The first review to come from my European whirlwind trip is the VIP ONE Lounge at New York-JFK’s Terminal 1. This lounge is a little special, because its main appeal isn’t actually the lounge: rather, it’s the priority security access that the lounge offers. Let’s dig into what this lounge is, how you access it, and how it simplifies your life.

1. What does the VIP ONE Lounge offer?
2. How do you gain access to the VIP ONE Lounge?
3. VIP ONE Lounge location and hours
4. Seating and design
5. Food and drinks
6. The main event: priority security access
7. Summary

What does the VIP ONE Lounge offer?

So the VIP ONE Lounge is a little bit different from other lounges. First of all, this lounge is not part of a larger network – it’s just the one lounge, at JFK’s Terminal 1. It’s not affiliated with any airline, and is not a lounge airlines would contract to send their passengers to. Secondly, the lounge’s location is before security. This is not uncommon, but what is strange is that it’s not just ‘before’ security – it’s actually part of security. Indeed, theis lounge’s main attraction is really not the ‘lounge’ as such, but it’s the fact that you got priority security access! And that’s the true value proposition of this lounge: those that access it are brought directly to a TSA agent, then shuttled straight to the X-ray machines, meanwhile bypassing all the lines. Even TSA PreCheck and Clear are not as fast as this service.

How do you gain access to the VIP ONE Lounge?

There are two primary ways to gain access to the VIP ONE Lounge. The first is to have. apaid subscription with the lounge, through one of three tiers:

• Silver: For $45, you can access the VIP ONE Lounge’s fast track through security.
• Gold: For $100, you get the Silver beenfits, plus curbside baggage and check-in assistance, and an escort to the gate or an (airline) lounge.
• Platinum: For $200, you get all Gold benefits, plus both an escort to the lounge, and subsequent pickup and escort to the gate.

Full details can be found at the VIP ONE Lounge website: VIP ONE Lounge.

The second (and ‘free’) way to get access is through priority pass. Fortunately, priority pass is easy to get, most commonly as a benefit through having the Chase Sapphire Reserve or Capital One Venture X credit cards. If you have one of those cards, don’t forget to activate your priority pass membership, and you’ll be able to access the VIP ONE Lounge at no extra cost to you.

Now, personally, I can’t say I find the paid Gold and Platinum packages particularly compelling. Terminal 1 (at least in its current form) is not so big, so I’m not sure how useful assistance with check-in and an escort to the gate really is. I’d say all that are gimmicks – where it’s really at is the fast security access, and this you get with priority pass.

VIP ONE Lounge location and hours

The VIP ONE Lounge is open all week from 8am to 12am, which covers essentially all departures at Terminal 1. The lounge cna be found behind check-in counters E and F. Or, if you find yourself standing right in front of the security checkpoint, turn left and follow along with the checkpoint’s roped off area until you reach tinted glass walls: that’s where the entrance to the lounge is.

Seating and design

When you enter the lounge, you enter onto what’s the ‘pre-check’ area before the security screening, rather than a lobby. Meaning, once you checkin at the desk, the attendant will ask whether you’d like to use the lounge or go straight through the security screen. The checkin process is like with any other Priority Pass lounge, in that they will take your Priority Pass membership card for verification, and probably ask you to sign for your visit. Since I wanted to review this lounge, I said I’d check out the lounge proper for a little bit.

When you enter the lounge proper, you’ll see it’s really a rather small space. There’s a long table with restaurant style seating, as well as some ‘nooks’ with lounge chairs, that I thought were quite comfortable.

Then, if you go into what sort of looks like a restaurant area, there’s a long counter with chairs that you could also take a seat at. Although this seems like it’d be some sort of live kitchen concept, or perhaps a barista, there was nobody manning this area.

So as you can see, the lounge generally is small and as a result there isn’t much place to sit, and the types of seating are limited, with only restaurant-style tables and lounge chairs available. None of these seating types would be all that comfortable for working, but then again, I don’t think that’s the aim here either. For the most part customers would want to pass through, using the lounge for its expedited security checkpoint feature without actually sitting and eating here.

