Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) is one of the most conveniently located airports in the the DC area. It makes easy coming and goings to and from the capital of the United States. Luckily, Priority Pass has you covered to fill your food cravings with two restaurant offerings. 

In this article, I talk about Priority Pass options at DCA and what you can expect. I will also go over options beyond Priority Pass that might help frequent fliers access lounges across the nation.

What Priority Pass lounges are at DCA?

There are two Priority Pass restaurants at DCA:

• Bracket Room – Terminal B
• American Tap Room – Terminal C

Notice how there are no proper lounges available in any of the terminals at DCA. Luckily, most of the time Priority Pass restaurants are gonna fill you up with much better food than many Priority Pass lounges in the USA. 

Down below, I go into more details about both Bracket Room and American Tap Room.

Tip: Use WalletFlo for all your credit card needs. It’s free and will help you optimize your rewards and savings!

How to get Priority Pass

You can get Priority Pass by purchasing a club membership but I always recommend considering credit cards that offer you a Priority Pass Select membership.

These cards would be cards like the Chase Sapphire Reserve and the Platinum Card from American Express. HOWEVER, some cards don’t offer Priority Pass restaurant access. That means, a card could advertise a Priority Pass Select membership, but without access to restaurants via your Priority Pass card. 

Cards offered by American Express do not allow access to Priority Pass restaurants. However, cards like the Chase Sapphire Reserve do allow Priority Pass restaurants.

DCA terminals

There are four terminals at DCA airport. Terminals A, B, B/C and C. Below is a list of airlines going out of each terminal.

Terminal A (Gates 1-9)

• Air Canada
• Frontier
• Southwest

Terminal B (Gates 10-22)

• Alaska
• Delta
• United

Terminal B/C (Gates 23-34)

• American 
• JetBlue

Terminal C (Gates 35-45)

• American

Getting between terminals at DCA

DCA is a tiny airport, with only 45 gates, you would have thought all the gates are accessible past security (aka airside), but that is incorrect. The only terminals that are connected are terminals B/C and C — gates 23-45 are all accessible airside. Terminal B (gates 10-22) and terminal A (gates 1-9) aren’t connected airside.

If you wished to go to other terminals from terminal A, you will need to exit and then go through security again to access other terminals. 

However, don’t assume that a TSA agent will allow you to enter other terminals with a boarding pass for another airline in a separate terminal. Some TSA agents will deny you entry if you are departing from another terminal. For example, if you want to access Terminal B and you are flying Southwest out of Terminal A, you might be denied passage by a TSA agent.

Bracket Room – Terminal B

Location

• Airside – after Security Control, turn right. The Bracket Room is located opposite Gate 12.

Hours

• 05:00 – 21:00 daily
• Please note that the restaurant may exceed their seating limit at certain times of the day & access to the restaurant is at their sole discretion.

Conditions

• Cardholders can use their lounge visit entitlement to receive $28 USD off the bill. Each time you receive the $28 deduction, it represents a single lounge visit within the Cardholder’s existing lounge.

If you bring along one guest they will also receive a discount so you’ll get a total $56 off your bill. Getting $56 off for a meal during an airport visit is a pretty great deal to me so while it’s not lounge access — this is actually a pretty sweet deal.

• Only 1 card per visit per Cardholder will be accepted at point of registration.
• To be eligible, Cardholders must present a valid card before placing an order.
• The discount is non-transferable & cannot be exchanged for cash substitute or refund if the final bill is lower than $28 per person.
• The cardholder is responsible for the balance if total final bill exceeds US$28 per person. Any remaining balance cannot be used towards gratuity.

What is the Bracket Room like?

The Bracket Room is a sports lounge eatery. There are dozens of TVs across the establishment that will cater to traveling sports fans that need to catch the game while they are on the go. If you want to grab a couple of drinks or bite to eat while watching the game, the Bracket Room would be ideal. However, for families with younger children, you might find the menu and atmosphere to be less kid friendly than other establishments. 

What does the Bracket Room server?

• Breakfast (omelette, eggs benedict, egg sandwich, waffles, etc.)
• Wings
• Tacos
• Burgers
• Chicken and waffles
• Hot dogs
• Greens
• etc.

You can look at the full menu here.

