Has the Polaris Lounge Product been a Financial Success for UA so far?
I've been reading up on a lot of trip reports on this forum and I'm curious in terms of how the Polaris Lounge product is doing financially. For one, it looks like the food experience on the ground is better than on the flights themselves (yet it looks like a costly affair to keep up with). And it seems there is a wide range of reactions of actually getting into the club itself. For instance, perhaps they should also include comped access on EWR-SFO/LAX as those routes are marketed as premium as well? It seems like people feel it's way too exclusive compared to the hard product served on board in terms of consistency. Should UA offer a path for others to get into the lounge (especially at EWR where there are serious renovation issues) for additional revenue?
Still trying to figure out the food situation in the restaurant. If you order off the menu, is the food also comped as well and all you have to leave is a tip? For me, I really don't like pigging out on the ground before getting on the plane and then being served more food on board. I'm sure many others are like me as well. I wonder if the bean counters have looked at food catering expenses because it truly seems like there could be a lot of food wasted at the end of the day inside the lounge.