I visited Capital One's lounge at LaGuardia. I loved the free steak and shrimp, but I'll do 1 thing differently next time.

Anyone who knows maine knows that I'm not a timely person.

Even successful higher-stakes situations for illustration flights, my time blindness is difficult to overcome. (I've decidedly gotten to the airdrome 45 minutes earlier takeoff connected astatine slightest 1 juncture before.)

So erstwhile I showed up astatine LaGuardia Airport past week, 3 and a half hours early for my formation location to Chicago, it was a first-time acquisition for me. However, it wasn't wholly retired of characteristic — because different point astir maine is that I emotion a bully deal.

In this case, the bully woody was getting my money's worthy astatine the caller Capital One Landing that opened successful February.

Here's really I sewage entree to it, and really I made the astir of the experience.

My in installments paper gives maine lounge access

The Capital One Venture X is my first-ever in installments paper that includes airport lounge access.

With its $395 yearly fee, it gives maine entree to Capital One's 7 airdrome lounges (two of which are designed arsenic sit-down restaurant-style culinary concepts, which Capital One calls "Landings," including the 1 I visited) arsenic good arsenic Priority Pass lounges worldwide.

Unfortunately for me, location is nary Capital One lounge successful Chicago, wherever I live, truthful I was elated erstwhile I saw that the Capital One Landing astatine LaGuardia had opened up of my travel to New York.

Previously, Venture X holders utilized to beryllium capable to bring up to 2 guests into Capital One lounges for free, and authorized users connected Venture X cards besides could get complimentary introduction to the lounges. That changed successful February 2026. Now, authorized users for illustration my hubby must salary a $125 interest annually to get complimentary entree to the lounges, aliases I could salary a impermanent interest of $45 for him each time.

Before leaving for our New York trip, my hubby and I discussed and decided that it felt worthy it to salary the $125 yearly interest for him. After all, we reasoned, we're bound to walk astatine slightest $20 a personification connected food astatine the airport anyway, truthful this will salary itself disconnected aft 3 round-trip flights. And since we person respective trips planned for the adjacent year, it's much cost-effective than paying for a impermanent walk for him each time.

I showed up earlier than I astir apt ever person successful my life

We're allowed to participate the lounge up to 3 hours anterior to takeoff, and I wanted to make judge we sewage location arsenic early arsenic possible.

Maximizing clip was particularly important since we were flying retired of a different terminal (Terminal C) than the 1 the lounge was successful (Terminal B). There's nary measurement to transit betwixt terminals aft security, truthful we had to make judge to springiness ourselves capable clip to exit the terminal, return the shuttle autobus complete to Terminal C, and spell done information again.

My formation was astatine 6:45 p.m., truthful my extremity was to beryllium astatine the airdrome by a small aft 3 p.m., to springiness america clip to get done security and to the Landing earlier 3:45 p.m. Through the Capital One app, I was besides capable to make a preservation for 3:45 p.m., retired of an abundance of caution, successful lawsuit the lounge was highly engaged and filled up that day.

We sewage successful an Uber astatine 2:40 p.m., sewage to the airdrome by 3 p.m., and were done information by 3:12 p.m. It was peculiarly speedy because it was a quiet afternoon, and we some person TSA PreCheck access done Global Entry (another use of the Venture X card).

By 3:15 p.m., we were already astatine the Capital One Landing, located conscionable beyond the nutrient tribunal aft security.

Since we were already there, we decided to effort our luck and inquire if it was imaginable to participate sooner (again, arsenic a chronically precocious person, a uncommon occurrence for me).

Unfortunately, the check-in instrumentality wouldn't let for it, truthful we near and recovered immoderate seats successful the nutrient tribunal successful beforehand of a elephantine TV showing the US Open, wherever my hubby asked me, almost retired of instinct, "Want a snack?"

"No," I reminded him. "The lounge has snacks!" We had to prevention ourselves for the free food — aliases I should say, "free" nutrient — that our yearly fees had afforded us.

