Here's My Experience Trying a United Lounge for the First Time

We're pretty excited about airport lounges here at The Ascent. But before my recent vacation, I had zero experience with them (other than reading about them and editing pieces that discuss them).

As fate would have it, on our way home from Honolulu, my travel companion and I found ourselves with rebooked flights and an entire day to kill at Daniel K. Inouye Airport. We were headed home on United, and after conferring with a check-in clerk and dropping off our checked suitcases before dawn, we made a beeline for the United Club. Here's what we thought.

The space

The United Club at Honolulu airport was a welcoming space, with comfortable chairs, electrical outlets accessible to all of them, and much softer lighting than we'd seen in the airport terminal. (We arrived just as it was opening at 6 a.m., and the sunrise was still more than an hour away.)

We immediately settled into chairs and I was happy to be able to get on the wifi and get right to work. Sure, I could have done this in the main airport terminal, but with loud announcements, people chatting at the gates, and likely minimal access to electrical outlets, I would have struggled.

The bathrooms in the United Club were nicer than those in the main terminal, and lounge seating was spread out so we weren't directly on top of other people. The lounge's business came in waves, which makes sense -- planes were arriving and departing throughout the day. At no point was it uncomfortably crowded, thankfully.

The food

You really came here to hear about the food, right? I don't blame you. That was definitely the main occupation of my travel companion, who kept tabs on various items offered throughout the day (and kept me informed as I worked). He described the offerings as "surprisingly international," and I expect that this had a lot to do with how diverse Hawaii is.

A majority of Hawaiian citizens are Asian and Pacific Islander, and tourism is a huge backbone of the economy. Hawaii gets visitors from all over the world, and it seems logical that the food on offer in an airport lounge would be intended to appeal to as many of us as possible.

There were a ton of options for breakfast and lunch -- for breakfast, for example, we saw kimchi next to breakfast burritos next to grits. This was a selection that would surely satisfy large swathes of lounge visitors. There was also a wide variety of snacks out all day (pretzels, mixed nuts, and beyond), and you could get a cup of coffee (using a fancy digital coffee maker) any time. Plus, there was a full bar. Simpler drinks were free, but I was quoted a price of $10 for a mai tai (since they're more complicated to make than the gin and tonic I had for free).

Everything was tasty (especially the pineapple soft-serve) -- I had fancier food at a few of the restaurants we dined in during our vacation, but I wasn't exactly seeking haute cuisine from an airport lounge. If you are, though, you certainly have options for fancier lounges.

How much did it cost?

I paid $59 per person for entry, and since we ended up spending more than nine hours hanging out, this was far and away worth it. I even got to work a full day, and more than earned back the cost of admission in the process. I don't have a credit card with airport lounge access (more on those below), so I had to be strategic in how I paid for us to get in.

I used my Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, as it gives me 2X points per $1 on travel spending (the rate is 5X points per $1 if I book travel through the Chase Travel portal). I really like this travel credit card, and thus far, it has easily been worth the $95 annual fee.

I love to travel, and I've been fortunate enough to be able to do more of it lately (honestly, this has been one of the biggest benefits of becoming a full-time freelancer over a year ago). But I don't fly super often -- I'm more of a road trip fan. This is why I haven't taken the plunge on opening an airline credit card, many of which include lounge access. If you fly frequently, and my experience in the United Club sounds like one you'd want to have, one of these cards could be right for you.

As first-time lounge experiences go, I think mine was pretty solid. While I was a little annoyed that my new series of flights home left me spending an entire day at the airport, I'm glad I had a place to go where I could enjoy some decent food and a fairly quiet place to work.