EWR764

True... but old posting habits are hard to break!

JDT1955

I'll ask again: does anyone know if they kept the Polaris Lounge open past its usual 9PM closing on Sunday night when so many flights were delayed for the snow? GRU flight didn't leave till 11:15. I've seen them do this for the UC and GFL.

dank0014

1K responded me to (much quicker than 7-10 days and no follow up on my end! Crazy).

They indicated that access should have been granted and apologized. They have shared feedback regarding the language to "management" and will follow up with training to the club.

For those asking, I did show them my international boarding pass as well that day.

As a gesture, they are authorizing me to receive access to the lounge on an upcoming domestic flight I have along with some minimal miles, which I think is fair to make things right.

kirkwoodj

Not bad! ^

LASUA1K

I'm on ORD-EWR this morning and I saw a very good high up at UA and they took me into the Polaris lounge. Wow! Good job UA. Very quiet, very classy. I didn't stay long as I was running laye to board but first impressions were very nice.

IAH-OIL-TRASH

That's great! They still need to rework the language...

spin88

The LAX build out was in the cards for a long time, the result of trying to react to the major issues created by closing the IFL lounge and the PC. I don't know, but I would guess that it was done long before the Polaris lounge decision. Ground breaking on the project was in May 2015, so this had to have been planned in 2014, or 2013, given how long everything takes with LAX. I think the new LAX lounge (opening today) is an old piece of an old puzzle, it is not part of the current Polaris strategy.

Speaking of which, given that only one Polaris lounge is open now, and that lounge access is going to lag behind the soft product roll out even at major hubs (see e.g. SFO) It appears to me that the lounge part of this was a decision made long after the seat part of it. I give current management credit for reacting to the major soft product/lounge issues old management created, but I am realistically looking at how this all plays moving forward.

Given what the staffing/real estate costs, paid lounge access is just not compatible with a high level of soft product unless the company looks at it as part of the service. Delta (and AA) keep up the quality since its part of the experience for high value tickets. Once UA takes those folks away from the United Club, the argument becomes very different from a business perspectives. You don't want to offer a business class experience to "United Club" members, you want to offer a profitable service paid for by entrance fees. I don't see united subsidizing the United clubs for the benefit of "Bread and Butter Y Business travelers."

I think we will see, as the Polaris Lounges open that the quality of the United Clubs drops, it just makes business sense for this to happen. No way I expect the same quality of experience I get from say the Delta Sky Club from a lounge that services no International J Passengers and is there only for *G travelers in Y and paid members.

I may be wrong, but I am not going to stop flying Delta and enjoying the very nice Sky Clubs (using my AMEX PLT), assuming that United would give me a comparable product on domestic flights if I fly them and get a United Club card....

p.s. I agree that the current management is trying very hard on a number of things. At times doing a 180. My efforts so far to give United another chance have not been well rewarded, but so be it. This is, like the IFL was - if kept up - - very nice for those flying paid Polaris. But I do think it will have impacts on those who are *G (flying internationally, not in paid J) and domestic United Club members over time. The "some travelers are more equal than others" aspects of this cause me some concern, particularly as someone who flies 80-90% of my travel in domestic F/Y, but uses lounges.

fly18725

The Polaris strategy was in work shortly after the merger. I can't speak to all of the soft product, and I'm sorry to disappoint you, but the hard product is almost entirely the responsibility of the prior management team.

An interesting standard to establish regarding the consideration of an international J lounge.

dank0014

Correct, I was part of a focus group for the Polaris lounge design and onboard products while it was under Jeff. All the products and services were vetted prior to our testing which they told us were in the works for a couple of years.

villox

I am told that as of yesterday, the full kitchen is now OPEN at Polaris ORD. Where are the reports??

cerealmarketer

I sat in a Polaris lounge simulation, and it was a month after Oscar joined. Given they flew in agents from LHR to conduct a run through, and had an outside research firm on hand to conduct it, very clear this was all well underway before the leadership change.

And the United Club soft product enhancements rolled out this year were all contemplated with Polaris rollouts in mind.

AA meanwhile is shifting all international premium customers into the Flagship lounges next year (J customers gain access) in response to United. Admirals Clubs will do just fine without them.

And Delta's int'l J proposition will be much weaker on the ground as a result.

COA777

Curious if anyone can confirm what the current comp champagne offerings are in the ORD Polaris lounge. Wondering if they're still serving Veuve Clicquot and Moet Chandon Rose like when it first opened.

exerda

They were a couple of days ago--but I get that's not "current"; after all, they seemed to already be out of some of the whiskys they opened with.

cyclogenesis

So to get to C-Concourse UC do you go through the same door we used to?
IS there still a C-Concourse UC?

exerda

There's not one right now. The new space hasn't opened yet unfortunately.