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IAD Polaris Lounge to open 21 October 2021?

IAD Polaris Lounge to open 21 October 2021?

Old Apr 17, 2019, 9:36 pm
  #16  
 
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Originally Posted by MatthewLAX
I wrote about this last December. There are several improvements being made to the “temporary” terminal, including the Polaris Lounge.
"The new lounge will be located across the hall from current C17 lounge (meaning United would still maintain four United Clubs at IAD)"

Good news. Hope the clubs won't be that crowded after Polaris Lounge opens.
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Old Apr 18, 2019, 6:16 am
  #17  
 
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We live near Dulles and fly United a lot. We haven't set foot in a United lounge there since the FCL closed. Between Priority Pass (AF, BA and TK) or *G (LH and TK) we'll trade the extra time from the B concourse to C/D over the UA lounge experience. The Polaris lounge can't come soon enough.


We've actually been in the Polaris Lounge at Dulles...the temporary one they set up to showcase the Polaris roll-out a few years ago which we attended. Talk about a tease!
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Old Apr 18, 2019, 6:59 am
  #18  
 
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Will be nice to finally have a Polaris Lounge at Dulles as the LH and TK lounges are subpar. I was hoping that the delay in setting up the lounge was due to serious consideration of building a new Terminal C/D but I guess that's just not achievable at this time. I bet MWAA wants some time between the major Silver Line project and taking on anymore debt.
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Old Apr 18, 2019, 8:15 am
  #19  
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Originally Posted by amtrakusa
it is possible the new Polaris lounge can be a part of new concourse or connected to the new concourse. Otherwise, I won't spend 33M on it.
Originally Posted by mh3265a
...I was hoping that the delay in setting up the lounge was due to serious consideration of building a new Terminal C/D but I guess that's just not achievable at this time.
At the FFG event last year at IAD I had a chance to talk with Omar, the station manager for IAD.

He mentioned the IAD PL lounge was new construction BUT was being built to accommodate the eventual rebuild of C/D. That is to say, when they do eventually tear down the "temporary" C/D complex (hallelujah!) they will NOT need to demo the new PL lounge as it was built to work with the proposed rebuild.

No idea if this is still the plan but putting it out there FWIW.
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Old Apr 18, 2019, 9:28 am
  #20  
 
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Originally Posted by J.Edward
At the FFG event last year at IAD I had a chance to talk with Omar, the station manager for IAD.

He mentioned the IAD PL lounge was new construction BUT was being built to accommodate the eventual rebuild of C/D. That is to say, when they do eventually tear down the "temporary" C/D complex (hallelujah!) they will NOT need to demo the new PL lounge as it was built to work with the proposed rebuild.

No idea if this is still the plan but putting it out there FWIW.
Hard to imagine how that would work. The new construction area with the Polaris Lounge is shown (somewhere...don't recall where right now) as right across from the C-17 lounge area where there are now shops. The new C/D terminal will be about 500 feet south where the train station is already. The Polaris Lounge would therefore be in an isolated island in the middle of the taxiway. Maybe he meant they could move the interior fixtures.

While I'd like to get the Polaris Lounge ASAP, it doesn't bode well for a new C/D terminal for many years to come. They'll just keep patching the warts on the current terminal. Ironically, for the trips where we'd like most to start in a new lounge, United has been offering much better J capacity on *A partners, so we frequently start our journey in terminal B.

While a previous poster thinks the LH and TK lounges are inferior to Polaris Lounges (totally agree), they are vastly superior to the United Lounges at IAD. And that's what United is providing for at least the next year or two (or three, or four, …).
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Old Apr 18, 2019, 9:30 am
  #21  
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Would any of the United Club's close after the opening of the Polaris Lounge? Any information yet? 4 United Club's and 1 Polaris Lounge would be too much. I have heard that the one near gate C4 would be closed soon, but it's just a rumor that has been passed in a discussion that I've heard by distance in IAD.
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Old Apr 18, 2019, 12:38 pm
  #22  
 
