Kacee

Meanwhile, AA has opened a bunch of new flagship lounges in its hubs. Really don't understand why UA is so much slower on the lounge makeovers.

EWR764

Two reasons... I believe UAL significantly undershot lounge capacity in their projections and are working through what the concept will look like elsewhere with realistic traffic, especially in terms of budgeting. I don't expect the Polaris Lounge F&B program at EWR or SFO to be as nice as what was originally rolled out at ORD. Second, UAL has been trying to reduce and defer capex, and lounges (both UC and PL) are a big part of United's facilities-related capital expenditure over the next few years.

SkiPremier

I don't think anyone disagrees with you that UAL undershot lounge capacity. That was widely known last December/early January of this year and would be a simple adjustment in the specific lounge model for updating with more realistic passenger traffic figures. Delaying EWR/SFO a few months to make the adjustments or redesign, not 6-8 + months is ridiculous especially since it's noteworthy they don't even speak to it. If the F&B program is sub ORD, I think they'll continue to lose valuable traffic to Delta/AA. Sure Delta doesn't have a specific lounge, but I'd argue the experience is better in air. While I don't think the AA flagship lounges are as nice as the Polaris lounges (except for the separate dining area), their F&B offerings are on par with Polaris and some could argue even better, so if UA decides to cut their Polaris offerings on the ground as they have in the air, I'll begin to look elsewhere for the tickets I purchase up front. Granted I'm only a $15-$20K a year spend with UA, so they wouldn't miss me. I like the ORD Polaris lounge and my only complaint is the crowding and am excited for the additional space. I've noticed the cuts in the air since they rolled it out last December and still find it amazing that they couldn't accurately forecast both the lounge traffic and expected spend on soft product in the air.

Kacee

Not to mention that, during a time of record profits, they've elected to downgrade the service rather than allocate additional funds.

With this strategy, it's no wonder they're unable to increase PRASM and close the gap with DL.

flybit

United is making money the problem is they SUCK compared to the competition. SO united is trying to do better than means higher costs of flights or lower costs. United needs to wake up and stop giving away profitable routes to the competition.
YYZ-to LAX and SFO is serviced by its partner AC with 8 nonstop flights a day on wide and narrow body aircraft from Uniteds HUB, stupidity like this has to stop if the airline is ever to be profitable.

SkiPremier

Agreed. And they won't. They're trying to have it both ways. Low cost & "world class airline", thinking that will help close the gap. I'm fine with low cost, but make those cuts outside of the hard and soft product (and there's definitely opportunities) and invest in the hard and soft product to close the gap. That way I won't check other airlines when I'm booking United, I'll instead spend more to fly on United for the convenience and experience, however they decide to cut the product and it's quite noticeable. When I buy up front international, status to an extent is irrelevant to me, so I'll continue to occasionally book American or Delta.

TheDesigner

I was really hopeful at the end of last year when the lounge opened and then we saw the new cabin - but their inability to execute properly has bitten them again....

Add to this the partnership with OTG at my home airport (EWR) - the situation with the lounges - and the relative lack of flights with the new cabin has made it much easier to just fly other airlines now....

On the flip side - Just landed in Newark and was happy to see the new Wendy’s being built! - actually, that’s sad too....

minnyfly

Let's look at some facts.

AA announced the overhaul of Flagship Lounges in February, 2016. UA launched Polaris/announced the lounge at the beginning of June, 2016.

UA opened their first lounge 6 months later. AA opened their first refreshed lounge at JFK in May 2017, 15 months later. AA has now opened two more since then, ORD in September (19 months after announcement), and MIA in November (21 months), with a fourth in LAX hopefully done by the end of the year (22 months). We are 18 months after the Polaris launch, so AA has beaten UA to the second. However, UA is scheduled to open their fourth is around the same time frame as AA, if not sooner. The rest remains to be seen.

AA now has three lounges open. The first has been open for 6 months, the second 2 months, and the third only a couple weeks. That's a combined 8-9 months of access across all three clubs. UA has had one lounge open for a total of 12 months. It will take another month or so for AA to catch up to UA in that metric.

The crown on AA's head isn't so shiny now.

halls120

Having recently upgraded my Amex to Platinum, I've had the opportunity to visit several DL Sky Clubs. While I haven't been impressed with the breakfast offerings there, the food set out during the rest of the day blows the UC "enhancements" put of the water. Oh, and there's the occasional free premium beverage chit the lounge attendants pass out. I can't remember the last time that happened at a UC.

If UA cuts the F&B offerings at the remaining hub Polaris lounges, that would be a huge mistake, IMHO.

drowelf

Is that the Delta Branded Amex Platinum or the GM Platinum? I might be flying through some Delta Hubs next year and wouldn't mind dropping in on Delta Club, but I've got the GM Amex Platinum.

drowelf

Hopefully all this delay also means they are considering the proper sizing of the non-Polaris clubs at the hubs. With the rumours of the C-120 club becoming all Polaris, its really going to suck flying out of the 1xx gates if the only club available is the C-74 one.

physioprof

Regular Amex Platinum card gets you into Delta Sky Lounges (but no guests).

Xyzzy

They are supposed to be building another UA club above the far end of the C3 concourse. I saw some construction work going on there the other day. We can nly hope that's what is going on up there.

halls120

Just the plain Amex Platinum

PsiFighter37

So go the pop-up into a permanent lounge? Still too small IMO. I really would wish that a rumor I had heard for the original plan (build it above office space after security) would have worked. Heck, they might as well put it where the C3 security checkpoint used to be, given it's been closed forever...