LAX – Terminal B – Star Alliance Lounge – Airline Lounge Review

Terminal B (Tom Bradley), Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)

Based on Visit: 4 January 2022 approx. 15:30 to 17:45pm

Introduction

This is my review of the Star Alliance Lounge in LAX’s Terminal B (Tom Bradley International).

As a OneWorld member, it’s very unusual for me to find myself in a Star Alliance Lounge – and in fact was by pure fluke, as I was flying to London – but that day LAX’s Terminal B seemed to have quite a few issues with their lounges!

There is also a First Class Star Alliance lounge – however BA had not arranged access to this, despite the flight having First Class (and despite the fact my flight was booked in First)!

Entry Conditions

On this occasion, entry to the Star Alliance Lounge was granted by my BA flight to London. This was because both the OneWorld and Qantas lounges were closed – so effectively this was BA’s backup plan.

I believe entry can otherwise be granted if;

• You are flying Business Class or First Class domestically
• You are flying Business Class or First Class internationally
• You are a Star Alliance Gold Member
• You’re a paid member of the United Club or Canada Maple Leaf Club

How to Get There

Once you’re through Security at Terminal B, walk through the connecting tunnel, and then turn right heading towards the food court.

Alternatively, if you’re coming from Terminals 4 to 7, the food court will be in front of you.

There are elevators (lifts) just in front of the food court, go to Level 6, and you’re there!

Layout

Initial check in is at the desks outside the entrance. They’re check your boarding pass, and in you go!

There is a large lounge area that you walk through. The lounge was at around 50% capacity, so I didn’t take loads of pictures of the lounge area.

Eventually, you’ll find yourself at the bar area. A left hand turn takes you to the bar, or a right hand turn takes you to the dining area.

If you carry straight on, you’ll find a cinema/TV area on the left, walk a little further and you’ll see showers on the right, and then up a ramp you’ll see doors leading to the outdoor terrace.

The outdoor terrace area is really nice – and not something I was expecting! It’s a fairly large area with outdoor seating and some dining – there is a BBQ out there (it wasn’t being used). There are quite a few tables with gas fire pits – so it’s a great place to be, especially in the summer!

There is also an indoor terrace, with lounge/bar area which overlooks Terminal B.

The décor of the lounge is to a very high standard, and I was impressed with the look and feel!  

Food and Drink

Drinks

Starting with the drinks first, I was impressed!

The lounge has lots of soda fountains placed around it – and also quite a few self-service wine bars. There fridges were stocked with every different beer or larger you could imagine – I was impressed! There is also a bar if you want something a little more bespoke!

Food

The food was also impressive impressive!

There were a variety of food options, all self-service. On the main buffet station was a selection of salads, yogurts, bread, cheeses, muffins and potato chips (crisps).

There were also a few hot food options available – rice, a beef dish and a series of vegetables. If I am totally honest, it would have been nicer to have a wider variety of hot food options, as the hot food was very limited.

If that’s not to your liking, there is a noodle bar, where you can create your own noodles.

I was generally pretty impressed at the variety of both food and drink!

Wifi

The Wifi was really easy to connect to – as simple as connecting to the network, with no passwords!

I was working, sending emails, uploading files to Dropbox, etc – and it was very speedy!

Showers

I’d been up since 5am to catch my flight from San Jose, and my flight to London wasn’t until 6pm – a shower is something I’d really have liked!

Sadly, in the current Covid-19 world, no showers were available in any of the lounges in California! I am hopeful this will change soon!  

But, for the record there are showers in the Star Alliance lounge, and they are plentiful!

Conclusion

This is an absolutely great lounge! I was so glad to have been able to explore it!

You certainly can’t beat it for drinks selection and style! That said, if I was going to be nitpicky, it would have been nicer to have a few more hot food choices – especially as those who want to get more sleep often prefer to eat in the airport pre-flight, than on the plane.

Other than that it’s a great lounge, and I really enjoyed my stay! I hope to come back soon!