zrs70

I’m at LHR flying UA, and I was thinking about the years of various lounges UA has used.

Do you all recall:
The OLD RCC in LHR Terminal 3 ? It was massive and ordinaary. During UA’s lean years, I remember nothing but packaged cheese and crackers.

How about the British Midland lounge at LHR. I think it was called “1” (or something like that).

UA also was part of a *A lounge for a while at LHR.

How about UA’s RCC at Logan in Terminal C in the areas close to gate 42. I believe that lounge had previously been used by TWA (when they vacated the peer of C).

What about CO’s lounge in SFO, pre-security. I recall it was near check in and access was through a round/ cylinder-like door.

How about UA’s San Diego lounge, in the rotunda.

mjg59

I remember being invited there when flying economy and only being a silver? I have vague recollections of London having some special status in that respect, but it was extremely inconsistent.

No. 1 Heathrow - this was after the move to Terminal 1, and it had a bunch of different zones with different "themes" including an area with a fireplace. But also bottles of London Pride, which was definitely a perk. At the extreme far end of the international zone of T1 (right next to the entry to the domestic gates), so not ideal for United (who were leaving from the far end of the Europier at literally the opposite end of the terminal - and, at the end of United's time in T1, even using some of the gate that are now part of T2 but which were accessible from T1 before demolition started)

Fond memories of being stuck there for 12 hours on Christmas Eve after a delayed inbound meant I missed my connection and BMI couldn't get me to Belfast until the last flight of the day. It was the first lounge I visited that had a decent number of showers.

That one's before my time - the only one I visited in C was near C15.

UA_Flyer

UA’s two RCCs at Miami F Concourse:

The first one was on the right side of escalators before you go up to F gates. This former Pan Am Lounge had the rosewood finishing and the feel of exclusivity. It was closed in the mid 90s when the new massive RCC was built on top of the F gates.

The replacement RCC was the flagship in the UA system. It was the first and only RCC to have self pour open bar, buffet (with real food) in the entire RCC network. Those were the days when MIA was the Latin America hub for PMUA with multiple daily 747/777/763s in and out MIA to/from IAD/JFK/ORD/DEN/SFO/LAX and Latin America destinations. My first UA transcontinental flight was on 747SP from MIA to SFO. The twice daily 752/763 MIA-IAD flights were great when I commune to DC to work frequently.

Let’s not to forget PMUA RCC at HKG’s old Kai Tak airport overlooking the runway into Kowloon Bay and RCC at Terminal 1 upper level of Changi Airport in Singapore serving two early morning 747 departures to HKG and NRT.

The former LGA RCC (before security): I spent many Friday evenings there waiting for my often delayed flight home to IAD. The year I made 1K (based on BIS) flying IAD-LGA-IAD on UX (mostly Air Wisconsin at the time).

SPN Lifer

For over a decade until it closed, after every arrival at SFO I would stop by at the Presidents Club in Terminal 1 for a beer, no matter what airline I had flown in on, before catching a bus or BART.

The dividend of a Presidents Club (joint spousal) life membership.

uastarflyer

I had no idea. When did that close?

EWR764

Thinking back a dozen or more years ago to my mileage-running days, I have lots of memories of RCCs and PCs. A few favorites:

RCC
- at ORD C, scoring one of the coveted tables along the windows facing C18 with a 747 or 777 parked there, studying for law school exams, with cheap beer, mini Kit Kats and snack mix
- Watching NFL playoff games at the bar at the LAX RCC, plus the "sign-in sheet"
- the DC-10 painting in the Saul Bass livery on the wall in the LAX IFL... I always wondered where that ended up??
- Beer machines at NRT... I know they persisted into the United Club era, but a connection here en route to HKG is the first time I ever saw one
- being really underwhelmed by the renovation of the B6 club at ORD in the immediate pre-merger era (a few years prior to the current iteration)
- Being allowed into the disused IFL at EWR for hours, by myself, undisturbed, to study for the bar exam (somehow I managed to pass...)

