WineCountryUA

The hour shorter SFO-PPT (and SFO-LIM) works, so would be very surprized if there is an issue.

The main intent was to remove the access destination where UA would have not marketed as Polaris -- the initial issue was flights to Canada from ORD and other Nothern American, Caribean, ... destinations.

canadiancow

If there's more than 30-60 minutes, I'd argue the closest UC (international) is bad enough to warrant the trek to one of the others.

nootka

Thanks for the tip. I have about 3.5 hrs so I think I will head over to one of the other lounges then.

WineCountryUA

Disagree having spend two hours (7-9AM) there this week but that is the subject of the other thread.

gambda

I know this is United branded lounge we're talking about, but Air NZ, which is the operating carrier in this case, classifies LAX-RAR as an international Long Haul route.

Also, the fine print on the website is not clear.
This is from their Polaris lounge access rules web page "Long-haul international flights include those from the U.S. to Asia, Australia, Europe and select South American countries, including Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Peru" which is listed all the way down the bottom.
Notice they have not mentioned Oceania but simply Australia. Australia IMO is a country and if their intention was to mention continents in the above sentence they should have worded that better - e.g. Australasia (or Oceania) which includes Australia, NZ and pacific island countries which RAR (or Cook Islands) is a part of. Also the word "select" appears only applies to the South American countries. If they wanted to exclude RAR from Oceania (or Australia), I suppose they would have done it explicitly by stating "only select Australasian destinations including Australia, NZ, etc."

hirohito888

I feel like many are overanalyzing the UA Polaris access signage. UA listed those countries because those are the Polaris destinations served by UA and it made it clear that Canada/Caribbean and Colombia are excluded. RAR is not a UA destination so UA probably never considered it or even bothered differentiating Oceania with all its other countries.

The sign also doesn't list "Africa" and UA is going to serve CPT in 5 months time.

Given that RAR is longer than PPT, I would assume NZ business class passengers would get access. Just as I would assume that ET business class passengers going to LFW/ADD would also have access to EWR Polaris lounge. But then again, who knows what random access rules the Polaris agents follow.

jsloan

Generally, "scan boarding pass and see what the computer says."

I suspect once someone actually tries LAX-RAR, this will be a non-story.

Wait. RAR? Ted?

econ

I realize that there has been a lot of discussion on definition of "same-day", but wondering about the following scenario:

Domestic red-eye leaving after midnight, connecting to same-calendar day Polaris flight.

Will I have access to the PL the evening before the red-eye?

WineCountryUA

I don't think we have a clear answer. There have been mixed reports.

The one issue is most PLs close long before midnight. And dinning rooms shutdown even earlier.

nootka

Thanks for everyone's help earlier. I had to completely change my flights and now I will be flying business (AC) YVR-ORD, (TK) ORD-IST-PRG then (SK) PRG-ARN (SK)ARN-LAX, (AC) LAX-YVR (economy leg). So, is AC transborder considered an international flight in terms of determining the connecting airport? I just don't understand if ORD is considered my departure airport or my connecting airport. I am so confused. Anyway, would I get Polaris Lounge access in ORD??

Also, I will probably get access to the United Club lounge in LAX since I have a business award ticket, correct? TIA

Kacee

Yes. Though it may not be particularly convenient for the TK departure from T5.
Only if you're *G. If LAX-YVR were business class, you would get UC access.

nootka

Thanks for your reply. Sadly, only the ARN - LAX flight is business. The connecting LAX-YVR is economy. I have had luck showing my business award ticket and getting into Maple Leaf Lounges in the past in similar circumstances. But, I guess I will see what happens when I get there.

So sorry, to bother you again, but I keep reading threads and people have said that TK only offers access to contract lounge in T5. Is this still the case since I have also read that the Worldwide Flights Services Contract Lounge is now closed? I just don't want to get my hopes up. Thanks again for your help/patience.

hirohito888

Not sure which lounge TK gives you invite to, but in any case there are also SK and LX lounges in ORD Terminal 5 which you should have access to as business class passenger. LX lounge closes at 7PM and SK lounge closes right before the last SK flight.

StuckinITH

The visit to the Polaris Lounge all depends on how long nootka has in ORD as the incoming flight should arrive in Terminal 1 or 2 anyway. There's now a bus leaving from Gate B1 (Terminal 1 Concourse B) that goes to Terminal 5.

jsloan

The United Club is not the Maple Leaf Lounge.

The board is riddled with complaints from people in your exact same situation who didn't get UC access.

If you really want to visit the United Club, you can generally find a pass on eBay for $20 or so. The LAX club is one of the nicer ones domestically, but it wouldn't be worth $20 to me personally.