seenitall

Rather than building a new Polaris lounge at IAD, I would prefer they sink the money into building a new midfield terminal and blowing up the 30+ year old bus station that is C/D.

Eastbay1K

Excuse me. It is a trailer park (just strung end to end), not a bus station. That was actually the 1 F lounge that I never cared much for. (Ok, old ORD F lounge wasn't so hot, either.) When the "new" SFO lounge opened in 2000-ish, that was a beautiful lounge. Quiet, well-appointed, very good beverage, ok food. LAX was pretty good, JFK had great staff. LHR was good. I don't believe I ever visited SEA or EWR.

JMBResona

It was a tweet from @garyleff.

DCA writer

Booo!!! I only got to try out the GFL briefly in April and was already looking forward to spending more time there at the end of August. Back to LH it is...

FWIW, the View From the Wing report appears to be confirming https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/29866798-post8.html by ua1flyer. According to that post and subsequent replies, United will somehow shoehorn a Polaris Lounge into the D end of the concourse, even though most long-haul international flights leave from the C gates. That also suggests the C/D perma-temporary concourse isn't getting a date with a wrecking ball anytime soon, which is no surprise but still depressing.

uanj

Seems multi-quote is still not working...

OP, I absolutely miss the CDG GFL. The Star Alliance lounge is ok but so crowded. UA's CDG FCL (it was never called a Global First Lounge) was not easy to find, yet very close to the gates, tucked away between the inner and outer walls of the terminal. So quiet, good wines and champagne, I absolutely miss it. But it has been ages.

I also really liked the JFK lounge which was just a quiet haven away from all crowds and noise. And the incredible service there for boarding or IRROPS when it occurred.

I did not know the IAD GFL was closing. The lounge itself is nothing special, but the food and beverage is OK and it is never packed to the gills like the UCs. If GS now only have access to those overcrowded UC's, I will be far less likely to use IAD. This move gets a big thumbs down.

BOStonTravels

I think what was special about UA back in those days is the real effort to have a separate first lounge as well as so many arrivals lounges available at airports around the US and globe (not to mention the 1K rooms, etc). In that way they helped create a "gold standard." I'd also argue they were exclusive, no status or credit card got one in back in the day, especially the arrivals lounges where not even upgrades allowed use. The IAD lounge is one of the last vestiges of that. IIRC there were First International Lounges back in the day at IAD, LAX, SFO, ORD, JFK, SEA, BOS and many other international airports, all were quiet havens with very nice service.

EWR764

Nostalgia and sentimentality play a big role here, too. We look back fondly on the "old days", and vestiges of that era, even if reality wasn't actually as good as the memory suggests, tend to be highly valued... that's probably the case for anyone's youth, too. Still, I'd argue that the gold standard has increased dramatically since the 1990s heyday of UA IFLs. At that time, they really weren't much more than, as you say, quiet havens with nice service.

Today, if United were to roll out a similar product, it would be lambasted as grossly uncompetitive on a global level. A few hundred square feet of dedicated space, some self-pour higher-end booze and a modest food service wouldn't cut it in an era where competitors are investing massively in their respective products, not just in capital but also on the basis of operating cost.

Case in point, the Polaris Lounge, the best lounge product United has ever offered, is decidedly a business class-caliber product (though a very, very good one).

uanj

Yep! Also EWR, SYD and MEX. The two I cannot remember so well are MIA and HNL. They both had long haul three-class international service and certainly had RCCs, but did they also have an IFL? Just cannot remember.

BOStonTravels

Internationally, I remember IFL (and some separate Arrivals Suite) at CDG, FRA, SYD, GRU, HKG, NRT, LHR. I dont recall EWR, MEX or HNL? Were there other locations as well? Which was your favorite? I seem to recall a butler in the LHR lounge but nobody commented on this to confirm.

dilanesp

Well, we the flying public voted with our dollars. First Class is only profitable if it isn't filled with upgrading FF'ers and enough people are paying a premium for it. But after lie-flats came to business people weren't interested in paying that premium anymore.

The focus of FF'ers should be to get upgraded standard lounges. Bigger UC's (and Admirals Clubs, etc.) with more food, drinks, bring the showers back, etc. Because it looks like the Global First product is dead outside of a few subsidized foreign carriers.

HeadInTheClouds

HNL & MEX definitely. I don't recall anything at EWR.

1015-1k

Having visited the ORD and SFO Polaris lounges on multiple occasions, I do miss aspects of the GFLs. While Polaris lounges are better designed and more up to date, there was more of a sense of exclusivity and relative privacy the older lounges. Also much better, more personalized service. Beyond cutting three-class international service, this has been a big hit to the value of the GS program, as we've lost that exclusive perk now too (using the GFL while traveling in Biz). I also miss the self-serve drinks of the GFLs.

kale73

"Gold" isn't what it used to be, if it ever was. United MP has, for instance, no fewer than three tiers above Gold.

(Then there's the "Golden Arches" to consider.)

flyerbjorn

I went to the SFO Polaris lounge twice in the last week and was blown away. Best business lounge I have ever been to.

I don't miss the UA First lounges at all.

entropy

I've been to both the GFLs in SFO and ORD, I wasn't terribly impressed.

GF was a great product when the other prospect was barcoloungers in C, and the F lounges were fine and quiet, but its not like they had much of a spread. Aside from snootiness, I don't see how (many more people) people are worse off once they get the polaris' up and running.