Bruin1K

So I was flying united in August of 2013 out of YYC and I was told I didn't have access to the part of the airport where there was a maple leaf lounge. And there were no united clubs where the UA flights would depart.
Does anyone know if that is still the case ? Thank you.

simmang

For US bound flight? No star alliance lounge. Yes, it sucks.

SPLITTERZ

There's a contract lounge you can pay to get into. Never done it, actually never seen anyone go in it.

SEA1K4EVR

According to the Star Alliance Lounge finder, you do have access to the MLL which is near gate 12 in the domestic terminal (A)..I used YYC-ORD as my example flight.

According to the airport map, http://www.yyc.com/portals/0/interac...ame=Departures...

US customs is in the B concourse area. Once you've gone through you won't be able to access the other parts of the airport.. but it's unclear from the map if you can clear security first at concourse A...visit the lounge, and then go through immigration.

At the airport you should definitely ask before you go through US customs...it will be too late afterwards.

Or, you could use the tried and true trick of many FTers who need to go through security here in the US to access a lounge...buy yourself a refundable domestic ticket on AC, go through security and show the MLL attendant your United international ticket for that day.. they may be surprised to see you, but you are entitled to access it per the rules. You can print the page yourself from the *A lounge finder website. Of course you'll need to leave yourself plenty of time to go through immigration and probably security again.

Bruin1K

Thanks for the replies. Yes it is US bound and it is amazing that a star alliance career going out of Canada doesn't have access to a lounge!

SEA1K4EVR

They are opening a brand new international terminal there later this year....it's been delayed over a year. Adding many gates, the US customs area is being re-built, international transfers will be easier and not require re-clearing security. I didn't read anything about a new MLL, but seems quite logical they'd open up a second one when the new terminal opens (maybe).

jmcintosh

This is the case for most Canadian airports with the exceptions of Toronto, Vancouver, and Montreal which have transborder MLLs for United and Air Canada flyers headed for the US. Many smaller airports like Edmonton, Saskatoon, Regina, Winnipeg, Ottawa, Atlantic provinces, etc. have primarily UA operates flights south; if they have US preclearance, the passenger does not have access to the lounge.

I will take US customs preclearance over lounge access any day, although it is nice when you can have both!

Kacee

Not really. Keep in mind that access to the departure area is limited exclusively to transborder pax and that these are basically domestic routes.

If you were flying to a country other than the US, there would be a departure lounge.

sinoflyer

This is terrible advice for YYC. Domestic Canada, international, and transborder pax all go through different security screening and customs pre-clearance (U.S.-bound pax) processes. You can't go from one part to another after entering that portion of the terminal. (This is OT, but in a hypothetical situation when one needed to exit the transborder area and return to landside, they would need to re-enter Canada via border control.)

International and transborder will remain separate, and I doubt AC and/or *A will open two lounges in the new terminal to accommodate both sets of pax. Admittedly, there's likely a bigger demand for one on the transborder side...

wcj1

My boyfriend uses that lounge regularly since it is part of Priority Pass. He says tt is nice and agrees that is is usually fairly empty.

docbert

The Rocky Mountain Lounge. It's actually not a bad lounge - basic food and alcohol and all the usual stuff you'd expect from an independent lounge.

Priority Pass will get you in, or obviously pay-per-visit.

channa

I've used it as well. It's a bit dated, but has decent amenities.


The Star Alliance lounge finder isn't that granular. Yes, you would technically have access to it IF you could reach it, which you can't and it's not practical on a USA-bound flight.

Plane-is-home

I second that. Way better than any domestic UC. Amex Paltinum gets you in for free too.

gcashin

The lack of a Star Alliance lounge in the US transborder area at YYC is definitely annoying.

From what I've heard from local staff, there are no plans for a transborder AC lounge in YYC. UA handles far more transborder flights than AC out of YYC so while it's disappointing that AC hasn't added a transborder lounge, it's probably not surprising.

mre5765

The contract lounge is accessible by those with a Priority Pass membership (including the Priority Pass Select membership that USA Amex plat members get) and holders of Canadian Amex plat cards.

Diners Club card holders also have access. There is actually a strong intersection of accessibility of Diners Club and Priority Pass. You should have applied for the Diners card when it was available. Unfortunately new applications are "temporarily" disabled.

I've been using the trans border lounge in YYC for 5 years. Self serve bar, including Glenlivet 12 year single malt. Food (wraps, sandwiches, food).

Usually about ten people in it at any time for a lounge with capacity for about 100, Often families; I've no idea how they are gaining access but I suspect it must be through a packaged travel deal, as I can;t imagine paying multiple entrance fees for 60 minutes of access (transborder area cannot be accessed until T-120 minutes before flight departure. Allow 60 minutes for passport control and security) There is usually a short line of people ahead of me who argue with the receptionist that they should get access.

Get the Amex plat card and be done with it.

Dated as compared to what? You mean the lack of furniture that needs repair as opposed to a UC is dated? Fair enough.