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Originally Posted by Portolan
While a previous poster thinks the LH and TK lounges are inferior to Polaris Lounges (totally agree), they are vastly superior to the United Lounges at IAD. And that's what United is providing for at least the next year or two (or three, or four, …).
I agree. Though not a Polaris lounge quality (though I have not been in one yet - some time later this year I am flying out of EWR so shall see), and not quite Centurion level either, TK and LH at IAD are better than the domestic lounges in any other US airport, and many of the international lounges I have visited (at IAH, for example). I wonder if UA is also realizing that it needs to think about its non-*A competition, and at IAD that includes BA and AF, both of which have lounges better, in my opinion, than TK and LH. BA seems to get complaints from PP customers, who don't get the full F&B, but the CW dining (not to mention the Concorde Room) and wines are good, and it will be interesting to see if AF ups its game with its current renovation - the old lounge food was not very substantial, but they had great bread, cheese and actual champagne. Currently, the overall pleasantness is much greater flying BA or AF out of IAD than UA, and I am happy to fly them when the price is competitive. I fly UA international when it is cheapest, which it often is, and the seat is great, but I can't say I look forward to the experience.
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Old Apr 18, 2019, 1:52 pm
  #23  
 
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Originally Posted by Portolan
Hard to imagine how that would work. The new construction area with the Polaris Lounge is shown (somewhere...don't recall where right now) as right across from the C-17 lounge area where there are now shops. The new C/D terminal will be about 500 feet south where the train station is already. The Polaris Lounge would therefore be in an isolated island in the middle of the taxiway. Maybe he meant they could move the interior fixtures.
Agreed . . . I can't see how it could stay in the same location. The slides posted above show how infeasible that would be. The lounge is nowhere near the Aerotrain station (nor is the C/D terminal), but it would need to be in order to be integrated into any new terminal.

That all said, I think it's irrelevant. The new terminal is years off, as it's not even in a planning stage, and by then the lounge and fixtures will be nearly fully depreciated, and United will likely have already announced (but of course not begun) another rebranding exercise for its premium cabin.
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Old Apr 22, 2019, 7:10 am
  #24  
 
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Originally Posted by J.Edward
At the FFG event last year at IAD I had a chance to talk with Omar, the station manager for IAD.

He mentioned the IAD PL lounge was new construction BUT was being built to accommodate the eventual rebuild of C/D. That is to say, when they do eventually tear down the "temporary" C/D complex (hallelujah!) they will NOT need to demo the new PL lounge as it was built to work with the proposed rebuild.

No idea if this is still the plan but putting it out there FWIW.
Thanks for sharing that intel. Interesting that was their take. I'm not sure how it would still connect to a new C/D terminal unless the new terminal looks more like a cross. That said, at least United is still thinking about a new C/D terminal.
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Old Apr 22, 2019, 7:14 am
  #25  
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Originally Posted by mh3265a
Thanks for sharing that intel. Interesting that was their take. I'm not sure how it would still connect to a new C/D terminal unless the new terminal looks more like a cross. That said, at least United is still thinking about a new C/D terminal.
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Old Apr 22, 2019, 9:13 am
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Originally Posted by UA_Flyer


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Hahahahaha! I remain the internal optimist
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Old Apr 22, 2019, 10:43 am
  #27  
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26 posts and no mention of the mice? Will some of them migrate over from the UCs, or will it be a whole new fresh batch?
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Old Apr 22, 2019, 12:56 pm
  #28  
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Originally Posted by Portolan
...The Polaris Lounge would therefore be in an isolated island in the middle of the taxiway....
That would be awesome - with moon buggies going back and forth to it.
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Old Apr 22, 2019, 1:46 pm
  #29  
 
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Although this is all speculative at the moment, I wouldn't be surprised if UA kept 3 or 4 of the IAD UC's open after PL IAD is opened. C7, C17 and D8 are oftentimes near-maxed out capacity, even after C4 was converted from FCL to a UC in 2018 iirc. I'm not sure if the 4 could be consolidated.

And LH and TK are both wonderful lounge alternatives, sure, but the walk to them from C (even with the buggy) leaves more to be desired, especially with time constraints ):
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Old Apr 22, 2019, 1:54 pm
  #30  
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Originally Posted by mh3265a
Will be nice to finally have a Polaris Lounge at Dulles as the LH and TK lounges are subpar. I was hoping that the delay in setting up the lounge was due to serious consideration of building a new Terminal C/D but I guess that's just not achievable at this time. I bet MWAA wants some time between the major Silver Line project and taking on anymore debt.
Subpar?? I’d argue the TK lounge is the best *A lounge at IAD. LH is close behind, followed by the various UA lounges. I’m sure Polaris will be nicer than TK, but I don’t see what makes TK subpar. A variety of hot food, the bar, and comfortable seating makes it a great place to go.
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