Lounge Review: Etihad/Chase Sapphire Reserve Lounge, Concourse A – Washington Dulles (IAD)
Great space and a la carte dining!!
When: April 24, 2024
Rating: 8/10 – Awesome
Access: Priority Pass through Chase Sapphire Reserve Card (3 hours before departure)
A few years ago, to save costs, Etihad Airways divested itself of its lounges. After the pandemic, Etihad partnered with Chase to reopen and rebrand its US lounges with lounges at JFK and Washington Dulles. Washington Dulles with all of its foreign carriers is one of the best airports for lounge hopping – and also has 2 credit card branded lounges (Chase & Capital One)
Th Chase Dulles lounge has an identical luxurious branding scheme to the lounge at JFK and stylistically similar to the Sapphire Reserve lounges at LGA and BOS. Highlights of this lovely lounge are the proactive staff, pre-plated buffet, the ability to order ready to made food via QR code from anywhere in the lounge, and shower suites. I will add food and shower pics on my next visit.
The elegant entry is in Concourse A at IAD. In reality, Concourse A and Concourse B is really just one long terminal concourse divided in two sections. These concourses house most all foreign carriers and US carriers other than United and Air Canada (though United regional flights use a small pier off of Concourse A).
After presenting your priority pass (through Chase) credentials plus boarding pass at the entry, you enter the two-level lounge with a variety of seating options. The bar is to the right, the pre-plated buffet is to the left. Near the buffet are the washrooms and shower suites. Your eyes are also immediately taken with the tarmac views as one wall of the lounges is comprised of floor to ceiling windows.
For food, I had some soup from the buffet and ordered a burger to my table and some mineral water. I sat upstairs in the quiet part of the lounge. The buffet items were nice – though not that substantial. However, I much prefer pre-plated buffet items then scooping food onto my own plate. The burger was very good – not the best – but it did the trick. (I did not use the shower – but with my Star Alliance gold status, grabbed a shower at the otherwise drab looking Lufthansa Senator Lounge in the B concourse.)
After my lunch, I brought my laptop over the bar to get some work done and answer some emails. There were not a lot of comfortable work – stations – as this lounge seemed better for eating and lounging.
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I rate this lounge 8/10. Best features: The décor, bar, staff, a la carte dining. Flaws: Buffet seemed limited – but that is compensated for by the a la carte ordering feature. Not that many places to work.
