The Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge at LAX is located in terminal 2, above gates 22 – 24. Open to Priority Pass members, Air Canada business class passengers and Star Alliance Gold members, the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge at LAX is a step above any domestic North American airline lounge but falls short in comparison to international carrier lounges. The Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge at LAX is open from 5:00 AM to 10:00 AM and 1:00 PM to 11:00 PM daily.
If you are a Priority Pass member, this is the only lounge that you will access to in terminal 2. However, LAX now allows same-day ticketed passengers to access any of the other terminals even if they are not departing from that terminal, so if you want to use the Virgin America Loft located in terminal 3, you can. I have not personally visited the Virgin America Loft yet but fellow UPGRD blogger, Rohan, has. Here’s his review of the Virgin America Loft at LAX.
Other trip reports in this series:
- Introduction: How we booked our trip using United miles
- Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge at LAX
- Air New Zealand Lounge at LAX
- Air China “Forbidden Pavilion” first class Los Angeles to Beijing, Boeing 777-300ER
- Air China first class lounge at PEK
- Air China business class Beijing to Seoul, Airbus A330-300
- Hilton Seoul
- United Airlines “BusinessFirst” Los Angeles to Tokyo Narita, Boeing 787-8
- Asiana business class lounge at ICN
- Asiana business class Seoul to Tokyo Narita, Airbus A330-300
- Conrad Tokyo
- Hilton Tokyo
- ANA business class lounge at NRT
- Thai Airways “Royal Silk” business class Tokyo Narita to Bangkok, Boeing 747-400
- Thai Airways Royal Silk Lounge at BKK
- Thai Airways “Royal Silk” business class Bangkok to Auckland, Boeing 777-200
- Hilton Auckland
- Emperor Lounge at AKL
- Air New Zealand Koru Club Lounge at AKL
- Air New Zealand “Business Premier” Auckland to Shanghai, Boeing 777-200
- Air China Business Class Lounge at PVG
- Air China business class Shanghai to Taipei, Airbus A330-300
- EVA Air Evergreen Lounge at TPE
- EVA Air “Royal Laurel” business class Taipei to Los Angeles, Boeing 777-300ER
And Air China premium cabin passengers, you are in luck. Air China now contracts with the Air New Zealand Lounge next door so you will be able to relax in a much larger and nicer lounge before your flight. On this trip, I was flying Air China first class so I had access to the Air New Zealand Lounge. However, I wanted to check out the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge (using my Star Alliance Gold card) so that I could review it for you guys.
The Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge at LAX is a mezzanine style lounge located above the boarding gates. The Lounge is one single room with no separate area for first class passengers but considering Air Canada doesn’t have any first class passengers, this really isn’t a problem. As you enter the lounge, there is a small business area with several desks to your left. The desks have low partitions that will provide for a bit of privacy but will not do much to offer you any additional peace and quiet from the noise of the main seating area. Each desk is equipped with a desktop computer with printing capabilities and a fax machine is also available if you need.
Beyond the business area is the main seating area of the lounge. There’s really not much to say about the main seating area because there’s really not much to it. It’s a small space with lounge chairs for relaxation, a dining area and a bar counter with additional electrical outlets. Password protected WiFi is provided to keep you connected. At the time of my visit (10:00 PM on a Wednesday night), the lounge was not too busy and there were plenty of seats for me to use. For plane spotters, there are large windows with views of the terminal 2 gates and runway.
There’s a single food station with a small offering of fruits, vegetables, cheeses, chips and salsa, crackers and hot soups. The self-serve bar has a small selection of beers, wines, spirits, juices, sodas and a coffee/cappuccino machine. There are no showers facilities available and they do not make any boarding or flight announcements. Like I said before, it’s a standard Air Canada trans-border lounge with basic amenities and no frills.
Overall, this lounge isn’t bad. It’s small and I would imagine that it would get busy during peak hours. Because this is a trans-border lounge and not a true international lounge, there are no upgraded amenities such as showers, sleep rooms or a decent food offering. But then again, it’s much nicer than the other domestic lounges such as the United Club located in terminal 7. This lounge does have a “contract lounge” feel to it and it’s something that you would expect when flying domestically, not internationally. To compare, here are my other reviews for the Air Canada Maple Leaf (international) Lounge at Paris and the Air Canada Maple Leaf (trans-border) Lounge at Montreal.
