United Airlines has announced significant changes when it comes to accessing United Clubs. This announcement comes at the same time that Chase and United are overhauling their credit cards, which I’ve covered separately. Let’s cover all the details…
Continue reading: United Club Changes: Higher Membership Fees, New Guest Restrictions
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Confusing: "A United Club individual membership offers access exclusively to United Clubs (and not partner lounges), and only for the primary member"
"The cards won’t be getting somewhere between an individual and all access membership in terms of guesting privileges. Those who have an eligible card will be able to bring one guest and any children under the age of 18.
If card members want to unlock an all access club membership (which would allow them to bring two guests, and access partner lounges), they can do so in one of two ways:"
Seems to be contradicting statements. If individual membership is member only and no guests, then a club card WOULD be between individual and all access, right?
As a United Club member (firm paid membership) this is great news to me. I frequently roam the EWR C123 gate club looking for a seat and I’m an equity partner at a top law firm who should be above that kind of mall food court level of desperation.
The class level of the median United Club guest has dropped over the last 15 years from Gibson Dunn levels to Fox Rothschild levels
I wonder what the pricing for one time passes will be now? Almost might make a membership a bad buy for even 1x per month users without guests.
One who has a healthy self-image doesn't seek external validation by boasting. But, certainly, none are impressed.
Seems cheap to set a time limit for one time pass holders. I've purchased them for friends at Delta, and they don't do that.
Thank you for summarizing the updates!
Any word on how this affects those of us with lifetime club access? (In my case, my Continental Presidents club lifetime membership was converted to a United lifetime membership; my husband receives a spousal membership as well.) Curious where we will fall when this all shakes out!
I agree with you. I really hate having to drink Miller Light and eat cheese cubes with people who don't even pull seven figures annually. The other day my wife almost spilled her glass of house chardonnay when she saw a family of yokels walk in wearing blue jeans and t-shirts. They were flying to LIT, so they couldn't help it and obviously didn't know better, but back in the Smisek Days, Red Carpet Clubs were bastions of dignity in an otherwise ghastly EWR.
It’s fascinating how changes like this are pretty zero-sum — there are clear winners and losers.
At the end of the day, I think it can both be a simple money grab but also net good for most consumers.
Feels like a missed opportunity to at least pretend like the food/beverage offerings will be better as well.
Only poor saps who have to work for a living need to hang out at airline clubs.
Those with real money and prestige don't work, or retire at 35, and never have to worry about airline lounges.
Ben you have missed the point of getting control of overcrowding at the Clubs. Maybe if you visited clubs in the afternoon you would have a different spin on how these changes are developed. It’s not always negative.
Who is actually going to pay this?!? I'm a 1K, I fly a lot. On international segments I'm covered. On domestic I'm always going to show up fairly last minute. When I have to connect, I try to minimize connection time. There's always a place somewhere in the airport to sit down quietly with a power socket if you want to work. And if I want to I can pay for a meal. I would never spend $1.5k on this membership. The clubs range from awful to just fine. If they were centurion lounges _maybe_.
Yeah this offer might appeal to stupid wealthy people. UA Clubs are pretty nice but they can't make a simple cocktail like a moscow mule or even a margarita its not possible or available. At least in New Orleans. Even Polaris Lounges aren't that great the menu rarely changes. The burger is great but it's been on the menu for years. Finally, i don't think now is the right time to raise membership fees in an uncertain economy. Good work Marketing Team lol
Yup. United has lost a customer. This is an insane set of changes. They are greatly reducing the benefit while increasing the cost. I will be finding a different credit card instead of the Club card and will no longer be loyal to United.
My club membership renewed on March 1st last year. I just checked because I didn't recall seeing the reminder email yet this year and surprise, it's renewing April 30th. Seems a little too convenient for them that the renewal date was magically pushed back to after the prices were increasing.
Except DeltaOne customers when entering either DeltaOne lounges or SkyClubs - they can enter at any time prior to departure.
These changes are “unarguably” negative? Well here’s an argument: Airport lounges are so overcrowded now, the main terminal is often more comfortable and convenient. Price increases and restrictions may not make a big difference overall but the airlines had to do something to address the chronic overcrowding.
United screws the Chase club cardholders again.
Next pay toilets and only two sheets only unless you are Gold then three.
