The only good thing about misconnecting at IAD this past weekend was having time to check out the new Lufthasa lounge at IAD. The lounge is located near gate B51, which is quite a hike from the C&D concourses, where United flights depart from. First you have to take the shuttle to the A&B concourse, which takes five minutes at most, but it’s a long walk from there. It took me a little over five minutes, but I was walking pretty fast. Either way, it’s a nice walk since it’s past all the fun airlines, like Austrian, Air France, SAS, South African, Virgin, etc. The B concourse is beautiful, compared to the massive trailers known as the C&D concourses.
It’s pretty easy to spot the lounge, given that the exterior is bright orange. The sign says that that the lounge is open from 1PM until 7:30PM. Upon entering there’s a desk on the left. The nice thing about this lounge is that you can use it as a Star Gold traveling domestically, even if you’re a United or USAir Star Gold!
The agent admitted me to the Senator lounge, which was located to the left. To the right there was a set of stairs which lead down to the Business lounge.
The Senator lounge is a decent size, with tables, bars, stools, and a large seating area (located on the other side of the wall in the picture below).
The food spread was fantastic, especially when you take into account that we’re at Dulles Airport. They had salad, all kinds of meat (both hot and cold), potatoes, German Pretzels, fruit salad, cheese, sandwiches, wraps, cheesecake, cookies, gummy bears, jelly beans, etc. And it goes without saying that all beverages are complimentary.
There are also two computers in the lounge for complimentary use, although otherwise you have to pay for internet, which kind of sucks. Still, this lounge is awesome, and I highly recommend checking it out before your next domestic flight.
I had a two day business trip attending a conference at a hotel near the Dulles airport and, of course, made my pilgrimage to the LH Senator lounge. With my gold card, I was able to enter the lounge with only my United boarding pass (ORD – IAD) so I had no LH and/or international fights that day. I wasn’t sure if they would honor my inbound boarding pass but they did. Once inside, I...
I had a two day business trip attending a conference at a hotel near the Dulles airport and, of course, made my pilgrimage to the LH Senator lounge. With my gold card, I was able to enter the lounge with only my United boarding pass (ORD – IAD) so I had no LH and/or international fights that day. I wasn’t sure if they would honor my inbound boarding pass but they did. Once inside, I noticed that the lounge was pretty full of many Japanese getting ready to board the ANA flight. The food buffet looked a bit depleted. One of the staff members asked if I was not in a hurry to wait ten minutes and they were ready to replenish the entire buffet as the ANA passengers were getting ready to leave. And, as promised, the buffet was given a whole, brand new array of tasty (hot and cold) treats. It was certainly worth the wait. I opened up my lap top and enjoyed the free Wi-Fi given to all visitors in the lounge. Two days later, I returned and enjoyed the lounge again before taking the train to Terminal C for my United flight. I did stop in the United Club for a quick drink as well. Of course, no comparison. I’m glad that the LH lounge is not in the United area. It would be run over by UA Gold and 1K people. So a nice little get-a-way that I hope no one else discovers, even though it would be a great money maker for LH as they charge United for each non LH passenger a fee for using their space.
Was at the Senator Lounge at IAD today, ... Great spot... Nice food for a US lounge, as this is normally bad or not there, like the UA lounge in ORD..
BTW the Wifi is free no..
Forgot to mention that food was not great also....
Was flying from IAD to Banglore on a business trip and was in the lounge for less than 1 hour. I had to use the airport bathrooms as the lounge were dirty, had a bad smell. Also the service was not great, had to wait for 15 minutes to get a beer; the staff seems to have fun just talking within each other.
Just want to report it....
@MWS, with international business class ticket, you may use the LH Business Class Lounge at the lower level. The upper level is LH Senator Lounge for *G and FC passengers.
I'm fling United International Business from IAD to Rome and back. I have neither status nor RCC membership. May I access Star Alliance lounges with my ticket at either airport, or am I restricted to the RCC's? Thanks.
Does anyone know the star alliance access rules for Red Carpet club members? The Lufthansa business lounge in Frankfurt would not allow me to bring a guest flying with me on a UA flight. I always thought Red Carpet allowed me and one guest into Star Alliance clubs. Neither Lufthansa or United have responded to emails. Given the price of Red Carpet membership these days, not allowing the guest on international stops seems to make it worthless.
@ boeing747-400 -- None anymore, unfortunately, if you're flying US or UA.
