Prior to our Swiss Business Class flight to Zurich we had a few hours to kill at New York-JFK. After visits to the Delta Sky Club in Terminal 4 A and the Lufthansa Business Lounge we decided to check out the Senator Lounge.
Location
The Senator and Business lounges share the same entrance and is extremely easy to spot. Once you clear the disaster that is the security checkpoint at JFK Terminal 1, the entrance to the lounge is immediately to the left. The remainder of the terminal area is off to the right.
Inside, a stairway and elevator are located off to the left, next to the check-in desk, to take you up to the Senator and First Class lounges.
Hours of Operation
The lounge is currently open between 19:30a and 10:45p daily.
Entry Requirements
The lounge can be accessed by Lufthansa Senator and Star Alliance Gold members departing on Star Alliance flights. Business Class passengers and Priority Pass cardholders can access the Lufthansa Business Lounge downstairs.
Layout
The lounge occupied the same footprint as the Lufthansa Business Lounge, just one floor up. The lounge was one large rectangle that was split into a food and beverage area in the front and seating in the rear.
Upon entering the lounge, the bar is to the right while the remainder of the lounge is off to the left.
The area closest to the buffet had a small grouping of cafe style tables. Floor to ceiling windows ran the length of the lounge and had great views out over the ramp.
Further back in the lounge, there were multiple groups of large blue lounge chairs.
Just like the front of the lounge, the large floor to ceiling windows allowed a ton of light to come in.
On the interior side of the lounge, there is a secondary seating area with a few TVs mounted on the wall. This space was much darker than the main lounge area and wasn’t very busy during our visit.
Just past the secondary seating area there was a short hallway leading towards the restrooms. The restroom was clean and spacious with individual stalls that had floor to ceiling doors.
The layout is almost the same as the Lufthansa Business Lounge downstairs, albeit with slightly nicer furniture.
Food and Beverage
The food options in the Lufthansa Senator Lounge are the exact same as the Lufthansa Business Lounge downstairs. The main difference between the two lounges comes in the beverage department as the Senator Lounge features a full bar with a bartender.
While the bar had a large variety of spirits and most drinks were available, they did have a cocktail menu which read as follows.
Since Mrs. ATX is pregnant, we really appreciated the bartender’s ability to make some delicious mocktails.
On the interior wall, closest to the bar, was the buffet. The menu on offer is below.
Our visit to the lounge was before the busy evening departure bank and the lounge staff did a great job of keeping the buffet items topped up.
Around the corner from the buffet was a self service beverage area that had water, soda, tea, and coffee.
Atmosphere
While the lounge had almost exactly the same layout as the Lufthansa Business Lounge downstairs, we found it to be quieter and calmer. Since this lounge is limited to Star Alliance Gold passengers it was occupied by more frequent flyers and much more relaxed.
The staff, including the bartender, were extremely friendly and provided fantastic service throughout our visit. The views out over the ramp were amazing and I got a great look at our SWISS A330 arriving from Geneva.
Summary
The Lufthansa Senator Lounge New York-JFK is a step above the Lufthansa Business Lounge (both literally and figuratively) though it is still a middle of the road lounge. Lufthansa/Star Alliance lounges in Terminal 1 are second tier when compared to the Air France Lounge, though it still beats hanging out in the Terminal One concourse. However, if you want to do some plane spotting, this lounge has amazing views of the Terminal One ramp.
In This Trip Report
- Introduction
- Delta B737-800 Comfort+ (AUS-JFK)
- Delta Sky Club Terminal 4 Concourse A (JFK)
- Lufthansa Business Class Lounge Terminal 1 (JFK)
- Lufthansa Senator Lounge Terminal 1 (JFK)
- SWISS A330-300 Business Class (JFK-ZRH)
- SWISS A220-100 Business Class (ZRH-PRG)
- Andaz Prague
- Three Days in Prague
- Erste Premier Lounge Prague (PRG)
- KLM Cityhopper EMB-195 Economy (PRG-AMS)
- KLM Boeing 737-800 Economy (AMS-BGO)
- Widerøe EMB-190 Economy (BGO-TOS)
- Clarion Hotel The Edge Tromsø
- Exploring Tromsø and Chasing the Northern Lights
- Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) A320 Premium Economy (TOS-ARN)
- Sheraton Stockholm
- Exploring Stockholm
- KLM Boeing 737-800 Business Class (ARN-AMS)
- KLM B787-9 Business Class (AMS-AUS)
