Lounge Review: Chase Sapphire Lounge by The Club at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport

The Chase Sapphire Lounge by the Club opened at the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport on Nov. 12. My husband and I flew on American Airlines from Columbus, Ohio, to Salt Lake City on Thanksgiving Day, so we got a chance to visit the lounge on our layover.

Chase Sapphire Lounge by the Club Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport Location and Hours

• Location: Terminal 4 in the South 1 Concourse, near Gates D11-D18
• Hours: Daily from 4:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.

Please note that Terminal 4 isn’t connected to Terminal 3 airside, so if you’re flying out of Terminal 3, you won’t be able to visit this lounge without having to clear security twice. If you choose to do so, make sure to leave plenty of time between flights.

Chase Sapphire Lounge Access and Entry Requirements

The Chase Sapphire Reserve® and the J.P. Morgan Reserve Card holders may enter with up to two guests for free. Members of The Ritz-Carlton™ Credit Card have complimentary access and can bring unlimited guests.

Additionally, if you have Priority Pass, you can enter a Sapphire Lounge by The Club once per calendar year. Subsequent visits and guest visits cost $75 each. The lounge allows access up to three hours before a departing flight, unless you’re visiting during a longer layover.

When we first reached the lounge, it was at capacity and one of the staff members added my name to the waitlist. I was told I’d get a text notification in about 30 minutes allowing me to check in, but not even 10 minutes later, I received a text saying they were ready for us at the Chase Sapphire Lounge, and we were able to check in promptly.

I entered the lounge by simply presenting my Chase Sapphire Reserve card at the registration desk. It wasn’t swiped, but my and my husband’s boarding passes were scanned. I didn’t need to present my Priority Pass card, either.

Chase Sapphire Lounge Layout and Amenities

The Sapphire Lounge at Sky Harbor Airport isn’t massive by any means. In fact, its capacity is 78 guests. The lounge’s layout makes it feel smaller than it actually is, and the traffic flow is a bit cumbersome.

After check-in, a staff member showed us to our seats at the bar counter. I actually liked that part quite a bit—we didn’t have to walk up and down the lounge with luggage in tow in search of two seats together and awkwardly ask other guests whether seats were available. Instead, a host seated us.

The lounge has a long bar as well as high-top chairs along the window facing the tarmac, a few seating areas, including one by a fireplace, and a few work stations.

The Airstream is facing the terminal, takes up quite a bit of the lounge’s valuable real estate and has only one way to reach it by walking along the bar and making a U-turn. There’s not a lot of space around it to line up to order food. Since all the food at the Airstream is made to order, this seems like an oversight.

Two spacious gender-neutral restrooms are available, where I found several amenities, including facial tissues, tampons and cotton swabs. Additional toiletries were written to be available at the check-in area, but I didn’t need anything extra and didn’t ask what the other options were. Unfortunately, the restrooms lack showers.

There was no kids’ play area, no nursing areas and no conference rooms. In fact, this particular Sapphire Lounge doesn’t have much in terms of amenities you expect to find at larger airport lounges.

Food and Beverage at Chase Sapphire Lounge

Because there aren’t really any other amenities, food and beverages are where this lounge shines.

Food

There are two menus available at the Sapphire Lounge: a breakfast menu and an all-day menu, served during the following hours:

• Breakfast 4:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.
• All day: 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.

Additionally, for each meal type, you can serve yourself from the buffet line or order certain menu items at the Airstream, a food truck that faces the terminal. The options were listed on the printed menu you could actually hold (not a QR code), and it seemed clear to me where everything was located.

Breakfast

For breakfast, the following options were available at the buffet on the day of my visit to the lounge:

• Variety of pastries, biscotti, croissants and mini-muffins
• Apples, oranges
• SunButter and jelly smoothie
• Prickly pear yogurt
• Fruit salad
• Sweet potato, kale hash
• Vegan chorizo scramble
• Egg and cheese bao

Additionally, the following à la carte items from the larder and the delta, a Phoenix-based restaurant, were available at the Airstream:

• Breakfast taco
• Grain bowl

All Day

For the all-day menu, the following options were available during my visit:

• Piquillo mozzarella
• Dips and chips
• Curry quinoa salad
• Cheddar and prosciutto grilled cheese sandwich
• Corn chowder
• Sapphire noodles
• Mini-chocolate bites
• SunButter cocoa Rice Krispy treats
• Oatmeal raisin cookies

Also, the following à la carte menu items were made to order at the Airstream trailer:

• The greatest cauliflower (dipped in buffalo sauce)
• Turkey and mushroom wrap

Breakfast had ended when I visited the Chase Sapphire Lounge at Phoenix Airport, so I can only speak on all-day menu options, and they were solid. In the great traditions of the Southwest, most of the food had some heat to it, but it wasn’t uneatable for someone with a low spice tolerance (me). I didn’t try everything, but the items I tasted had lots of flavor and were of high quality.

Each item had a letter specification listed next to it, such as GF for gluten-free, V for vegetarian or VG for vegan, which is helpful to guests with food restrictions. There were no grab-and-go items.

Beverages

The bar menu included a couple of locally inspired cocktails and several signature cocktails, all of which could be made without alcohol as well. The wine list included sparkling, red, white and rosé varieties. Draft beers included four taps, and soft drinks as well as juices, spa water and cold brew were available.

My husband and I tried four cocktails (two each): Cardinal Cooler, Desert Jewel, La Puerta and Viaggiare. We enjoyed most of them, except Cardinal Cooler, which tasted a bit watered down.

Surprisingly, the bar was out of Sapphire, a signature cocktail. One of the bartenders mentioned they were out of the juice mix that goes into it. It wasn’t clear whether more was going to be made later or whether they were out for the day, but luckily, they had plenty of other options for us to try.

For caffeine addicts, Press Coffee, an Arizona-based small-batch coffee roaster, is available at the beverage station.

Menus at the Chase Sapphire Lounge at Phoenix Airport

Unique Features of Chase Sapphire Lounge at Phoenix Airport

The Chase Sapphire Lounge at Phoenix Airport is pretty bare bones when it comes to special amenities, but it does have a foosball table. Having said that, the assistant GM I talked to mentioned it was likely they were going to remove it to expand their seating capacity.

How Much Time Would You Spend at Chase Sapphire Lounge

As mentioned above, unless you’re on a layover, you can’t access this lounge until three hours before your flight’s departure time. Additionally, because the space is on the smaller side, it’s likely going to have a wait no matter when you show up.

If you think you can spend a couple of hours here, it’s definitely worth it as long as you have complimentary access and are departing from Terminal 4. If you have to trek here from Terminal 3, spend your time elsewhere in my opinion.

Final Thoughts of Chase Sapphire Lounge at Phoenix Airport

Having more airport lounge options is generally a positive thing. Overall, I think the Chase Sapphire Lounge by the Club at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport is a solid lounge, albeit a bit small.

My husband and I spent about an hour-and-a-half at this lounge and got to experience most of what it had to offer. The food and drink options at the Phoenix Sapphire Lounge were excellent, and the overall vibe from the staff was quite welcoming and relaxing. I would definitely return here on my next layover, as long as it’s in Terminal 4.