As you can see, the Bracket Room offers a nice selection for breakfast, but for lunch and dinner, don’t expect anything more than standard bar food. For me, I would personally get either eggs benedict or chicken and waffles. The $28 credit per person (not including tip) can cover everything on the menu with a drink. If you just wanted drinks, you could easily get three different types of drinks covered by the credit.

If you ask me, it’s definitely not a bad deal.

American Tap Room – Terminal C

Location

• Airside – after Security Control, near Gates 35-45.

Hours

• 05:00 – 22:00 Sunday – Friday
• 05:00 – 19:00 Saturday
• Please note that the restaurant may exceed their seating limit at certain times of the day & access to the restaurant is at their sole discretion.

Each Priority Pass member and guest will get $28 off the bill.

If you bring two guests, cards like the Chase Sapphire Reserve offer the member and two guests a discount, so you would be able to get $84 off the entire bill (excluding gratuity.) 

Conditions

• Cardholders can use their lounge visit entitlement to receive $28 USD off the bill. Each time you receive the $28 deduction, it represents a single lounge visit within the Cardholder’s existing lounge.
• Only 1 card per visit per Cardholder will be accepted at point of registration.
• To be eligible, Cardholders must present a valid card before placing an order.
• The discount is non-transferable & cannot be exchanged for cash substitute or refund if the final bill is lower than $28 per person.
• The cardholder is responsible for the balance if total final bill exceeds US$28 per person. Any remaining balance cannot be used towards gratuity.

What is the American Tap Room like?

The American Tap Room is a classic American restaurant that offers bar food with a selection of drinks. Compared to the Bracket Room, you won’t find many high quality options or breakfast food. Think of the American Tap Room to be the cheaper establishment of the two. However, if you’re in the mood for some beers, this is the Priority Pass restaurant to go. 

It’s definitely less family friendly than the Bracket Room, but with very simple dishes, the kids will be happy while you watch the game on a TV. 

What does the American Tap Room server?

• Wings
• Bavarian Pretzels
• Greens
• Sandwiches
• Burgers
• Limited breakfast items (Chicken and waffles, omelette)
• etc.

As you can see, the options at American Tap Room are fairly limited for food. However, you can find that the alcohol menu is fairly bigger than the Bracket Room menu. If you had the option between the two Priority Pass restaurants to get hammered at, the American Tap Room will serve you better.

You can look at the full meny here.

Tip: Use WalletFlo for all your credit card needs. It’s free and will help you optimize your rewards and savings!

Will Priority Pass get you into any lounges at DCA?

The short answer is no. Priority Pass will not get you into any lounges at DCA. However, I would argue that Priority Pass restaurants are better for foodies and drinkers.

You see, most airport lounges, especially in the United States, will offer some of the weakest buffets and drink selections. It’s sometimes like eating rabbit food as the offerings are small and cheap in quality that it wouldn’t be worth visiting a lounge for a meal. Restaurants offer legitimate meals and drinks made to order, not rabbit food. 

At the restaurants above, you can actually eat a meal that will fill you up with extra credit for dessert or a drink… maybe two drinks, but it all depends on the items you order. Because it all depends on the items you order, this creates a more personalized experience for each customer.

I for one would rather go to a restaurant to eat a good meal or have a couple mixed drinks instead of going to a crowded lounge fighting for the weak buffet offerings. 

Certain cards can get you into lounges at DCA

If you really wish to get into lounges at DCA, you will need to hold certain speciality credit cards flying certain airlines. Below I go over a few credit cards that can get you into lounges.

American Express Platinum 

• Hilton Honors Gold elite status 
• Marriott Gold Elite status
• $200 Uber credit and $200 airline credit
• 5X on airfare and 5X on hotels booked through the Amex Travel portal
• Priority Pass access for you and two guests (excludes restaurants)
• Centurion lounges access for you and two guests
• Delta Sky Club access when flying with Delta
• TSA Pre-Check/Global Entry $100 credit
• $550 Annual Fee

The Amex Platinum is one of the top cards out there for elite status. It comes equipped with elite status with Hilton and Marriott, lounge access to Priority Pass (excludes restaurants), Centurion, and Delta Sky Clubs. Other benefits like the Uber credit and airline credit can virtually make the annual fee go away.

