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Consolidated "Access to Lufthansa Lounge at IAD" Thread [Merged]

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Old Aug 2, 2013, 9:15 am
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
Last edit by: nacho
Why does this lounge have its own thread?
Unlike most non–United Club Star Alliance (*A) lounges in the United States, the Lufthansa lounge at IAD is physically accessible to domestic UA passengers. This means:
  1. United *G members may access the lounge on domestic itineraries, even though they wouldn't be allowed free access to the United Clubs on such itineraries.
  2. Passengers who otherwise have United Club access, whether due to a paid membership or a foreign *G card, have the option of a vastly superior lounge in IAD.
What is the Lufthansa Lounge at IAD like?
There are two floors to the lounge: the concourse level, where you enter and check in, which also has the Senator lounge with ample windows; and the lower level, which has the Business lounge and showers. (The showers are very nice; on par with Senator lounge showers in Lufthansa's Frankfurt hub.)

The Senator lounge offers a complimentary buffet throughout the day, including hot dishes, salads, and dry snacks, and has draught beer and a full open bar including champagne, available upon request.

[Need description of FTL offering. Include photos?]

How do I get there?
The lounge is located at the center of the B concourse, from where non-US airlines depart, to the right of the Aerotrain escalators as you enter the concourse from the train.

Hours have changed seasonally, but, as of April 2014, are 8:20 to 21:30 except Mondays, when the lounge closes at 17:30. It also closes daily from 12:00 to 13:30. Some report the lounge opening earlier on occasion and some report it closing earlier on occasion.

From TSA/check-in, the B concourse is one stop away by Aerotrain, but in the opposite direction of the C concourse from where most United flights depart. Allow 20 minutes between the center of the C concourse and the Lufthansa Lounge. The longest part of the trip is the walk between the C concourse proper and its Aerotrain stop. Between concourses B and C, the Aerotrain makes two stops: one at concourse A and one at the main terminal/TSA/baggage claim.

How do I get inside?
With...
  • Any Star Gold (*G) card (including UA Premier Gold and higher) and a same-day departing *A boarding pass in any class to any destination, domestic or international. There are reports (April 2014) that the physical card is no longer necessary; a *G designation on the boarding pass reflected in the barcode may be sufficient. (Senator lounge, 1 guest)
  • A LH/LX HON/SEN card and a same-day departing or arriving *A boarding pass to/from any destination, domestic or international. (Senator lounge, 1 guest [plus spouse if HON] plus children under 18)
  • A LH/LX FTL card and a same-day departing *A boarding pass in any class to any destination, domestic or international. (Business lounge, no guests)
  • A LH Premium Economy boarding pass with ($35 adult/$20 2-12yo child) lounge pass purchased at the ticket counter. [Can it be paid at the entrance?] (Business lounge, no guests)
  • A United Club or Maple Leaf Lounge Worldwide membership card and a same-day departing *A boarding pass in any class to any destination, domestic or international. (Business lounge, 1 guest)
  • A same-day international departing *A First (Senator lounge, 1 guest) or Business (Business lounge, no guests) boarding pass
  • A same-day arriving LH/LX First boarding pass. (Senator lounge, 1 guest)

In all cases, each guest must also present a same-day *A boarding pass for admission.

Lounge access for travel in a domestic premium cabin is not regulated by *A; as such, UA F domestic passengers (without other credentials) do not have access to the LH Lounge according to *A.com, just as they do not have access to the United Clubs. However, the international requirement for C/F tickets is conspicuously absent from Lufthansa's own lounge access sheet (see below), and domestic UA F passengers have reported admission. (Senator lounge, 1 guest)
[If we get (semi-)official confirmation of this policy, we'll add this to the bullets.]

Provided the lounge does not get overcrowded, as is often the case on US-based LH lounges, you may exit and re-enter the lounge as often as you wish. Note that if you are entering on a lounge pass, which are issued by Lufthansa to their own elites for various reasons, re-entry might not be allowed.

(If your access question wasn't addressed by the above, first check the *A access policy and LH's official access policy [generally relying on the least restrictive policy of the two if they appear to conflict], and if they answer a question that this wiki couldn't, update this wiki to help others! And if they don't, ask in the thread!)

So, can I use the lounge upon arrival in IAD?
Only LH/LX SEN/HON (on any *A carrier) and LH/LX F passengers have access to the lounge upon arrival at IAD without regard to onward travel. See the list above for more details. There are reports, however, of passengers not meeting this criteria presenting their arriving boarding pass and still being admitted.

