RTW TP Run in Jan 2026: Day 5 – Morning in New York

By Nige on January 22, 2026 at 1:39 pm
Type: Post
Story: Round the World Tier Point Run in Jan 2026 Category: Travel
Tags: JFK | New York

Over the course of my many walks around airports on this trip, I’d noticed a common theme: they all seemed to be in a constant state of change — perpetually being refurbished, extended, or reimagined.

New York JFK was very much no exception.

Both the lower and upper concourses were seeing new shops and restaurants added, some of which looked impressively plush. There was a clear effort underway to keep JFK positioned at the upper end of airports for transit passengers.

With a six-hour layover ahead of me, I could, in theory, have dashed into Manhattan to tick off a few sights.

In reality, that would only have tired me out and left me watching the clock, anxious about getting back in time for my next flight. Sensible head prevailed, and I decided instead to stay airside and take things easy.

From Gate 39, it didn’t take long to reach the Terminal 8 lounge complex. Once there, I asked whether I might be able to access the Chelsea Lounge. Based on the most recent information I had, I suspected that despite my GGL status, access would normally be limited to First Class passengers or those travelling on transatlantic or premium transcontinental routes such as JFK–LAX or JFK–SFO.

I, after all, was only heading onward to Dallas–Fort Worth.

As it turned out, none of that really mattered.

The lounge agents seemed far more intrigued by my shiny new white Gold Guest List card — and how unusual it looked — than by the finer details of the access rules, and they were more than happy to welcome me into the Chelsea Lounge.

Both the Chelsea Lounge and Soho Lounge were completely empty. I dumped my bag in a corner of the Chelsea Lounge and headed straight out in search of Starbucks — it was very much that time of day.

This also marked the first occasion on which I’d been able to use the mobile order feature on the Starbucks US app, which felt like a small but satisfying win.

After catching up with the Vickster, I returned to the lounge and enjoyed a lovely breakfast. Being the only passenger around, I suspected I was slightly spoilt by the staff, but I was more than happy to accept the attention.

Once breakfast was out of the way and I’d caught up on the blog, it felt like the right moment to make use of the shower facilities in the lounge complex.

They were far nicer than the BA showers back at Heathrow, though still not quite in the same league as some of the facilities I’d experienced in Asia and the Middle East.

Still, a shower is a shower. The important thing was that I emerged feeling clean, refreshed, and ready for a walk around the terminal to get some steps in before my next flight.

Next up: My connecting flight from New York (JFK) to Dallas (DFW) on Day 5 of my Round The World trip of a lifetime.

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Round the World Tier Point Run in Jan 2026