So, if you are flying Delta Airlines, you can access Delta Sky Clubs with the Amex Platinum. Sky Clubs are great if you wish to relax or get some work done without a restaurant environment. When you aren’t in the mood to eat an entire meal, this is a great card. 

Citi AAdvantage Executive World Elite MasterCard

• Earn 10,000 Elite Qualifying Miles (EQMs) after spending $40,000 in eligible purchases that post to the cardmember’s account during a calendar year
• Admirals Club access
• Priority check-in, airport screening, and early boarding
• First checked bag free on domestic American Airlines itineraries
• Global Entry or TSA Pre-Check credit
• 2X miles on every American Airlines purchase
• $450 annual fee

The Citi AAdvantage Executive World Elite MasterCard is a unique card as it offers benefits like priority check-in, airport security, Admirals Club access, and early boarding. Those three alone are benefits of having elite status.

Similar to other cards, the card only allows access to Admiral Clubs when flying American Airlines. However, for frequent AA travelers, this card could make a world of difference in airports across the country.

Final word

Sometimes the best lounge experiences are at restaurants eating or drinking till you cannot anymore. However, if you wish to work, you might find the Priority Pass options at DCA to be lacking, especially for frequent DC travelers. 

Steve Smith

Steve is a senior contributor for UponArriving and spends close to 300 nights a year in hotels while traveling the world and trying to eat as much as he can. Steve has spoken at summits like the FBZ Elite Summit in Austin. He holds top-tier elite status with almost every hotel program as a Marriott Ambassador, Hyatt Globalist, Hilton Diamond, IHG Spire, and GHA Black. Utilizing credit card points and miles, Steve takes over 100 flights per year while experiencing some of the top first class and business class cabin in the sky.

Crossing the Pacific ocean is a long journey no matter how much you love to fly. Like most people, I prefer longer flights when it’s comfy and this Asiana first class flight delivered in the comfort department and also came with the added benefit of a wonderfully delicious dining experience in a suite with a door.

In this review, from New York (JFK) to Seoul (ICN) on their A380, I will go over one of the most underrated first class products as it provides some of the best food you might try on a plane with a private seat.

Booking Asiana first class

Asiana Routes

Asiana has only two first class routes from Incheon Seoul – ICN to North America.

Sadly, Asiana is re-naming their first class to business suites September 1, 2019. What we know is, Asiana business suites will be business class service and catering with the first class seat.

• New York (JFK)
• Los Angeles (LAX)

Asiana does service other cities that have two class configurations with economy and business class.

• Chicago (ORD)
• San Francisco (SFO)
• Seattle (SEA)
• Honolulu (HNL)

Asiana Points, miles and fees

I ended up booking my Asiana first class seat using Avianca LifeMiles when there was an award redemption sale.

Normally it costs 90,000 LifeMiles for a one-way award flight, but because of the sale, I was able to redeem the seat for 72,000 LifeMiles and $30.60 in fees one-way in first class on Asiana.

LifeMiles transfers from Amex Membership Rewards or Citi ThankYou Points (and now Capital One). Plus, LifeMiles runs many promotions for buying miles on the cheap, which I ended up doing because I didn’t want to transfer points and instead pay for this flight because of the promotion.

JFK Lounge

I ended up going to Delta Sky Club – Terminal 4 – after my arrival from Detroit (DTW) to finish up some work.

Asiana uses Swiss business class lounge. Swiss’ lounge is very tiny and offering nothing special. It’s still better than the gate with a quiet section, but the lounge closes about 30 minutes before boarding. This means you are kicked out of the lounge. 

Because it’s so busy in the lounge, I opted out to take pictures of the lounge itself. Sorry.

Boarding

I have no pictures of the boarding process or the complete mess it was at the gate. So, I will do my best to describe the limited amount of space that is given at the gate for all the passengers for the A380.

The seating area at the gate is just not enough. Most people had to sit at other gates or stand. There isn’t enough room for economy and business class lines. JFK or Asiana needs to have a better gate to accommodate this A380!

Also, during boarding economy and first board through the same most forward door. Meaning, all the economy passengers will walk through the first class cabin. Luckily the flight attendants offered to close your suite’s door while economy passengers walk to their seat.

