The City of Chicago in the United States of America is a focus city for United Airlines. Being one of their major mid west hubs for travel within the region, both on United Airlines and other Star Alliance carriers, it offers flights to almost anywhere. During our travel through Chicago O’Hare, we happened to be connecting through to South America. During our lay over, we stopped in at two United Club’s to pass our time.

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This post is one chapter on our trip to South Africa, a Safari in the Maasai Mara in Kenya and Mauritius. This trip was redeemed through Air Canada’s Aeroplan and through Starwood Preferred Guest (Marriott Bonvoy) and Hyatt Gold Passport. For more information on how this trip was booked, please see our trip introduction here. For other parts of the trip, please see this index.

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Review: United Club, Chicago O’Hare, Terminal 1, Concourse B, Chicago, Illinois, United States of America.

“Near the primary security checkpoints, the main United Club at Chicago O’Hare that has all the feel of a library with arched ceilings and wide spaces”

This review is of the United Club Chicago Terminal One Concourse B. For other lounges at Chicago O’Hare, please see this review of the United Club Chicago Terminal One Concourse C or this review of the United Club Chicago Terminal 2 Concourse F.

Connecting at Chicago O’Hare:

Over the years, I’d given up on booking tight connections (under 90 minutes) on leisure trips and I’d intentionally seek out longer connections on my tickets. For me, it means less stress, less running around and usually an opportunity to catch up on things if your flight doesn’t get delayed. Today’s layover in Chicago was 4 hours, which is a perfect amount of time on a holiday as far as I was concerned.

Having gone through US Customs and Border Protection Pre-Clearance in Vancouver, we arrived on our United Airlines Vancouver to Chigo Flight in Concourse C. Concourse C is the outer heart of United’s operations at Chicago.

Passing up my usual favourite “the Bergoff Café”, we opted for MrsWT73’s favourite Wolfgang Puck’s in the B Concourse.

Once dinner was complete, we had an opportunity to visit two of the United Clubs – Concourse B (near Gate B7) and Concourse C near Gate. C17. This review is of the Concourse B Lounge.

Locating the United Club Terminal One Concourse B:

The United Club is located just shortly after the primary security gates at the Terminal 1 B Concourse.

The main access point is via escalators near Gate B7 on the B Concourse. Given it’s central location, it’s pretty easy to locate.

Accessing the United Club:

The United Clubs have a variety of methods in order to gain access.

A boarding pass for travel in United Polaris business class: Customers in United Polaris business class may access United Club locations at departure, connecting and arrival airports, along their eligible same-day routing.

A boarding pass for travel in United Business (international): Customers traveling internationally in United Business may access United Club locations at departure, connecting and arrival airports along their eligible same-day routing. Customers traveling to and from Canada in United First are eligible for United Business access.

A boarding pass for travel in United Business (premium transcontinental): Customers on premium transcontinental flights may only access United Club locations at the origin and destination of their premium transcontinental flight. Premium transcontinental flights are only between New York/Newark and Los Angeles and New York/Newark and San Francisco.

A boarding pass for travel in first class on a Star Alliance member airline: Customers may only access a United Club location at the departure airport for their international first class flight. One guest is permitted.

A boarding pass for travel in business class on a Star Alliance member airline: Customers may only access a United Club location at the departure airport for their international business class flight.

Star Alliance Gold membership card: a valid Star Alliance Gold membership card and a same-day boarding pass for travel on a flight operated by a Star Alliance member airline and departing from the same airport or a same-day boarding pass showing Star Alliance Gold status, for travel on a flight operated by a Star Alliance member airline and departing from the same airport

A United Club Membership (including a Mileage Plus Credit Card Membership): A boarding pass for same-day travel with valid United Club membership number listed, or a valid United Club membership card and boarding pass for same-day travel, or a valid United Club membership number and boarding pass for same-day travel

A United Club One Time Pass: A valid mobile or paper United Club one-time pass and boarding pass for same-day travel, or a valid 15-digit one-time pass number and boarding pass for same-day travel.

Active duty US Military Members: Active duty United States military members with a valid military ID, boarding pass for travel within 24 hours on a United- or United Express-operated flight and one of the following:

• Dressed in uniform
• Leave orders
• Rest and recuperation papers

Access is subject to United Club seating availability. Family members travelling on the same flight area are also permitted access.

Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge Memberships: A valid Air Canada Maple Leaf Club membership card and a boarding pass for a flight operated by a Star Alliance member airline and departing from the same airport. Maple Leaf Club North America members can access United Club locations in the U.S. only. Maple Leaf Club Worldwide members can access all United Club locations.

Access to the United Club lounge today was provided courtesy of an international business class ticket on an outbound Star Alliance Flight. We were connecting onto Sao Paulo, Brazil on United Airlines later that evening and this qualified us for access.

Inside the United Club Lounge:

We entered the Club. After we had our eligibility confirmed by the lounge dragons, I knew I was immediately in trouble after MrsWT73 announced “I don’t like it here.”. I hadn’t even sat down yet, thinking to myself “Uh – oh. Wait until she sees the un-renovated United Club on C concourse.” I think it was the initial impression of many travellers in the evening bank of flights since the lounge was pretty full when we arrived. This lead to a bit of a busy and chaotic lounge experience with people coming and going between conversations, calls and productivity.

The B7 United Club looked like a library without any books. Regretfully, it was another windowless lounge, although this one had beautifully airy ceilings. There were lots of loungers available for seating. While most were occupied, we eventually found ourselves a spot. The most interesting aspect of this lounge was the people watching. 

Food and Beverage:

There were the usual light bite offerings here typical of a United Lounge. These included the usual snack silos and cello wrapped Tillimook Cheese. At the time of our visit, United wasn’t putting a lot of effort into catering for their lounges. As a result, we just enjoyed a full service bar wine while we digested our dinner that was had elsewhere.

My only complaint about this particular lounge is that being situated as the first lounge closest to the primary security gates, it likely sees among the most traveller traffic. As a result, it was quite a busy experience during our weekday evening visit.

My thoughts on the United Club Chicago Terminal One Concourse B:

The United Club Chicago Terminal One, Concourse B, like many other United Club’s, is a pretty straight forward United Lounge. I personally enjoyed the space with is accented with unusually high ceilings for any lounge, leading to a nice airy space. Being a strong focus city and hub for United, this Chicago United Club is likely one of their busiest lounges. As a result, it tends to be a busy experience being located next to security and one of the closest United Club lounges.

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