The nutrient was tasty

Earlier that day, I'd sought input from my workfellow and aviation master Taylor Rains, who recommended arriving hungry, trying retired the various ways to bid food, and remembering to extremity the barroom unit if we bid drinks.

Once we checked successful astatine the lounge — which wasn't very engaged aft each — we were brought to a table, wherever the unit personnel reminded america that everything location was complimentary and explained the 2 ways we could bid food: We could get tapas-style acold plates from the barroom aliases bid basking nutrient utilizing the QR codification connected the table. For beverages, location were besides a assortment of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks that could beryllium ordered for array service, arsenic good arsenic a java bar.

My hubby and I each took aggregate trips up to the barroom for food, arsenic good arsenic put successful respective rounds of array work basking dishes.

From the bar, my favorites were the cured meats, vinegar-cured anchovies, and mango and coconut sticky rice. I recovered the salt-cured anchovies excessively salty for my taste.

The existent treat, though, was the array work basking food. Out of the various mini dishes we tried, my hubby and I thoroughly enjoyed the steak pinch mojo verde condiment and shrimp — and not conscionable because we couldn't judge we could get steak and shrimp for free — arsenic good arsenic a guava mocktail called the "Flamingo Shuttle."

The abstraction was bully and felt for illustration a café aliases restaurant

The vibe of the Landing wide felt almost for illustration a restaurant. We were brought to a array alternatively than conscionable stepping successful and choosing 1 to put our worldly down at, arsenic is the lawsuit pinch astir of the different airdrome lounges we've been to.

The array we were seated astatine was comparatively adjacent to the barroom and was successful beforehand of elephantine floor-to-ceiling windows that overlooked the planes connected the tarmac.

There was besides a alternatively restaurant-esque style of work embedded successful the experience. When getting nutrient from the bar, alternatively of being a buffet-style wherever we'd thief ourselves, each of the nutrient was tucked distant down solid show cases, and members of unit would put the nutrient onto plates and manus them to us.

My hubby and I some agreed we would've preferred a self-serve format for the barroom area, some truthful we wouldn't request to inconvenience a unit personnel pinch needing to prime the nutrient for us, and besides truthful we'd person much agency successful getting the portions we wanted for ourselves, alternatively of needing to awkwardly inquire for more.

The bathrooms of the lounge were all-gender, single-stall bathrooms. There were 5 of them, and the 1 I utilized was clean, spacious, and simple, pinch a container of tissues and a vessel of lotion available.

There's 1 point I'd do otherwise adjacent time

After astir an hr of enjoying the nutrient and surroundings of the Landing, I thought I had a bully consciousness of everything it had to offer.

However, aft exiting the bathroom, I realized location was an full different eating room that I hadn't seen, tucked distant past the bathrooms. In summation to a wall of floor-to-ceiling windows, a ample information of the ceiling itself was besides made of glass, which made for a beautiful greenhouse vibe.

Knowing what I cognize now, the adjacent clip we alert done LaGuardia and travel to the Capital One Landing, I'll beryllium judge to inquire to beryllium seated successful that area, if possible.

We near emotion very full, happy, and relaxed

Having entree to this airdrome lounge ended up serving aggregate purposes for my hubby and me: It pushed maine to debar my chronically precocious tendencies and really get to the airdrome highly early, saved america from spending $40 connected mediocre airdrome accelerated food, and allowed america to indulge our love for buffets by trying the various dishes and drinks disposable without an further cost.

After astir 2 hours, we near highly contented and successful a awesome mood, fresh to caput complete to Terminal C, spell done information again, and return a nap connected our two-hour formation backmost to Chicago.

And remembering the proposal from my workfellow Taylor, we made judge to time off a extremity pinch the bartenders connected the measurement out.

Do you person a communicative to stock astir airdrome lounges? Contact this newsman astatine [email protected].