Chase Sapphire Lounge Phoenix: Small however Modern

The Chase Sapphire Lounge at Phoenix Sky Harbor Worldwide Airport (PHX) brings a recent design aesthetic to airport lounges with a retrofitted Airstream serving sandwiches and a bar with runway views.

However at simply 3,500 sq. ft, this lounge is comparatively small. There’s typically a waitlist to enter when you’re there on busy days. Evaluate that to the 21,800-square-foot Sapphire Lounge LaGuardia that spans two tales and may match a most of 269 individuals, or the Chase Sapphire Lounge San Diego, a ten,000-square-foot lounge with a remedy room for complimentary facials. The Phoenix outpost presents little in the best way of additional facilities in addition to food and drinks. Nonetheless, it’s a smooth little lounge with a singular design that attracts inspiration from the Southwest panorama.

Most visitors enter by holding the Chase Sapphire Reserve®, which presents complimentary entry to Chase Sapphire Lounges for the cardholder and as much as two visitors. Chase invited NerdWallet for a tour on a weekday a couple of weeks after its grand opening, which was in November 2024. Right here’s what it’s like inside.

The place is the Chase Lounge at Phoenix Sky Harbor Worldwide Airport?

The Chase Sapphire Lounge by The Membership at PHX is situated in Terminal 4 South 1 (S1) Concourse. It’s doable to stroll between all gates in Terminal 4, which serves main airways together with American Airways, Frontier Airways and Southwest Airways.

The airport consists of two terminals: Terminal 3 and Terminal 4. Although it’s comparatively simple to commute between Terminal 3 and Terminal 4 through the PHX Sky Prepare, you’ll need to clear safety twice if you wish to entry the lounge however are flying out of Terminal 3, which is probably not value it to these passengers particularly these on a time crunch and who haven’t got TSA PreCheck.

The way to get into the Chase Sapphire Lounge PHX

Chase playing cards that present the cardholder with limitless Sapphire lounge visits embrace:

Chase Sapphire Reserve® and J.P. Morgan Reserve cardholders can deliver two free visitors per go to. Every further visitor is $75. Ritz-Carlton cardholders can deliver limitless visitors.

However these aren’t the one methods to get in. Precedence Cross members who didn’t enroll by way of one of many playing cards above additionally obtain one complimentary go to to a Chase Sapphire Lounge as soon as per calendar 12 months. Subsequent visits for Precedence Cross members value $75 every.

The Phoenix lounge options the identical, luxurious design with blue and gold accents that you simply’ll discover throughout the Chase lounges at different airports, however with some native aptitude. That features a huge artwork piece over the fireside in the principle lounging space by Navajo Nation artist Matthew Kirk.

The water vapor fire beneath makes use of steam and lights to create the looks of flames. A lot of these fireplaces are a signature function throughout all of the Chase Sapphire lounges.

Then there’s one thing you probably received’t discover in different lounges: an Airstream RV arrange as a meals truck. An worker stands inside doling out small bites like sandwiches. Even the Airstream has distinctive touches, similar to hand-painted license plates by Arizona-based artist Timmy Ham.

The bar is backed by giant home windows that overlook the runway. The house is just a little tight, which isn’t essentially a foul factor, because it offers the bar a bustling, high-energy vibe.

For more room, you’ll probably head across the nook towards the Airstream. In contrast to most airport lounges, that are tucked away behind partitions or frosted glass, this part of the lounge flows into the terminal. No home windows (and no partitions) make it so vacationers wandering by way of Terminal 4 can truly see contained in the lounge.

This unconventional design has some execs and cons. For one factor, it makes for a extra ethereal, open environment and is a refreshing change from walled-off lounges.

On the flip facet, this openness would possibly make the house really feel much less unique. The visibility into the lounge blurs the road between it and a high-end airport restaurant, which might detract from the non-public, premium really feel some vacationers anticipate from airport lounges.

Although tiny, the lounge maximizes house, all the best way all the way down to the pegs and energy shops beneath the bar.

The Phoenix Chase lounge has a espresso machine, faucets with nonalcoholic drinks like chilly brew, a buffet of small plates and a bar that serves alcoholic drinks.

The espresso comes from Press Espresso, which is an Arizona-based espresso roaster.

Meals comes from James Beard Award finalist Stephen Jones, who famously runs a Phoenix restaurant referred to as The Larder & The Delta. While you order from the Airstream within the morning, you may choose from a breakfast taco and grain bowl. Exterior of breakfast hours, you may select a turkey and mushroom wrap and/or cauliflower doused in buffalo sauce.

Over in the principle eating room, you may choose as many small plates as you need. Objects embrace a curry quinoa salad and a corn chowder made with coconut milk.

Many menu gadgets take allergic reactions and dietary preferences under consideration. The menus are clearly labeled with letters like GF (gluten-free) or VG (vegan).

For instance, the Sapphire noodles are a spin on Asian-style noodles with peanut sauce. Since they’re rice noodles, they’re okay for gluten allergic reactions. And for the reason that dish makes use of SunButter sauce (created from sunflower seed butter) slightly than peanut butter, it accommodates of us with nut allergic reactions.

The bar serves domestically impressed cocktails just like the Cardinal Cooler, which is a fruity cocktail with vodka. As discovered throughout all lounges, there’s additionally the signature Sapphire cocktail, which can be fairly fruity however throws in some distinctive elements together with bee pollen and pearl mud.

Bogs are particular person rooms slightly than stalls. Maybe unsurprising given this lounge’s small measurement, there aren’t any showers. Bogs are well-stocked with toiletries together with dental floss and female merchandise.

Is the Chase Sapphire Lounge PHX value it?

Whereas the lounge is undeniably small, the inside design is spectacular. Each element, from the colour palette to the fashionable furnishings, feels intentional and upscale. The house makes good use of its restricted sq. footage with cozy seating nooks and pure lighting.

Nevertheless, the scale would possibly really feel limiting throughout busy intervals, particularly when in comparison with its closest competitor, the sprawling Centurion Lounge at PHX. The Centurion Lounge, which is open to prospects with The Platinum Card® from American Specific, presents considerably more room and a greater variety of seating choices. That makes it a more sensible choice for bigger teams or these on the lookout for a assured seat throughout peak instances. Nonetheless, the Centurion’s design feels outdated in comparison with the Sapphire Lounge’s refined and cohesive aesthetic.

However for vacationers accessing through Precedence Cross who need to be considered with their lounge visits (Precedence Cross members solely get one complimentary go to one lounge inside the Chase Sapphire Lounge by The Membership community per calendar 12 months), it could be higher to skip the lounge and put it aside for one which’s extra spectacular.

The Chase Sapphire Lounge Phoenix is right for vacationers who worth aesthetics and a boutique really feel over expansive facilities, providing a glimpse of what Chase Sapphire Lounges might evolve into because the community continues to develop. Vacationers who’ve complimentary entry by way of a card just like the Chase Sapphire Reserve® ought to make some extent to cease by.

The knowledge associated to the J.P. Morgan Reserve and The Ritz-Carlton™ Credit score Card has been collected by NerdWallet and has not been reviewed or offered by the issuer of this card.