Not all airport lounges are created equal, yet airlines do attempt to standardize their clubs across their system making sure each one has similar offering. Never before had I stepped inside a United Club, therefore my visit to the LAX club was a christening! I was hoping to be in for a treat.
Upon entering the club a friendly United employee welcomed me and asked me for my boarding pass or membership club card. I handed her my boarding pass, which was a 1stclass ticket from LAX to HNL (upgraded). The ticket read INTL’ in big bold writing across the top, and had my credentials on it that read United Platinum/ *G. The machine let out a beep, and she told me I didn’t have access to the club today. I smiled and reminded her that I was on an international trip and that I was Star Alliance Gold/United Platinum. She again looked at my boarding pass, then examined my two additional boarding passes, scanned all three of them, and then decided that the machine was incorrect and she granted me access. Phew!
The United Club at LAX is dated, but comfortable. On both sides of check-in there is a large seating area, with desks along side the walls to provide added work space. The bar is tucked away in the far corner of the room and overlooks the taxiway and Terminal 8 with views of the old Continental globe with the United name plate on planes just about as far as the eye can see. There is a separate area with more United agents behind check in to help customers with rebookings, upgrade requests, and more. In addition, there’s a large seating area with table, chairs, benches, and more to spread out in along the windows allowing more airplane spotting.
The bar at the United Club was extensive with a very friendly European bar tender working behind the counter. Like the Delta Sky Club, the United club offers both free well drinks and premium beverages for purchase. There were also a number of wines and beers available on tap.
There was another area dedicated to food. Since it was Nine in the morning, a typical morning spread was out. It consisted of Muffins (or so I would guess since there was only one muffin left), bagels, cream cheese, cereal, plain yogurt, and fruit. It was nothing spectacular, but since I had not eaten breakfast, it was offered enough to hold me over. On the side far of the room was a coffe bar with an expressor machine and choices of fresh brewed coffee.
I didn’t have time to explore the United Club further, I noticed a couple of conference rooms when first entering, but I did not explore the bathrooms, or even attempted to look for showers. The club overall was comfortable and quiet. It was still fairly early in the day so the club was only about 1/3 full. By the time I left at 930, the club was filling up, but it was still comfortable and equitably easy to find a seat and a power plug or two. However, I feel as if I stayed longer this would all change.
The club over all was a nice escape from the older terminal 7. However like the terminal the club itself is old and could use a facelift. Despite this, the free drink and the ceral was a nice benefit and worth the visit. I would say the United Club is on the same playing field as the Delta club at LAX, the only difference is that at the Delta Club the bar is an open bar without a bar tender. However, I still think for US airlines, the Alaska Airline Boardroom at LAX is the nicest.
