Just before New Year I was set to fly from LA to Miami and then home to London, via Dublin.

I woke early, the effect of jet lag I am afraid. The fog was so thick at LAX that I couldn’t see the road from my twelfth floor room at the Hyatt Regency, LAX. I skipped breakfast to get to the airport in case delays were expected.

Having checked in and gone through PreCheck I popped in to the Terminal 4 refurbished Flagship lounge. This is combined with the Admirals Club.

As a OneWorld emerald AA let’s you use the nicer part of the lounge (in comparison to the Admirals Club). I asked about whether I could have breakfast in the new dining room, but was told no, as my First Class segment was only from Miami. (The AA Twitter team later confirmed this was an error.)

The lounge is large and has several seating sections.

There are hot and cold food options available via self service stations. The units were topped up most of the time I was there and the food was generally good.

At boarding time I went to the gate and after various problems with firstly getting the previous flight out, and then our aircraft in, I had to much of a delay that I would not have made the connection in Miami.

I returned to the lounge where a great member of staff managed to rebook me on the AA flight from LA to London, keeping my place in First Class – even securing the same seat as I had from Miami to London.

Of course, now I was allowed in to the First Class Dining section. I waited until a couple of hours before my plane left so that I would not over eat, and would not need to eat on the plane.

Located at the end of the corridor, the First Dining is a wholly separate area, accessible only if you are flying First on one of American’s international or three-class domestic flights. You won’t get in as a OneWorld emerald member.

I was met by the member of staff and shown to a table. There was no one else in the area at the time. It felt very like a restaurant. Menu’s were provided and drink orders taken.

The views are out over the Terminal 4 and 5 gates.

The menu is pretty extensive, with a good wine selection.

I had the peppers, New York Strip and chocolate tart.

The food was excellent – very much better than an airline lounge usually offers. Bravo to AA for stepping their offering up a lot.

My flight was finally allocated a gate in the Thomas Bradley International Terminal (TBIT) and so left the lounge for the Qantas First Lounge in TBIT.

Overall, this is a great lounge, and well worth visiting even if you cannot get in to the restaurant.