How I Did It – Business Class to Thailand
Review: Bobby Vans Priority Pass Restaurant at JFK
Review: Cathay Pacific Business Class ~ New York – Hong Kong – Bangkok
4 Days in Chiang Mai, Thailand
On our way to Thailand this summer, we positioned from Washington DC to New York’s JFK to take advantage of Alaska Airlines’s sweet spot 50,000 mile business class award flight to Asia. Our Delta shuttle arrived at 11am and the Cathay Pacific flight didn’t take off until 3pm. After collecting our luggage, transferring to terminal 8, checking in, and getting through security, we had over two hours to kill before our next flight started boarding. We were definitely ready for some lunch.
I had read that Bobby Vans restaurant had joined the ever growing list of restaurants that joined the Priority Pass program and was eager to try it out since I had a great meal in the DC restaurant before. Never heard of Priority Pass before? It’s basically an airline lounge program that comes free with many credit cards. And they have started also partnering with restaurants in airports to give you an ~$28 credit per person for food. Mommy Points has a list of all of the US restaurants here.
Location
Bobby Vans is located right after security screening at Terminal 8 of JFK – across from Gate 14. We actually walked right past it before realizing we passed it. It will be on your right hand side.
JFK Terminal 8 Bobby Vans Location
Menu
We approached the hostess station and was immediately met with a bad first impression. The hostess continued to chit chat with an airline tarmac employee before acknowledging us. Finally we were acknowledge as customers, seated, and given this menu:
Bobby Vans JFK Salads & Sandwiches
Bobby Vans JFK Entrees & Sides
Three of us got Bobby’s Famous Burger and my daughter the sirloin sliders. It seemed to take forever to come out or maybe we were just hungry, but finally the burgers arrived!
Bobby Vans JFK Burger
The burger was HUGE, so huge it was hard to actually eat. The patty was thick but dried out. The cheese and bacon definitely helped out. I love french fries but couldn’t finish the pile next to the burger.
Priority Pass Perk
Like I mentioned above Priority Pass gives you a $28/person credit for your meal. Our total was $105.61 and I asked our waitress to charge 2 to my American Express Platinum Card‘s Priority Pass account since it comes with ‘one complimentary guest’ and charge the other 2 guests to my wife’s American Express Hilton Honors Ascend Priority Pass account that comes with 10 total visits per year. As you can see below, the balance was $0 – but don’t forget to leave a tip as it’s not included.
After Bobby Vans we headed directly across to American Airline’s Flagship Lounge that we were able to get access to since we were flying Cathay Pacific business class. The lounge was great – the food that was out looked very good along with beer/wine/spirits. There was a dessert station along with much more comfortable seats – frankly I wish we had skipped Bobby Vans mediocre burger and spent all of our time in the lounge.
Need to Knows
- Get a $28/person Priority Pass credit for food/drink at Bobby Vans Grill at JFK’s Terminal 8
- Located immediately past Terminal 8’s security check point
- Good option if you don’t have access to American Airline’s Flagship Lounge
- Priority Pass comes free with the following:
- American Express Platinum Card – unlimited visits + 1 free guest
- American Express Hilton Honors Ascend – 10 total (you + guests) visits per year
- Chase Sapphire Reserve – unlimited visits + 2 free guests
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