tvetter01

I searched, but couldn't find a comparison of the different lounges. Feel free to refer me to another thread, if I missed it.

I'm going to be at ORD for a couple of hours this weekend. I have a PC membership, and until CO leaves Skyteam, it's good for access to Delta, Northwest, and United lounges at ORD.

Does anyone have enough experience with the various lounges at ORD to recommend the best one?

Thanks.

channa

Depends what you want.

The NW lounge has free drinks and internet.

The UA RCCs have slightly better food, T-Mobile internet, and are likely closer to your gate if flying UA or CO.

sbm12

Does the SkyClub there have free Internet? When CO left they took their data circuit with them. I don't know what DL installed in its place.

channa

I haven't been there since they started allowing RCC access, but seeing that all DL SkyClubs have free Internet, I would assume so.

cova

I was at the ORD clubs a couple of weeks ago.

The ORD NW club is pretty empty now that CO has moved. But yes, you still get free WiFi at the NW club. In fact DL has made WiFi free at all its clubs now (which are called SkyClub).

Of course you have free, self serve drinks at the NW club. But the snacks are not as good as NW used to have as the club now uses the DL snack offering.

At the UA RCC - there is a CO rep and she will give you a T-Mobile access card if you want WiFi - so yes there is free WiFi for CO PC members at the UA RCC in ORD. The UA RCC has very nice snack offerings and various fruit and veggie offerings. Of course - there are no free drinks except soft drinks.

I did both lounges a few weeks ago. Started at the NW club for about 45 minutes then moved over the the UA club - I had 2 hours - both within the same security area with the connector between Term 1 and 2. The NW attendent will give you a notice that indicates that DL is going to allow CO PC access into the club until Jan 31, 2010 (I think that is the date) - even though the agreement expires end of Oct. They obviously want to sell you a membership in the DL SkyTeam with the initiation fee waived.

sbm12

I thought it was "free" UA/AA style - for members only. Glad to hear that isn't the case as I'll be making use of that lounge on Saturday.

channa

Worth pointing out that this only applies to the ORD B7 RCC. The other ORD RCCs do not have a CO rep or the WiFi card. I have been able to enter the other ORD clubs with a CO PC Card + BP, and had no issues. FWIW, the nicest ORD club is the B17 Club (it was remodeled last year).

Also worth pointing out that the T-Mobile WiFi is faster and far more consistent than the WiFi CO runs anywhere.

channa

That changed some 6 months ago, maybe more. It's still T-Mobile, but they have a nifty deal with T-Mobile now -- if you're on one of the access points in the SkyClub, the spash screen gives you an option to select SkyClub Guest, and lets you in with no further validation.

cova

Let me also point out that there is only one CO rep at the ORD B7 UA RCC. So if she takes a break or goes to lunch - then the desk is unmanned. So if the rep is not there - you will not be able to get a T-mobile card.

As I mentioned a month or two ago - I have an ATT premium plan account - old dial up with free WiFi at many hotel lobbies and airports (when airports charge for it). Works with T-Mobile using the dialer program and at many coffee shops that normally require a purchase to get a code.

My ATT account works at the ORD RCC without needing the T-mobile card and it works at the SNA UA RCC. The PHX UA RCC has free WiFi since the PHX airport has free WiFi.

yellow77

I got into the B7, C, and F RCCs over the weekend with a PC card. B7 obviously knew what to do with a CO PC membership, entering the details. F was similar. C had no idea what to do with it, but it was the end of the day and they couldn't be bothered checking, so just let me in anyway ('did you get an email saying you could come in to the RCC with a PC membership? oh, ok, come in then.').

I would have used the NW club, but it closes much earlier than the RCCs.