Although only offering pre-packaged food items, the Terminal B United Club was the least crowded of the four I visited at Houston Bush Intercontinental (IAH) and very much an old-school Continental lounge in terms of appearance.
United Club Houston IAH Terminal B Review
I reviewed this lounge prior to my flight to Los Angeles on my way home from Brazil.
Location + Hours + Access
Located next to gate B18, this lounge is currently open from 7:45am to 8:00pm seven days a week. It is located above the United Express ticket counter in the south mezzanine of Terminal B. You can take either the stairs or elevator upstairs.
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 IAH, United does not give premium cabin passengers access on domestic flights without status.
Global Services passengers are also allowed complimentary entrance.
Seating
After checking-in, you turn left and find a long hallway down the center of the lounge, with rooms on both the right and left sides.
On the right side are rectangular-shaped rooms with chairs around the perimeter. These were crowded and therefore it was difficult to take pictures without violating the privacy of other guests.
On the right side, there were two work areas, with ergonomic office chairs and long black granite tables.
The cleaning staff in the lounge was pretty slow in clearing trash away – I noticed waste stacked all over the lounge.
Food + Drink
In the back of the lounge is the bar and food area, a much larger room with natural light plus additional seating. The bar is staffed, not self-serve.
Beyond alcohol, beverage selections include coffee, hot water (for tea), water bottles, and cranberry juice (served in little elementary-school sized plastic containers). The espresso machine was “out of order.”
Breakfast items included:
- Chobani yogurt
- Bagels
- Oatmeal bars
- Oranges
- Apples
Yep, that was it.
Restrooms
Unlike the dated but still attractive decor of the club itself, the bathrooms looked well past their prime and are in need of fresh tile and a cosmetic refresh.
CONCLUSION
A final word: the staff in this lounge was very kind. I was warmly greeted on the way in and way out. That really makes a tremendous difference and creates a lasting good impression. That said, the lounge amenities were very much lacking, even compared to the other United Clubs in the airport. This is a more quiet lounge, but until United restores full service, skip it if you are looking for something to eat.
Great review! Glad to see more and more lounges opening. I hope the Polaris lounges open up soon, since I’m flying out on polaris in a few weeks.
Your pictures make this lounge look much better than it really is. The truth is that this lounge is dated, extremely filthy and in dire need of a complete renovation. I have spent much time here as one does when Barbie jets are always delayed and/or cancelled from this terminal. There is also a very loud female bartender whose voice could be heard in the entire club. I admit that I haven’t been in this club since covid started, so things might have changed. Or not.
I think United is focusing way more on Denver and San Francisco than Houston.
I miss the CO days.
No worries, it’s 1995 all over again in IAH – Work Hard, Fly Right
Lol. It truly is.
Who the hell would pay $59 for that?
I often think this about United Clubs in general. As a predominately Delta flyer, but have been dabbling with United enough to get 1K under the covid qualifications, I am just completely in awe that anyone pays for a United Club membership! The Sky Club is far and away a better club. United can promise to improve the in-flight experience all they want, but that is only half the journey for anyone that is not a hub captive.
@ChuckMO – Agreed. That is one sad waiting room.
@Bob
100% correct… I have spent years of my life in this club… and although they were supposed to move it when they expanded Terminal B and got rid of the dreaded b84…. The club never moved… and the club has never been updated.
Now, I’m SUPER happy this club is back open… but for the amount of people they pushed through Terminal B during covid because of downsized aircraft, they should have never closed it… Even pre-covid traffic and traffic now… it’s too small.
I was there a couple weeks ago. First time in that lounge. I actually liked it compared to some of the more “updated” clubs, since this one had way fewer people. I left the lounge in C and came to this one even though my flight was out of C. I agree that the food was lacking, but there is a Chick Fil A right outside the door, which is always worth paying for 😉
My local hospital serves those exact same elementary school style cranberry juice cups – a little embarrassing