Oh what a difference a hallway makes in dividing two worlds, one in the heavens and the other in the dungeon. This review covers the sorry step-sister of the Polaris Lounge, the C17 Untied Club located directly across the concourse hall but worlds apart.
United Club Washington Dulles Review (C17)
Many United Clubs have improved greatly this year, with an expanded section of fresh food and snacks that represents the best lounge spread we’ve had since the pandemic began (and arguably before it). Not this one, though. At least not while I was there in the early afternoon.
Location + Hours + Access
Located next to Gate C17, this lounge is currently open from 5:30am to 10:00pm daily.
Access is reserved for United Club members, Chase United Club Visa holders, Star Alliance Gold travelers, and international business or first class passengers traveling on any Star Alliance flight. But if you’re traveling in international longhaul business or first, please do yourself a favor and use the Polaris Lounge across the hall.
Furthermore, one-time passes from Chase are accepted or access can be purchased for $59. Note that if you hold a Star Alliance Gold card from United Airlines (Premier Gold or higher), you can only access the lounge when traveling in conjunction with an international itinerary.
Those who have a Star Gold card from other programs can use the lounge when traveling on any Star Alliance flight in any class of service. Also note that from IAD, United does not give premium cabin passengers access on domestic flights without status.
Global Services passengers are also allowed complimentary entrance.
Seating
You enter this lounge on the concourse level, check-in at the desk, and head downstairs (both stairs and an elevator are available).
Downstairs, you’ll first encounter the flight support desk, then can proceed straight out into the food and beverage area or turn right into the work area (cubicle-style desk with plugs and lights are available – I used to study my law school textbooks here).
The main seating area is rectangular in shape spanning from a bar and restrooms on the far left side to different clusters of seating all the way to the other wall.
This is a very depressing lounge in terms of its appearance on the lower level. There’s no natural light and no fake sunlight either, just the hard white light of fluorescent and LED bulbs. Some greenery would help tremendously, but I suppose United would have to buy fake trees and plants to house down in the dungeon.
Finally, note there is a conference room available on the upper floor near reception – you can reach out to 1-866-UA-CLUBS to try to reserve space, but since 2016 United has stopped allowing conference room reservations:
“We are no longer accepting reservations for our conference rooms. Based on customer research and feedback, fewer customers are interested in and they require a significant amount of space that is better allocated to the amenities that the majority of our United Club guests value and desire. Going forward, the conference rooms will be treated like our phone rooms and available upon request, first-come, first-served.”
Restrooms
Restrooms are located in the back and exactly as they were 20 years ago…serviceable, but showing their age.
Food + Drink
I’d like to think I just entered at the wrong time, because the food selection was really pitiful…I haven’t seen things this bad since the bankruptcy. For the first 45 minutes, the only choice was instant noodle soup. Yuck.
Eventually, some burritos were put out (these are horribly deceptive “vegetarian” burritos that actually contain beef and were not even hot) as well as some wraps, salad, and Slim Jim meat sticks. That’s all folks.
As for drinks, the espresso machines and Coke Freestyle machine were turned on cans of chilled Agua Bonita (traditional agua fresca without added sugar).
The full bar service was also available. Beer, wine, and limited spirit are complimentary while craft beer, higher quality wine, and most spirits incur a charge.
Service
Here’s where I’m going to give this lounge high marks. The one redeeming feature of this dungeon was the kind staff. The agent who checked me in was quite friendly and when I had a flight issue that required assistance, her colleague downstairs handled it masterfully (she helped move me to an earlier flight home and preserve my business class seat).
When it comes to club access, the focus is often on food and beverage selection, but competent agents are the most important feature (for me) in having access to United Clubs. If you need help, you’ve (generally) got it. If your flight is canceled, they are far more empowered to help you than most reservations agents.
So the staff is the one redeeming quality of this lounge.
CONCLUSION
Even the other three United Clubs at Washington Dulles are better than this one. The Polaris Lounge directly across the concourse is a stark reminder of which lounges United has poured love on and which ones it has neglected. This lounge can really some tender loving care…
> Read My Other Washington Dulles United Club Reviews:
Since I live in NoVa I’ve used the UA Club lounges many times over the years and they have consistently won the award for worst in the system. I’m glad your experience with the UA staff at the Club was positive but the term “Lounge Dragon” was coined with specific reference to the IAD Clubs’ staffs. As for the food, it’s sourced through an airport contractor and to call it Third World quality is an insult to the fine folks in the Third World. Basically, UA sees these “clubs” as little more than holding pens for the large number of captive customers the airline has at Dulles.
