txirish

Got off a flight from PEK to ORD (had upgraded to 1st) and was surprised that a United rep was at the end of the jetway holding a sign with about 10 names. Mine was one, and she handed me a boarding pass that had a little sticker inviting me to try the Polaris lounge. I had a long layover, so I headed straight for the lounge. It was very busy when I got there around 5PM, but i found a seat next to a table with dirty glasses. Cleanup seemed to be very slow for the first hour or so. The crowd rapidly thinned out, and by 6PM the club was mostly empty.

Quick observations:
- Food was fairly good, particularly if you are used to United Clubs. On a par with a typical international lounge. Didn't try the table service but the menu looked good.
- I liked the full service bar with the self-pour whiskey table. The latter included a Balvenie Doublewood, one of my favorite Scotches. 6 taps for draft beer, but they were all non-functional ("waiting for gas").
- Variety of seating is good
- For a new club, surprisingly limited power outlets. Most are lamps with one 120 plug and one USB connection. Often, the lamp is shared by multiple seats. I usually use 2 120v outlets - one for my Mac, one for a USB adapter that charges up to 4 devices. At least the majority of seats have one nearby.
- Bizarre rest rooms. A long, dark hallway has about 10 or 12 individual gender-neutral bathrooms. The only way to tell if one is occupied is to try the handle or look for a tiny "occupied/vacant" indicator by the handle. This is almost impossible to see in the dark hallway. When I arrived, all were occupied. I don't think they thought through this design very well.

Overall, for a US lounge, it's not bad. I use Amex Centurion lounges, usually SFO & IAH, and I'd say this comes close to the IAH experience but not quite as good as SFO with visible chefs and the wine tasting wall.

rittenhousesq

When I was there a few weeks ago in the morning, there was a waiter with a beard who gave good service in the dining area. He did tell the guy seated at the the table next to me that "service wasn't included." He only had a few singles on him, so left that as the tip. I left $5. However, on my second visit, there was a diner next to me who only had one drink and an appetizer and then left (wasn't there more than 20 minutes). He left a $20 tip! I thought that was crazy!!

ermintrude

I cant get the direct link (maybe an internal memo?) but I was sent a text of a screen shot. Basically this closes the loop for short haul AC access to polaris lounges where you could buy a business class AC ticket, use the polaris lounge etc etc.... I was told about this loop a long time ago but could never be bothered to use it. I try to avoid ORD like the plague anyway.

Kacee

Bummer for Lucky. My $305 Ticket that Gets Me Access to United's Polaris Lounge

WineCountryUA

Followed by
United Cuts Polaris Lounge Access For Air Canada Passengers

Also covered in AC FT forum http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/air-c...ge-access.html

Appears this is effective 1 Oct, 2017

drowelf

Definitely agree about the dark rest room hallway. I made a couple of comments about that to the desk agents when I left. I think they made it dark to enhance the star display (Polaris) on the ceiling. But it really does need some additional lighting or at least better indicators for the occupied/vacant restrooms.

IAH-OIL-TRASH

Good. An obvious (and correct) response to overcrowding at the Polaris lounge.

PsiFighter37

More than fine with this change being implemented. Only flights with the Polaris soft product should get access (which is basically what this change does, at least for UA metal flights).

findark

Note that this was already true for UA metal flights, the only change is deny access for non-UA transborder flights who previously had a loophole.

zbeebo

Flying Lufthansa Business out of ORD-FRA. Can i access Polaris lounge before heading over to terminal 5?

Kacee

Yes.

Don't go to T5, you'll miss your flight

TomMM

Last Thursday that flight left from B17

goodeats21

Correct. All Lufthansa flights will arrive ORD in terminal 5, but they tow the plane over to Terminal 1 for departures (B or C gates). You have access to the Polaris lounge, and it will be a short walk to your departure gate. No need to leave the terminal nor clear security. Very easy.

getagb

Very easy except for finding a seat in the Polaris Lounge…

kirkwoodj

365th day, still the only Polaris Lounge. Ouch.