UPDATE: Some readers have pointed out that American is also in the process of upgrading their lounge food offerings to include more real food. The war is happening, people! Soon we’ll be getting cooked-to-order steaks and Baked Alaska before our flights. This is just the beginning!
United has fired the first salvo in the upcoming lounge war with American and it looks like we’re all going to benefit. Let’s just forget that Delta exists for a second — sorry, Rene — and focus on these two legacy carriers. United and American have been battling for the US market since their auspicious beginnings as air mail carriers in the late ’20s/early ’30s. Now, they go nose-to-nose daily to claim supremacy as America’s most valuable carrier as valuable American carriers (ed. note: shout-out to Gene).
As of the beginning of March, though, United has officially declared itself the lounge to beat. United Clubs will now be offering complimentary REAL food in their lounges. This is a stark departure from American’s Admirals Clubs, with which I have been less than impressed. Instead of the yogurt pretzels and wasabi peas of American’s lounges, United has decided to give their guests food that could actually constitute a real snack that doesn’t seem like it came out of a vending machine.
Mediterranean salads? Hot oatmeal? Real, actual soups? I must be dreaming. It’s not the full meal goodness that you’ll find in international lounges (I miss you, The Wing by Cathay Pacific), but this is a great step in the right direction. The new menu is already available in Chicago at O’Hare and by the end of the summer, they’ll be in LAX, SFO, IAD, DIA, EWR, and IAH. At the end of 2015, every United Club across the globe will feature the new, healthier items.
American, the ball is in your court. United has stepped up their lounge game and it’s time for you to follow suit.
Check out the new items below:
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New Morning Food Selections |
New Afternoon Food Selections |
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Hot Old-Fashioned Oatmeal -assorted toppings- mixed fruit, granola, cinnamon, raisins, honey, brown sugar |
Fresh Bagel Sticks plain and everything bagel sticks with cream cheese, assorted jams |
Fresh Hummus -assorted toppings- pita thins or pretzel crisps, Greek olives, freshly sliced red bell peppers |
Mediterranean Salad wheat berries, peppers, tomatoes, black olives |
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Greek Vanilla Yogurt -assorted toppings- mixed fruit, granola, cinnamon, raisins, honey, brown sugar
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Cage-Free Hard- Boiled Eggs served with fresh chives and paprika
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Soup du Jour hearty garden vegetable soup |
Cured Salami and Cheddar Cheese served with hearty wheat crackers |
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Scones flavors rotate between cinnamon vanilla, blueberry, cranberry orange
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Spicy Bloody Mary Trail Mix with pretzel sticks and assorted nuts (peanut-free) |
Healthy Fitness with assorted dried fruit and seeds (peanut-free) |
Salty Ranchero Trail Mix with sesame sticks (peanut-free) |
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Assorted Cereals Corn Flakes®, granola, 2% milk, skim milk |
Fresh Fruit apples + bananas |
Sheila G’s |
Artisan Breads |
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“Now, they go nose-to-nose daily to claim supremacy as America’s most valuable carrier.”. Huh? That would be Delta or American, not United.
Gene! We’re pretending Delta doesn’t exist for a moment, remember? It’s in the same paragraph you’re quoting!
My bad… 🙂
Good. Domestic Admiral’s Club offerings are a joke. Hopefully this will put them on par with international lounge offerings.
You realize American announced similar enhancements too, right? Why was that noted? American is rolling out enhanced food to all its clubs – it started with soup, bagels, yoghurt, etc. and will be expanding to include salads, more vegetables, etc. that will be rolled out this year.
I didn’t know that at all. Do you have a link, Simon? If that’s the case, the. It looks like the lounge competition is already heating up. I was just in an Admirals Club two weeks ago and there were definitely no improvements made then.
Admirals Clubs now do the greek yogurt, soup, etc thing now too. United’s menu looks marginally better than the revamped Admirals Club offerings, but only a little bit (AA clubs adopted the US standard, more or less, for food plus of course they also do food for sale which varies in quality across locations).
When did they start, Gary? I literally didn’t see anything beyond the standard pretzels and chocolate chip cookies at ORD two weeks ago.
SkyClub has a lot of real food! There are always 2 kinds of soup, green salad, chicken salad or something like Mediterranean salad.
Have they upgraded all their lounges? I will have long layovers in DFW and MIA on May 8 and May 24. Is it worth it?
They’ve already upgraded ORD and IAH with EWR promised this month (April). The rest are just promised “this year,” so I doubt they’ll roll out by May. That said, it’s worth calling the lounges directly to see if they have updated information.