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Travel is a privilege and complaining about an airline lounge is definitely a first-world problem. That said, United has continued to let its United ClubsSM deteriorate to the point of making me not want to even step foot in them. It’s especially upsetting when you visit new locations like the one I just popped into in Terminal A at Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) to find it dirty, picked over, and crowded.
I get it. It’s Newark. Consider it a good day if you get more than a grunt for customer service (and this coming from someone who lived in nearby Hoboken for many years and speaks fluent Jersey). The lounge dragons were busy chatting when I rolled up to the self service entrance. Another passenger asked a question and they did not stop chatting.
I entered the lounge and it was packed. There were hardly any seats to be found. Trash lined tables and the floor. The buffet was entirely picked over and almost empty unless you wanted a bowl of plain rice or some errant cheese cubes. I watched a young child touch some of the food and slurp directly from a bowl of soup perched perilously on the edge of the buffet. Two minutes was enough and I was back out of the lounge. The mess pictured above is not from this lounge, but another filthy location that I visited.
United is smart in that it’s not giving any pretense of being a premium airline. It gave up that ghost long ago. Now, it competes on its route network, which is excellent. Lucky at One Mile at a Time recently wrote about 12 things he likes about United. I mostly agree with him, but if United did not have its routes and was not a hub in Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD), I’m not sure I’d ever fly the carrier again. I get that United has bigger fish to fry (like its current FAA oversight and investigation into why so many mechanical issues are happening), but passenger experience is key to loyalty and United is missing the mark everyday.
Where Delta Air Lines has stepped up its game the past few years with gorgeous lounges and buffets that offer food you’d actually want to eat (like the one I visited yesterday with make your own poké bowls or the breakfast pictured above), United has settled for mediocrity. It’s slogan “good leads the way” should be changed to “I guess it’s good enough.” This lounge was not an anomaly either. Each United ClubSM I have visited over the past year has had these common themes:
- They’re dirty. Trash is all over the tables, chairs, and floors. United has cheaped out on hiring lounge attendants and has implemented self serve table bussing and ridiculous robots in its lounges.
- They’re crowded. All lounges are crowded, but United’s feel even more so. They are packed to the gills with people.
- The food is awful. In the best lounges United operates it’s poor and it goes down from there. United is not known for its cuisine. If you’ve flown Polaris® then you have been subjected to all sorts of horrors on board. This also translates to the United ClubSM.
Anthony’s Take: I do not look forward to flying United or visiting its lounges. I used to love the airline (and Continental before it), but it’s changed. United no longer cares about passenger experience and even its most luxurious offering is lackluster. There are days when I think about the years spent as a Global Services member and the fact that I’m nearing two million miles flown with the airline and smile, but those days are few and far between. Now, I mostly shrug and tell people that I enjoy flying Spirit more than UA. I don’t see this changing anytime soon.
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17 comments
I was in the “new” EWR C club 123 on Tuesday late afternoon and it was absolutely slammed with unattended kids running around, yelling and screaming while the gross parents sat and drank the warm house Chardonnay. Food was nonexistent and the furniture already tired and full of stains…unfortunate. Yes it is a first world problem and all it takes are few bad apples to ruin nice things but people are generally disgusting and entitled. I walked in and walked out like you – and grabbed a drink Caps Beer Garden and had a quieter and chiller experience there than the lounge.
I’m really starting to feel kids either need to be banned or they need to crack down on parents that aren’t making their kids behave, and give them one warning and then boot them. Almost every visit I’ve had into a United club since the beginning of the year has had unruly kids running around, climbing on things, not using inside voices, weaving through and cutting the lines at the buffet and grabbing food with their hands direct off the buffet.
Cool story. But having experienced myself both kinds of lounges (United Club at EWR and Delta club at LGA) recently, in terms of being crowded and the food offering they were about equal. Perhaps you visited the United Club at a bad time, or happened to visit a shoddy location. There are also Delta Skyclubs that are not up to par.
