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Swiss International Air Line is a member of the Star Alliance and therefore if you are flying out of LAX on Swiss in Business Class, you can enjoy the Star Alliance Business Class Lounge located in the Tom Bradley International Terminal. The Star Alliance First Class lounge is right next to the Business Class lounge, but it is exclusively only for First Class passengers. Regardless, the Business Class lounge is one of my favorite lounges in the United States for Star Alliance flights as it is huge, provide ample seating areas including the outdoor patio seating and unlimited buffet style food and drinks.
Lounge Access
Access to the Star alliance Business Class Lounge at LAX is only available for the following:
- You present a boarding pass in International Business Class on a Star Alliance member airline operated flight.
- Your flight departs on the same day of your visit or latest by 05:00 AM the next morning.
- The boarding pass shows the Star Alliance Gold logo.
I was flying out of LAX to Zurich on Swiss LX 41 flight in business class award ticket. Since Swiss is part of the Star Alliance member airlines, my Swiss boarding pass was able to gain access to the lounge prior to departure time.
Swiss Flights Leave From Tom Bradley International Terminal
If you have a layover in LAX that means you probably already got your boarding pass, then simply proceed to TBIT upon arrival. The good news is, terminal 4, 5, 6 and 7 are now connected to TBIT so you no longer need to exit the airport, catch the shuttle bus through each terminal and then go through security checkpoint again to go to TBIT. It is quite a waking distance though so be prepared for that or ask for mobility assistance at the airport on your arrival. Otherwise, you will need to exit the terminal, take the free LAX shuttle to Tom Bradley International Terminal and go through the TSA security.
I accidentally exited the terminal on my recent visit as I checked out the United Polaris Lounge first in terminal 7. So I had to take the LAX shuttle and truthfully it wasn’t really bad and it did save me some distance from walking. The good news is Swiss airline now is part of the TSA Pre-Check, which means that if you have TSA Pre-Check or Global Entry, you can breeze through the security much faster at LAX Tom Bradley International Terminal. Simply obtain your boarding pass from Swiss counter and proceed to the TSA Pre-Check escalator. There will be an agent at the escalator to check your boarding pass and assist you if needed.
Plenty of Seats
There are plenty of seats at the Star Alliance Business Class Lounge LAX. The lounge is big and thus you will find several chairs available. There are two outdoor seating, one being the area right outside the lounge (balcony) above the P.F. Chang restaurant and another one is the one outside the lounge towards the shower suite area. That outside seats are my favorite because during busy time, the lounge can get crowded with people, and that outside seating area is more quiet and best of all you can spot planes landing and look at the airport terminal. There is also a beautiful water feature there, and quite frankly you can relax and sleep on those sofa chairs as well if you’d like but it can get noisy with the planes noise and airport’s constructions. It’s still better than the seats inside though. There’s also a room right after you enter the lounge that has two sofa chairs to lay on, however it can be difficult to get one due to the high demand from other passengers that want to lay down and sleep. Besides that, there’s another room that has TV in it and it can be quiet from time to time; however, the seats don’t look well for laying down.
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| The TV Room |
Food & Drinks
All food, snacks, cheese & crackers, fruits and desserts are served in a buffet style. There are a variety of hot food and there’s also an oriental noodles bar that’s located towards the back door of the Star Alliance First Class Lounge. Drinks are self-service as well so you can mix your own drinks and all you can drink wines. There’s also a bar there that you can sit down and have a bartender serves you if you’d like.
Shower Suite
The Star Alliance Business Class Lounge LAX also has a shower suite. To access the shower room, you have to have an attendant arrange it for you. If the attendant is not there, you can press the button to summon one. There are also buzzing devices there and I imagine when the lounge shower gets busy, you will be given one of those to wait for your turn.
Conclusion
Overall, I’m very impressed with the Star Alliance Business Class Lounge at the LAX airport. Not only the lounge has varieties of food and selections of drinks, the lounge is also huge with many seats available, especially the outdoor seating that you can spot the airplanes landing. Besides all that, the lounge also has a shower suite. If you are flying with a Star Alliance member airline out of LAX, be sure to go early and check out the Star Alliance Business Class Lounge. United Polaris Lounge is also another nice lounge to experience at LAX airport and it is less crowded because United has stricter access policy. United Polaris Lounge also has sit down dinning room that you can order food and drinks off the menu. Swiss business class passengers can access the United Polaris Lounge also, but that lounge is located in terminal 7 and Swiss flight is leaving from Tom Bradley International Terminal which is not close to terminal 7.
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