United’s only airport lounge in Terminal 2 at Chicago O’Hare is actually one of its best, with plenty of room to spread out and superb tarmac views. The United Club at F9 offers a welcome respite from the hustle of the commuter terminal below.
United Club Chicago ORD C16 Review
I arrived in the lounge around 3:00pm and stayed for about an hour.
Location + Hours + Access
Located in the F Concourse of Terminal, across from Gate F9, this lounge is currently open from 5:00am to 9:00pm.
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.
Furthermore, one-time passes from Chase are accepted or a single-visit pass can be purchased at the reception desk for $59. Access using one-time passes may be limited if the lounge becomes too crowded.
Also 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 ORD, United does not give premium cabin passengers access on domestic flights without status.
Global Services passengers are also allowed complimentary entrance.
Seating
You’ll enter this lounge on the ground level, check-in, then head upstairs to the lounge area. Flight help is available at the top of the escalators. Turn right for “phone booths” offering private space to make phone calls or turn left for the main seating area of the lounge.
The lounge clusters chairs and couches in a way that helps you to feel spread out, even when the lounge is crowded. While the lounge was not packed during my afternoon visit, there was a steady stream of passengers entering.
(Word of warning – don’t try to sleep on this couch or you will be shaken awake and admonished by lounge staff. UA’s lounge rules state that sleeping is not permitted in United Clubs.)
Food + Drink
Food and drink selections are currently pre-packaged, though I was pleased to see a number of sandwiches and salads available that were quite tasty.
Breakfast Selections (before 11:00am) include:
- Hardboiled eggs
- Bagels
- Cereal
- Yogurt
- Apples
- Chips
- Biscotti
Lunch/dinner selections (after 11:00am) included:
- hot dogs
- burritos
- green salad
- wraps
- tortilla chips
- salsa
- guacamole
- instant noodle soup
- crudités
- string cheese
- pepperoni with cheese
- potato chips
- apples
- Rice Krispies Treats
- Oreo pudding
Note that while the B6 lounge had Chicago hot dogs (with all the fixings), this lounge merely had hot dogs. Better than nothing, but still a disappointment if you were hoping for a genuine Chicago-style hot dog.
A Coke Freestyle machine and illy coffee machine offer self-serve beverages.
There is also a full-service bar offering a complimentary selection of beer and wine and premium drinks for purchase (menu here). Passengers traveling in United’s Polaris business class on transoceanic flights are given a voucher for two premium drinks.
Restrooms
Bathrooms are spacious and include the same etched glass as the lounge, something unique to this particular lounge at ORD. No showers.
Other Amenities + Great Views
Magazines and newspapers are a casualty of the pandemic (actually, newspapers were eliminated even before):
But the views out on the apron are quite nice:
CONCLUSION
I like this lounge because I find the F Gates particularly drab and typically crowded at ORD. Thus, this lounge provides a much better work environment a decent selection of food and drinks (though it would be nice to see all the fixing for the Chicago-style hot dogs).
Looks pretty great!! I’ve never been to this one before!!
@Matthew, copy-pasted too much? ;-p “(the next-door Polaris Lounge remains closed)”
The last time I was at the ORD F gates, the UC was still an RCC – it was a small (and dreary) lounge on one level. Nice to see that things have improved considerably since then!
It is my favorite ORD UA lounge (and convenient as all of my connections generally involve a flight via the F gates). I was there two weeks ago and the hot dogs had the appropriate Chicago fixings. So inconsistent,
And I jinxed myself…no hot dogs in F9 yesterday afternoon (although all of the condiments were present).
Nice review, but there’s no Polaris lounge next door in terminal 2.
You are exerting your Male Privilege and ignoring the experience of 50% of UC visitors and employees…by not showing pictures of all gendered restrooms. Not everyone uses urinals.
Just there last week on a Friday morning.
The Staff at the desk are truly great.got me on an earlier flight and would not take no from the gate supervisor, who had closed the flight.
Impressive!
FYI the club at F9 opens at 745am and closes 8pm not 9am -9pm.
I was there a couple weeks ago. I don’t know how you got so many pictures of empty chairs, it was overflowing when I was there about the same time. I, too, missed the Chicago style dogs 🙁