Best *A DCA lounge
 

So I am DCA based and while I have been to the RCC in DCA I still have not been to the CO and US lounges.

I do not care for the alcohol as I do not drink, but which lounge offers the best in food/snacks/non-alcoholic beverages?

I know RCC offers McCarrots, the shortbread cookies, the 2 kinds of cheese + crackers and usual soft drinks.

For those of you that travel thru DCA what do CO and US lounges offer and which one would you pick if it were for the snacks?

None of the lounges are of any great shakes, though CO is the best of bunch. PC is down by B11. US Airways Club is right beside the RCC in Concourse C, just beyond security. I'd curb your enthusiasm, in particular, for the RCC and US.

so who then offers the best brekkie and then the best lunch offerings?

This is the PC and RCC we're talking about - not the SilverKris Lounge in SIN.
There is no brekkie and lunch.

ok who has the best brekkie snacks and who has the best lunch snacks? :)

None. Pre-packed mini-muffins and yogurt for breakfast, pre-wrapped processed cheese for lunch. The advantage is that because DCA has separate checkpoints for each pier (although there is an inconvenient shuttle betwen B&C), you can access a *A lounge from each pier. None are worth going through a second security screening.

As a general proposition, there is not much of a market in the US for clubs and access isn't generally provided other than for paid members. It so happens that US & UA memberships allow access to the other's clubs and that has expanded to CO with the integration process from UACO merger.

My guess is that your access is via foreign carrier *G status. If you hold USA-based *G status, no club access even in paid F, it's membership. Thus, if you are *G by virtue of 1K on UA, that doesn't get you any club access, including to RCC.

i will be flying aa but hold CO membership which gets me in UA/CO/US w/o bp. So hence asking where to go during morning/lunch hours. Looks like RCC wins then. I don't like their bagels but looks like they are the best sounds like. and lunch I heard US have chips which I would like much more than shortbread cookies I am used to...

All depends on what Concourse you are flying out on. While your BP gets you admission to any concourse, none of the clubs are worth waiting in a second line. I would use the club for the concourse out of which you are travelling (PC for A, UA for B and US for C). While you can move between B&C on the US shuttle bus, it's inconvenient and there is no sterile-side connection between B/C and A.

Just go to the lounge in the terminal you are flying out of. None of them are worth clearing TSA an extra time for.

If you are really going to be spending all day at the airport such that you need both breakfast and lunch I'd head into town. There are many nicer areas to set up shop than in the airport lounges.

i hear you folks, I just want to get my money's worth, because my employer does not pay my membership. I paid it on my own dime, so I am squeezing them till the last drop...

Getting my "money's worth" would involve not dealing with the TSA more than I have to. The lounges simply aren't different enough to justify it. Plus, I don't really see how where the cost of the membership comes from has anything to do with identifying which lounge is best.

DCA based w/CO PresClub membership, yet have never been to your home base club :confused:
That struck me as odd at first. Not only that you've never been to the CO club at DCA, but don't seem to realize the offerings are basically the same at every PresClub system wide. I guess maybe you're a new member.

I can only repeat what others have already said. Go to the Club in the terminal you're departing from. There is no "more bang for the buck" difference between the clubs.

Your main priority seems to be the snack options.
I've never been to the RCC at DCA, but recently, CO an UA have aligned their clubs so that the snack offerings are identical in all Clubs for both airlines. You've already stated what the DCA RCC offers. The CO club is the exact same thing, all the way down to the brand names and packaging.
The US Club's offerings will be different products, but along the same level. Personally, I would not go thru a 2nd TSA screening to get another Club's snacks.

Snacks aside, I think the CO Club is great. Friendly staff and it's not designed to look exactly like every PresClub in the country. It's in the dinning area of the old terminal building and they've tried to maintain an "art deco" style to it. Nice views out to the runways.
The US Club is is decent. Being that DCA is a hublet for US, the Club is a good size, but can get quite busy at times.

Since you're based at DCA, I wouldn't worry about club selection so much. I'd assume that over time you'll have a chance to visit all 3 clubs. Then you'll know for sure if one specific club suites your personal needs enough to justify terminal jumping in the future.

Steve

Steve,

thanks for the tips. This is what I did. I just went to the RCC and liked it. I have been to many PCs and have seen that they matched what RCC offers. I did not even bother checking the US club as per your suggestion.
And yes I am a new member, and DCA while 25 minutes walking from my house is not necessarily the cheapest, i.e. BWI is almost 70% of my travels, and the rest is split up between IAD and DCA... so : )

Thanks anyways for the tips...