imkeww

Worst:

ORD B and ORD F -- these two are the size of walk-in closets.

Best:

SFO G Concourse &
NRT (old one -- haven't been to the new one)

Passmethesickbag

Having read this and other similar postings, I headed straight for the Silver Kris Club before my first ever flight as *A Gold (LHR-JFK with United, best flight I ever had in Economy but that's another story). I found the door locked with a sign telling me to ring the bell, which I did regularly for about seven minutes. After this, I started banging on the glass door. A couple minutes later the concierge emerged, triumphantly pointing towards the bell and asking why I hadn't rung it. With quite remarkable restraint (for me), I explained to her that I'd been doing this for some considerable time and put it to her that it probably didn't work. Judging by her response, she was either too thick or too arrogant (probably both) to even contemplate this possibility. I emerged upstairs to find the lounge entirely empty of customers, as the SQ flight had just left, and was looking forward to getting pampered for a while in peace and quiet. I went up to the bar and asked a second attendant for a Bloody Mary. She poured me a glass of tomato juice and handed it to me. I told her that she had just poured a Virgin Mary, and could I please have some vodka. She responded that unfortunately they didn't have any, how about whiskey? I pointed to the bottle of Smirnoff and told her I'd rather have that. I helped myself to some remaining sandwiches and retreated to a cozy-looking corner. Unfortunately, a third attendant soon emerged and proceeded to vacuum the floor, including the area around my chair, almost literally between my feet. After a while, I returned for another drink, and was very pleased to discover Tiger Beer in the self-service fridge. I asked the third attendant where I could find an opener. She just gestured to me to go and look for myself behind the bar, which had now been evacuated by her colleague. As I had my first ever experience working behind rather than in front of a bar, I contemplated sadly how this outfit could be considered the yardstick of customer service, and how unlikely I am to ever consider consider flying with them after this first experience.

After this, the LHR RCC didn't seem half bad. Yes, it was very busy, but there were still armchairs available, and the staff was friendly and gracious - not least the charming cleaner who couldn't have been more different from her colleague in the Silver Kris Club, navigating efficiently and gracefully amongst the crowd. I still want to try the SK/AC lounge next time, but I'll stay away from the Silver Kris one, and I won't avoid the RCC.

[This message has been edited by Passmethesickbag (edited Feb 28, 2004).]

MatthewClement

Agree with the comments about LHR. It really is dreadful and in desperate need of a facelift. The PCs are ancient, the entire room is grubby, but it DOES have a large smoking section for those of us addicted to the weed...

With the new London Lounge open right next door, they won't be seeing me in the LHR RCC anytime soon. It's as different as day and night. Not sure why the SQ lounge at LHR gets rave reviews -- it feels a little uninspired to me.

I was very pleasantly surprised by the T7 RCC at JFK. Clean, very friendly staff, and a good range of food on offer. Also like SFO Int'l.

All three ORD RCCs qualify as average or below, as do the IAD ones.

Sorry to take this off-topic, but one of the nicest lounges I've been in (anywhere) is the new NW lounge at DTW. Beautiful lounge -- particularly love the fireplaces.

G2

Little G2 and I loved both SFO and NRT lounges. NRT had a big round table where Little G2 spread out her math homework, and I played with the beer machine. CSR's at SFO were friendly and funny and we liked the toblerone bars. (We're easy to please if you have chocolate!) IAD lounges are nothing to write home about, and DIA lounges are no big thrill either. CDG is too small, in my opinion. Always crowded when I have been there.

Those are the only ones I've spent enough time in to comment on.

CDG1

Best intl. RCC:
1- NRT
2- HKG (although the TG lounge next door is so much nicer)
3- CDG for their morning croissants

Best domestic:
HNL
HNL
HNL
...

Worst domestic:
ORD
SFO
LAX
IAD

RichardInSF

I was just in the CDG RC yesterday, and while the croissants were nice, the search for an empty chair was not.

But for my money, the biggest problem with the CDG RC is that it is at CDG. My experience yesterday at this incredibly passenger-hostile airport reminded me again why 63%+ of the Paris to London traffic is now taking the train. Too bad there is no fast train to SFO!

tealeaf99

Here are my RCC votes:

Best Domestic: SFO (but can get crowded)
Best Int'l: SFO (big, bright, atmospheric)

Worst Domestic: ORD-B
Worst Int'l: LHR, CDG (both are old and worn, and need immediate makeovers)

Off topic, but:
Most Amazing Lounge: SK Lounge at CPH. This lounge is just beautiful - hardwood floors, many different types of chairs/seating, good work spaces, good selection of food and drink, amazingly helpful staff, very comfortable, etc.

