There’s a new, huge lounge that will be coming to the San Francisco airport as part of the Courtyard 4 Connector project.
That’s the seven-story building being built between Terminal 3 West and the International Terminal Building. It houses passenger corridors, baggage handling, office and lounge space, and a Customs and Border Protection one-stop security checkpoint.
The lounge there will be 24,000 square feet on level 5 of this structure. And the airport should be getting ready to release the space for bidding.
This document shows where the space is located. It has a typo – proposals wll be due in March 2026. And the plan is to make an award for the space next summer. So it’ll be worth watching San Francisco Airport Commission (and ultimately Board of Supervisors) dockets to see what award gets made.
The space is near the Centurion lounge and not far from the United Polaris lounge, and expected to be ‘common use’ rather than dedicated to an airline. Since it’s being projected as opening in summer 2028, we can assume that it won’t deliver until after that. So who will get this space?
- There’s already a ‘The Club SFO’ at the airport, and it’s the largest The Club at 12,000 square feet. I believe the largest Plaza Premium Lounge is 15,000 square feet in Hong Kong. It’s hard to imagine either taking this space.
- At 24,000 square feet that’s a big financial obligation, and one that seems well-suited to a bank lounge. American Express is already nearby in the airport, and while their new crowding strategy is taking separate additional spaces in the same airport that’s meant to be smaller spaces.
- So this could wind up as a Chase Sapphire Lounge by The Club or a Capital One Lounge.
Chase’s LaGuardia lounge is 22,000 square feet. Their Philadephia lounge is 20,000 square feet. But this would be their largest.
Chase Lounge Philadelphia
Chase Lounge New York LaGuardia
Capital One’s JFK lounge is their largest to date at 13,500 square feet. This would be 78% larger. If I were handicapping based purely on aggressiveness, and that Chase’s lounge partner Airport Dimensions is already in the airport (The Club), I’d say they had the advantage.
Capital One Lounge New York JFK
Capital One Lounge New York JFK
There’s a lot of lounge activity in San Francisco. Last summer a 12,000 square foot Priority Pass-accessible The Club opened in Harvey Milk Terminal 1, and an Alaska Airlines Lounge opened in that terminal as well. Currently underway, there is:
- United’s new club in terminal 2 that’s been talked about for opening next year
- And an Air India lounge at the International A Gates, likely opening next year
- The Centurion lounge shuffle, with the original terminal 3 lounge closed as of May 27 due ot the Terminal 3 West modernization project. They’re in temporary space near terminal 2 Gate D12 in the former Alaska Airlines lounge (which itself was the former American Airlines Admirals Club until 2020). The original Centurion location is projected to reopen in 2027.
United Polaris Lounge SFO
However this ‘Common Use Lounge’ in the Courtyard 4 Connector appears to be the only active addition being planned as lounge space at the airport.
Exciting, I know who I’m rooting for. The Cap 1 lounges do keep getting bigger but this is a huge step up in terms of size.
If Cap1 gets it, how about copy and paste JFK and maybe add a dim sum station and/or a sushi bar!
“Currently underway, there is: United’s new club in terminal 2 that’s been talked about for opening next year.”
Didn’t know UAL was opening another one over there. Where is this going? New repurposed space? I know they have taken over some gates with the closure/renovations at T3…but is that permanent with Alaska’s departure from T2? As you said, the Centurion lounge is temporary until the original terminal 3 lounge reopens. Thanks.
What is the “United International Club” on the plans?
There is already a Polaris lounge marked as nearby, and International Club seems more specific than just a United Club, but maybe they mean it’s in the international terminal.