SFO debuts new United Polaris lounge
Unique features inspired by San Francisco
The two-story, 28,120-square-foot lounge located in the International Terminal at SFO was designed with sweeping views of the airport and the San Francisco Bay Area. The lounge offers customers three distinct experiences: an area to relax, an area to recharge and an area to engage. A custom scent, curated music playlist and subtle mood lighting also come together to create a memorable sensory experience.
Spacious seating areas to meet a variety of needs
The space features a variety of seating areas to meet the needs of customers, with 19 different types of seats throughout the lounge. This includes 49 United Polaris signature lounge seats which offer additional privacy for uninterrupted work or relaxation — the oversized chairs come equipped with an integrated work or dining table, large privacy dividers and a personal side lamp. With 492 outlets and 492 USB ports situated throughout the lounge, staying connected has never been easier.
Rest starts here with soothing amenities
Tucked away from the rest of the lounge, daybeds outfitted with a Saks Fifth Avenue blanket and pillow offer a place to rest. Visitors also have the option to freshen up in shower suites, outfitted with Soho House & Co's Cowshed Spa products, which have ample space for visitors to keep their luggage with them so they will have all their personal items at hand. A valet is available to steam clothes upon request.
Regional influences are infused in food and drink selections
Food and drink selections include nods to both the local area and the popular destinations United serves from San Francisco. Visitors can grab something from the buffet before boarding or settle in for a full meal in the private dining space, which sits close to 40 people. The menu by Chef Tritia Gestuvo, a California native, blends international comfort foods, such as a traditional Chinese congee breakfast and hand-cut pappardelle pasta with mushroom ragout, with staples such as the United Polaris Burger, which will be on the menu at all United Polaris lounges.
Regionally inspired cocktails include the Mai Tai, invented in Oakland in 1944 at Trader Vic's after Vic "The Trader" Bergeron returned from a trip to Hawaii, and the Pisco Punch, first seen in the 1830s when San Francisco began to import the brandy from Peru. The lounge also offers a house-made vodka infusion with a blend of garnishes, oolong-steeped bourbon and house-made vermouth.
Additional updates rolling out
In addition to United Polaris lounge openings, customers will also see a few thoughtful updates on board including a cool-gel memory foam pillow to help you relax and a pre-arrival treat to satisfy any sweet cravings before landing. We're also expanding United Polaris seating within our fleet approximately every 10 days.
Visit the new United Polaris lounge at SFO starting on April 30. The lounge is available to customers traveling in United Polaris first or business class on long-haul international flights departing or arriving into SFO as well as customers traveling on a long-haul international flight on a Star Alliance™ partner airline in first or business class. Visit United Polaris to find out when additional lounges are slated to open.
Ready to go inside? Take a look at the new United Polaris lounge at SFO with our 360 panotour below:
We know people are taking a second look at their travel plans right now. If you're scheduled to travel March 10 – May 31, 2020 and would like to change your plans, there is no fee to do so, regardless of when you purchased your ticket or where you're traveling. This is in addition to our previous waiver, which waives all change fees – domestic and international – for tickets purchased March 3 – April 30, 2020. This is available for any of United's published nonrefundable fares. If you decide to cancel your flight, you can retain the value of your ticket to be applied to a new ticket without a fee. These electronic travel certificates are now valid for 24 months from the date they were issued. This includes all currently valid electronic certificates and all new ones issued on or after April 1, 2020. You might not see this policy change reflected everywhere right away – we appreciate your patience as we work to make that happen.
Eligible travelers on domestic flights and international tickets can request a refund on united.com or may call our contact centers if their flights have been severely adjusted or service to their destination suspended either due to government mandates or United schedule reductions related to COVID-19.
Certain tickets cannot be changed on united.com or the mobile app, including tickets booked through another airline (if the ticket receipt does not begin with 016). Please contact the original ticketing airline for changes.
Follow the steps below to stay up to date, change or cancel your flight.
Change your current flight:
- On the united.com homepage, select "My Trips" and enter your flight information to retrieve your flight.
- Select "Change flight" and then "Edit" to make the following changes:
- Date of travel or destination
- Add a flight
- Remove a flight
- Select "Continue" and choose a new flight option
- Continue through booking to confirm your new flight
Note: The change fee will display as waived, but any difference in fare may apply.
Cancel your flight and rebook later:
- On the united.com homepage, select "My Trips" and enter your reservation information to retrieve your flight
- Select "Cancel flight"
- Confirm flight cancellation
- If you have future flight credit, when you return to the reservation, select "Use Future Flight Credit" to shop for new flights and apply the credit towards a new flight.
Canceling or changing an award flight:
When you select "Cancel flight," you will have the option to cancel your award reservation and redeposit the miles or to cancel your award reservation and use those miles for another trip in the future.
*We're currently experiencing heavy traffic to united.com. If you experience an error while trying to change or cancel your flight, please try again later.
Click through the slideshow below for more detailed instructions:
Start on the United homepage:
User can select 'My Trips' on the homepage widget to find and retrieve their reservation.
We have operated more than 68 repatriation flights from Panama City, Guatemala City, Quito, Lima, San Pedro Sula, Tegucigalpa and Roatan, bringing nearly 9,200 people home. We will continue working with government officials to operate extra flights to Houston from Quito, San Pedro Sula, Tegucigalpa and from Lima to Washington Dulles and beginning April 5, we will begin operating multiple charter flights between Delhi and San Francisco. We continue to review more opportunities for flights between the United States and other countries to bring citizens home.
Video provided by the U.S. Embassy Ecuador of Americans returning home on United.
Additionally, our Customer Solutions and Recovery team is working with customers in the following markets to rebook them on flights back to the United States as capacity allows, either on our aircraft or on one of our airline partners' planes:
- Quito, Ecuador
- Managua, Nicaragua
- Roatan, Honduras
- San Pedro Sula, Honduras
- Amsterdam
- Brussels
- Munich
- Singapore
- Tokyo-Haneda
- Seoul, South Korea
- Melbourne, Australia
We also recently reinstated several international flights back into our schedule to support customers and essential businesses which depend on these routes. As a result, we will be the only airline to offer service between Newark/New York and London, San Francisco and Sydney, as well as Houston and São Paulo, Brazil.
