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A quick overnight business trip took me to San Francisco yesterday. On the way home today, I stopped by the United Club℠ near Gate F11 in Terminal 3 at San Francisco International Airport (SFO). I have been to this lounge countless times through the years, but for some reason never reviewed it. I love the classic design elements that have been preserved here (much like the United Club℠ at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) (review here), which also has a vintage look).
The lounge opens with a long hallway that leads to the check-in desk.
Access
Access is granted for those with United Club℠ memberships, day passes from Chase co-branded credit cards or purchased for $59, Global Services® members, United passengers with Gold or higher status traveling internationally, international Business or First Class passengers traveling on a Star Alliance flight, and Star Alliance Gold members regardless of class flown. You can find more information about these lounges and their access rules here.
Anthony’s Take: Some might think this United Club℠ is dated, but to me it holds memories of time spent waiting for flights home after many business trips. The food is rather mediocre, but the staff is friendly and nostalgia outweighs the amenities for this one.
Bar
A bar is tucked towards the back of the lounge on the right side. There is a variety of paid and complimentary beer, wine, and spirits here. The free offerings are pretty basic, but the paid selections are not badly priced.
Coffee machines can be found in two locations along with drip coffee and hot water.
Water and fruit-infused water can be found near the buffet.
A Coca-Cola Freestyle machine is also located across from the buffet. Unfortunately, almost every flavor was out.
A sign near the entrance highlighted Aperol Spritzes. These are for sale at the bar.
Food
The buffet is to the left when you enter the lounge. Additional snacks are in the back. The food in the United Clubs℠ was improving for a bit, but seems to be slipping again. This lounge had a selection of a few hot items, soup, a noodle soup bar, salads, sandwiches, snacks, and desserts. Nothing looked particularly good and United needs to alternate the make-your-own tacos as these are getting so tired.
Desserts and sandwiches were on a separate table.
Vegetable Broth 
Toppings for the broth and rice noodles.
Summer Salads, Guacamole, Hummus, and Salsa
Salad ingredients
Lime Cumin Chicken
Flour Tortillas
Tofu Picadillo
Chicken Banh Mi Sandwich and Spinach, Feta, and Tomato Wraps
Vegetarian Pozole Soup
Cheese, crackers, and grapes
Chocolate Chip Cookies and Lemon Bars
A nearby table held snacks and oranges
More cookies, bananas, and cheese and crackers were near the bar.
Other snacks were also found here.
Seating & Decor
The lounge is large and was surprisingly empty when I visited. There are multiple smaller rooms with seating configurations for working and relaxing. A lot of the decor feels dated and some is a little worse for wear. The rotunda in the center when you enter is gorgeous and will hopefully be preserved if United renovates this lounge.
I love the beautiful ceiling.
A customer service desk fills the one wall under the frescoed ceiling.
The first seating area is to the left of the buffet when entering the lounge.
Tables line the bar area.
The back of the lounge was even quieter.
Workstations line one of the walls.
There were also multiple cubicles.
All sorts of seating setups lined the main room and its windows.
Amenities
This United Club℠ offers free Wi-Fi, restrooms, magazines (pictured above), departure boards, and the food and beverages mentioned above.
The robots below the departure boards are supposed to be bussing, but they were both on a break.
Overall Impression:
For some reason, I was not into the food. United has made great strides when it comes to its offerings, but I just was not feeling it today. I love the design of this lounge and hope that it stays the way it is as a time capsule for years to come.
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Advertiser & Editorial Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat earns an affiliate commission for anyone approved through the links above This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. We work to provide the best publicly available offers to our readers. We frequently update them, but this site does not include all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.