@JetAway: Well said. I couldn’t agree with you more. Comparing lounges in the third world countries in Asia, e.g. Myanmar, with the UA Clubs, UA definitely significantly provides more.. baby carrots than them 🙂 And the hilarious thing is now when you buy UA ticket, UA tries to upsell Club one-time pass for $50.
Agree. The downstairs staff have been very helpful with IRROPs over the years. And I prefer a freestyle machine over going to the bar for a soda. But the food has always been minimal and subpar.
Like many flyers, if I have time, I will go over to terminals A/B and use an Amex Plat, PP or *Gold lounge. Virgin Atlantic is currently my favorite.
I have used that C17 lounge over the years and have always thought it’s okay. Usually the people at the bar – who are always the same at night – are always friendly. Food has varied over the years. I’m hoping that soon it gets back to the somewhat decent levels it was at before Covid. But yes – if i have time – i have in the past frequented the priority pass lounges over in B. Turkish has been a favorite for many years despite the crowding. But last time I was there in June the covid catering was pathetic – hopefully real food comes back soon. And I’ve always enjoyed a glass of nice French champagne at the Air France lounge.
The Turkish lounge has been horrid the past year with over crowding and dismal food. The issue is that they took on contracts with other carriers (RAM is one) and it just can’t handle the crowds anymore given the small size.
I completely agree with you Jason. The C17 lounge is really not bad at all. The staff there is really kind and in the past they had a nice pastry selection. Also, there is no other place where you have views of the tarmac and airplanes from underneath their noses. Pretty cool! As always, this guy has his priorities out of whack!
You’re thinking of the D8 lounge.
The D8 lounge certainly has windows looking at airplane wheels, but so does the C17 lounge. I’ve sat there multiple times and looked out at the airplanes taxiing by over the years. I’ll probably do so again next Sunday the 21st.
Do you mean on the upper floor? Where are the windows on the lower floor?
yeah on the lower floor – there arent many, but they’re in the tv space next to the bar.
Interestingly, it appears the windows were removed…
This is what you were referring to, right?
But this is it now:
The AF lounge was the best at Dulles. The LH and TK lounges are too packed, so I’d rather go to a crappy UA club if I’m not flying from A or B gates. Polaris is now the best and if I fly *A from B I’ll trek over to C to get there. But looks like most of my international flying will be on AF and KL.
Which is why pre-Polaris lounge I would go out of my way, to terminal B, to use the TK or LH lounge instead of the less desirable UA lounges in C/D. But as someone else pointed out, the TK lounge can get crowded at times, although I usually find a spot in the back or upstairs if its open.
The food at LH is almost back to normal. And they have knock-off Haribos in packages. But they have not reopened the German beer tap.
If you’re going to use a UA Club lounge then the one near gate C7 is my preferred. At least you get natural light and tarmac views. I saw Paris Hilton in this lounge last Christmas when I was flying to FRA. Not that that’s a selling point…lol
This lounge doesn’t look that much worse than other UA clubs. It seems the 2 biggest negatives are the lack of natural light and not so great food selection. They can’t do much about the former but they could improve the latter.
Yes, with a bit of improvement on the food selection, everything else would be okay.
I was just there on Saturday around noon and the food selection was much better than that (though still not exciting). Actual soup (in a cauldron), pre-portioned salad, pre-portioned cheese cubes and grapes, even some mini sandwiches that were unwrapped (which surprised me). I don’t think they had the burritos, but my next stop was ORD where they did have what sounds like the same burritos, awful.
Those same burritos were in the SFO lounge. They say “for institutional use only” on the front and “just say no to drugs” on the back. I’m pretty sure these are diverted prison food.
LOL. I’m going to have to read the label more closely.
@Matthew, not much has changed with UA lounges at Dulles since you wrote this. I would be interested to see what they say if you reached out to them to find out why the dismal state of affairs and if they plan on improving them at some point (and not just waiting for new terminal). After United took over EWR, they have woefully neglected IAD and have instead used it as a cash cow (i.e some of the highest fares in the country)because of the lack of competition there; which I’m sure they probably tell the MWAA to limit or else they’ll reduce service.