Overview of the ORD United Lounge

The United Polaris Lounge at Chicago (ORD) is located in Terminal 1 near gate C18 on Concourse C. This area is mainly used for international flights. Polaris Lounge hours can be checked on the official website; according to the image, it is open from 6:45am-9:00pm, and it also appears to have shower facilities.

How to access it

There are several ways to access the United Club:

  • Passengers flying in international business class or first class on United or a partner airline can enter with their ticket
  • Cardholders of the Chase United Club credit card
  • Using a United Club One Time Pass

Our next flight was first class from Chicago to Beijing, so we were able to get in with our ticket. The front desk also checked our documents for the Beijing flight, which saved us from having to do it again at the gate.

United Polaris Lounge experience

We arrived at Terminal 1, Concourse C about two hours before boarding, at around 10am. Surprisingly, there were only a few people inside. Maybe that was because it was the last day of 2017.

Lounge seating

Seating near the entrance; the color palette felt pretty warm and inviting
Window-side seating near the gate
Seating closer to the middle; semi-private, more or less
Overall, it felt quite comfortable, with lots of different seating options

Food bar

Since this is a U.S. domestic airline lounge, we were not expecting much. Usually it's the standard celery-and-carrots setup. But this time the selection actually felt pretty extensive, even though the taste was honestly fairly average.

Coffee, juice, and soft drink station
The food station, still serving breakfast at the time
The bar farther in~

Breakfast

Because we arrived fairly early, the breakfast items were still out. It was not especially refined, but it was definitely enough to fill you up. In addition to a standard American breakfast, there were also Chinese-style breakfast items like congee and pickled vegetables.

Various cakes and pastries
Assorted donuts and bread
Sausage and pork with eggs; not bad
Went back for several rounds and ate our fill

Lunch

After about 1 hour, a little after 11 o'clock, they started switching over to the lunch spread.

Starter salads
Assorted side dishes
The salmon tasted pretty good~
American-style lunch
Desserts
We ate our fill again at lunch

Bottom line

The United Polaris Lounge in Chicago is absolutely worth a visit. The food and facilities were both quite good. Being able to relax a bit during a connection and grab something to eat made the experience especially pleasant. That said, the lounge is in the international departures area, so if you're just connecting domestically within the U.S., you probably will not be able to access it.

One funny side note: we were a little too relaxed and forgot that international flights often start boarding earlier. We did not head to the gate until half an hour before departure. By then it was almost completely empty, and we ended up being the very last passengers to board.