Asiana first class seat

The first class cabin is a 3 row 1-2-1 configuration on the lower deck of the A380. These seats are considered as an enclosed suite. The seat itself will remind you of a lounge chair with the feature of going into a fully lie-flat position for bed-mode.

The seat features storage compartments all along the left side with the tray table. There is floor storage under the ottoman.

When it comes to first class seats, these are standard as they are comparable to Garuda Indonesia first class but better than Lufthansa first class as Asiana picked a more private design with a door. However, colors used for the cabin and seat are very boring, but that doesn’t mean I was bored flying this superb seat. 

The seat itself was clean with minimum wear and tear. All surfaces of the seat felt clean and I didn’t think about taking out my wet wipes to clean the surfaces or walls of the suite.

The suite is not fully-enclosed, but high enough where someone has to purposely lean over to actually see into the suite. I am 5’10” (178 cm) and when I visited the lavatory I couldn’t see into the suites. The blind like slats in the suite doors cannot be seen through from the aisle side, but from the seat, you can only see the floor as they are angled down.

As you can see the middle seats have a divider that goes down for taxiing, take-off, and landing, but it can go up during the flight if you wish.

What makes these seats wonderful is the fact they support two-person dining. This allows someone to sit at the other end of the tray table and dine with someone else they desire. Sadly, I couldn’t test it out as I was flying alone but would love to as Asiana has a wonderful dining experience.

I find these seats very private with the door open or closed as you cannot see person or seat across the aisle. The great thing about this seat is the fact that it doesn’t limit you from talking to your seatmate if you’re seated in the middle and it still allows you to see out of all the windows if you’re seated at a window seat.

Waiting at the seat were Bose headphones, a Salvatore Ferragamo amenity kit, two pillows (one in plastic, and a blanket). Once I got settled into my seat, a crew member came over asking what I wanted to drink that is non-alcohol as they want to not pay taxes on alcohol in the US. The crew also made some small talk and went over the flight time, and even closing the doors of suites as we waited to be pushed back from the gate.

I asked for water as they didn’t have my first choice, which is watermelon juice. I got the water with some warm mixed nuts and immigration forms.

The crew came around again with two sizes of men’s PJs. I chose M size, which is medium. I found the PJs nice and still use them to this day, but there are no pockets.

You might have noticed, but there was no wifi card or talk about free wifi for first class passengers. It’s because Asiana doesn’t have wifi onboard. For a 12 hour flight, you might expect wifi, but on this flight, there isn’t any wifi.

You can control everything about your suite from the lighting to the seat position. It’s easy to move and customize or select one of the presets available.

During boarding, I went ahead and filmed a mini seat tour trying to show everything about the seat.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjDI7tQrNPY[/embedyt]

Asiana first class dining

Dining on Asiana makes your mouth water. No, there isn’t a huge menu like Emirates or Singapore book the cook, but with its somewhat limited menu makes for amazing quality in food compared to the former that I mentioned.

I would say it’s comparable to ANA when it comes to quality, but in some areas, it really shines.

The lunch menu reads as followed:

Note that snack is actually the “breakfast” menu.

The beverage menu reads as followed:

Once I ordered my meal, I chose the Korean set, one of the lovely flight attendants came over with a warm towel and then a few minutes later came to set the table.

If you don’t care for traditional Korean food, you can switch any of the items you desire, so you can mix and match the food. Since I chose to keep the Korean set as it is, I got 3 starters, plus caviar.

The first starter was ginko nut and dried date. The ginko nuts were not for me, but I do like dates and enjoyed half of this starter.

Then came the caviar, which is my favorite part of any first class flight. The caviar presentation is very classic with lots of onions. Notice there is a mother of pearl spoon and the size of caviar. It was a good size. I ended up pairing it with both champagnes which are Barns de Rothschild Blanc de Blancs and Laurent Perrier Brut. I prefer the Rothschild over Laurent as Laurent reminds me of sparkling wine. 

Notice the lovely red rose that they gave me. 🙂

After the caviar course, I got turnip vegetable rolls, which is the second starter item.

It tasted fresh and love the tomato carved out for sauce that goes on the rolls. This was my favorite starter after the caviar.

For the last starter, I got Korean pumpkin porridge ‘hobakjuk’. I am not a fan of porridge or pumpkin, but this pumpkin porridge was actually decent.

