Day 7 – UA355 from EWR to IAH & UA1035 from IAH to UIO

Off we go to the airport. Both at Newark, New Jersey (EWR) and Houston, Texas (IAH) some of the former United Club lounges, available for Star Alliance guests, go through a renovation program to become United Polaris lounges. I was at the recently opened one in London Heathrow (LHR) last year on my way to Miami and they are fantastic.

While the offering at the bar stays the same (basic non-alcoholic and alcoholic drinks for free, premium liquors paid) they hugely improve their food selection. I was there at breakfast time and had a large selection of different breads, cold cuts, jam, cheese, pastries, spreads, vegetables and more.

Regular United Clubs, on the other hand, just offer a very minimal selection of food (never experienced their breakfast, though, so I can’t compare it directly). While you get basics like salad and one or two choices of soups, cheese and crackers, you look for a main course in vain. At least when you are starving, there is not much of a choice here. I’m glad they’re improving their offering at that many places.

In the Swiss lounge in Zurich (ZRH, intercont terminal), for example, you roll out instead of walking out because you’re that stuffed with great food and you have four or five different choices of main courses. That is just awesome.

For a layover of three hours in IAH, though, I could have wished for a wider selection of food at the United Club close to gate E11. All in all, it was ok though, as the lounge was never overly crowded (we were there in the afternoon) and sat at a fine spot overlooking the bustling people one floor down on the walkway.