Thanks. With gold status, which foreign carrier lounges can we use at LAX?
@ boeing747-400 -- Nope, there's now a walkway connecting the two terminals airside at SFO. Even before, though, SFO allows you to enter terminals you're not flying out of, as long as you have a valid boarding pass.
As for using the SQ Silver Kris lounge at SFO, I don't think its possible. If you're flying domestic, I thought you'd need an int'l. ticket to show security to get thru that checkpoint. I thought the Kris lounge entry was on the other side of that security area. Right?
I'm here right now... the food spread disappears really quickly because there are a ton of people here. But they also replenish pretty quickly. Good deal. They have trains that run between the terminals/gates now. I thought it'd be a hassle but the trains are extremely frequent. Only took me 5-10 min (2 train rides) to get from C10 or so to LH lounge. The train stops right near the lounge :)
Absoutely positive, Jay. At first I didn't believe it either, but the rules are pretty clear. In the meantime I've entered the SFO SKL and LH SEN lounge just with my UA 1K card. :)
The whole being able to get in as a *G flying domestically is awesome! I'd been wondering about that. Definitely checking that out next week, as I'm flying through IAD going UAX to mainline (assuming that my connection isn't extremely short and that the lounge is open).
Lucky,
Are you sure that UA/US Star Golds can access non-UA/US lounges in the US when traveling domestically? So technically all Premier Execs and 1Ks could visit the SQ SilverKris lounge in SFO when traveling domestically?
As far as LH getting paid for UA passengers, that was based on my recent experience in FRA where on two visits to the SEN lounge with a guest as UA *G on a UA itin the agents at the door just briefly glanced at my BP/1k card and then waved me in. No scanning of BP/card, no typing on the computer. So I don't think LH got anything from UA for my shower/drinks/food.
I don't think United can do that, Oliver. Certain rules are Star Alliance wide, like lounge access, and only UA/US have an agreement to not allow passengers into each other's lounges domestically. If United didn't want to compensate Lufthansa, Lufthansa could just as quickly not allow passengers into their lounges within Germany. I don't think the club will be flooded, since at the end of the day 99.9% of people don't realize they have access.
@Lucky -- I guess it will just be a matter of time until the rules change then. I don't think LH gets anything from UA for *G customers accessing their lounge and with IAD being a UA hub, the SEN lounge is going to be flooded with RCC refugees soon.
Yes whakojacko, you can bring in a guest as a Star Gold. Great point about the A gates, especially if you're connecting between two gates in the A concourse, in which case it's just as quick as going to the RCC.
I agree with you about wifi. I think we're slowly starting to see a trend towards free wifi in general, just give it another year or so....
Also, can one bring a guest? This lounge seems like the best bet if your waiting for a UX flight from A
wow nice...Im definitely going to have to hit this up...
On another note, why does LH charge everyone for internet? Even on a paid int'l C , they didnt have free internet in the C lounges in FRA. Even UA gives paid intl C free Internet...cmon LH
Oliver, this is something I only learned recently as well, and it shocked me. You CAN you any lounge on a domestic itinerary except UA/US clubs. Here are the rules:
"Star Alliance Gold Customers Travelling in Any Class: Customers have access to any Star Alliance member carriers' owned lounges with the Star Alliance Gold logo at the entrance. Customer must present a valid frequent flyer programme Star Alliance Gold level card Customer must also present...
Oliver, this is something I only learned recently as well, and it shocked me. You CAN you any lounge on a domestic itinerary except UA/US clubs. Here are the rules:
"Star Alliance Gold Customers Travelling in Any Class: Customers have access to any Star Alliance member carriers' owned lounges with the Star Alliance Gold logo at the entrance. Customer must present a valid frequent flyer programme Star Alliance Gold level card Customer must also present a boarding card for a same day Star Alliance flight departing from the local airport Customer is entitled to one guest
United and US Airways Star Alliance Gold customers may only access the Red Carpet Club and US Airways Clubs within the U.S. when travelling in conjunction with a Star Alliance international flight."
Sorry, I am confused. Why would I get into the lounge as a UA *G on a purely domestic flight? I thought *A lounge access isn't granted for UA/US domestic itins.
(this year, thanks to my status-matched BD *G card, I'd of course get in anyway)
While I didn't check them out (I should have), they do have showers. :)
Very nice. I like. Any showers on the SEN side?
Nice! I'll be checking it out on the rapidly impending DME trip next week!