Best *A lounge in EWR
 

Maple Leaf or UA?

The Air Canada MLL at EWR is located in terminal A concourse A1. Not at all convenient to get to unless you are departing from those gates as each concourse has its own security checkpoint:

https://www.united.com/web/en-US/con.../maps/ewr.aspx

As for the UA clubs located in terminal C: the club near gate 120 is larger, has tarmac views and showers, but gets extremely crowded. The club near gate 80 is generally less crowded as it is located away from the majority of the concourse C gates.

As to your general question: both the UC and MLL are considered equally mediocre, but without being more specific about what is important to you in a lounge experience it is difficult to be more definitive.


SL

LH, easily. UC is nothing to mention, same as all the other domestic non ORD clubs.

I’m a *A Gold flying in F / J on an int’l flight on United with a 4-hour layover at EWR. As of now, I’m arriving and then departing from gates in the C100s. Between the *A Gold, the F / J UA ticket, and my PP card, what are my best lounge options? Thanks.

I really like the food at the PP Art & Lounge at EWR for what it is worth; I've had excellent New York bagels with lox, and a few nice soups. It is landside which can reduce its benefit if you don't have precheck.

Thanks for the reply. I ended up visiting the UC at C74 or thereabouts after I cleared Customs, then took the shuttle bus to the LH lounge and the SAS lounge in B (both near B60), and then took the AirTrain over to A for my connecting flight. All three were very nice; I'd rank them LH > UC > SAS. My four-hour layover turned into six hours due to a late incoming aircraft, so I had plenty of time to wander around. Thanks to the shuttle, I only had to clear security one extra time, at A, but it took only seconds since I was going through around 10:20 pm.

The shuttle situation from C70 or C71 is rather strange. If you say you're going to A, the lady just waves you through, but if you mention B, she demands a boarding pass, even thought the shuttle leaving C stops at both and the shuttle leaving A stops at B on its way to C. Really strange. Are they trying to minimize the shuttle's need to stop at B? Trying to reduce lounge visits? I'd understand it if it was separate shuttles, but it's the same bus going to both places.

That's just EWR for you, most people just avoid mentioning B at all.

Now that the big lounge right after security is closed, I find that the C74 lounge is quite crowded. And the staff should probably re-stock food a little faster to account for that (I saw a few people scraping at the bottom of the soup bowl last I was there...sad). The "pop-up" lounge at the other end of the terminal is basically a sectioned-off area with makeshift walls, no bathroom and very limited food. So I am going to check out the A* lounges in other terminals during my next trip and recommend that others with access do that too if they have time.

It is probably the overflow from the largest UC being closed to get the upgrade to Polaris.

I am transiting UA->UA this Saturday and the UC is not what I am looking forward to because of this reason. But then, there is this new Polaris seat I want to try (in J, obviously).

I've done a fair bit of lounge hopping at EWR with my *G status and PP & Diners cards except for the AC lounge which requires a ticket for that specific concourse. Here's how I'd rate them:
Virgin Clubhouse (AI contract) > LH > SAS > Art & Lounge (PP & Diners) > UC.

LH and SAS lounges get very crowded just before their respective flights. VC and then LH have by far the best food (esp. hot food) and booze. At UC same bad food at every lounge + pay for booze (except a couple of house wines & beer). VC and Art & Lounge have the most comfortable seats but A&L has a very cramped seating arrangement, A&L has kosher food options since it serves LY.

Ease of access depends heavily on the terminal you're arriving / leaving from - very poor inter-connectivity through bus between terminals. Terminal A & C are better connected since UA flies from both. UC lounges are in both A & C. You can go from A to B or C to B but not B to A or B to C. So if you want to visit the LH or SAS lounges in B and then go back to A or C to catch your flight make sure you have plenty of time in hand because you'll have to go landside and take the connecting train to A or C and then go through security again and the security line in C can be very very long! Art & Lounge is before the security check in B.

I've found Virgin Clubhouse to be by far the best - least crowded before AI's flight. Great food (you order of a menu) and a barman who can make some wicked cocktails! But only accessible if you're traveling AI of course.

If you have lots of time between connections try the LH or SAS lounges in B.

I have a 3 hour layover at EWR tomorrow. I am scheduled to fly into C and out of C, and based on your feedback, it sounds like too much of a hassle to try to get to the *G clubs in B.

If those are your only choices, the UA lounge is better. Maybe someone else has an update, but for the longest time the new AC lounge didn't have a liquor licence, so that's a pain. But tbh, neither is spectacular, nor dreadful, as both have been renovated recently. The deciding factor really is where your gate is. Neither one is worth chasing, and even having TSA pre at EWR can sometimes mean jack squat. Doesn't work if the lane isn't open, which I've found multiple times.

I'd also say don't bother with the "Art & Lounge" pay lounge, it's only really useful if you have a long time to kill and no status of any kind.

Depends on how keen you are on "lounging". 3 hours is plenty of time. It should be pretty easy for you to do since you're coming into C I'm assuming on a domestic flight.

Take the bus from C (gate 74) to B, If anyone asks at the terminal gate tell them you're going to A. Then tell the bus driver to drop you at B - it's a scheduled stop anyways. At B you can use either the LH or SAS lounges. You can spend about 2 hours there if you're efficient enough. Then walkout of B and take the airtrain to C. Go through Security and board the flight. Depending on the time of day I'd give about 45-50 minutes to go through security in C. So leave your lounge in B an hour before your departure.

And an update - you can go through security into any terminal as long as you have a valid boarding pass for a flight out of EWR for that day.

Thursday, I'm flying out of EWR on LO as a *G. I saw that they use the VC club as a contracted lounge. Would I be best going there or to the LH or SK lounges in the terminal? My flight's not until 2240 so I'm not all that worried about getting through security.

If you have time to kill you can try LH and SAS... they’re opposite each other in the concourse for gate 60. VC is the best though... order of a menu... great cocktails... nice seating.