Trip Report: Korean Air First Class Lounge New York JFK Airport

My recent Hong Kong trip started at the very underwhelming Korean Air First Class Lounge in New York JFK Airport. Korean Air operates out of Terminal 1 at JFK airport. My flight from New York to Seoul left at 2pm, so I arrived at the airport at around 12:00pm. No other passengers were checking in at the First Class counter at the time so the process was very quick especially because I wasn’t checking any bags.

The security line was pretty long, thankfully there was a priority lane and I was through in about 15-20 minutes. I headed straight to the lounge which is near gate 1.

The lounge is on the second floor. If you have Priority Pass membership, which you can get through the Platinum Card from American Express, Chase Sapphire Reserve or Citi Prestige and others; you can access Korean Air Business Class lounge.

As a First Class passenger, I had access to the smaller more private First Class lounge. There was a built-in rack with some magazines and newspapers.

The buffet was located along the wall of the lounge, it wasn’t at all up to par for an international first class lounge.

For food, there was some fruit, old looking pastries and some packaged snacks.

There was also a fridge with some yogurt, more fruit, package cheese and some soda.

One thing I remember seeing in other reviews of this lounge, is the lack of outlets. I noticed that there were outlets along the wall, but no where near the seating area.

I guess the complaints were heard and was fixed by adding these multi-outlets extension cords on the tables in between the seats.

Korean Air First Lounge JFK bottom line

In my opinion, this is probably one of the worst international premium lounges out there. Whether for business class or first class. I mean, the food and beverage selection was minimal and consisted of some instant noodles, fruit and old pastries. Not First Class quality at all. However, if you just need a quiet space to do some work before your flight; this lounge provides just that.

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