United Airlines has slowly re-opened its outstation lounges and most are now open. I recently had the chance to review the United Club in Dallas – Fort Worth (DFW) and walked away quite impressed.
United Club Dallas / Forth Worth (DFW) Review
I spent a couple hours in this lounge prior to my flight to Denver and appreciated how quiet it was on a Saturday evening, how kind the staff was, and how clean it was.
Location + Access + Hours
The lounge is located in Terminal E, between Gates E6 and E7. It is open daily from 4:45 a.m. – 7:30 p.m.
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 DFW, United does not give premium cabin passengers access on domestic flights without status.
Global Services passengers are also allowed complimentary entrance.
Seating
As you walk into the lounge, you can turn left, right, or continue straight. There’s plenty of seating in each direction. To the right are back-to-back chairs as well as a table spanning the length of the wall with great views to the tarmac outside.
Head straight back and you’ll come to more seating with a similar arrangement. Head left and you’ll pass through the bar area before coming to the buffet area which has round tables and booths.
Finally, there are three “phone booths” where you can sit in a private office and not disturb others while on the telephone.
On a Saturday night, the lounge was totally empty…a few others were there when I arrived and for one point during my stay I was the only guest. I would imagine this gets much more crowded during the week.
Plugs are located throughout the lounge, including 120-volt U.S. power ports and USB-A ports.
Internet is on a lightning fast mesh network with speeds exceeding 300Mbps down.
Food + Drink
A full-service bar as well as self-service soft drinks, coffee, juices, and tea were available. That includes a Coke Freestyle machine as well as an illy espresso machine.
Drink menu here. Beer and wine and select spirits are free, while premium drinks and cocktails carry a charge.
There was also a drink station with water on the other side of the lounge.
The buffet included pre-pacakged food and whole fruit including:
- Oranges
- Mandarins
- Bannanas
- Apples
- Freshly-cut fruit
- Pasta salad
- Grain salad
- Hummus and pita bread
- String cheese
- Chips
- Mini corn dogs (wrapped in aluminum foil)
- Oreo cookies
- Gummy bears
- Cupcakes
- Brownies
I tired the corn dogs…soggy. The fruit and espresso were tasty, though.
Service
I really found the staff kind in this lounge. For example, the Sodexo (food provider) worker who monitored the buffet was very friendly and carefully restocked the buffet every time someone took anything, such that it always appeared fully-stocked and neatly arranged.
The bartender was also very friendly, whipping up cocktail after cocktail for a couple who were sitting at the bar as I arrived.
In front of me, as I entered, three passengers tried to get in without proper credentials. Those poor lounge agents must deal with that all day. One had Priority Pass and was politely turned away. One had a one-time club pass, but was not flying United and turned away. Another was flying first class and thought he should have access.
You’d think this would get really old, really fast. But the ladies were very gentle in explaining there was no access.
Restrooms
Restrooms include two larger male/female restrooms plus a separate gender-neutral individual restroom.
Wellness
I was curious about a door marked wellness. Turns out it was just a room designated for breast feeding. I’m not sure why the room would not be called something more specific….
CONCLUSION
This recently-remodeled lounge is very nice and was a perfect place to wait for my to Denver. I appreciated the kind staff, fast internet, and light snacks…but most of all how quiet it was.
I’m sure this is obvious, but it’s called “wellness” because many people would be bothered by the word “breast.” I’m surprised the word has survived this long in conjunction with “chicken”.
Why not call it a nursing room?
I agree, but it’s probably that someone is bothered by the very thought of the activity, though the room is required to exist, and so avoid mentioning it altogether. Those who use it become familiar with the weird euphemisms it’s likely to be called. Not much different than “restroom” or “bathroom” when most countries use the far more straightforward “toilet”.
We have a wellness room at work. While it’s 99% used for breast feeding, other people who have private medical needs, like insulin injection for example, are allowed to use it too. I think wellness is a reasonable description.
@matthew How do you get access to United lounges? I know you have 1k but does that allow you access even when flying domestically?
I have plenty of Chase one-time passes and now have 75K Elite status with Aeroplan, which allows me to access the lounges during domestic travel.
That’s a nice report and a nice lounge at DFW. The only thing it’s missing is the conference room, where I recall many very successful depositions!
Back in the day when membership granted you acess pass security to the Club?
Being able to walk clients to their plane, meet them when connecting was the strongest feature of the membership for me.
Hmm, it looks better than any of the AA Admiral’s Club at DFW. Would you agree?
I would!
I’m a Dallas based 1K and this has always been a good lounge and even better with the recent refresh. However it can get very crowded at certain times of day, which is common for any lounge. Staff has always been good although some of the pre CoVid team are no longer there
Flying out of a very ‘hubbed’ airport on a non-hub airline is the best. Always quieter!
Flew through this week. Amazing how the food is better than at EWR. Latter is truly the armpit of United.
@Matthew – notice how the espresso machines are unavailable or “broken” at every single UC? Agent told me the contract is up – any sources on if they will be replaced?