Qantas' New York-Auckland service uses the Oneworld lounge at JFK's Terminal 8. Photos / Grant Bradley
Through the Oneworld alliance, Qantas business class passengers passing through New York’s JFK Airport have access to the Greenwich Lounge in Terminal 8.
Other passengers with status qualifications can also access the 2500sqm lounge.
The terminal is a big hub for American Airlines (whose laid-back staff run the lounge) andBritish Airways. Qantas has just returned with non-stop flights between New York and Auckland.
Terminal 8 is bright and the lounge is within 100m of TSA security, which itself is just a few minutes from check-in. It’s up a level by stairs or the elevator, so it couldn’t be easier to find. For a guide to the overall feel of the place, think a bigger version Air New Zealand’s lounge at Auckland International Airport with more distinct areas.
In other words, it’s excellent when not it’s too crowded, which was my experience on a Sunday afternoon.
The Greenwich Lounge is one of three in the terminal for Oneworld. The other lounges are named after New York neighbourhoods SoHo and Chelsea, and are more luxurious. American Airlines and British Airways invested heavily in their lounges during the pandemic and they were opened late last year.
Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds' drinks business has a partnership with Oneworld lounges. Photo / Getty Images
Greenwich can handle close to 600 guests at maximum capacity and there are two main food service areas as well as the ability to order at the Bridge Bar and the Tasting Room.
Here’s a menu sample. Breakfast: fresh fruit smoothies, charcuterie station, bread station, cereal station, Scrambled eggs with crème fraiche and chives, roasted new potatoes with caramelised onions and fine herbs.
All day: composed salads, soups, charcuterie station, build-your-own yogurt station, honey-roasted garlic chicken, miso pomegranate salmon, drip pan fingerling potatoes with herbs.
The Tasting Room: French onion grilled cheese, beer braised Pat LaFrieda bratwurst. Bridge Bar: British sausage roll, NY-style hot pretzel.
Husband-and-wife acting duo Ryan Reynolds (also of Wrexham football club fame) and Blake Lively joined forces, in partnership with American Airlines and British Airways, to open a first-of-its-kind bar dispensing Aviation American Gin and Betty Buzz mixer at the Bridge bar. (I didn’t sample it, but it looks great). While Reynolds has sold out of the gin company, he still promotes it. When I was there, the Bridge Bar looked to be the lounge’s best-kept secret, almost empty and beautifully decorated.
The Tasting Room is modelled on a high-end tap room, and features craft beers from Brooklyn Brewery. A great concept, they do tasting paddles too, and it looked like fun.
If you’re in need of some privacy and a sanctuary, the Quiet Room has plenty of booths with high-backed loungers to relax in. It really is very silent. There is also a glassed-in kids’ space (not huge) and a dedicated TV lounge.
There’s a lineup of booths specially for those who need to concentrate on work, otherwise there are great workspaces throughout many different zones of the lounge and they’re bristling with power points and USB charging ports.
There are also 10 shower rooms, available on a first come, first served basis.
You can also take in the great views of the airfield from floor-to-ceiling windows. Qantas competes with Air NZ on the non-stop route between New York and Auckland. At its home base, Air New Zealand has a clear advantage over Qantas’ lounge in Auckland (although the Australian carrier is about to remodel its facility, making it 40 per cent bigger). But in New York it’s a different story: Air New Zealand uses Terminal 1 at JFK, where eligible passengers can use the lounge of Star Alliance partner Lufthansa, which Australia-based Executive Traveller describes as “decidedly average in food, drink and décor”. I haven’t been there, but other passengers who have agree. At JFK, it’s a points win to Qantas on the ground.
