Los Angeles (LAX) vs San Francisco (SFO) United Club Lounges

[Expired] If you are interested in the contest, please scroll to the bottom of this post for information.

Lounge access at airports is not only a completely foreign and new concept to our family, I would assume most other people do not know about them either. The cost to access the lounges, alone may deter most people from entering the sacred grounds of the airport lounge, but I would bet the majority of people using the airport may not even know they exist. So lets dive in and see if lounge access makes sense for families.

Before I get into the particulars of the specific lounges we visited during our recent Hawaii and California vacation, let me quickly recap how we were able to get lounge access for FREE. Last year I applied for both a personal credit card with Continental Airlines, and my wife opened a personal credit line. We ordered the cards prior to the merge with United to maximize the mileage benefits.

What we did not expect was that we were sent two (2) United lounge passes for each of our cards; six (6) total lounge passes were available for our use. So we filed the lounge passes away for our 2.5 week to Hawaii, just in case we needed to pass some time in the airports.

Los Angeles (LAX) United Club Lounge

After our free stopover in the Los Angeles area, we headed to the airport to continue on with our remaining two weeks in Hawaii. After getting to the airport with plenty of time to spare before our departure, we decided to check out the United Club Lounge in LAX airport.

Upon checking in, the agent told us there was a family room available if we would like to check it out. Really? Having never been in a lounge before, was this normal? Inside the lounge, mid-work day, one could hear a pin drop it was so quiet. This could be a rough hour if our kids decide to be, well kids, in a library type setting. However, half way down the lounge was a private room labeled Family Room.

Once inside the Family Room, with the doors securely closed, the boys energy level ramped up. After all though, it was their peak day play time, so who could blame them?

Inside the family room was big comfy chairs for the parents, but also a miniature table and chairs for the boys. A private television included a nice list of available kids shows on DVD available at the bar. Hello, can you say United saved the day! THEY HAVE CURIOUS GEORGE BOYS! I am not sure who was more excited for some Monkey Adventures.

What was great about the family room was not necessarily echoed outside. While I did not expect a full-on buffet of food in the United lounge, I kind of expected something more than some light snacks. Maybe I need to pay more attention when others post their pictures of elaborate meals served in first class versus lounge food.

The food in the LAX lounge consisted of some individually wrapped cheese and crackers, packages of carrots, bananas and oranges, and some sweet and salty snacks. The meal was perfectly suited for little, hungry mouths, but not for full-size adults ready to board a 5 hour flight over to Hawaii. Regardless, I could not complain since it did not cost us anything, and we had eaten a large breakfast.

The bathrooms in the United lounge were really run-down, though clean. There were no showers that I have heard some lounges have in them.

My only problem with the family room is I could not get any of the outlets to work to charge our phones, but I was able to use a multi-outlet panel from the television.

The Family Room in the United LAX lounge really suited our family perfectly, and at just the right time. It was our only flight during the peak of the day, and it was great to be able to close off the boys from the rest of the lounge.

San Francisco (SFO) United Club Lounge

On the way home, and after our flight from Honolulu to San Francisco, we had a couple hours to kill before our departure back to Cleveland. We had debated about just hanging out in the United terminal, which had a separate kids play area. However, once my wife let me know that by the time we purchased the boys some food to eat for breakfast, we would be $20-30 in the hole, and were better off seeing what the lounge would offer. My recommendation was to give away some lounge passes to our readers, but I lost that option (do not worry, I have some more to give away; see below).

While we were rather impressed by our first lounge access in LAX (we really did like it despite my grievances above), we realized how different lounges could be from airport to airport. The United Club Lounge at the SFO airport was beautifully appointed compared to its LAX counterpart.

Upon entering the lounge, we walked down a long, marble corridor to the desk, right after opening. One inside there were gorgeous model boats throughout the lounge and a nautical theme. On the wall by the front desk was displays of all the flight status.

I was actually quite surprised how crowded the lounge was right at opening. Fortunately, there were plenty of areas we could hide away so as not to disturb the other business travelers.

Once inside the lounge, and we settled in, we bellied up to the buffet. Time for some crab legs and sushi. Well not really, but the spread of bagels (my favorite) were nice, in addition to the fresh fruit and juice machine.

We retreated the very rear of the lounge, tucked back in a private corner because there was not a Family Room in the SFO United lounge. I could have easily sent all of us back to the Relaxation Room, and no one was back there, but I did not think it was such a good idea, preventing others from coming in if they needed a retreat.

So overall, both United Club Lounges had their benefits. Obviously, holding the right credit card also allowed us to experience such a nice side of airport travel away from the hustle of the terminal.

United Club Lounge Access Contest

Well we have a couple extra lounge passes (that are good until March 31, 2013) that we would like to give away to a lucky reader. We also would love to increase our Facebook fan base. So all you have to do is Like us on Facebook.

On Friday, July 27, 2012, we will select one Facebook fan by random to win two (2) United Club lounge passes. If you already Like us on Facebook, you are already entered; THANK YOU!

If for some reason the winner does not want the tickets, or does not respond within 24 hours, we will select another winner.

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