Review: Oneworld Lounge at LAX “The Los Angeles Business Lounge” (oneworld Sapphire access)

When I was returning Japan from Cancun via Los Angeles, I had the opportunity to visit “The Los Angeles Business Lounge” (commonly known as the oneworld Lounge) in the Tom Bradley International Terminal (TBIT) at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).

I accessed it using my oneworld Sapphire status (JGC by Japan Airlines), and here is my review of the experience.

Overview of “The Los Angeles Business Lounge”

The lounge is most widely recognized by its nickname, the “oneworld Lounge.”

As you can see from the sign at the entrance, the names of Qantas, Cathay Pacific, and British Airways are all listed together.

It is a fairly rare setup where these three major oneworld carriers jointly operate the space. (According to the oneworld website, for the latest updates, you are redirected to the Qantas site, which suggests Qantas is the primary operator.)

Basic Information

Here is a quick overview of the lounge. For the most current details, be sure to check the oneworld website or the Qantas lounge page.

Getting to the Lounge

The lounge is located on the 5th floor of Terminal B.

This is one level above the main departures/security floor. Once you pass through security, look toward the back right for the escalators and elevators to take you up to Level 5.

You should see the entrance pictured above.

Inside the Lounge

Let’t get inside.

This was the view right after entering. I visited around 8:00 PM, and it was incredibly crowded. I assume this is a peak time for many international red-eye departures.

Further in, there is a bar counter. It seems most alcoholic beverages are served from here.

To the back left of the entrance, there is a dedicated workspace area that looked useful for getting some laptop work done.

Directly ahead of the entrance is the dining area.

Food & Drinks

Next, let’s look at the dining options. As mentioned, the buffet area is locatedstraight ahead from the entrance.

They have a “Live Dining” section where you can customize your own noodle bowls.

Tortilla chips and salsa.

The selection of hot meals was a bit limited. Here we have some chicken and a vegetable stir-fry.

A few kinds of Salads.

There was a good variety of vegetables.

Breads (though they were almost runnung out when I arrived).

And some fruit located behind the bread station.

To be honest, the overall food selection didn’t particularly “wow” me…

As for drinks, as I mentioned, alcohol is primarily handled at the bar.

For non alcoholic drinks, there are self-service dispensers and coffee makers available.

Next to the bar counter, they also had small snacks like chips and nuts.

Summary

This article covers my visit to “The Los Angeles Business Lounge” at LAX. Since it’s jointly operated by three major oneworld airlines, I went in with very high expectations, but my honest impression was that it felt like a fairly standard lounge.

If you have oneworld Sapphire or Emerald status or you are flying business class of oneworld’ carrier, you also have access to the American Airlines “Flagship Lounge” in Terminal 4.

Since Terminal B and Terminal 4 are connected airside (post-security), you can easily walk between them. You might want to consider checking out the Flagship Lounge as well.

That’s all for today. Thanks for reading!