United Club
The canteen-style seating reminds me of the cafeteria at the Library of Congress. Hard plastic chairs and white acrylic tables are easy to clean and in United colors. The wall has black-and-white photographs of heritage aircraft. I think color photographs from 1980s deregulation might spruce it up a little better.
The food is passable. It has alright dessert and mushy hot dishes that have sat in the vat for a bit too long. The alcohol selection consists of red and white sangria, sparkling and still wines, and beer. I think most travellers here just want a place to work and a nice upstairs view of the tarmac.
If you come, show up early. There are a lot of travellers without eligible tickets or passes that take a long time to pay. I wish they had automatic facial recognition gates like Air Canada’s Maple Leaf Lounges. Access is granted to first class United, international business class on Star Alliance, Star Alliance Gold, or with an eligible pass.
Centurion Lounge
There is usually a wait of up to 10 minutes. On a long weekend, my wait was about 15 minutes, but the person at the door will check you in and send you a text once you clear the waitlist. The benefit over The Club is that guests are provided a discrete wait time.
The local specialty is The Reserve whiskey bar where guests can sample around 20 different premium American varieties. I enjoyed a large pour of Rittenhouse with a huge ice cube. The food is only mediocre, but the dessert bar with different fruits on cheesecake is a nice gimmick.
Atlanta has two lounges with an open terrace, the Centurion has one of them and the Delta SkyClub at Terminal F has the other.
The Club
Don’t go here. The service is terrible and there’s a wait list to enter. The agent wouldn’t look at me when she spoke to me, didn’t inform me how long the wait might be, or even check my entry membership credentials. The airline clubs are much more welcoming.