PC
- gate passes to P-Clubs just for the free drinks, on many occasions, at many airports
- missing more than one flight after being "mildly overserved" at the bar at EWR C-1
- An 8h mechanical delay at DEN, during which they kept the the then-oversized PC on A concourse open long after posted closing time, until we eventually departed for EWR around 11pm
- pseudo-Mai Tais in the PC across from Gates 12/13 at HNL... dark wood, no windows, yet had a distinct "70s/80s Hawaii" vibe that I thought was cool, at the time. Also was a great stop on a few MRs EWR-IAH-HNL-IAH-EWR same-day turns during the first double EQM promo circa 2009
- PC-hopping from A-E at IAH during long layovers
- the 90s movie posters in the LAX PC
- I guess the statute of limitations has passed on this one... so I will now confess to "borrowing" some CO-branded plates and glasses for my college dorm from the SJU PC after a Spring Break trip (no wonder it closed!)

Good times...

colpuck

The RCC on the underground level of SEA's N satellite. There was a RCC agent who was FT famous.

UA_Flyer

IIRC, before summer of hell in 2000

MatthewLAX

The old IFL at LAX (where the Polaris Lounge is now) was always empty and the ladies would always escort me down to my flight.

I'll never forget, as late as 2008 or so, the red marble bathrooms in the ORD B5 RCC, each stall or urinal with its own ashtray.

The horrible RCCs at FRA and CDG.

The IFL and RCC at JFK, with the pottery dragons looking back to UA's Pacific strength (and UA1/2).

I'm glad the F Untied Club at SFO has not changed...I love that constellation and hope it sticks around for another 20 years+.

zrs70

I do remember I was once the entry to the clubs at Heathrow. I was flying Varig in F up to Copenhagen. Star Alliance had already instituted that if you were flying F on one carrier, you have access to the F lounges for all member carriers (with the exception, I suppose, of Singapore Airlines).

The agent in Heathrow refused to give me access to the F lounge. In fact, she refused to give me access to the red carpet club either. She told me that my very ticket was not acceptable and I needed to produce a membership card.

I happen to have my USAirways club card with me, which at the time give access to United RCCs as well.

this was so many years ago. I need to let go of it!

jpezaris

There was one bartender at the LAX PC who mixed the most amazing Bloody Marys. He would take a good 5-10 minutes to prepare each, but they were more than worth it, and he of his reputation. I miss my flirtations with one of the women at the front desk there each time I came through (Hi Pam, wherever you are!). She was awesome, and always brightened my day.

Then there was Suzer tending bar at the PCs in Houston. Always a great smile, positive attitude, and genuine interest in sharing her clients' lives for a few minutes at a time.

Oh, yes, there was a bartender in the EWR PCs who was fantastic (was his name Tom?). I flew shortly after 9/11 and he had more perspective than most. His take: we mourn the loss, seek revenge, but then show our strength by rebuilding the towers exactly as they were so the terrorists achieved nothing but their own demise.

Then there was the staff at the CTOs I frequented. Man, they were great (Hi Sunny! Hope you're enjoying retirement!).

I do miss the pmCO stars. I'm positive people like them exist still in the modern United, but it feels like it's been harder to find them and get to know them post-merger. I did have an FA in Polaris over the summer named Zeus who was great, so I cling to hope.

zrs70

A lot of people are recalling relationship and conversations with agents and bartenders. I suppose in our automated world, interactions with agents just isn’t as common.

st530

All the IFL/GFLs
RCC in EZE
RCC in GRU
RCC in CDG
CO Pres Club in IAH Term D

halls120

Ordinary to be sure, but it was my first ever airline lounge experience, and for that reason, it will always be a special place in my memories.

Closing the RCC’s at FRA and CDG was a blessing. OTOH, the SFO F club is indeed a venue that I never get tired of, and it should be treated with extreme care by UA.

Yaddablahblah

Small anecdote less about the lounge and more about the time. But my strongest memory is regularly hunting for an ORD RCC workstation with a phone, hard connecting my laptop to it, using a calling card to dial into the company network and slowly downloading emails to read on the next flight. I remember when the Palm VII came out, thinking that 3 steps to being connected would eventually go away.