Furthermore, note that, by virtue of not having access to the terminal, no international passenger whose journey ends at IAD has access to the lounge; they will be ferried by mobile lounge to the International Arrivals Building, which deposits passengers landside. [Can pax without checked bags choose to clear CBP in concourse C regardless? Also, do arriving passengers on LH/LX/*A F/C connecting at IAD to Y-class flights have access? According to LH.com, pax arriving in C on LH/LX can use the lounges in Germany and at JFK upon arrival to freshen up. Is the same courtesy extended at IAD?]

How does the Senator lounge compare to the newest Senator lounges in FRA?
Not favorably. The Senator lounge is like the old FRA lounges (cramped, and before a LH flight departure, crowded). Perhaps due to the crowding, LH offers its departing F pax preboarding from the Senator lounge, something which the FRA/MUC FCT/FCL does not offer but is common among LH's outstation lounges. So, enjoying champagne and macadamias at the nose or upper deck while waiting is a nice feature of the IAD Senator lounge.

This sounds too good to be true!
Lufthansa agrees! If the rumors are true, as of January 1, 2015, LH's Business Lounges will become its *G lounges, which means non-LH *Gs will be directed downstairs to the Business lounge after that date. There's some discussion of exceptions, most notable being that *G traveling in longhaul business class will still be admitted to the SEN lounge. Lufthansa has been more generous than most *A airlines in admitting *Gs to its designated *A First class lounges—not even UA's own 1Ks get to visit United's first class lounges without a first class ticket—so this change will bring Lufthansa somewhat more in line with the rest of the alliance. Went to the LH IAD lounge in June 2016 with TK G and SK BP flying Y, we were directed into the Senator lounge.
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Consolidated "Access to Lufthansa Lounge at IAD" Thread [Merged]

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Old Jan 28, 2012, 2:12 am
  #721  
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
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I was on a domestic UA flight a couple of weeks ago and had more than three hours time between connections. Went to the LH lounge, presented my MP card with the *G and was let in the upstairs lounge. Quickly glanced at the stairs leading to the Senator/Business lounge with envy thinking downstairs would be the holy grail. Well Tuesday I was on my way to LHR on a UA C ticket and I was directed downstairs. I expected all sort of goodies, more like the Frankfurt lounges offerings but I was so disappointed. The setup is quite strange, looks like two separate areas, once movie theatre style with a huge TV screen separated by a wall from the cafeteria style eating area. Now upstairs there is an offering of four warm dishes plus a soup kettle. Downstairs was the soup kettle and only one chaffing dish containing a rather bland meatball and spaghetti dish which at the time of me entering the lounge must have been sitting there for hours. The cheese selection was rather poor compared with the one upstairs, as were the rolls. Rather disappointing, I might say and I think I will never glance at the stairs leading downstairs in the way I used before. The grass is definitely greener upstairs.
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Old Jan 28, 2012, 7:56 am
  #722  
 
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Im *Gold as well, I really like the upstairs lounge. When you ask to use of the showers, they call downstairs, then you are greeted below. I thought that the lower level did seem more cafeteria like, however, the shower rooms are very nice and modern.. I agree that upsatairs is much nicer..
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Old Jan 28, 2012, 9:14 am
  #723  
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Join Date: Oct 2004
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I believe that the Business lounges typically are of lower quality for LH than their other offerings. The only thing this one has going for it is the shower, which as others have pointed out you can get access to as a *G by asking at the desk.
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Old Jan 28, 2012, 1:27 pm
  #724  
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Originally Posted by EXLEFTSEAT
I was on a domestic UA flight a couple of weeks ago and had more than three hours time between connections. Went to the LH lounge, presented my MP card with the *G and was let in the upstairs lounge. Quickly glanced at the stairs leading to the Senator/Business lounge with envy
I always thought the upstairs was the Senator lounge.
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Old Jan 28, 2012, 1:42 pm
  #725  
 