Absolute Worst Lounge: LH Lounge at LAX. This lounge is small, cramped and quite uninviting. The chairs/sofas are dirty, worn, and the cushions have almost completely flattened out! There is NO space to work. Expect to stand while having a drink.

flyhawaii

What makes some of you the HNL lounge is the best choice? If you had a choice of going to the JFK, LAX, SFO or HNL lounge, which would you go and which has the best snacks?

violist

Best domestic - I think I agree about SFO,
although I kind of like BOS, HNL, and JFK
Best int'l - I disagree about SFO, as the
help there are the absolute worst; further,
I dislike the architecture. Come to think
about it, there isn't a best int'l.

Worst domestic - there are so many choices!
PHL, I think; or maybe ORD-F - B doesn't
strike me as any worse than, say, LAX

Worst int'l - I disliked the new NRT one,
but that might be by comparison with the
old new NRT one (what a loss!); FRA, LHR,
CDG, all lackluster, but just go for the
free cheap booze (and at CDG, chocolate
croissants). Haven't been to TPE lately,
but the old one was tiny and cramped,
although the selection of buns was at least
as good as what the 7-Eleven offers.

stimpy

Totally agree. I was in CPH recently and used the Scandinavian lounge and it was it many ways better than the Wing in HKG.

Yes LHR is really bad especially with the 4 ancient PC's. No envelopes or paper or pens! How can a business lounge not have business materials? But at least the showers are half-way decent. And if you use gallows humour you can get along fine with the ladies at the front desk.

As for HNL, the Intl F lounge is or was very nice when I used it a few years back. SNA is the best little lounge.

How is ICN? I'm going to give it a try in a few days.

pb9997

Best - MEX or SFO
MEX - Everything is there: Internet access, free booze, great different types of cheese, fruit and sandwiches, nice music. There's no showers though.

SFO - It's gorgeous, worth a visit !

redtop

My wife and I will be travelling to Asia in a few weeks on UA, and we each have 2 RCC one-time use passes to use. We're trying to figure out what are the best lounges to visit, since we only get to see two. We have no status on any airline, and we're flying Y (although E+ ) so no other lounges are open to us.

Outbound, we have a nearly 3.5 hr layover in ORD 9:45a-1:10p, followed by a nearly 2.5 hr layover in NRT 4:20p-6:45p (continuing onto TPE).

Since we'll be doing a stopover on the way back, all we have inbound is a 2+ hr layover in SFO 9:25a-11:45a.

Things that matter to us:
+ good free food/non-alcoholic drinks
+ good view of airplanes
+ relatively quiet, comfortable place to rest
+ clean restrooms
+ showers (pipe-dream?)

Things that don't matter:
+ alcohol
+ wi-fi

Unless someone convinces me otherwise, the plan now is to visit an SFO lounge (probably terminal 3, concourse F) and either NRT or ORD Terminal 1, Concourse C, probably the NRT one, since we will have just completed a long-haul (although we'll have less time there than in ORD).

From what I've read, the SFO lounges are nice, esp. the international one, but I assume the SFO international RCC is not very practical for us, since we'll have to go through immigration. I'm also wondering which ORD lounge is the best--it looks like we'll be leaving from Terminal 1, Concourse C, which is why I singled that one out earlier. Is NRT significantly better than any ORD lounge? I have an option to get onto a flight that leaves one hr earlier from ORD, giving me a longer layover in NRT than in ORD. Is this change worth it to have more time in NRT? Otherwise, I prefer the original flight since it's a 777 vs. 747.

Thanks for the help!

qasr

I would go for NRT & SFO. By a long shot. NRT has showers, and the amazing beer machine. Keep in mind that all international RCC's have comp drinks...although you said it wasn't a priority, I thought I'd mention it.

If you have two passes, you can only get both of you into one lounge since they do not allow guests. Are you aware of this? Or do you have 2 each? It wasn't particularly clear.

DZMAN

Not sure your status, but if Premiere, you should get free access to all clubs on the day of international travel. If you need to select, I prefer NRT and SFO...

cawhite

I'd also go with NRT and SFO. NRT for the showers as mentioned above (I don't believe there are any restrictions on who can use them as long as the individuals have been granted access to the RCC, right?). There are also some computer terminals with internet connections although it's hit or miss if there's a line for them. (Same with the line for the showers).

That said, I'd choose SFO over ORD. I was in the SFO RCC last weekend for the first time and wish the ones at ORD were as nice. There's still just the basic munchies (I was there in the late evening, and it was veggies & ranch dressing/dip, chips, crackers & cheese...standard RCC evening assortment) but the setting seemed nicer. Water/soda/juice at the SFO RCC is also help yourself, whereas ORD you'll have to ask the bartenders for anything but water or coffee (or oj in the morning)

Welcome to FT & have a great trip!