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Old Sep 7, 2015, 8:29 am
  #20  
DCA writer
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: DCA, IAD (not BWI if I can help it)
Programs: UA 1MM 1K, Marriott Gold, Hyatt Explorist, status-free on AA, AS, B6, DL, WN, Amtrak, etc.
Posts: 1,477
EWR lounge touring before a UA domestic departure: takes time, can be worth it

My flight from TXL got in almost an hour early Sunday and was arriving at at EWR terminal B--meaning I'd both be in the same building as the LH and SAS lounges and would already have to reclear security to get to my EWR-DCA flight. Besides, who wants to spend three hours in EWR terminal A?

The TSA guy at B3 wasn't sure my UA domestic boarding pass would scan, but he said he'd try it and it worked. Security there was a pain with no TSA Pre available, and then I had to wait about 20 minutes for each lounge to open at 1 p.m.

I tried SAS's first. Verdict: meh. The self-serve bar had decent beer available but only so-so wine, with a minimal menu of cold snacks. I couldn't get the power outlets to work but the WiFi was fine. After 25 minutes it was time to head across the hall and try Lufthansa.

That was a good call. LH's EWR lounge compares favorably to the one they have at IAD; it's about the same variety of hot and cold food--including some of the same finger sandwiches--but I don't recall seeing hot entrees or soup available at IAD that early. The bar was definitely better, between offering Flying Fish (one of the Garden State's better microbrews) on tap and having everything self-serve

WiFi was fine but the power outlets between the comfy chairs didn't work.

Getting from there to A involved a short ride on the Airtrain--although UA runs a shuttle bus between all three terminals, I saw no trace of it airside in B3. Either it's drop-off only at B or I somehow missed every sign for it.

A further indignity awaited at A2, where I learned that there's only the fake TSA Pre that lets you keep your shoes on but saves you no real time. Why must the state of my birth represent so poorly there?

I wouldn't recommend this if you don't have more than two hours free, but if you're connecting from a TATL flight you probably will. And if you booked a connection from one to a domestic flight that doesn't have two hours of padding, you chose poorly and may wind up spending a lot more time at EWR anyway.
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