As far as food on the plane goes, Polaris food is leagues better than Delta One.
The over-crowding isn’t really the airlines’ fault. They can’t turn people away who have the right to use the lounge.
I will agree that there are locations of the Delta Sky Club, Centurion Lounge, and others that are not great. I’ve just found that UA continues to decline more rapidly.
I agree. I’ve seen mixed things in different brands of lounges. Overall the food at United Could really use improvement. That would go a long way to improving customer experience and giving a more premium feel to first and business class and frequent fliers that have club membership.
Some united clubs have stepped up their game, some of the new clubs feel really nice, some have better food offerings than others. It’s hit and miss. I’m hoping more will see improvement.
I would genuinely enjoy a civilized debate about United between you and Matthew at LALF. I think you both have some extremely valid assertions and perspectives, each from opposite sides although I tend to agree with you more on United.
If only someone would do something about it: https://thepointsguy.com/news/united-club-upcoming-lounges-upgrades/
How about the new Denver lounges? I found them to be bright, with a wonderful design, and so spacious that it never felt crowded. Also, the new catering was way better than Polaris food. Eat up at the lounge so you don’t have to eat on the plane.
I am both lifetime Sky and UA club member for 40 years. Both have gone downhill, both are crowded, both have food that my dog would
Not eat.
Yes Newark is the worst. Atlanta is no better with lines extending out the door.
These were membership clubs. Now elites get in, credit card holders get in, you can buy an entry and families with kids get in. Who’s to blame the airlines.
You don’t see over crowded Emirates, Doha, Lufthansa, Swiss or other foreign carriers. Why be cause the restrict entry.
Credit card Membership perks have tarnished the appeal of Quiet and relaxing in the UAL Clubs. Now they are overcrowded feels like you are at Chucky Cheese’s wilh the iĺl manned Children. Forget about trying to get in during Holidays. We also enjoy flying on Foreign Carriers!
2mm with UA and I agree about the lounges. The crowds are way up and quality is way down. Even as a member, I now find more peace in the terminal. My last Polaris lounge visit was equally horrid. No seating, a 45min queue for a dining table. So, I just left. Not the experience one wants on a $10k ticket. I have whit maintaining UA 1k status and just go with foreign carriers when possible.
I agree with PAUL MCO.
Credit card Membership perks have tarnished the appeal of Quiet and relaxing in the UAL Clubs. Now they are overcrowded feels like you are at Chucky Cheese’s wilh the iĺl manned Children. Forget about trying to get in during Holidays. We also enjoy flying on Foreign Carriers!
Credit card Membership perks have tarnished the appeal of Quiet and relaxing in the UAL Clubs. Now they are overcrowded feels like you are at Chucky Cheese’s wilh the iĺl manned Children. Forget about trying to get in during Holidays. We also enjoy flying on Foreign Carriers!
Credit card membership perks have tarnished the appeal of relaxing in UAL Clubs. We also like to fly on Foreign Carriers.
Credit card Membership perks have tarnished the appeal of Quiet and relaxing in the UAL Clubs. Now they are overcrowded feels like you are at Chucky Cheese’s wilh the iĺl manned Children. Forget about trying to get in during Holidays. We also enjoy flying on Foreign Carriers!
Nice post to gain clicks, but in reality you are basing your opinion on peak hours and crowded locations. Anybody with decent travel experience would understand that at times, every lounge in a given airport will be crowded and getting caught up on cleaning. Get a Sapphire or AMEX card to give yourself “lounge diversity” and options during these times. I’ve found at LGA peak in T2, one will find the Centurion AND new Chase lounge nearly packed, while the U Club is peaceful and clean as a whistle.
I haven’t been to many United clubs, but the four I’ve been to (DEN, LAX, HNL, and GUM) were just fine for me. I loved how spacious LAX is and how there are Hawaiian-inspired offerings at HNL, including the pineapple soft serve. AA clubs are worse as far as I’m concerned, although the three new ones at DEN, DCA, and EWR are solid upgrades.