Last edit by: WineCountryUA
B18 United Club Terminal 1, Concourse B, near Gate B18 **has reopened**
B6 United Club Terminal 1, Concourse B, near Gate B6 5:45 a.m. - 7:45 p.m. **Limited food, but getting increasingly better. Note the reduced operating hours.**
C16 United Club Terminal 1, Concourse C, near Gate C16 **Open as of May 24, 2021 with limited bar service and packaged snacks**
F8 United Club Terminal 2, Concourse F, across from Gate F8 **Opened as of 30 June 2021**
United Polaris lounge - Eligible customers are welcome Terminal 1, C concourse, near Gate C18.
ORD Polaris lounge -- Reviews, Experiences, Q&A, ..
One-Time Passes can now be redeemed at all {ORD} UC location within capacity constraints. Customers are encouraged to use the clubs in B and F concourses as the C concourse club is currently under partial construction, with limited space.
Related: International T5 ORD partner *G lounges
Archive thread: Discussion of the United Clubs at ORD {Archive}
B6 United Club Terminal 1, Concourse B, near Gate B6 5:45 a.m. - 7:45 p.m. **Limited food, but getting increasingly better. Note the reduced operating hours.**
C16 United Club Terminal 1, Concourse C, near Gate C16 **Open as of May 24, 2021 with limited bar service and packaged snacks**
F8 United Club Terminal 2, Concourse F, across from Gate F8 **Opened as of 30 June 2021**
United Polaris lounge - Eligible customers are welcome Terminal 1, C concourse, near Gate C18.
ORD Polaris lounge -- Reviews, Experiences, Q&A, ..
One-Time Passes can now be redeemed at all {ORD} UC location within capacity constraints. Customers are encouraged to use the clubs in B and F concourses as the C concourse club is currently under partial construction, with limited space.
Related: International T5 ORD partner *G lounges
Archive thread: Discussion of the United Clubs at ORD {Archive}
Discussion of the United Clubs at ORD
#91
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Chicago IL US
Programs: UA 1K; National Executive Elite; Hertz PC & Hotels Galore
Posts: 946
Your experience is consistent with normal practice--
Food, drink and even water gets picked up and shut down between 915 and 930 in advance of lounges closing at 10:00pm on the nose.
Food, drink and even water gets picked up and shut down between 915 and 930 in advance of lounges closing at 10:00pm on the nose.
#93
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Chicago
Posts: 1,158
#94
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 11,347
The way things stand, as you say, it's much better to stay in the B clubs and then just leave 5min earlier to walk to C.
#95
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: CLE
Programs: UA
Posts: 287
Are they still doing construction in C? Is the lack of hot food & liquor supposed to be temporary? As far as I knew they weren't intending to change anything for the foreseeable future.
The way things stand, as you say, it's much better to stay in the B clubs and then just leave 5min earlier to walk to C.
The way things stand, as you say, it's much better to stay in the B clubs and then just leave 5min earlier to walk to C.
#96
Join Date: Nov 2012
Programs: BA Bronze, United 1K, HH Gold, SPG Platinum, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 3,477
Every time I check in for my flights connecting through ORD, my boarding passes mention that I should use other UCs due to the possible overcrowding of the C16 UC. One time I went anyways to the C16 UC to wait for the opening of the Polaris Lounge and deeply regretted it.
#97
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 11,347
I've noticed they do the plastic- / styro-ware in C always and in other clubs when it's busy or ... ? and I hate it. It feels cheap, and I don't like generating waste while eating bad food.
#98
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Chicago IL US
Programs: UA 1K; National Executive Elite; Hertz PC & Hotels Galore
Posts: 946
They're building out a new C club adjacent to the PL where some washrooms used to be. The current one is temporary. You'll notice the plywood next time you're over there.
#99
Join Date: May 2011
Location: SFO
Programs: UA 1K
Posts: 721
Last month I met a UA exec who told me the C club expansion is stalled because the C concourse is designated as an architectural landmark and they have to work around that.
Taking a while though.
