Review: United Airlines Polaris Lounge Los Angeles LAX
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YOUTUBE: United Airlines: Los Angeles to London
YOUTUBE: SAS: London Heathrow to Oslo
YOUTUBE: SAS: Oslo to Stavanger
YOUTUBE: SAS: Stockholm to Copenhagen
YOUTUBE: Lufthansa: Helsinki to Frankfurt
YOUTUBE: Lufthansa: Frankfurt to Los Angeles

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Location

United’s Polaris Lounge at LAX is the smallest in the entire network, however it still packs a punch and has all the same excellent amenities you’d find in other Polaris lounges.

Once you cross gate 74, you’ll enter a part of the terminal that seems to be a circle all around you with different food options. Do be sure to not miss the humble entrance to the Polaris lounge off to the side.

Access Rules

Once you reach the top, there’s a nice entrance that’s reminiscent of all the other Polaris lounges as a whole. With that said, here are the access requirements to enter the Polaris Lounge:

• Passengers departing on a United Polaris Business Class Flight
• Passengers arriving from a United Polaris Business Flight and connecting to another destination on United the same day
• Star Alliance Business Class Passengers traveling on long-haul, intercontinental flights
• Star Alliance First Class Passengers traveling on long-haul, intercontinental flights (+1 guest on the same flight in any cabin)

In my case, I was accessing this lounge directly before a Polaris flight to London Heathrow on United.

As you can see, no level of status can get you into this lounge. Additionally, only long haul premium cabin flights are eligible. Flights to Latin America or Canada alone are not eligible for access.

So in theory you could use this lounge as a Lufthansa or ANA passenger, but both of those airlines and all other eligible star Alliance carriers depart from Tom Bradley International terminal. From my extensive personal data points, I would say the walk can take a good 15-20 minutes each way even with a good pace. So if you are not flying United but still really want to access this lounge, keep that in mind.

Seating

The entrance also had a few benches next to them as well.

The lounge opens up to where the bar is and the room that pretty much contains all the normal seating.

There are a wide array of seating options and ample natural light to soak in that Southern California sunlight.

One thing that Polaris lounges do super well is that there are ample power ports throughout the lounge at the different seats. You got 2 power ports and 2 USB-A ports. This alone is awesome. One change I wish United would carry out by now is changing one of those USB-A ports to a USB-C port. That would be absolutely fantastic in today’s day.

There was a single, central sofa style seating that I would says apt for families and groups of travelers.

These seats also had power ports below them.

Then there’s the standard Polaris cubicle seating. These are excellent private spaces for locking in and getting any work done that you need to.

You also have a couple private office pods which are perfect spaces for taking meetings and calls as needed.

I definitely made use of this space to knock out a few meetings I had. You again have ample power ports, a laptop and mouse pad, some writing space and lighting as needed.

 

As I was saying earlier, this lounge has ample natural lighting, so do take advantage with lounger-style seating options that face the window.

We got some pretty good views of the only wide body United aircraft at the terminal at this time, which was my flight to London Heathrow.

Amenities aside, United’s polaris lounges are absolutely gorgeous in my opinion and just pretty to look at. They really did a good job with these.

The one comment I will make is that this lounge was pretty empty when I was here. And that makes sense because there is a morning/early afternoon bank with the double Tokyo flights, Hong Kong, and Shanghai, and at my time there’s really only just London and maybe any connecting passengers. I can see this lounge being quite crowded in the evening. You have 4 787s going to Sydney, Melbourne, Hong Kong, and Beijing all within an hour of each other basically. Between 1030 and 1130pm. With 48 seats on the 787 that means this lounge can have up to 192 passengers from these flights alone, not accounting for any passengers connecting to other flights and other star alliance customers. So keep this in mind, as some of the amenities can start developing a wait time.

Dining

One of the best things about the Polaris lounges is the dining options. You have the standard buffet option, which usually has a robust selection of items; however, the real shining star, if you have time, is the sit-down restaurant.

United has a cool wine display along the side of the wall.

There’s also some scattered seating along the walls here near the food.

There was an island with drinks like soft drinks and flavored water.

And then you had another

The buffet has a good mix of salads, cheese plates, and hot foods.

There’s usually a few hot options here like a rice dish, pasta dish, a protein or 2, and some vegetable dish. You’ll just have to imagine it 🙂

Given that LA is one of United’s smaller hubs, the polaris lounge is also smaller with a smaller buffet. Other hubs have much larger buffet spreads.

The dining room, however, is where I like to eat food. Now keep in mind, there is occasionally a wait, so if you are interested in the dining room, be sure to check the waitlist as soon as you come in to the lounge.

Here’s the menu during one of my visits:

On another one of my visits, during a different season, here’s the full menu with drinks and some of the food I had:

 

Shower Suites

Another awesome feature of polaris lounges, including this one, is the many shower suites that this lounge has. Behind a closed-off door you’ll find nap rooms and many shower suites. If you are interested in using the shower suites, my personal recommentadation is thar you check the waitlist as soon as you arrive into the lounge. Sometimes there is a wait, and there have been plenty of times where the wait was too long, and I couldn’t shower prior to my flight.

Should you have a chance, there are plenty of additional amenities that you can enjoy. Sorry the picture is a little blurry, but here are the items that you can request whenever you need:

• Curling Iron
• Dental Kit
• Deodorant
• Duvet
• Hair Dryer
• Har Straightener
• shaving kit
• Vanity Kit
• shower cap

The showers are nicely sized and fully private.

The sink has your standard lotion and soap

On a bench you will find slippers, a towel, and a few smaller towels for your use

In the showers, you’ll find standard soap, shampoo, and conditioner. This is a nice offering, but I usually stick to my own toiletries.

Summary

United’s Polaris Lounge in Los Angeles is one of the smaller ones in the system, but it is still one of the best lounges out there. You have a wide array of seating, a good bar with solid drink options, and a decent buffet spread. The highlights of this lounge are easily the full-service restaurant and showers which I encourage everyone to take advantage of.