I recently had the pleasure of visiting the United Polaris Lounge at Washington Dulles Airport before catching my flight to London. The Polaris Lounge in IAD, which reportedly cost $41 million to construct, opened in October 2021. It is one of six Polaris lounges in the US, with the others located at the United hubs of Chicago O’Hare, Houston Intercontinental, LAX, Newark, and San Francisco.
Difference Between the Polaris and United Club Lounges
As opposed to the small number of Polaris lounges, there are more than 45 United Club locations in the US. Access to a United Club lounge is much less restrictive. You need to be flying United Polaris or business class on international flights, United business class on premium transcontinental flights (e.g. LAX or SFO to EWR), or business class on a Star Alliance member airline. Other ways to access United Club lounges include holding Star Alliance Gold status when travelling internationally on any Star Alliance airline, and being an active member of the military when travelling on a United flight. In addition, a 12-month United Club membership is available for $650 per year. Holders of the United Club Infinite Card (annual fee $525) and the United Club Business Card (annual fee $450) obtain automatic Club membership.
The Polaris Lounges on the other hand are more exclusive and have more restricted access compared to the United Clubs. Only passengers flying in United Polaris class on long-haul international flights, and first or business class passengers on long-haul international flights on Star Alliance partner airlines, are able to access the Polaris Lounge.
The Polaris Distinctive
Polaris Class is United Airlines’ premium long-haul international business class, which the airline rolled out in 2016. A major retrofit program saw new premium seats installed on most long-haul aircraft in United’s fleet, including the 777-300ER, most 777-200ER planes, the 767-300ER, and older Dreamliner (787-8 and 787-9 series) planes. Polaris cabins are installed in all new Dreamliner 787-10 deliveries. The retrofit program continues with the progressive installation of Polaris on United’s 767-400 fleet, the final aircraft type to receive the new cabins.
The onboard soft product, from bedding to meals, aims to compete with the best international premium products in the market today. Having flown Polaris I find the product highly competitive, but for this article, I’d like to focus on the Polaris Lounge.
Access to the Lounge
My itinerary was BOS-IAD-LHR in business class, and I secured my ticket with 60K United MileagePlus points. As the intercontinental leg was in Polaris Class, all I had to do was present my boarding to access the lounge.
Lounge Layout and Seating
The lounge was incredibly spacious with different sections for dining, working, and relaxing. This is the bar area. As I cannot drink due to ridiculously low alcohol tolerance, I won’t be commenting on the alcoholic offerings other than to say the bar looked pretty comprehensively stocked. There were bar and table areas and two bartenders working the bar.
Big runway-facing windows let in ample natural lighting and allow you to work or eat with a view.
There are multiple seating sections in the lounge, including a bank of work stations with greater privacy and open lounge areas for relaxing and unwinding. Speaking of unwinding, there are private relaxation “suites” you can reserve.
Dining
This is where the Polaris lounges stand out. The lounge offered two dining options – a la carte dining in a restaurant-style dining room, and a buffet spread. I went for the buffet. The food is definitely gourmet level, in contrast to the often limited and sorry offerings at the United Clubs. There was both hot and cold food, with pork loin, baked rigatoni and roasted vegetables among some of the hot dishes on offer that day, and an array of fresh salads, cold cuts and cheeses in the cold section. In addition to cold beverages from the fridge, there is a self-serve coffee bar.
Although I didn’t try the a la carte dining option, I took pictures of the dining room and the menu. From reading the blogs and forums, the Polaris signature burger has quite a fan base. Next time.
The Shower
For a more relaxing flight, especially after my long-ish layover, I decided to have a shower. It wasn’t peak time so there was nobody on the list. The shower was incredible. This is really the amenity I enjoy the most before long-haul flights.
Conclusion
The previous incarnation of United international business class was hardly competitive, but with the introduction of Polaris class, the airline has really upped its game. Claims of offering a premium international cabin no longer evokes the same level of skepticism. Central to the Polaris distinctive is the aim to offer a stellar and much more exclusive ground experience in the lounge, in contrast to the middling food offerings and often overcrowded conditions of the stateside United Clubs. In this respect, the Polaris Lounge appears to fulfill United’s promise to start a memorable premium international journey on the ground. I would consider it a big game changer for the airline in its international long-haul business.
