United opened their first Polaris Lounge in Chicago in December 2016, which coincided with when the Polaris concept was launched. I had the chance to check out this lounge last year, and was impressed by the quality of the lounge, as it was beautiful, featured a la carte dining, and had an excellent food and drink selection as well.
United’s Chicago Polaris Lounge
At first United’s implementation of Polaris was really slow, leaving many people disappointed. For 16 months they didn’t open a single other lounge, and the pace at which they were reconfiguring planes was slow.
However, clearly this became a focus for them recently, and the airline is now making really good progress. In late April, United opened their Polaris Lounge in San Francisco, which looks very nice. The lounge is huge, so I suspect this lounge is even better than their Chicago location.
United’s San Francisco Polaris Lounge
We’ve known that United plans to open three more Polaris Lounges this year, in Newark, Houston, and Los Angeles.
The next lounge to open is in Newark, and a few weeks ago we learned that lounge was supposed to open in early June. We now have an exact date. The United Polaris Lounge Newark will be opening on Monday, June 4, 2018. We don’t yet know many details about the new lounge, including the exact size and amenities, though I’d expect it to be similar to the existing ones, and feature a nap area, a la carte dining, and more.
The Polaris Lounge Newark will be open to all same day United longhaul business class passengers, as well as other Star Alliance first and business class passengers traveling nonstop out of Newark to a longhaul destination. This lounge isn’t open to elite members, though.
In addition to the impressive pace at which they’re opening new lounges, United is also accelerating the pace at which they’re reconfiguring planes with Polaris seats. They plan to roll out one Polaris equipped plane every 10 days through 2020.
United’s 777-300ER with Polaris seats
Well done, United!
Anyone have plans to check out United’s Polaris Lounge Newark next month?
Will be flying to DEL on 6/5, see you in the lounge
Will be flying to DEL in business class through ORD and EWR on 6/5. Looks like I'll be able to visit both Polaris lounges! I've visited the one in ORD many times, and the service is impeccable. What a great improvement over the old lounges and service.
Business Class in Transcon Premium Service (f/k/a p.s.) only have access to United Club, not Polaris.
I cannot confirm 100%, but I believe if you are flying Transcon P.S. service, you will only have access to the United Club, not the Polaris Lounge, which is reserved for long haul international passengers.
"Access to the United Club is included with a Business class boarding pass."
So is United basically taking the Lufthansa approach and making the United Club like a Senator Lounge (Elites and Star Golds) and Polaris Lounges the Business Lounge? Only flipping the quality, in their case the business lounges being superior to the elites lounge.
Nice, think it looks stunning! Look forward to your review
To answer a previous question the EWR lounge is taking over the previous lounge which was in the C concourse right after security. I am curious if the temporary lounge currently existing by C124 will be removed.
If im flying business EWR-LAX can i access?
I got to spend a couple of hours in the new Polaris Lounge at SFO last week. I was flying Lufthansa to MUC, F class.
It's a bit bigger than Chicago's lounge, with seating on two levels, but pretty much the same in terms of design and amenities.
I agree with Brian: I'd never willing spend money or miles on United. These lounges are being rolled out at a glacial pace, and they are just not that special. There are so many better options.
Any chance you get access to the Polaris lounge flying in Business from EWR to LAX in Premium Service?
Will be traveling to Dublin on June 4th. So I will be there opening day
So if flying from Honolulu to Boston through EWR First class will you be allowed to use the Polaris lounge for you layover?
@ Robert -- No, because Hawaii flights aren't eligible for lounge access.
@Fraser, @ Cyp -
Yes, technically, you can go to the Polaris lounge as you're on Star Alliance J Class products. But it will require effort. Austrian and Lufthansa leave from Terminal B, and I'm not sure that you can access Terminal C, where the Polaris Lounge is, via the bus that goes from the concourse in B from which Austrian and Lufthansa depart. It might not be worth your time, and I'm not sure it's even feasible.
Cool, I will have coming trip next February flying Asiana first out of LAX, I might have chance to try the Polaris lounge instead of that “library”.
Nice! I'm flying Austrian in C from EWR next month. Not tried either of the Polaris lounges yet so this is a welcome development!
Any idea whether (unlike other EWR lounges) it will be post-security?
I really do not like United, but with this lounge and the Polaris business class, they'll have a pretty competitive product on the lucrative EWR-LHR route. Compared to Virgin and British Airways (the only other carriers operating this route), United will now have some seriously competitive lounges on both ends and hard product (assuming they're flying aircraft with the new polaris seats).
Hey Lucky,
Flying business class Lufthansa - Newark to Dusseldorf mid July.. does United consider this
flight "long-haul" to get access to Polaris lounge?
Credit where credit is due. Yep, they deserved lots of criticism for over-promising and under-delivering. They have been painfully slow to execute. But it does appear that they have got their arses in gear now. Good for them. I'm actually looking forward to flying on a United flight returning from Europe in a few weeks in their new J product and killing a few hours at the new SFO Polaris lounge.
This is just gross. Too little too late. Why anyone would willingly take united with their 8 across business is beyond me.