Originally Posted by gengar

I understood your suggestion. The LAS Centurion club is always quite crowded these days, IME - yet the offerings are the same. (Maybe too much the same - or maybe I just fly too much.)

Originally Posted by Baze

My company got rid of AMEX as it was costing too much and not accepted in enough places. We now use MasterCard with a chip. I'm already a UC member via my Chase Club card. I already have SPG Gold for being a Clear member. And as other noted, Amex only gives Priority Pass Select so no UC's when in a place without a Centurion Club. Amex is also $495 per year, my Chase Club card is $395 per year and gives me miles. So as I said above, no desire to have an AMEX card and most people I know feel the same.

Originally Posted by mre5765

And the offerings in a UC vary? Do tell. I have not been in one since November.



My company got rid of chip and pin MasterCard because the bank issuer didn't issue outside USA and India. And Amex bid lower.

There will of course be lots of places in India that won't take Amex (cabs, diners) but the hotels all do.

Amex plat has a $200 fee credit. You can set up a travel bank for yourself at united.com and contribute $200 with your Amex plat. Or you can get a fee credit on a UC membership. You must have forgotten that.

Beside which, the priority club select program gives me access to non centurion non UC lounges that are better than UCs or ACs or Sky clubs. E.g. the contract lounge that LH and CX use at BLR is crowed. My priority select gets me into a 90 percent empty lounge down the hall.

At the Lhr terminal that AA uses, the priority select lounge is better. And at SJC you better have a priority pass (select is ok) or diners club card if you want a lounge. Or have a J BP on ANA. Otherwise no free Guinness for you.

At YYC and YEG trans border, your UC membership and $10 will get you some Tims but no lounge. My priority select membership gets me in. Good food in yeg too. At yvr trans border your UC or *G card are good for using a crowded mll. Your priority select gets you a less crowded lounge.

And so on and on and on. Amex plat is the
Now. UC is the past.

Originally Posted by Surftel

I am puzzled by UC's. Years ago I paid the fee and thought that I was getting some value.....but now I don't see any value.

Perhaps it is because many of the airports I fly out of have plenty of good restaurants, power ports, WiFi, good booze etc. With the exception of IAD and EWR most of the airports I fly out are nice places to hang out.

I am a 1K so when I am in London, Frankfurt, Vienna, Warsaw, Geneva, Istanbul, etc I use real lounges for free and am always impressed .

Most United Clubs are just a big room with chairs

Originally Posted by points_maniac

This.

Most domestic carrier lounges in the U.S. are a disgrace. They exemplify the state of our airline industry, which is focused on moving cattle from point to point at the lowest possible cost.

Originally Posted by LeviFlight

If United's new SFO bunker of despair is full then so be it. I'll be sipping my cocktail over at the Centurion lounge. Please do avail yourself of those carrots.

Originally Posted by points_maniac

This.

Most domestic carrier lounges in the U.S. are a disgrace. They exemplify the state of our airline industry, which is focused on moving cattle from point to point at the lowest possible cost.

Originally Posted by Always Flyin

AmEx gives membership rewards points, which can be transferred into a number of programs.

The personal Platinum card is $495 a year, but the business Platinum is $395.

Originally Posted by LeviFlight

If United's new SFO bunker of despair is full then so be it. I'll be sipping my cocktail over at the Centurion lounge. Please do avail yourself of those carrots.

Originally Posted by TA

If you want something better, enable (or regulate) the US airline market to structurally change and exit a few carriers, with no new entrants to the market. Let fares rise and people pay for this level of service that they want to get.

Or will people value the ability to move around the country at low cost over having a more luxurious experience during the fewer times they can afford to do that?

Which one do you think will win out?

Originally Posted by mre5765

The RCC was better than the UC before carriers exited/merged. You have it backwards. Force the four major carriers to divest and create 12 carriers. Kill the joint ventures. Then everything will improve.

Originally Posted by robbgrn

Seating arrangements, fine I can get that
Shower facilities, who cares. Honestly who takes a shower at a airport?
Hot and cold food items. Meh. If I'm hungry I'd rather go to a real restaurant to waste my time, not eating tiny apps
Complimentary wine/alcohol, fine I get that I guess
Waitstaff walking around, who cares
Cloth napkins, lol who cares

I don't really understand people's obsession with and critique of airport lounges.

I never pay for access, just not worth it for me. Do I go into them for free? Sure why not, but to me its not a big deal at all. Honestly the biggest difference is just it being a bit quieter and somewhat more comfortable seats.

People willing to pay $350 or whatever the Club Card costs boggles my mind. I think part of it has to do with their delusion that they are part of some exclusive club when in fact there are ways to cheat the system and get into almost any UC for free. And even for those who don't know how to do that, you can get a one time pass off ebay for like $15 if you want to see how the "exclusive" people waste their time at airports.

Originally Posted by mre5765

My links say both are $450 per year.

Originally Posted by SFHokie

I've been a United Club member for quite a while now. (Well, back in the day it was the RCC instead of UC, but you get the drift.) For the most part I'm content with the UC as it does provide a bit of "congestion relief" from the terminals (especially at IAD) and access to agents when flight problems happen. Yes, the food selection is terrible, clubs often are too crowded, workers usually in a pissed off or "don't care" mood ... but it is way better than the alternative: sitting at the gate around hordes of people.

Recently a friend got me turned onto the the AMEX Platinum charge card. One of its benefits is access to the AMEX Centurion lounges (which I think are in LAS, DFW, LGA, SFO, and MIA ... don't quote me on all the locations, I've only been in the SFO one so far, LAS will be in two weeks) for you and a companion. The lounge at SFO is nice, really nice, and it got me thinking "Yes, this is what the United Clubs should be like". Big differences between the two clubs, some of which are small changes, others are larger/more expensive ones, include:

• Better atmosphere, seating arrangements
• Shower facilities
• Hot and cold food items prepared fresh
• Much larger selection of complimentary wines, alcohol, coffee, teas
• Waitstaff that walk around with small round trays instead of ugly grey plastic carts
• The "feel" of more attention instead of "just another passenger" from anyone you encounter
• Cloth napkins and actual plates & silverware for the food

There have been some updates to United Clubs in certain locations (notably the F terminal at ORD), but it still lacks shower facilities and people walking around with small trays instead of the push carts.

While I doubt that anyone from United is going to be reading this thread, if they do, I suggest it would be very valuable to visit numerous AMEX Centurion lounges and experience the difference and figure out a way on how to make this happen for the United Clubs! Heck, and I hate to say this, but if anyone at United is reading this, you might even want to add multiple tiers that you can "purchase" a "subscription" to (or a one-day "cover charge") to help defer the costs of such a different type of lounge. (You already do charge different fees for things like checked-bags and alcoholic beverages while on a flight...)

Anyway, I know I'm rambling a bit on this thread, so I'll wrap up with a question: Has anyone else experienced other lounges like the Centurion lounge from other domestic airlines or have other suggestions on how to make, as a brand, the United Clubs better?