Originally Posted by
mherdeg
If you don't spend much time at airports, there's no advantage in holding the membership.
Club access is a big deal for getting expedited help from customer service agents during irregular operations. At some stations this can be a big deal.
I was at DCA a while back when some serious weather delays murdered my connection. In the gate area, two agents were overwhelmed with dozens-deep lines of passengers, among them frequent travelers and infrequent travelers, some of them also waiting on hold in the vain hope that phone agents might fix their problems faster. Upstairs, I got speedy, thoughtful, thorough rebooking help from the Presidents Club agents.
At stations where delays are frequent and a human being's help could help you get home sooner, having a club membership is a big deal. (This might be a more common situation as United gate agents start using Continental's SHARES system - change can add inefficiency.)
A one-time pass costs $39 online. If you're not planning to visit the club more than 10 times in a year, it's not worth a $400 membership.
I'm at 37 flights this year so far, which means the club membership is a good deal. And as noted above, for IRROPS. That said, the value of a
United Club membership is going down. Ms. Halls120 is not a frequent flyer, and when we visited the UCs in DEN and IAD a few weeks ago, she remarked at how meager and poor quality the food had become from a few years ago. Right now, the average AA Admirals Club is nicer than the average UC, and at the AC, the free snacks don't come packaged in wasteful plastic, they actually offer real food for purchase, and the clubs are in better material condition.
I'll stay with UC while I still fly frequently for business, but I won't stay with it once I retire.