United: bundle lounge access with premium cabin fares and see your revenue soar (hint: that's how the rest of the world does it, for a good reason).
Selling access via "memberships" that are attractive only to those who are located in United hubs seems very stupid, as it shrinks the size of the market to which lounge access is attractive.
Ben, any idea what the pay with miles to offset the AF will be? It was surprisingly a good deal at 30,000 miles in the past.
Higher level elites should pay MORE, not less. After all, they use it more. Letting higher level elites pay less is like giving tax breaks to billionaires and taxing the poor at a 50% tax rate.
Unless you need a shower and the lounge has a shower, lounges are becoming rubbish. Just buy your food with the poor people and do some work at a gate that is not too crowded.
I'm actually fine with these changes, although I am very lucky the price increases don't impact me.
The most annoying thing to me is the blatant breeder privilege.
There's a major imbalance in value when I'm limited to only two adult guests, but someone who has 4 children under the age of 18, for example, gets to bring in 2x the amount of people. They all still require seating.
FWIW, I'm not against people having children (I don't personally want them), but perhaps consider introducing a pricing structure that allows people to specify how many guests they want their membership to cover, and charge accordingly?
UA is just responding to demand. The last few times I visited a UA lounges in SFO it was "standing room only." Yet people keeping buying memberships.
And yet you’re there, name-dropping, casting judgment, and feeling extreme envy because you can’t fly private.
Why would anyone with 50k (star gold) status or higher pay for the all-access partner club membership level? At that point, your status gets free access to any partner lounge when flying international anyway, and that's mostly when you're going to be using it.
I used my united club card almost exclusively to access international star alliance lounges when flying economy, which I do all the time. Ugh. Gonna cancel the card now. No way it is worth $700 for UA lounges.
US carriers Lounge access policies and their intention to even press the last penny out of customers for a serving of bland wine in a plastic cup are… just a disgrace. Bought an overpriced domestic first ticket recently (my mistake!) having forgotten that First in the US gives you access to nothing except if you have an additional Admirals, United or whatever membership. Seriously?! People here will likely disagree, but then I even prefer intra-EU business in a standard seat (my ass comfortably fits a standard seat for 2h) but with proper lounge access that makes the waiting for the flight more comfortable.
A "Global Services" member needs to pay for Club Access? Suddenly my Lufthansa HON Circle Membership has significantly improved in status.
The United clubs are a frickin' daycare now. They need to restrict the amount of kids they allow in, not limit the adults. Families are bringing in 2, 3, 4, 5 kids at a time. Not a good experience when you have kids screaming and running all over like it's a Ronald McDonald play land. United is making some really poor decisions these days and they are going to start feeling the hurt of lost Club card members and United fliers. The clubs used to be full of quiet respectful business professionals and now they are literally a circus of pajama wearing families. The company that claims to be the "leading airline" and "good leads the way" is just turning into another greedy company and we all know what happens when these companies jump on the greed wagon...it eventually falls off the cliff.
What about lifetime United Club members. Any changes to the two guest policy for them. No mention of lifetime members at all in this article.
Thank you for clarifying what membership is actually included in the credit card. The email Chase/United sent to us (as well as the benefits website) are purposefully deceptive and ambiguous, trying to make you think that the credit card comes with the same old membership, when in fact your membership is being severely downgraded by not including partner lounges anymore
Do you know for the Club credit card if the “regular vs all-access” benefit is swapped immediately, or do cards where the annual fee was paid before this change get the old access model for one more year?
Question - my wife and I each have a Lifetime UC membership we bought in the 80s. Our current membership cards show valid through date as Dec 31, 2099. So, are we grandfathered in under the All Access tier benefits, cuz that’s what it has been?
Someone said UA will not longer Consider Canada to be international? So a flight on UA from Ottawa-chicago-miami would mean a gold status UA flyer would not be allowed lounge?
Any truth to that?
I've been a Red Carpet-United Club member since 1976, when business and personal travel were common. Now retired, we travel infrequently and have no company to charge fees to as a cost of business. The $1,400 is not what we can afford anymore for limited travel. The new cards do not fit our needs. I will cancel my membership.
I am a 1k and me and my wife are flying in domestic biz from SAT TO IAD. I also have a Club membership. My wife was not allowed into the club at SAT. Really?