firsttimebusiness

first time business class traveler here and was wondering if being able to experience the polaris lounge at sfo (post covid) would be much of a deciding factor when selecting departure time between 2 flights.

is experiencing the united polaris lounge post-covid at sfo is worth it? i can take a flight which departs SFO after midnight and therefore would miss out on the united polaris lounge since it closes at 10:30pm. the ticket counter for my airline wouldn't open until 9:30pm so that leaves less than one hour to experience the polaris lounge and by then they would be winding down operations and not replenishing the food at the buffet, and i would feel rushed etc. alternatively i can take a flight which departs SFO mid-morning in which case i'd actually be able to experience the polaris lounge for breakfast. i saw that historically the polaris lounge used to be open until 1:30am (before covid) but there are no signs that indicate they'll be extending their operating hours beyond 10:30pm anytime soon.

thank you so much.

squeakr

However everyone’s reports that the highlight of this lounge is the made to order meals. So if that’s important to you I might consider scheduling a flight so you would have a chance to get the meals made to order. Best advice is to put your name on the list as soon as you arrive as it might be a wait as they are capacity control.

minhaoxue

These is a whole tread in the United Airlines forum about the UA Polaris lounge at SFO.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...ry-2022-a.html

Kacee

I would choose my flight based first on the airline and schedule, with Polaris lounge access only a secondary consideration. So, for example, if you're choosing between BR and UA, Polaris would not be enough to make me choose UA.

dhuey

I second that. The Polaris lounge at SFO is exceptionally good, but I don't think it's worth a substantial change in your schedule to make it happen. Tasty, made-to-order meals are great, of course, but there are good restaurants at SFO that will give you that. The only real difference is that it's free at the lounge. Free is a terrific price, but it can come at a cost of much inconvenience.

Eastbay1K

I'll third that. Perhaps some of us are jaded, and have experienced this, that, and the other lounge and the novelty has worn off (and no, the novelty will likely never wear off for the finest of finest lounges), but I'd not make a material change to travel plans (i.e., getting somewhere a day later, missing out on a part day of vacation, etc.) for an hour or two in a lounge for a meal that isn't going to be any better than a $20-some restaurant entree quality.

If you were asking about FRA LH F, my advice might differ - probably not even to change a trip by 12 hours, but only to show up at the airport early or build a long connection.

boolean64

One more vote that Polaris lounge at SFO is better that most lounges but not worth altering any other plans in order to take advantage. Especially if you are switching to breakfast time where bacon and eggs can only be so good. The best part of the lounge was that it has blind pig on tap. Sounds like you are not planning on taking United so you don't have to worry about the dreadful state of meal service on the plane.

I'll also second the comment that i would make an effort to utilize the LH F lounge. But that is way way WAY better than the polaris lounge in SFO.

lhrsfo

Agreed. The Polaris lounge is a good business class lounge / absolutely amazing by US standards. But if you have experienced good business class lounges before, it's not that special.

Also, I don't really get the hype. If I'm flying business class on a paid ticket with a choice of airlines, and I care about the food, nearly every option will be better than UA. So why get excited about the Polaris lounge when you can get decent food on most airlines (other than UA). I'd rather eat on the plane as that's dead time, instead of arriving at the airport too early so as to join the wait for the Polaris Lounge dining.