United Airlines Adds Lounge Access At New York JFK

I flew the inaugural JFK-LAX, United had a ton of it's top executives present who all briefly spoke at the gate area and then were happily to chat and answer questions. When I asked about the lounge, they said it would be the British Airways lounge (once it reopens)...They also said this would be a designed 763 high J route as part of their renewed commitment to JFK. Ha, that wasn't even six months ago.

Occam's Razor - with crappy old CO 757s now flying the route (vs. high-J 763s), maybe UA is now willing to pay a bit more per max given it's only 16 seats x 4 flights per day (and sure there is breakage on top of that w/pax not even realizing it's there or using it).

I like the idea of transcon, I do! But have you seen the new LGA? As a 100% United flyer, with Newark is down the road with all it's amenities(minus the over crowding :P); choices are out there. Living part-time in Manhattan and part time in San Antonio... I would choose LGA with a connection over having to travel to JFK; and if I needed direct, I just see Newark as being more flexible.

I totally understand my use case going from NY to TX isn't transcon, but even the times I need to go all the way east to west... It's easier to find a nice 777/787/767 route from Newark.

Unless they can open it up their slots and options, and make JFK more like LGA or even SAT(flying to all hubs)... I just don't see how it can actually work. PS wasn't working pre-covid right? And those were specially configured 757-200's... how can this?

On a side note... I visited the new LGA United Club this morning... and it's super nice/clean/large... highly recommend!

Now, if the goal is to lose money and buy up slots one at a time for the next 10 years as they become aviable, I'm totally for that...

I like this theory. Makes sense.

I get to check out this lounge when I travel this coming week from JFK through LAX to HNL with UA in biz.

The lounge hours are 5 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. daily.

I’m with you, and prefer flying EWR from Manhattan over JFK (LGA is n/a, as I’m usually transcon, so I not only want the nonstop but the better aircraft), but. but here are some counterpoints, for the sake of the argument:

- there are NYC snobs who just won’t fly from EWR as a regular thing. I know several of them.
- there are Brooklyn, Queens, and LI people who find EWR too far.
- speaking for myself, if I’m traveling light, I *love* the LIRR AirTrain from JFK, and I *hate* the NJT AirTrain from EWR. This is even more relevant now, with sky high rideshare prices, and yellow cabs scarce.
- since the Polaris lounge opened, the United Club situation at Newark has been dire (I realize they are opening another one, but it has been *years*).
- the new Centurion lounge at JFK is just fantastic, best one I’ve been in, even if it is airside (with no airside connection to Terminal 7) in a different terminal.
- if you really get delayed, the TWA hotel is wonderful.
- I have frequently seen great miles and cash prices for JFK that I haven’t seen from EWR.
- I love the premium configured 767 more than the 777 and 787, though that’s obviously a non-issue now.

So with all that said, I personally don’t *need* United to be in JFK, but I like having options, and there are some benefits. With that said, the switch to 757’s is a significant deterrent and I’ll be leaning back towards EWR unless the timing or price are really right.

(I was in the new United Club at LGA once and agree it’s quite nice and one of the better ones.)

I was there for the evening US JFK-LAX flight. I didn’t realize US had struck an agreement with AS so I tried to access the lounge through Priority Pass and told they had reached limits and there was a “virtual queue” for Priority Pass guests that was ~20 parties deep.

Hopefully guaranteed access for UA J passengers is a big step as there is only a single bar/seated food option in the terminal and it was quite a wait to get a seat at the bar or a table.

Thanks for posting this update. Will certainly make use on my next UA JFK flight in two weeks.

Correction: Crappy CO 757s are NOT "now flying the route"...

The AS Lounge is housed in what was the former United Airlines Red Carpet Club (then United Club) before it closed down in 2015. The space was always pretty large overall, but as a UA club, it was very basic and never upgraded.

UA's re-entry at JFK is very much challenged. A lot has changed since UA bowed out (a terrible decision). Competition is very stiff and essentially a three-way battle between B6, AA, and DL. Business travel is muted at best, and UA's set up at JFK, essentially what it was before it left, isn't amazing (T7 has very few top tier amenities) and it will be closing next year.

Alaska Lounge members have access to exactly 4 United club locations, so I guess this makes a bit of sense if you consider this as an extension of that?

@UA-NYC I think you're giving Occam not enough credits.

Occam's Razor - UA uses 757 is decided by RM bean counters. UA uses lounge is decided by Airport Ops.
UA is broken because Finance doesn't collaborate enough with Ops.

Yes, but it is Newark. Live in NYC long enough and you will understand that you just can’t fight that. People didn’t move from West Nowhereville to NYC to fly from NJ. UA’s move implicitly acknowledges that reality. Actually think Alaska lounge is better fit for UA than BA. Transcon crowd is more good coffee than gin and tonics.

How is JFK transcon competition more stiff than 2015? It was 4 other airlines - AA, DL, Virgin, and B6 back then. I'd say more competition back then.

But biz travel demand is much weaker as you point out.