aCavalierInCoach

All part of UA's brilliant strategy of making the lounge so busy that no one will go there anymore.

wh6cto

Thanks for catching that, I copied the wrong line. Corrected on my original post. International Terminal G for sure, since it will include the SilverKris/Eva lounges.

Just disappointing that only ORD is open, and they aren't rolling out any faster. Definitely won't benefit on my IAH-NRT trip, on either end.

Any word on where EWR lounge will be? Anybody see any construction?

Tennen

Since LHR GFL has most (all?) the elements of the Polaris lounge, couldn't they just rebrand it immediately if they wanted to? Shouldn't they be able to convert NRT right away too?

I'm assuming these two are the ones that need the least amount of work, so I wonder what's with the delay... I don't know about NRT, but it's not like LHR needs any design changes. Plus, if they're keeping the same footprint, no additional construction is needed.

aCavalierInCoach

Same issue as the SFO GFL space -- even though it has the right amenities, it's way too small to handle a full complement of biz pax.

mkrecek

Actually, based on what I was told by UA Club and Global First young, the First Class lounge will become a standard United Club. The SQ Lounge, EVA Air Lounge, and current United Club will close and become the new Polaris Lounge.

Chukiechz

I hope the SFO lounge gets completed on schedule or earlier. Taking the family from SNA-SFO-LHR in mid June and it would be great to be able to get a small taste of the Polaris lounge. Return trip will
be from CDG to ORD so at least we'll get that one

lhrsfo

Fortunately in London there are other good choices for *G who won't have access to the Polaris Lounge. Otherwise the old GFL would be rammed.

BE-58

The problem that UA here is that they've built a great lounge for Polaris, but there is not enough space to do what they want in the old GF lounges. A simple example: the sUA 3-class B777 has 40 C seats and 8 F seats. If this same flight is now flown by a B77W with 60 C seats, then you're accommodating 60 people for a given flight in a lounge that was designed for 8-10 from that same flight. This works if you have 1-2 flights departing at the same time, but not when there is a whole bank of departures at the hub.

My experience at ORD was quite good because I took the HKG flight which leaves in the middle of day and the lounge wasn't crowded. I can easily see how this gets very full in the evenings. LHR and HKG should be less of an issue, but ORD, IAD, EWR, and IAH will all have issues.

If you compare to SQ, their Silver Kris lounge is larger than the Star Alliance Gold lounge (where they send anyone without a business class ticket) but is generally 75% full - busy but you can still find a seat. My strong recommendation to UA is to learn from ORD and not repeat the mistake on sizing. Otherwise, this will become a negative rather than a major positive.

Kacee

I'm not sure it's correct to assume the current GFLs will be converted to Polaris lounges. That's not what's happening at SFO and I wouldn't expect it at LHR, NRT, or HKG either. At all of those locations, a business class lounge will pull more passengers than a UC, and I would expect the new lounge configuration to reflect that.

Absolute

Not at IAH if it's on the 3rd floor; I was just at the cubicles there 2 weeks ago. At check-in the lounge agent apologized for not having a Polaris lounge yet.

Strangely enough, the C lounge is currently closed "for renovations", but I highly doubt it would be changed into the Polaris, with most international flights from E.

LordTentacle

Is the Polaris lounge in SFO or LAX meant to be open by Aug1?

WineCountryUA

There are no firm dates for opening of any Polaris clubs. Work has started for SFO Polaris club but no word any activity has started for LAX.

The wiki of this thread has the present speculation.

PsiFighter37

I would assume LAX is probably one of the last to get finished, as I think (outside of DEN, which isn't getting a Polaris lounge) LAX has the least international destinations from a UA hub. Despite the new UC that opened a few months back, LAX is still getting the least love...none of the new routes recently either.

txaggiemiles

One week ago I asked the UC at E agents about the Polaris lounge. She said it will not be the 3rd floor of the existing lounge, as I had thought and as this wiki indicates. She said it would in fact be the 4th floor, above the current lounge and that the entrance would be to the left of the current E lounge entrance between the lounge facade and the restaurant to the left. Construction had not started, she said, and gave no indication as to when it would be opening.

rittenhousesq

Any educated guesses as to whether we will see a Polaris lounge at EWR before the end of the year?