mgcsinc

I'm not a member, but I (of course) have access when travelling internationally.

Sorry I insulted your delicate sensibilities.

UA-NYC

Not everyone would agree with this POV

UA-NYC

Wow, that's 5 years of usage (often streaming Slingbox) that's news to me...

LilAbner

The ONLY reason I needed 3 or 4 fast g & t's in the UC was to calm me down and eliminate the possibility of going "Postal" when dealing with the crap wifi!!!

LarkSFO

While the full selection of complimentary alcoholic beverages is not spectacular, there are a few drinkable items.

I am more excited about the 'additional premium offerings', as I would rather pay for something good than get something poor to average for free.

MatthewLAX

A lot of old T-Mobile RCC threads, and indeed pre-merger PMUA wi-fi was problematic, but the "United Club" networks I've used since the merger have not been problematic...

Useless? Please...

Of course it will be nice if the upgraded internet has a greater bandwidth, but I don't understand all the problems people report. I am in a lot of clubs, all the time, and I cannot remember the last time I had an internet problem--EWR, great, LAX, great, SFO, great, ORD, great, IAH, great, BOS, great, IAD, great, DEN, great, JFK, great, PHL, great, CLE, great.

So are others really, truly having problems, or is that just what you're hearing from others?

unavaca

Evidently we have different standards of great. My experience at SFO, EWR, and IAH was "try it for 3 minutes, get pissed at how slow it was, and switch back to my Mi-Fi." I don't even bother trying anymore; it's a total waste of time.

You know your Wi-Fi is bad when AT&T LTE is kicking your butt.

unavaca

As far as I can tell, this thread is only talking about the unprotected wifi that has been around for the last year or two. The PMUA T-Mobile wifi worked fine.

drowelf

I've never had any issues with WIFI performance at the major airports I hang out at (IAH/EWR). Also its only occasionally that I see maybe 1 or 2 people hanging out around the entrance who look like they are getting WiFi Access.

I'll really miss my BB attaching to the UC Club as soon as I walk in. Since its my clients and its home is a Canada Telecom, the roaming charges for data access can add up quite fast. Having to log in each time is going to be a pain.

And how the multiple device access work, is a really question. Can we get UAInsider to offer up a comment on this.

on this.

I don't drink alcohol, so those changes mean nothing to me. Wifi and a place to work in between flights are what I value from the Club.

kale73

The few times I've used the UC wifi (DEN, IAH Terminal C, and LAX) it's been "adequate" - not lightning fast, but adequate. But, I have found the free public wifi offered at ABQ, BTR and PHX (the three O&D airports I frequent the most) to be far more adequate with, presumably, even more simultaneous users than even a crowded UC would have. Why the smaller airports (and PHX, which serves ~40 million pax/year) I frequent have so much better Internet access - for free - than the UA Clubs and hubs have - for hire - is a mystery.

As others have mentioned, the current UC access points simply connect to wireless devices without any clear indication other than the SSID that it is the United Club signal. There is no splash page, no terms of service to click through, no warning that non-members are "trespassing," etc. I really don't think it can be considered "stealing" when someone connects to an open wifi signal under those conditions. I presume the "new" setup will also require one to agree to terms of service and that approximately 0.001% of users will actually read those terms before agreeing to them.

littlegreenmen

I know this is a total broken record, but it really blows my mind how LH can offer made-to-order Havana Club 7-year Mojitos and UA can't even do Jim Beam or Smirnoff well drinks.

cerealmarketer

Unfortunately they are increasing the price of the premium offerings we have today - for example Grey Goose moving up to over $10 from $6.

My fear is the best thing going in the clubs - nice (for Costco) $40 bottles of wine like Jordan cab available for $10-$12 a glass - will disappear, and we'll spend $10-$12 a glass for a $12 bottle of Trader Joes wine like at the Delta clubs. Hope that is wrong.

Look at the overpriced 'Luxury Bar' at Delta and that's what we could be getting. Can go to a nice airport restaurant and get those prices with better atmosphere.

ContPlat

Continental nearly always had free drinks (there are still some surviving life members that will get free drinks regardless! - nice story on that).

But, let's face it, thanks to our williingness to ignore reality, the airlines can do whatever they want to us without government intervention on our behalf - it's just not going to happen.

Regarding the improvements, as I read my email, I wondered how making it harder to log in to the internet was an improvement? I guess it is an improvment for those who like to know who is where and when on the internet. AT&T?

I guess it is like the improvement of going from "presidents club" and "red carpet" to "united." Perhaps they should have called the club "mergered."

It's just not going to happen. The airlines are above the law and will be for the foreseeable future.

I agree wholeheartedly and my privacy is important to me.

hirohito888

I agree, the wifi at most lounges work perfectly fine as is. Only exception is probably EWR at 5pm right before all the evening TATL flights, when the lounge gets super crowded.

The UC at HKG is the only one with password I think, and everytime I transit through HKG I find it annoying to enter password.

lhrsfo

Moochers can be deterred by building signal screeners into the walls by which they mooch. Not cheap but probably cheaper than issuing millions of plastic cards