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Originally Posted by EXLEFTSEAT
I was on a domestic UA flight a couple of weeks ago and had more than three hours time between connections. Went to the LH lounge, presented my MP card with the *G and was let in the upstairs lounge. Quickly glanced at the stairs leading to the Senator/Business lounge with envy thinking downstairs would be the holy grail....
FYI - Upstairs is the Senators Lounge and downstairs is the Business lounge. The showers are only on the Business Lounge level though.
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Old Jan 28, 2012, 6:32 pm
  #726  
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
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Originally Posted by exerda
I believe that the Business lounges typically are of lower quality for LH than their other offerings. The only thing this one has going for it is the shower, which as others have pointed out you can get access to as a *G by asking at the desk.
Mrs.EX commented that the "poor" people who fly C on LH only get to know the downstairs lounge and never know what they are missing had the been directed to the "regular" lounge.
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Old Feb 1, 2012, 1:18 pm
  #727  
 
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No Problem with Sticker

First day for sticker on old card. I'm in the IAD LH Senator Lounge right now. The front desk agent swiped my card and quickly glanced at it and handed the card back without skipping a beat.

Mar. 2 2012 sticker on the card was not an issue for access.
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Old Feb 1, 2012, 6:19 pm
  #728  
 
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Originally Posted by CIT85
First day for sticker on old card. I'm in the IAD LH Senator Lounge right now. The front desk agent swiped my card and quickly glanced at it and handed the card back without skipping a beat.

Mar. 2 2012 sticker on the card was not an issue for access.
A good test would have been to pull out the unstickered card, and then, if she objects, with suitable fanfare pull out a sticker and apply it to the card, and then ask her to reswipe it.
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Old Feb 5, 2012, 12:24 pm
  #729  
 
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I'm at the Sen. lounge now and had the same experience as CIT85. The agent seemed to pay more attention to her screen after swiping the card than the card itself. FWIW, I don't even have a United BP right now, just a bar code-less DM card.

I also noticed cards on the reading material rack with this message:

Note on data protection

"Lounge tracking" - electronic registration in the Lufthansa lounge


Why is Lufthansa introducing "lounge tracking"?
"Lounge tracking" will henceforth be used comprehensively in all Star Alliance lounges all over the world as a basis for the airlines internal accounting. Additionally, the centralised lounge access rules and the automatic card check will help us to guarantee the exclusiveness of the lounges for you as a lounge guest.

What will happen with the data?
Personal details such as your name, flight number and date will only be recorded temporarily. The information will be assessed anonymously for statistics and reports as this only concerns volume. The procedure is examined and approved by the Lufthansa data protection officers.

If you have any other questions, please contact the corporate data protection officer of the German Lufthansa AG (dsb(at)dlh.de).
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Old Feb 5, 2012, 7:39 pm
  #730  
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
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Originally Posted by drewguy
A good test would have been to pull out the unstickered card, and then, if she objects, with suitable fanfare pull out a sticker and apply it to the card, and then ask her to reswipe it.
Had misplaced my current card. Used a 2010! card last week and had no problem getting in. It's what's on the screen.
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Old Feb 5, 2012, 8:02 pm
  #731  
 
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Was just in there yesterday after connecting in from LAX to IAD before going to CAE. What an improvement over the UCs.

Safe Travels
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Old Feb 5, 2012, 8:29 pm
  #732  
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Originally Posted by GTITAN
Was just in there yesterday after connecting in from LAX to IAD before going to CAE. What a vast improvement over the UCs.

Safe Travels
Just fixed it for you (bolded mine).

LAX
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Old Mar 1, 2012, 9:11 pm
  #733  
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
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Changing hours?

A friend of mine who's based in the DC-area said that the LH lounge hours have been reduced to 8-11am and 2-5pm from the "Daily exept monday and thursday: 8:20 am - 6:30 pm. Monday and thursday: 8:20 am - 5:30 pm" still posted on LH.com. Can anyone confirm or refute this?
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Old Mar 1, 2012, 10:39 pm
  #734  
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Japan
Posts: 5,577
Originally Posted by Rus925
A friend of mine who's based in the DC-area said that the LH lounge hours have been reduced to 8-11am and 2-5pm from the "Daily exept monday and thursday: 8:20 am - 6:30 pm. Monday and thursday: 8:20 am - 5:30 pm" still posted on LH.com. Can anyone confirm or refute this?
I was there just yesterday, however, did not look closely at the opening times because they seemed to be the same as always. Certainly nothing to what is posted on the LH.com site.
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Old Mar 2, 2012, 6:36 am
  #735  
 
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: ANP
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Posts: 1,408
its going to be a test tomorrow if I dont get my new card in....I have new one printed out, but cant read the number, I have my old card that says March 2, and my RCC....my guess is ill be downstairs
BOOOOOOOO should of had the new cards by now!
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