I was in Seattle a few weeks ago and was denied entry to the UA lounge because I was not flying international. As I rarely fly domestic within the US, I just expressed surprise and told the agent that I thought *G gave me access to all partner lounges. I was lectured somewhat about the fact that (a) the UA lounge is primarily a members first lounge, i.e. people pay for membership, and only secondarily a FF member benefit lounge; and (b) the lounges would have too much traffic if opened up to *G members flying domestically.

Puzzled, I went for a coffee and read whatever fine print I could on the subject and then went back to the lounge. There I was told by the same agent that she didn't realize I was an Air Canada *G member and that therefore I was considered "international," despite the fact that I was flying from/to SFO, and eligible to use the lounge. She said that UA *G members can only use the lounge when flying internationally.

Did I just run into a difficult and perhaps even ill-informed lounge dragon, or is it true that UA *G members only have access to lounges when flying internationally? Perhaps a question better suited for the UA MP section.