Lounge Review: Admirals Club® (ORD – Terminal 3, Concourse H/K)

by Anthony Losanno
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I’ve been flying American Airlines more lately as I’m participating in a status challenge provided by Hyatt. Along with flying the airline, I have been checking out its lounges. On the way to San Francisco this past week, I stopped into one of the three Admirals Clubs® at Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD). This is the largest of the three and it shares a location with the Flagship® Lounge (I’ve reviewed that before here). American has come a long way in its food offerings and I found the lounge a nice place to hang out.

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Upon entering, you check-in at one of the desks and are advised where to go.

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Elevators take you to both lounges.

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Access

Access is granted to passengers with memberships (purchased annually), one-time pass holders (earned from various credit cards or purchased for $79), Citi®/AAdvantage® Executive credit cardholders, customers in First or Business on a qualifying departing or arriving international, transcontinental or other domestic flight marketed and operated by American, a oneworld® airline or Aer Lingus, those with non-AAdvantage® oneworld® Emerald℠ and Sapphire℠ status, ConciergeKey® members, those ticketed in a premium cabin designated as Flagship® between the United States and Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East, New Zealand, South America (excluding Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela), select transcontinental flights also on a Flagship® designated ticket, select flights to Hawaii, and US military in unifrom. AAdvantage Executive Platinum®, AAdvantage Platinum Pro®, AAdvantage Platinum®, Alaska Atmos™ Titanium, Atmos™ Platinum, and Atmos™ Gold members traveling internationally in any class of service are also granted admission. A same-day boarding pass is required to enter the American Admirals Club®.

Anthony’s Take: I enjoyed my time in the Admirals Club®. It was not too crowded and I found the food to be a step up from what United offers (but a bit below the Delta Sky Clubs®). The lounge offered tons of seating and even had two bars and multiple buffets due to its large size.

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The Admirals Club® is on the third floor.

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Elevators open into a lobby with agents to assist with travel.

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Bar

There are two full-service bars as well as coffee machines, soda machines, and water throughout the lounge. The bars offer a small list of complimentary beverages including beer, wine, and mixed drinks, with many more for sale.

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Coffee machines were found in two locations along with drip coffee and hot water for tea. There were also a good number of condiments.

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The lounge also offered two Coca-Cola Freestyle machines.

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Flavored water was also on offer.

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Food

Breakfast was being served during my visit. There are several buffets that offered a nice assortment of hot dishes, oatmeal, salad, breads, cereal, fruit, yogurt, and more. I was impressed by the quantity of food that American is now offering.

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French toast

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Berry compote

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Chicken sausage

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Eggs and overnight oats

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Bacon sandwiches

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Fruit salad and green salad

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Whole fruit

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Bread, muffins, bagels, and English muffins

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Oatmeal

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Cereal and 2% milk

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Yogurt

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Seating & Decor

As mentioned above, there is tons of seating in this Admirals Club® (spread across approximately 33,000 square feet). There are lots of tables, high tops, armchairs, and other configurations around the lounge. I like that they are all segmented into smaller spaces. Everything looked like it had been recently refreshed. While the design was minimalist and without much personality, I liked the clean, modern space.

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Seats across from the lobby

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A lot of the seating offered tarmac views.

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More seating

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Amenities

This Admirals Club® offers free Wi-Fi, restrooms, showers, the departure boards (pictured above), and the food and beverages mentioned.

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Shower suites were occupied during my visit.

Overall Impression:

This Admirals Club® was spacious with a nice buffet. It’s a good spot to stop and relax or get some work done before a flight.

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Advertiser & Editorial Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat earns an affiliate commission for anyone approved through the links above This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. We work to provide the best publicly available offers to our readers. We frequently update them, but this site does not include all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.

1 comment

Matt September 20, 2025 - 11:16 am

I like the club. It used to be a second home. It has not been refreshed since before COVID. The showers are always open. And the quiet area on the side of the bar always has an open spot. I love the views from the lounge too. Also, the staff at the are incredibly helpful.

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