#100
#101
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Chicago IL US
Programs: UA 1K; National Executive Elite; Hertz PC & Hotels Galore
Posts: 946
Lol landmarking is a classic Chicago political power grab . But in this instance, that explanation makes little sense. I can't imagine any federal landmarking would apply and locally, if Dept. of Aviation was in favor, so too would the Landmarks Commission be (same monster, different tentacles). UA are probably getting shook down errr requested to do things in exchange for approvals.
#102
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: ORD | LGA | 2E
Programs: UA GS 1.6MM UC | AA CK 0.7MM AC | Bonvoy Ambassador | Hertz PC
Posts: 1,051
Lol landmarking is a classic Chicago political power grab . But in this instance, that explanation makes little sense. I can't imagine any federal landmarking would apply and locally, if Dept. of Aviation was in favor, so too would the Landmarks Commission be (same monster, different tentacles). UA are probably getting shook down errr requested to do things in exchange for approvals.
Last I heard (and this was now about a year ago) they were looking at doing a second level for the C concourse club only to decide that would probably be too expensive. I don't see any other real option because its not like they're going to sacrifice a gate to expand the C club, especially in that section of C where they can board the wide bodies. I think EWR shows that the United Clubs at hubs aren't exactly a priority for UA. Their thinking is probably that the B lounge is sufficient even for those connecting at C, which I have to admit is my ORD club travel pattern (use B and walk to C concourse, may then pop in C lounge if the flight gets delayed after I depart B but more likely to just go to one of the small bars in C instead).
#104
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Chicago
Posts: 1,158
I favor B6 and F8 clubs but thought it was time to see what C16 was up to. So stopped by the C16 club on a recent trip around 19:00. For a temporary club, it sure looks nice (untrained eye wouldnt know) but as we know its not full service. There was a hot casserole dish so thats new (used to be zero hot food.)
Also, the bartender now has a small tray of spirits - one kind of vodka, one kind of gin etc. Thats new too. Draft beer as well - dont believe they had that a few months back. Five different infused waters and, from what I could tell, all the same cold foods as other UCs. But no soup. And not a full bar offering. Bar is tiny - seats six.
So in net - better than a few months ago but still lacking vs standard ORD UC offering. As a reminder, LAX, especially, and also ORD, have better offering than remaining US50 UCs (save for LGA? - havent had the pleasure there yet since new terminal.)
Whats next? Bartender told me a new UC will be built near C20. Once open, Polaris takes over C16 space. Very logical to me as PL is too small for the long haul traffic here. All ORD LH and NH departures also depart from T1 so front cabin loads add up to a lot incl. UA.
Timing - 2-3 years, I was told. I wouldnt put too much stock into that but I would be surprised to see anything in 2020... Theres this massive 7-year expansion project of T2 etc so clubs will need to line up with that.
Also, the bartender now has a small tray of spirits - one kind of vodka, one kind of gin etc. Thats new too. Draft beer as well - dont believe they had that a few months back. Five different infused waters and, from what I could tell, all the same cold foods as other UCs. But no soup. And not a full bar offering. Bar is tiny - seats six.
So in net - better than a few months ago but still lacking vs standard ORD UC offering. As a reminder, LAX, especially, and also ORD, have better offering than remaining US50 UCs (save for LGA? - havent had the pleasure there yet since new terminal.)
Whats next? Bartender told me a new UC will be built near C20. Once open, Polaris takes over C16 space. Very logical to me as PL is too small for the long haul traffic here. All ORD LH and NH departures also depart from T1 so front cabin loads add up to a lot incl. UA.
Timing - 2-3 years, I was told. I wouldnt put too much stock into that but I would be surprised to see anything in 2020... Theres this massive 7-year expansion project of T2 etc so clubs will need to line up with that.
Last edited by AirbusFan2B; Sep 14, 2019 at 6:12 pm
#105
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: ORD | LGA | 2E
Programs: UA GS 1.6MM UC | AA CK 0.7MM AC | Bonvoy Ambassador | Hertz PC
Posts: 1,051
Just happened two weeks ago. To me this is the ultimate indication that this "temporary" club is going to be basically permanent. Having a 2-3 year window for planned changes just tells me that they're still in the planning phase of trying to figure out what they want to do and that the logistical challenges of that C concourse have yet to be figured out.