Then it was time for the main course, the most exciting part of the whole meal, and it was brought on a huge tray. Bibimbap and beef short rib bulgalbi. There were so many side dishes that made me so happy that I was returning to Korea.

In short, the bibimbap was very yummy and definitely worth the whole plane ride as it was just massive. The only complaint I have is the level of spiciness. The gochujang wasn’t spicy and I had to ask for more and they brought a ton for me. 

A flight attendant did offer to make the bibimbap for me, but I like to mix it myself so I declined her offer.

It was so massive I had to stand up to take pictures of the whole tray. Actually, it was very hard to take pictures of the bibimbap as it was massive, so I am sorry for poorly framed photos.

For dessert, there was yummy bean jelly with chestnut that I loved. The sweet rice cake was good, but it’s just too chewy. I only had the strawberry and pineapple, both tasted sweet.

After the meal, I had a nice 8 hours of sleep and woke up slightly hungry. So, I asked if it’s alright to eat breakfast now. The flight attendant said of course and took my order. I did ask for my caviar, but they said there isn’t anymore. I then tried to order off the “lunch” menu, the same menu that I ordered off at the beginning of the flight, but the flight attendant said the food isn’t fresh anymore so it’s not available.

Therefore, I ordered off the western menu from the snack menu, which is technically breakfast on this flight. At first, I got a hot towel and some ginseng tea.

For the appetizer, I got marinated shrimp prosciutto. I am not a fan of prosciutto, so I skipped that and only ate the shrimp. The shrimp with the greens was yummy and a good way to start the meal.

Next up was the main course and I ordered a wonderful beef brochette served with teriyaki sauce, vegetables, and steamed rice. It was cooked just right with lots of flavors that made my mouth water while eating it.

It was neat to see the beef on skewers too and the flight attendant offered me gochujang. 

Last, but not least, for dessert, I got a yummy fruit tart and some more ginseng tea.

Overall, the whole dining experience tasted great. Even though they have no wifi, I would fly Asiana again for all of the food.

Asiana first class service

The service on my flight was wonderful. The flight attendants didn’t waste time calling me by name, but they seemed to like to be onboard working. They offered many things making sure I was happy, but it wasn’t just me as they did it with every other person in the cabin. 

It was sad to leave the flight as they were so nice, but it just makes me want to fly Asiana first class again.

In contrast, I flew Asiana economy a year before this flight and enjoyed it as well because of the flight attendants.

Asiana first class bed

A fully lie-flat bed flying will always be my favorite seat on a plane. With the doors shut, it is great to not see people walk by when you sleep. No, it’s not as private as Emirates new 777 first class, which is my favorite first class seat I have tried to date. However, Asiana offers nice bedding, two pillows, with a thin mattress pad.

I slept about 8 hours on this flight. I found the cabin slightly cold sometimes, but I like it warmer than most people.

To make the bed, just ask one of the flight attendants and they will make it for you. During that time, you can brush your teeth and change into the PJs they gave you for a nice nights sleep.

The only negative about the bed is the thin mattress pad. It was still comfy and I liked it, but if you prefer plush, you might be a little disappointed with the mattress pad they put down. It’s still softer than Singapore first class seats in bed mode, but not as soft as Emirates first class beds, it’s a good in-between product. Otherwise, the bed is good with lots of room and privacy.

Final word

I love to travel for food and Asiana first class catered some of the best food I have had on a plane. Even though the flight didn’t have wifi, I enjoyed it more than my Cathay Pacific first class flight that didn’t have wifi as well. 

Overall, I cannot wait to fly Asiana first class again and hope I can share the dining experience with someone else. I just hope when Asiana changes their first class to business suites that they keep everything the same, but we will have to wait and see when they rebrand first class to business suites on September 1, 2019.

Steve Smith

Steve is a senior contributor for UponArriving and spends close to 300 nights a year in hotels while traveling the world and trying to eat as much as he can. Steve has spoken at summits like the FBZ Elite Summit in Austin. He holds top-tier elite status with almost every hotel program as a Marriott Ambassador, Hyatt Globalist, Hilton Diamond, IHG Spire, and GHA Black. Utilizing credit card points and miles, Steve takes over 100 flights per year while experiencing some of the top first class and business class cabin in the sky.