Originally Posted by
dinoscool3
Cheap was the wrong word, and I don’t want to sound ungrateful. I fully appreciated the upgrade, and would never balk if it occurred again
But I do think it’s a little weird that UA doesn’t allow access to the Polaris lounge. If someone got a CPU as a *S on an international leg they would still get UC lounge access when you otherwise wouldn’t, no? I feel this is along the same line. Regardless, I was happy for the upgrade, and the AC lounge was fine—I was just really looking forward to a shower.
I was lucky enough to have received op-ups from Prem Plus to Polaris on both legs of a recent EWR-LHR-EWR trip. The outbound was the morning flight, fare class changing from "RN" to "Z", and I had no problems accessing the Polaris lounge at EWR for a quick drink before the flight. On the return from LHR, I did have a problem with access even though the boarding pass showed Polaris, but was fortunate enough to have the Polaris lounge agent wave me through. Sure enough, when I checked my account, the fare class was "ON" and I had not received any mileage credit for the flight. FWIW, I called the GS MileagePlus Service Center, and they helpfully changed the fare class to "J" to get my mileage credits if nothing else. I'm guessing that others who may have been turned away from Polaris lounge access after an R-to-J op-up on an international flight may be because the fare class wasn't updated properly.