gobluetwo

It's not even close to a fair comparison to be putting ALL united clubs against the very few centurion lounges. When there is a centurion lounge in every airport, then I'm sure they'll start worrying about it.

What does make sense would be for UA to build some flagship domestic lounges with similar amenities, but they probably view the GFLs in that way. There are a couple of pretty nice lounges, though - ORD T2 is very nice, and IAH E terminal is huge, and LAS is pretty cool. But not one of those on the level of a Centurion lounge.

The biggest thing I could hope for is that they'd refresh the lounges, as most are pretty tired and worn. UA seems to be going to the cool white/blue theme as evidenced by ORD T2 and the many of the gate setups across the system. Hopefully, they have a plan to update the clubs and offerings to stay competitive.

cova

What does UA do with the GF Lounges when they eventually eliminate GF service?

UA-NYC

GS sanctuary to get away from lowly Premiers?

TA

Sorry but I think these are both wrong. The US air travel market is not a market that operates on the principle that more competition = better airlines rise to the top and take all the business. Despite our small subculture here, most customers really do not choose who to fly / care based on quality of service until it gets really bad (e.g. Spirit-level bad). And creating this level of competition (and ok, other services) so that you get slightly better airport lounges would be a horrible decision.

The airline industry in the US is so crowded and overcapacity that I'm sure you have observed that in full competition mode and price warring, airlines go bust and bankrupt and lay off thousands of workers regardless of how wonderful their service is.

Now it is not guaranteed that consolidation will lead to better service, but in the long run the opposite is true -- more competition in this already thin business will lead to worse effects: no service.

scottsam66

Snipped from a recent memo to Centurion Lounge managers:

Should a customer ask you about a Centurion lounge being placed at airport XXX, your response shall be, "Actually, XXX is currently being looked at for a location...".

SFHokie

I've only been to the GLF at SFO once so I don't have much of a comparison but I was rather underwhelmed. It felt very much like the UC in Terminal G but with slightly nicer seating and decent food/wine/booze selection. Centurion Lounge at SFO > GLF at SFO > UCs at SFO.

United did mention in a PR that a refresh of the UCs is in the works, but not sure really what the details are -- they were rather sparse in that language.

The UC at LAS is only nice/interesting because of the view. Fortunately there's a Centurion lounge there

LarkSFO

DFW, LGA, SEA, LAS? These centurions are not even a threat to UA Clubs at all.

So, one centurion. SFO. (which I really like, by the way)

I don't think UA is concerned, and the last time I checked in to the club, the lady at the front said 'UA has been sending us a lot of customers'.

Is UA giving away one time passes to the centurion at SFO?

StingWest

I stopped in at the Centurion lounge at SFO a couple weeks ago and asked for a "tour". Nice layout and everything seemed brand new (which it was), but kind of small and quite crowded - virtually every seat was taken mid-morning. At least I can always get a seat at the UCs - even if the food offerings are virtually non-existent.

So, my advice to others before shelling out the $$ for an Amex card is to visit your own Centurion lounge on a weekday and check it out.

A bit OT, but I'd also like to report that the Wifi speed I measured at the SFO main UC was the highest I've ever recorded outside of work: almost 70Mbps up and down speeds, using speedtest.net.

xliioper

Yes, let's go back to highly leveraged carriers operating on razor-thin margins constantly teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. But don't worry, the government will just bail them out in the next recession (ala GM/Chrysler) because it has been declared there must minimally be 12 legacy style carriers for all time.

N1120A

I'm thinking the lady meant one of two things, both of which are detrimental to UA.

1) The people working in the UA lounge are recommending their passengers go to Centurion instead, as it is much nicer and has faster internet.

2) Fed up UA PAX are going to Centurion instead. I mean, the natural customer for that lounge will be a UA passenger, as that terminal is UA only.

TravelStar

Amex currently charges $50 per visit for any Amex CardMembers (Green, Gold, etc) to their Centurion lounges. Only Centurion and Platinum CardMembers are given free access. Given that the lounges are already regularly filling up, it seems to me they will begin charging Platinums a fee per visit sometime soon.

UA-NYC

That would massively defeat the Plat card value proposition

TravelStar

Agreed, but that's the whole point. If the "Value" received exceeds the amount the customer pays (annual fee) the issuer loses money. At least for customers who use the lounge frequently.

Another possibility might be, say, two free visits per Platinum CardMember per year after which each visit is charged.

gengar

The customer won't enter (or at least won't repeat) a transaction if the value he receives is lower than what he pays. Businesses need to provide a value proposition to customers, otherwise customers won't buy.

I think what you're trying to say is that if customers cost more than what a business gets in revenue, then they lose money. This is of course true, but a different issue than the above.

N1120A

Not going to happen. AMEX is doing everything it can to shore up the devaluations that have occurred due to airline mergers and closer relationship with other card companies. That is why the Centurion Lounges are being built in the first place. If they started charging, they would certainly lose a bunch of people who are already probably wary about the fact that they don't have AA and US access anymore. Indeed, I initially upgraded to AMEX Plat in order to get access to AA lounges after I took my business to AA. Formerly, CO people could also get in to CO lounges with it. That was dropped.