The other day, I was transiting through Phoenix Sky Harbor airport (PHX) and had a brief layover. I recently picked up the new Citi Strata Elite card, and one of the perks that card comes with is 4 one-time passes to the American Airlines Admirals Club lounge. I figured now was as good a time as any to use one of those passes, so I stopped by the Admirals Club in Terminal A.
I first went to the Admirals Club location that is above gates A7 and A9. I took the elevator up to the 2nd floor where the club is located, but I saw this sign.
I figured that the passes I had from my Citi Strata Elite card counted as one-day passes, so I reluctantly went downstairs and back towards my gate.
Trying To Use Citi Strata Elite Admirals Club Passes When One-Day Passes Are Not Accepted
But then I saw that there was another Admirals Club not too far away, outside Gates A19 and A21. My layover was pretty short, but I figured I had time to walk over there and see if maybe that Admirals Club was accepting one-day passes.
Alas, when I walked over there, I found the same sign there.
But I figured it didn’t hurt to go in and double check to see if Citi Strata Elite one-day passes were considered one-day passes for the purposes of this restriction.
And to my surprise, the agent at the front of the Admiral’s Club said that Strata Elite passes were NOT excluded from the one-day pass restriction, and it would be no problem for me to come into the lounge. Tragically I learned that the A19/A21 Admirals Club is significantly smaller / not as good as the first one that I had visited, but by that point, I was already here so I didn’t bother going back to the first Admiral’s Club I visited.
The Bottom Line – Citi Strata Elite Admirals Club Passes are NOT One-Day Passes
So that is good to know and hopefully helps someone else while traveling. If you are looking to use one of your four Admiral’s Club passes that come with the Citi Strata Elite card, and there is a sign outside the lounge that says one-day passes are not being accepted, you can still enter the lounge! Just go on in and show them your passes (they should be in your AAdvantage account) and you should be able to enter the Admiral’s Club.
This does seem like it might be a bit of a “your mileage may vary” situation, since different lounge agents may apply things differently, so if you end up with a different experience, make sure to let us know in the comments!
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Dan Miller travels with his wife and 6 (SIX!) children. He loves to help families travel for free / cheap, especially larger families. If you are looking for help, drop him an email at
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