Food and drinks

Most of the food in the lounge is actually ordered through a digital interface, rather than being freely available in the buffet. The buffet itself was very limited, with a station that had various kinds of snacks, such as chips, cookies and brownies, and some fruit:

And then there was a station that had a variety of drinks, including te and coffee, wines and beers. The selection was decent enough, but not particularly extensive. For somebody wanting a short break before going through security, this would likely suffice, though.

So, that buffet doesn’t look particularly interesting. Instead, to get most of the food, you’d need to scan one of the QR codes at the tables to connect to the wifi network of the lounge, then navigate to the ordering menu. From here, there is more extensive menu, predominantly populated by salads and sandwiches, and several drinks:

My feeling about the food and drink here is that it’s kind of a hold-over if you happen to be very hungry, but it’s not the main point of this lounge and I wouldn’t stay here for any food or drink unless I wouldn’t be able to get into any lounge beyond security. In my case, I was flying Air France business class and so was able to go to the Air France lounge, so I didn’t end up ordering, or otherwise eating or drinking anything. For what it’s worth, I saw other people have some of the orderable food and thought it looked decent, but wouldn’t be able to speak to the actual taste of it.

The main event: priority security access

After having looked around the lounge proper a little bit, it was time for the main event: the priority access to the security checkpoint. For this you go back to the ‘lobby’ area, which, besides the welcome desk, also includes a large, very heavy glass door on the far end of the room:

For your orientation, in the above picture the door on the very right is the entrance to the lounge, then straight ahead is the door to the security checkpoint, and then to the left is the reception desk, which in this picture is out of view.

To start the security check, go back to the reception and tell the attendant that you want to go through security. They will lead you to the counter with the white top that you see in the picture. As you can see, there are the typical grey bins under it that you’d use to store your stuff as it goes through the scanner. The attendant will ask for your ID and boarding pass, and then to put all your valuables into the bin. Then, they will beep a keycard next to the heavy, glass door, and lead you through it.

From here on, I didn’t take any pictures given the sensitivity of the security screening process.

As you go through the door, you’ll find yourself almost right next to one of the booths where TSA agents would check your ID. The attendant will lead you straight to the closest one, which is the same booth where TSA PreCheck would probably get through. So, to be clear, in this first step you basically circumvent the entire line for the ID check. Your priority will be recognized and you will be called forward with the attendant as soon as that TSA agent is done with whomever they are currently helping. The attendant will give them your ID and boarding pass, they will identify themselves, and they will ask you to stand in front of the booth for the facial recognition check. In my case, since I do have TSA PreCheck, the TSA agent applied a PreCheck stamp onto my boarding pass, and told me to show the stamp to the personnel at the scanner.

Next, the lounge attendant gave me back my ID and boarding pass, and told me to hang onto that, while she led me to the front of the line at the scanner, then muscles the bin onto the conveyor belt leading into the scanner.

It was clear those standing in line normally didn’t like me suddenly cutting into the line, right in front of them, but so be it… The attendant was quite aggressive about giving me the priority access nevertheless. From here, the process proceeded as usual, with me taking off my jacket, taking my laptop out of the bag, and then putting all items as usual onto the belt. Before passing through I showed the PreCheck stamp to the TSA agents at this checkpoint, who led me through the old-style screening gate. Then I simply took my stuff and was on my way.

Given the lines at the checkpoint, I reckon that, even with TSA PreCheck, it could have taken about 20 minutes to get all the way through. The lounge probably cut it down to a 5-minute process, thanks to the ability of skipping all the lines, plus she handled much of the formalities and carried the bin with valuables around.

All in all, this was a very nice experience that I would very much recommend for everybody that ahs priority pass!

Summary

I wouldn’t say I ‘enjoyed’ my time in the VIP ONE Lounge, so much as it is the most convenient way to get through security at JFK’s Terminal 1. I love that a friendly, helpful attendant brings you straight to a TSA agent for ID check, and then directly to the scanner, bypassing all lines. This is definitely better than TSA PreCheck in that it’s more personalized and faster. If you were to visit the VIP ONE Lounge and was able to enter a lounge after security, I’d suggest to not bother with the ‘lounge’ part of the VIP ONE Lounge – rather, just use it to get through security ASAP. However, if you don’t have the opportunity to go to a lounge after security, then I’d say it may be worthwhile to order a salad and have a drink before going through security.