experience

What’s it like inside? The Plaza Premium First feels less like a typical airport lounge and more like a chic restaurant. Sure, it has complimentary Wi-Fi, bathrooms, a prayer room, a nursing room, and showers, but the focus is definitely on dining.

A high-back banquette with deep greens ran through the center of the space, and it had tables on both sides. The layout put everyone on the booth side; there weren’t any chairs on the other side of the tables, keeping the walkway open.

There were 2 types of additional booth-style seats on either side of the bar. One was a small table on the side closest to the entry, ideal for anyone just having drinks. The other was a larger table on the farther side, better for dining. Seating along the windows offered views over the concourse.

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Seating closest to the entrance.

Opposite the seating, away from the bar, was a buffet. This included a cold case with desserts, veggie sticks, dips, and salads. There was also a hot buffet in the center, offering a few dishes like rice, meats, and soup, and these were clearly labeled, including both names and allergens. There was also a bakery case with a few different pastries.

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Items in the cooler.

The bar occupied most of the lounge’s outer wall. High chairs lined the bar, along with dining-style seating facing the bar.

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View of bar from entrance.

Other drinks were found closer to the lounge’s entrance, including coffee, tea, espresso-based beverages, water, sodas, and more.

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Drink station near the entrance.

The lounge’s main draw is the restaurant-style dining, including plated service, menus, and servers. Staff asked if I wanted a menu as soon as I arrived, and it contained a page of drinks and a page of food items. Appetizers like dumplings and fried green tomatoes were available, as were seafood, steak tips, cheesecake, and more.

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My place setting.

I tried the à la carte curry ramen. It was just average.

Service was friendly and efficient. It definitely wasn’t fine dining and wouldn’t win any awards, though.

Is It Worth the Fee?

After visiting a Plaza Premium First lounge, something I’d never done before, would I go back? Probably not.

Do I think I got $45 more value out of this visit than I would get at another lounge? No.

For guests who order more expensive menu items or consume a lot of alcohol, there may be good value here. For me, there wasn’t. I mostly came out of curiosity — and because of the waiting lists at other lounges I tried to visit — and the experience didn’t match the cost for me.

First, the space bills itself as an elevated lounge-meets-dining experience. The seating and ambiance definitely felt elevated. The dining didn’t. Consider this clump of noodles in my ramen, where they’d bonded while cooking. If this were a standalone restaurant, I wouldn’t pay for this meal again, both because of the noodles glued together and the very average flavor.

A space that is dining-focused should offer good food. To be blunt, I wasn’t impressed with the food I ordered.

Final Thoughts

A few weeks before my April 2026 visit, 2 new lounges opened at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport. After trying to visit 2 lounges and being told they had 30-minute waits, I was willing to trade $45 to satisfy my curiosity and see what the Plaza Premium First experience was all about.

It offered Wi-Fi, bathrooms, and some buffet items, but beyond that, it wasn’t like a traditional airport lounge. The space is dining-focused, which made me think I’d have a good meal. I thought it was very average, though, and I don’t think the fee was worth it.

Sure, the space felt refined, and there weren’t any crowds, but I didn’t feel like this was even a modest dining experience, let alone elevated. Next time, I’ll just wait 30 minutes for the other lounges to let me in.