Omicron-era Trip Report: United Polaris Lounge SFO

I had planned on getting to the airport at 6am for check-in, but last minute checks and getting things ready at the hotel meant that I was running about half an hour late. When I saw the line snaking out into the corridor, I figured I was getting near the United check-in counters.

Yup, that was the United Economy line.

The Business Class/Global Services/1K line much shorter of course, but it wasn’t that short. I was surprised they didn’t make one line for just the Shanghai flight, but rather we were mixed with other passengers for Mexico and Korea. The check-in agent mentioned to the couple next to me that today was the first flight to Shanghai in a month, perhaps explaining why it was so busy.

Now, check-in wasn’t that short for me, because I didn’t realize we had to fill out the China customs health form before checking in. That’s the form where you declare where you’ve been the last 14 days, emergency contact in China, and your flight and seat number. I wonder what people do when they haven’t gotten their seat number yet? Anyway, it took me a long time to fill out the form, and I was “one of those” who had to step aside to let other passengers check in first! There isn’t any approval process for this form, unlike the Consulate-overseen Health Declaration Code, which is the big test. That HDC QR code I applied for the day before at around 2am, and got my green, approved code at around 11am while shopping at Trader Joe’s for last minute snacks.

After checking in and security, I went over to the Polaris lounge. This was newly reopened in January, 2022. When I flew from SFO to Shanghai back in December 2020, it was closed, with the only United lounge in the whole airport being the rotunda United Club, with packaged snacks.

The first thing I did was to use the restrooms, and the nearest ones were through the quiet lower-level lounge, which kind of had a library vibe.

One of the best amenities in the COVID era is the self-contained room with toilet, sink, and bench for sitting or luggage. You really minimize aerosolized particles this way!

One thing that made an impression on me was seeing the full flight board, and this is just the list of cities after the letter R! Besides our flight to Shanghai (it’s listed as the first flight to Seoul, because we were making a technical stop there), there was a flight terminating in Seoul, as well as flights to Tokyo and Taipei, and also a Singapore Airlines flight to Singapore.

After the restroom stop, I went upstairs.

The main lounge feels incredibly spacious.

I went straight for the buffet, as I’d read a report on Flyertalk saying that the restaurant wouldn’t be open until 9am, which was about when our flight would be boarding.

I liked the selection of juices - I eventually got some apple cider. I don’t think I’d had real apple cider in a couple years!

The buffet selections included cinnamon raisin French toast, vegetarian sausages…

…bacon and turkey sausage…

…scrambled egg white and scrambled whole eggs,…

…breakfast potatoes, oatmeal,…

…different breads including bagels and English muffins,…

…toppings for the bread, like cream cheese and preserves,…

…organic yogurt, strawberries, pineapple, honeydew, and interestingly, roasted pears. And mini corn muffins at the very end.

I found a secluded area, with high-back dividers, and no one around me (at that time), to have my breakfast.

I took an English muffin, toasted it, and added the vegetarian sausage and egg to make kind of a sandwich, along with melon, pineapple, strawberries, and a couple of those mini corn muffins. And a glass of apple cider.

On a return trip to the buffet to get something, I saw that the staff was letting someone into the restaurant! So I hurriedly ate most of my plate (left some of the dry English muffin), and went over to the restaurant. Besides, a couple occupied an adjoining space, so I figured the newly-opened restaurant might have even fewer people. This was around 7:45am, so much earlier than when I thought the restaurant would open.

Here’s the menu for both breakfast, and lunch/dinner. I honestly thought a lot of the choices looked really good.

Here’s the dessert menu. I didn’t think to ask if dessert was available at breakfast, otherwise I would have wanted to try the Thai lime budino!

The staff said I could sit anywhere I liked, so I chose a corner of the room by the window.

There’s a rooftop directly next to the window, but beyond it there was a nice view of planes!

When I sat down, the server immediately offered coffee or tea. I took a cup of black coffee.

Then, I ordered the pressed juice from the “light bites” section, and the breakfast tartine from the “entrees” section, which I thought was plenty. But the server actually asked if that’s all I wanted, and asked if I wanted something else, like congee. I added on the Greek yogurt and fruit. So they do encourage you to order whatever you want.

The “Freshly pressed juice” was of beet, kale, blueberry, and pomegranate. This was much sweeter than I expected. I’m not sure I would order this again.

I also got the breakfast tartine, which had a thick slice of sourdough (with some wheat bran flecks), very flavorful, salted tomatoes, ripe avocado, an expertly fried over-easy egg, and microgreens (the menu said arugula). This was so delicious! Everything ingredient was perfect on its own, and together they made just the kind of sandwich that I love.

The Greek yogurt and fruit was good; the organic yogurt very creamy (and not very tart). I got this mainly for the fruit, and the “seasonal berries” were blueberries, blackberries, and strawberries. The fruit were very fresh and firm. There was also “house-made granola” and “local wild honey.” I wish the granola had been more crisp, because it was kind of chewy, but kind of hard at the same time, so the grains and seeds kind of got gummied up in my teeth.

Overall, though, the restaurant concept in the Polaris lounge is great. The made-to-order food really is several steps up in quality from the buffet, and seemed more hygienic too. I also appreciated friendly service, and at least when I went, it was very uncrowded in comparison to the dining area by the buffet, where there were quite a few people eating.

I’d been once before to the Polaris lounge, where besides the restaurant, I also experienced the sleeping pods where they hand you a blanket from a blanket warmer! I continue to think that the Polaris lounge is a huge advantage for United, and is probably the best lounge I’ve been in.

I’m so glad the Polaris lounge is open again!