American Airlines Admirals Club — Attraction in Millbrae

We arrived at the Admirals Club lounge at San Francisco Airport ahead of our domestic flight to Chicago and were warmly welcomed by the team. Once we found our seats, a friendly staff member came over to give us a helpful overview of the lounge, which was a nice touch and made us feel at ease straight away.

The lounge itself is quite long in shape but feels generally small. It has a variety of facilities including a child area, work stations, quiet phone booths, a quiet seating area and, of course, the usual food and bar area. There was even a little nacho cart that appeared during our visit, run by a very cheerful team member, which added a fun element to the experience.

The food selection overall was quite limited in our opinion, and while there was a good range of seating options, they were not the most comfortable. That said, the entire lounge was very clean and well maintained, which was appreciated. Apart from a couple of guests who seemed unaware of how loud they were on their phones, the atmosphere was generally calm and relaxing. Overall, it was a pleasant place to unwind before our flight, even if there were a few areas that could...

I've been to two other Admirals Clubs, in DFW and LAX. Here at SFO, it's older and smaller, but serves its purpose well. I really liked SFO in general because it's not a huge facility.

CHECK IN: Kathy checked us in, and was welcoming and friendly.

ATMOSPHERE: The lounge overlooks the runway, and has all the expected features of AC's, including restaurant-style seating, a bar, comfy sofa seats, and power outlets abound. I don't recall seeing a "quiet seating area" though. Attendants constantly came around to pick up dirty dishes.

AMENITIES: The snack and drink selections were good, and included cheeses, salad, olives, hummus, trail mix, soups, soft drinks, and coffees. I love soups so I had to try both the Fire Roasted Vegetable Soup, and Broccoli Cheddar Soup, both of which were definitely of the bought-variety but was very satisfying before our 6-hour flight.

The restrooms were fully private, individual closets and were clean.

A nice selection of newspapers and magazines were available for the few who enjoy reading rather than being online.

OVERALL: Intimate, relaxing, well...

$59 at the front desk will get you into all the Admirals lounges for the rest of the day. You get access to a shower, free house beers, wines, and well drinks plus some teas, coffees, fountain drinks and some snacks. They have newspapers and magazines that you're free to take and, in the afternoon, a guacamole bar that's also included. There are also additional food and beverages for purchase but most of these are still more reasonably priced than you'll find elsewhere in the airport ($7.62 for a nicer beer, $12 for some salads). There are quite a few seating options (e.g. booths and chairs at tables, comfortable club chairs, and a few recliners that are good for napping). I had to spend about 15 hours at SFO before a transcontinental flight and found this to be well worth the $59.

If you're looking for a place to watch the airplanes, this lounge isn't great for that. Most of the views will be blocked by jetways, 737s, and A320s. You can see the 747s (KLM, Korean, BA) and a couple A380s at the end of landing or just after takeoff so not quite in their full...