Review: United Polaris Lounge Newark Airport

The restaurants were individual and gender neutral? That’s a new one! I gotta check those out.

Great review!

Nice benny nice. Zhis iz nice.

@Gregg - I was thinking the same 😉

Well done, very nice review. I've been to a couple of these (ORD and SFO). Totally agree with your bottom line, they've really upped the lounge game and distinguished themselves. As a long time United flyer, I'm very happy for them. And yes, it is beautiful and functional at the same time, a total coup for United. I see so many lounges and airport spaces trying too hard on design they forget the functional aspect.

This lounge used to be my favorite United club. And it was the one closed to all the departure piers in terminal C. I cancelled my united club membership since they closed it and turned it into a Polaris lounge.
Such a shame. It was like the only united club with showers
And it was the most spacious united club I remember

"All the restaurants in the lounge are individual and gender neutral. I far prefer having a large, private bathroom, to having a shared bathroom with urinals and stalls. This is something that not enough airline lounges have, in my opinion."

Hahah i think you might have been a little tipsy on champagne there Ben! Great review nonetheless. Wonder if SQ J pax will have convenient access to it when SQ starts the EWR route in October.

I’m flying PVG-SFO-EWR (same day) in United Business. Can I also use Polaris lounge on arrival at EWR?

I was there in the morning a few days after the lounge opened before the day flight to London. It was one of the best lounge experiences I have ever had - beautiful facility, attentive staff and a nice a la carte breakfast. The only disappointing part was the 767 advertised as Polaris but with the old business class seat!

Thanks for the great review!

Would love to see an Iraq Air and/or Iran Air review.

Anyone can review a Delta, United, or every single ME airline.

Glad you found it enjoyable. Meanwhile, United should refund us loyal club members for losing one of the 3 clubs at EWR. 33% of $495 is $165. Waiting on my refund....

This Polaris Lounge may just make flying out of or connecting through EWR something worth looking forward to rather than dreaded, because "world-class" easily describes it as, IHMO, it now looks much better than the TG Fist-class Lounge at BKK.

Great review! I've been to this lounge 3 times now and I agree with all your points. For the food buffet, its just average - wondering how long it will take for United to rotate food options (hopefully seasonal changes).

My only concern is this polaris lounge replaced a United Club, which leaves EWR with only 1 United Club for the commoners and an embarrassing a pop-up for the vulnerable.

PS - all restrooms are gender neutral and very clean.

I do feel some folks will actually like the fact that everything comes out at the same time. I don’t think most people can spend all day in a lounge 😉

Also I think starters and entrees are grouped by the type of food, not the size. I personally like smaller sizes. It allows me to order more variety of dishes.

I wish every time you mention Polaris you would remind everyone that the progress on Polaris seating remains embarrassingly slow and that important United hubs like Dulles aren’t getting a lounge or many flights with a new hard product for two or three years.

For Dulles fliers the Polaris change has arguably been a net minus since we can no longer buy or upgrade into the old Global First and eight-across business seats remain the norm on most routes.

“The lounge was almost completely empty when I arrived, and that’s because I left right as the flight to Beijing was boarding.“

Should be I arrived right as the flight to Beijing was boarding. ^^

lucky this is a question i keep asking myself why won't they just let their elite passengers in like premier 1ks and global services if the lounge isn't even that full????

@John - Please chill! We know all about the delays in rolling out the Polaris concept. They have been and continue to be covered ad nauseam. However, Rome was not built in a single day. Thus, progress as tangible as these "world-class" Polaris Lounges deserves to be acknowledged and not be tarnished because things were slow to start or other things could be better.

This lounge on its own is very impressive and it will be a joy for those who, either by choice or by necessity, will fly out of or connect through EWR. That is all this post was meant to highlight.

So, what do you think of the EWR Polaris Lounge based of this thorough review?

D'day.

"...based ON..."

"All the restaurants in the lounge are individual and gender neutral." hahahahah

I will always remember this quote

Now if only *A offered a status above gold... maybe FF can get access. Meanwhile i’ll stick to OW and the first lounges...

Can they compete with AC Signature Suites? No?

Apparently an 8 hour flight to Peru doesn’t qualify as long haul. I was rudely told to get lost.

I love your comment: "All the restaurants in the lounge are individual and gender neutral"
for the shower suites !!

Menu in Newark is a lot better than the awful one in San Francisco. One of the best cities for dining yet the menu is the absolute worst of all the Polaris lounges.
Great review.

@John (likely a different one from above) asks: "Can they compete with AC Signature Suites? No?"

Yes, easily, and it may be a toss up as to which comes out ahead, just a matter of what turns one on, but that is the level to which UA's Polaris Lounges take you.

I'd dare say food coming out at the same time is because (in a majority of cases) folk will be mindful of their fast-approaching flight, and United is intentionally using brisk service. It is a lounge after all...

I'm ecstatic that they have a multitude of regular tables outside the a la carte dining area. This is something I think the QF F Lounge at LAX bungled: few usable outlets and fewer proper places to work on a laptop. Seems like UA really hit the nail on the head here. Kudos to them. I'm jealous of all these East Coasters getting to use EWR.

Hello, next month I'm flying from South America to Chicago in United Business Class and I'm going to stay in Chicago.
As I won't fly out of Chicago, does any know if I can access Chicago Polaris Lounge on arrival?
thank you

Thanks for the review, Lucky. I used the Polaris lounge at SFO in May this year (it had opened only a week then), and the layout of the lounge dining area and showers are identical to this one. Even beverage choice is similar, although food was different. And it wasn't empty. Definitely a step up from the US carrier competitors, and closer to the better international airline Business class in lounge quality.

I don't know why everyone jumps up and down about these new US based airline lounges. They look highly generic to me, and perhaps this is because I am in Australia and so benefit from lounges like the QF F lounge in Sydney, the HKG lounges and other lounges throughout Asia.

The feel is generic modern corporate, and by the looks of the photos the quality of the finishings is quite cheaply done. If you changed the colours to red and yellow you could be in a new style McDonalds.

Fine dandy, HOWEVER,
Last week we arrived EWR with only 1 hour to connect on to VCE, so decided not to enjoy the lounge in such short of time.
Of course a mechanical delayed the flight by four hours.
Finally found the Polaris lounge, and door was slammed in our face.
Sorry, closing time.
Sad they can't manage to keep at least a portion of the lounge open because of delayed flights.

I have used both Newark and SFO Polaris lounges and both times the restaurants were over half full. My small complaint is the limited menu and the lack of flexibility - I asked for toast or bread to go with the omelette and was told it wasn't available - but it is available on the buffet. The facilities are lovely - love the big wide seats with a small table attached - and the lighting is fantastic. Definitely a huge step. It would be great if United gave IK/Global Services a few coupons to use the lounge given they aren't fully utilised.

Did you have to go through security in Terminal B then take the bus to Terminal C to use the Polaris Lounge? Or did you not have any trouble going through Terminal C security?

As of October 2022 the sparkling water and outlets at desks in phone rooms has been solved.

A la carte also had two dessert options.