July 10th & the 11th was the 2018 World Cup Semifinal. I had an early morning start at my local airport and had to transit in Charlotte & Phoenix. I was really excited to land in Phoenix on time, because it was close to the start of the game. I immediately headed straight for the Admirals Club. Before I tell the rest of the story, I want to do a quick tour of the lounge!

American Airline’s Admirals Club Phoenix

Location: Terminal 4, Concourse A (Gates A7-A9)

Hours: 4:30 AM- 1:30 AM

Disclaimer: All these photos are from another visit, before a redeye flight in June 2018. It was so busy on World Cup day it was impossible to take pictures!

As you can tell, this lounge was one of the renovated lounges! It is quite small and gets crowed during the day. The last picture is the bar where the game was playing. On game day, not a single seat was available and people were standing up the entire game!

I really enjoyed the lounge, it is the best place to wait for a flight in Phoenix. I just think the lounge should be bigger because over crowding is a problem!

The match that was playing on TV was France vs Belgium. It was a really intense game and France barely won. Luckily, no fights broke out! There were no French or Belgian people at the bar watching. One woman, was mad that no South American teams were in the final. The bartenders really enjoyed the extra tips they got!

The coolest person I met was English and from London. We both follow soccer/football and knew everything about players on both side. Everyone at the bar, seemed to know what was going. Originally, I thought that people were just watching because it is the “World Cup”. Once me and the Englishman started talking everyone jumped into our conversation. People were afraid to speak up, but once they heard someone talking they wanted to input their opinion.

Most people at the bar were travelling for business. I was definitely the only person going to Hawaii. Almost everyone had been to Hawaii and shared some insight on what to do. What they didn’t know was that I am a travel blogger and know how to vacation 🙂

Conclusion

I liked watching the game at the bar because it was the first time (in a while) that at the airport or on board it was so easy to get along with people. When people travel, they don’t necessarily engage with strangers. Any sport can bring people together, it was nice to be able to get along and meet new people at an lounge bar. I’ll definitely cherish the memory for a long time!

Thanks for reading! This post is a part of my Hawaii series.