Trip de Americae: Korean Airlines Lounge LAX Tom Bradley International Terminal

I had plenty of time left prior to my boarding time after leaving the Star Alliance Lounge which I have shared on in the previous post. There are actually plenty of lounges in the Tom Bradley International Terminal, there is a Etihad, Qantas, Oneworld, Emirates and also a Korean Air Lounge. Seeing that the KAL is under the Priority Pass Program, I decided to check it out. In case if you are not flying any premium cabins out of TBIT or have loyalty membership, this is the lounge that you will be able to use, if you have a Priority Pass membership. I have an unlimited access from my Standard Chartered Card and took full use of it. The Korean Air Lounge is located on the 5th floor, one level below the Star Alliance Lounge.

Do note that this is a shared First Class and Business Class Lounge as well. For the Priority Pass members, you will be able to access the lounge from 12pm to 6pm daily. It was pretty crowded when I was there in the afternoon, perhaps it is the pack period. There was a slight wait but I was promptly attended to and shown to enter once my card is swiped. The entrance was nice and grand, in the standard white marble style that Korean Air like to use.

Immediately after entering, there are tons of seatings of these little while cushies mini sofas that seems to complement the decor and interior of the lounges. However, these chairs are not as comfortable as they look. I simply look so uneasy while I tries them. In fact not much of the crowd actually choose to sit there too. Another complain that I have of the lounge is that it actually look very gloomy and dark in a bad way. It is one thing to have mood lighting and stuff but this is just dark, despite of the natural light.

Then next to the offerings in the lounge. The beverage were located along the bar in the main room of the lounge, there are coffee, soft drinks, juices, some spirits of the normal caliber like absolute and stuff.

Then on to the food wise, which is simply the most ridiculous setting ever. It is located in a tiny room off the main lounge, with a tiny entrance, like the kind in your house or room. So everyone will be squeezing to get into the room to access the buffet line. As you will expect this area to be the most popular place in the lounge, so the set up is definitely ridiculous. It certainly doesn’t cope with the crowd at all. Which creates lines and queues. The offering is also extremely limited. There are some mini sandwiches, little wraps and some Gimbap, Vege dips and also cup noodles. It is so so limited. I will expect more since it is an airline operated lounge.

Of course, similar to the Star Alliance Lounge that I have just accessed, there is a indoor terrace in the lounge, which is the nicest place in the lounge. This is also the most popular area in the longe and most crowded ones. It is bright and nice, given that it faces the gorgeous inner facade of Tom Bradley International Terminal!

While I’m not sure if this is the offering for the lounge throughout the days or they actually watered down the offering during Priority Pass hours. Because from what I see, it is definitely not worth it to spend 28 USD on a visit. The food was miserable, it is quite packed and crowded. Perhaps if you are not eating and just accessing for the free wifi, showers and some sort of exclusive seating. There isn’t much, in fact the terminal seating which are free are just as nice. If you get complimentary access, it aren’t too bad! Stay tuned for my flight report on SQ Business Class which is coming right up!