SEA-SFO in Delta Comfort+
I packed the night before and wrapped up a day of work before hopping in an Uber to SEA for my positioning flight to SFO. I only hold DL Silver nowadays so all it got me was a Comfort+ upgrade. I checked my bag to SFO, and did not inquire with the agent if she could interline my bag to EVA - I had a 5 hour in SFO anyways and figured it would be good to stretch the legs a little bit.
I visited the Seattle SkyClub for the first time in over two years. I'm glad the Ivar's clam chowder is there, but the homemade rosemary potato chips are noticeably missing (which were my favorite). The food quality is... fine, but seems to have gone downhill in recent years. Food felt a bit bland and I just sampled a little bit.
The DL SkyClub was full, but not crowded. The past 4 times I've flown from SEA I've swung by the Centurion, saw a line out the door and a sign for a 20-minute wait. LOL. No thanks. SEA recently completed a terminal renovation and the main terminal area isn't actually a bad place to pass time (and the food options are great).
Those looking for a review of DL Comfort+ will be disappointed here - standard DL stuff. In other words, uneventful, which is really all we can hope for sometimes.
SFO Polaris Lounge
I structured my layover to be 5 hours, primarily due to the fact that the Delta ticket I had purchased for that time was $200 cheaper than giving myself a 2 hour layover in SFO, and figured I might as well check out the Polaris lounge anyways. I picked up my luggage from SFO Terminal 2 and self transferred over to the International Terminal. My DL flight arrived early at 7:25pm, and I had completed check-in and bag drop about 30 minutes later.
It had just been a few days since BR returned to a 2x / day schedule for SFO-TPE, and initially I was nervous as screens in the International Terminal mentioned that counters wouldn't open until 8:15pm (BR have both as 12:05am and a 12:20am departure; I was scheduled on the 12:20am, BR27). However on arriving around 7:50pm, counters were staffed and open (and barely anyone in line!).
I was helped quickly by a ground agent - greeted in Mandarin. Woof - my Mandarin was rusty. It's always fun being asked "going to Taipei?" in Mandarin and then freezing and quickly nodding and translating in your head what to say next. I asked "Where are all the people?" referring to the lack of queues, and the agent paused and then responded "I'm sorry, you likely caught us on a break." I quickly hurried to tell him I was talking about the passenger lines, not the staffing levels.
The agent mentioned that the Polaris lounge would be open until 10:30pm but the F Gates UA Club would be open until midnight. Luggage checked in, I was off on my way.
First impressions of the lounge were impressive - it is huge, spanning two massive levels with many different seating options. I beelined to the Dining Room and was told a 15 minute wait for a table and put my name down. I figured I would eat first, shower second, and then sit for a bit before heading over to the F gates UA Club.
Tip: If you come here and need a quiet space... head to "The Studio" - it was completely empty when I visited and doubt it fills up considerably given it's furthest from the food options.
I was texted about 10 minutes later for my table.
Annoyingly, the "bar" was out of my first 2 options so I went with some non-alcoholic concoction (Everyone's Mule). It was fine - didn't taste the Seedlip. I had asked if the bar could make the Paper Plane (one of my favorites), but was met with confused stares and "We can only do drinks that are on the menu." Okay... Seems like Sodexo doesn't have the same "fly the friendly skies" motto UA does.
The harissa octopus was fine. Well-seasoned but extremely chewy and lukewarm. I was glad there were only three pieces of octopus.
The burger was also just fine. It was bland but the novelty of getting a "cooked-to-order" burger was indeed fun. I was in an out of dinner in around 30 minutes for my pre-flight shower.
The showers at the Polaris lounge supposedly close ~45 minutes prior the lounge closing (10:30pm), though the attendant told me "eh like 9:30pm." Plenty of time for me anyways. The showers are well-appointed, and my favorite - the lounge attendant offered a mini tube of unisex deodorant. So many times have I been conflicted about taking an airport shower with no packed deodorant, or just schlumming it in my current state. No, I haven't yet attempted to shower while avoiding my underarms. Let me know how this goes if you give it a try.
After showering, I headed back out to the dining area and perused the buffet options - miso glazed cod, vegetarian ramen, korean dakjim braised chicken, sandwiches, salad bar, dessert bar. Looked fine (the hot options seemed a bit forelorn), but was full from dinner so just grabbed a lemon bar and sat down... next to a nice Chinese man wearing a velour tracksuit hacking up a lung. I promptly moved back to the Studio and watched a show before being kindly reminded by a lounge attendant at 10:20pm the lounge was closing.
Well - another excuse to stretch the legs and off to the F gates UA Club. Turned out to be about a 6-7 minute walk, past the SFO Centurion Lounge which was closed for repairs. I had been previously, but I hear it suffers from massive overcrowding now. No thanks.
No pictures here - it's a bit outdated (though charming in an old SFO way), with lower-grade sandwiches (e.g., ham vs. grilled chicken in the Polaris lounge) and... "nachos!" Really high quality stuff. No self-serve drink options besides coffee either I found, so asked the bartender for a fun water (i.e., sparkling) and settled in with a show before leaving around 11:45pm for my 12:20am departure.
Next up, EVA's Royal Laurel Business class on their 777.