United opened their first Polaris Lounge in Chicago last December, which looks great. They have plans to open more of these lounges at other airports, though unfortunately progress on that front has been excruciatingly slow. I understand there are major challenges associated with construction (especially at airports), especially given the space constraints and how they're…
Continue reading: United Is Closing A Newark United Club Till Next Summer
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Lucky, IMO The Polaris club is terrible. I didn’t see it on your top ten list.
It’s overcrowded and uncomfortable . The dining area is like eating in the middle of the concourse. A joke.
I don't disagree that the US carriers have piss-poor offering for lounges, in both F and J, foreign and domestic; however, Lucky's list ranked first class lounges so Polaris wouldn't have been in the runnings anyway since it's technically a business class lounge.
The denying of one time passes just continues to be more common. Pretty scummy when they come with your cobranded credit card and are a highly advertised perk.
I've struggled to find a seat each time I've visited that lounge. I can't imagine what the other club and the temporary one will be like, until the summer. Also, showers only being for Polaris customers is a bit of a disappointment, but United doesn't offer showers at many clubs anyway.
I generally avoid domestic lounges. They are indeed crowded and because I expect a quieter experience, I'm more irritated by cellphone yappers than when I'm in the terminal.
I see no basis for your stating "In order to speed things up, "
I received the same announcement from a United email to United Club members, and it did not provide that as a stated reason. Do you have another source for this?
"If you are flying through our second largest hub and have paid a lot of money to access our clubs, please instead buy some overpriced OTG food instead?" Ridiculous. This whole thing has me considering ditching my membership completely since practically every hub is going to be overcrowded for the next year or possibly forever.
@BR Completely agree. Houston is standing room only now that the club in E is closed (and I suspect going Polaris only), ORD is just as bad, and now EWR?
And the conversion of every free square foot at EWR and IAH to OTG is a shameless money grab. I’m no lightweight but taking out all the motorized walkways in IAH for those things is insane.
What’s the point of paying for club access anymore?
@Lucky, is PP a viable option to replace United Club, or is the Centurion lounge the only way to go now?
I just visited both the UA lounges in SFO and EWR and found them entirely satisifactory. But I was NOT traveling at peak hours. In both locations the standard fare was redily available, and l found a quiet space to recharge myself and my phone. The Polaris flight from SFO was lovely in every regard. Hope you folks can enjoy such a fine experience.
Last Sunday I had a long layover in EWR. It was raining a lot, so I stayed at the airport.
The Clubs are in bad condition (at C gates is terrible). The pop-up at C124 is the better place to stay, since it is still undiscovered (for now), empty - but no restrooms, since is just a gate area with walls around it.
And United might lose me because of showers. If you're Star Alliance Gold and fly international (for instance, Brazil to China through Newark) on coach, no lounge has showers there (and unless the upgrade clears, no Polaris Lounge access, when it exists there). Get ready to change clothes in the restroom!
UA should give every Polaris pax ex-EWR a $50 OTG credit while this stupid nonsense goes on
Classified is of course UA's way to profit from the construction joke...SMH
I am outraged at the sudden breach of contract with my UnitedClub card list of items incuded in the 500 dollar a year price tage. I use the shower/conference rooms etc at Newark 10 times a year for international flights (Australia, etc). The United Lounge website is not updated, still showing lounge open. Shocking only 3 days away from closure. I called United, I called UnitedClub, I called Mileage Plus and I callled Chase. They each referred me to someone to the other. No passes to other lounges, and UnitedClub card members will no longer be allowed into the renovated lounges with showers, only for Polaris. Quite a shock to be downgraded in this way after being a loyal customer and Gold for several years.
The Polaris Club in Chicago is excellent. Anyone who says it isn't has not been there.
Many times us international travelers need lounges because of connection problems and long layovers.
Who needs lounges? Real travelers.
Has any UA Club member used Delta Club rooms. I would be interested in your comparison.