jhayes_1780

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unit...ad-lounge.html
Access / reviews for TK's IAD *A lounge
Consolidated "Access to Lufthansa Lounge at IAD" Thread [2014 forward]
United Lounge options at IAD - Where do I go?
Best Lounge Options for UA/* Gold at IAD?

WineCountryUA

As you will be depending IAD on a domestic flight your choice of lounges will be limited.

Unless you are *G (profile states silver) you may not have access to the TK or LH lounge. They normally serve just those departing in International Business. There have been some reports the LH may take Domestic F.

If you are arriving on UA Polaris, you will have access to the UA UCs in C/D regardless of your status or cabin.

Say Vandelay

I went there for the first time recently, after it opened at 11am, and there were fewer patrons than staff. In fact, all of the bartenders (possibly ones from other clubs as this location has the tiniest bar), were gathered in one corner listening to a training from someone in a suit about how to sell more/expensive drinks. He was giving them pointers like to remember the person's name from their credit card or to know their previous drink order and ask them as they pass if they'd like another. He also explained that all of the customers were spending their company's dime and probably didn't have to show receipts for under $15.

One food difference in C6 I noticed from the other clubs in the late morning was that they had yogurt parfaits in tall, slender glasses. On top of that they only had soup spoons with which to eat them and they didn't fit inside the glass!

ekwang

Thanks!

rittenhousesq

You can also use those lounges if you are a United Club member.

sanfran8080

FlyingHighlander

Call the police. Presumably there were witnesses if the lounge was busy, and possibly camera footage.

halls120

Call the MWAA Police.

UAL250

Have an upcoming overseas trip, where I will be leaving for NRT at 12 pm. As *G I get access to all the *A lounges. I have been following the UA app and this flight and the PEK one (the only other big intl destination at this time) leave pretty much only between C1-C8.

Which UA club would be the emptiest? And would the TK or LH lounge be empty as well? Am willing to go there and then take the train over to C later.

Thanks!

ISTFlyer

The TK lounge could be crowded before the Ana, Egyptair, Ethiopian and Air India flights at that time but the Lufthansa Lounge would be probably empty. AFAIK, before the LH check-in counters open the Senator Lounge is closed and all pax are directed to the Business Lounge.

Both the TK and LH Lounges are better than all United Club's so first I would tried the TK Lounge and then the LH Lounge before trying United Club's.
By the way, the United Club's near gate C4 and C7 are less crowded than the one across the AirTrain station and the one in D.

FlyerTalker70

Your best bet for IAD would be the LH lounge - the LH Senator lounge (which you have access to as *Gold) has excellent food options (easily better than what I saw at the TK lounge when I was there in March). Access to the LH and TK lounges at IAD are available regardless of *A itinerary (even UA Domestic) per *A rules. The restriction on United Golds and above not being able to access lounges on domestic flights only applies to United Clubs (I believe this is Star Alliance showing their sense of humour and pity). Is it worth taking the moon buggy or train to the terminal? Yes! Absolutely! This can all be done airside without having to re-clear security and you've got multiple ways to get between your terminals which is far better than EWR where you're stuck with UA Shuttle buses with Shuttle Dragons (a story for another day).

Here's what the menu of the LH lounge at EWR showed when I was there a few months ago:



The only downside I see is it tends to be a little bit crowded. However, since you're *Gold you won't be on the Business class side which tends to be crowded with kettles. Instead, you'll be on the Senator side which is reserved for those travelling in F and *Gold members only.

United Clubs in the US are an absolute joke and disgrace. You'll be lucky if there is soup and crackers there!

As for TK lounges, yes they tend to be emptier than the LH lounge. However, food is not as good IMHO. The main redeeming feature of the TK lounge is they have a shower suite you can use to freshen up:

drewguy

Absolutely go to the TK or LH lounges before this flight - you can get some real food. Only drawback with that noon-ish flight is you'll be there as they switch from breakfast to lunch, so you may have to eat fast after they put out the lunch offerings. But, still better than carrot sticks in UA. Figure on ~ 20 minutes to get from lounge to gate via Aerotrain, assuming you're familiar with how IAD works (pro-tip: take the elevator down to the B station from the lounge. Much faster than ecalators.)

UAL250

Thanks all for the great advice. I will definitely look into both the LH and TK lounges before my flight.

zoned_post_meridiem

I think it depends on how much time there is. I had a long layover and air-trained it over to TK, and it was a bit of a letdown -- food was ok, but the wait for one of the two (!) bathrooms was so long that I ended up leaving and going over to LH. Which may have a nice Senator lounge, but the business one in the basement is ... also meh. I'm not saying they're not better than the United offerings, but if I had <2h, I wouldn't bother changing terminals just for TK/LH.

[Edit: missed that you're *gold. That might make the trip to LH worth it. Still lukewarm on TK]

FlyerTalker70

You don't go to the TK lounge for the food! Its main purpose in life is to give you a shower before hopping over to the LH lounge. It wasn't the cleanest shower stall I've been in for a lounge but found it quite serviceable for purpose. Certainly better than the showers at the PL in ORD where the water pressure is low! The other benefit I could see of using the TK lounge is if you had something to print out - I never could figure out how to print stuff out of the LH lounge from their Ricoh printers but at TK it was straight forward.

So long as you leave your expectation for crazy good food that TK is known for at the door you'll be fine.

Agree with you on the LH lounge being a zoo on the Business lounge side. However, from my experience, the Senator side (accessible to *Golds) tends to be less hectic and the food makes the trip worth while. Easily one of the top *Gold lounges in the US on that measure alone.

Safe Travels,

James