anc-ord772

AA has the Flagship Lounges, which are a higher tier club within their lounge system.

Edited to add: Also, AA has an invitation only dining area within the Flagship Lounge offering an even more exclusive environment. A third tier if you will. It's like a poor mans SQ Private Room.

amtrakusa

come on, like an ULCC will open multiple polaris lounges!

narvik

For Kirby, the Polaris lounges must be a faux-pas: United can't even do a good job at mimicking!

LordHamster

Would probably fall under lodging for many.

Kacee

Basic Economy (have you not heard of that?) is a direct attempt to copy and compete with ULCCs.

But as I said, UA is not an ULCC and despite copying several of their attributes, simply cannot ultimately compete with them on cost.

Current management's slash and burn cost-cutting may make the analysts happy (and thus pump executive comp) but it's not in the ultimate long term best interest of either the airline or its core customer base.

sabbasolo

Now that we are focusing on showers, I do understand the OP.

I travel almost exclusively long haul, so showers have always been a major factor in planning connections. Try travelling Europe or Israel to Australia in 3 hops and you will understand. EWR UC was a blessing, and I happily arrived early to sign up for a shower (typical wait in evening peak was about 20 min in my experience).

Similarly, I use the TBIT lounge quite often, and used to use the showers in LAX (which were in between the GF lounge and the UC).

Since I now travel J class almost exclusively, the Polaris lounges are only good news for me. Once there are more Polaris lounges I will be able to use them at connections too when flying international J.

Arrivals lounges are another part of this puzzle - I regret the loss of most European arrivals lounge arrangements, and think that additional small arrivals lounges should be made available in the USA too. Going to a hotel isn't always feasible, and anyway takes a long time as well as the cost.

lanky

I've endured the closures for renovations in Newark over the past year(s), overpriced premium liquors, wines, and beers, sub-standard food, and not enough restroom facilities. Now they've converted the main club in C near security to Polaris and so I don't have access with my regular, $550 / year membership. Topping it all off, they no longer carry the New York Times. I'm done.

FlyerTalker70

When I was in EWR a week ago I recall there being two clubs in the C area, a pop-up one near the C100s and the main one near the shuttle bus area. The main one seemed pretty standard for a UC so there shouldn't be any problems with club access if you're flying out of EWR. The main gripe I have with UCs is the lack of showers domestically (after a 13+ hour flight from NRT and another 30 minutes going through immigration and security for new gate a shower is the first thing you have on your mind).

IMHO I don't see the point of a UC membership, especially when access to the clubs is free as a *A Gold member. Unsure how often you fly but if you're clocking 50,000+ miles per year it may make sense to credit miles to a foreign airline like Aegean or Asiana (who also gives you 4 years of *A Gold).

Safe Travels,

James

lanky

I believe Star Alliance Gold status grants one admittance only if travelling internationally.
https://www.united.com/web/en-US/con...ge/access.aspx

PTahCha

Only for UA*G. Access is available for all other *G members as long as they are traveling on a *A flight, domestic or international.

EWR764

Do Admirals Club members routinely complain about not having access to Flagship Lounges? I can't really fault United here, the messaging has always been that Polaris is a longhaul J/F lounge only.

I arrived internationally at EWR this week and saw construction underway at the far end of C-3 on the upper level, in what appears to be the future United Club. It should be a nice space. More extensive renovations of the C1 club are to begin soon, as I understand.

LondonElite

LordHamster

The EWR situation IS a mess. I travel through EWR quite often, but mostly on international connections. Now that Polaris is open, I no longer dread the prospect. The last few times I was there pre-polaris, the club by C84 was so crowded, there was no place to sit, no restroom without a line, and a massive line at the bar. I ended up just sitting down in gen-pop at a relatively empty gate and felt much more at peace than I did in the lounge.

Polaris lounge at EWR could not have come sooner. Oddly, my travel has changed a bit and I've not been going through EWR as much.

Was there on May 31st (saw the press event, but could not get in).
Was there June 14th (Enjoyed the heck out of it).
Will be going via IAD Sunday... so no joy. But I WILL be returning from the UK via EWR on Thursday, so I'm sure I'll enjoy the lounge then.

sanfran8080

lanky

Sorry, I wasn't specific enough. If one is UA *A, no access, which is usually the case with someone frequently finding oneself near a United Club (hence the rule....)