There are 3 United Airlines United Clubs in Denver, plus the grab ‘n go Club Fly. One of the two clubs on the B concourse is currently closed. The lounge on the A West concourse near gate A25 is just a couple of years old. It’s big, it’s bright, and there’s plenty of seating.
The lounge is open daily from 5:00 am to 9:30 pm. with an aesthetic inspired by Colorado ski lodges with wood ceilings, fireplaces, stacked firewood, and stone elements. It’s on two levels and offers plenty of views of airport operations.
Entry into the lounge is via automated gates where you scan your boarding pass, though there are agents there for assistance. The gates usually work and code correctly, but there’s always seemingly a lineup of passengers who can’t figure out how to get the boarding pass reader to work.
There are multiple seating types: booths, couches, chairs, bar stools… There’s plenty of power outlets throughout the lounge, including USB A and C jacks as well.
Notably there are no shower facilities, but the bathrooms are nice and clean.
Food is United Club standard. That means there’s a bit more than you’ll find at an American Airlines Admirals Club, but not nearly as robust as a Delta Sky Club.
Cheeap booze is free, craft beer is going to be paid.
Games always seemed better in theory than in practice, I rarely see people use things like these. Still, it adds some variety to the space.
This lounge is going to be a bit quieter and less crowded than B Concourse and other lounge options. I like the design of the B44 lounge better, but not enough to choose on that basis. Plus, since almost no one realizes you can take the elevator up to the top floor, people don’t bother going up the stairs, and the top floor is mostly quiet. And peacefulness is one of the true treats of a lounge that’s all too difficult to find.
The situation is that everyone thinks you have to take the stairs upstairs, which is annoying carrying bags. So most don’t bother. But you can use the elevator from inside the lounge, an agent just needs to give you the access code. (This code, incidentally, would allow you to bypass lounge check-in on the ground floor entirely, and on the second floor also, if you proceed to the third floor.)
Upstairs gets you plenty of seating and there’s a separate buffet there, so no reason to wait on the main second level.
The A Concourse United Club is a large, stylish, solid lounge that complements the other large, stylish solid lounge United currently has open at the airport. That’s a win, even if I wouldn’t seek it out for a visit as a destination for its own sake.
This line: “a bit more than you’ll find at an American Airlines Admirals Club, but not nearly as robust as a Delta Sky Club..” That’s the crux of the post, and the current status of lounges, generally, between the ‘big three’ in the USA.
The city of Denver is lame, thoroughly lacking in prestige. No prestigious employers (okay, Meta has a Denver office, but it’s not for engineers, it’s for low-skilled support staff). No prestigious universities or hospitals or law firms or banks or high finance firms. All that means is if you’re a child of ambition growing up in Denver, your goal is to get the hell outta there ASAP.
Huh, back when I was flying through DEN regularly I occasionally had a connection that required the schlep over to the A concourse, but I didn’t realize UA were now operating so many flights over there that they built a lounge.
@ Gary – How did you access the lounge? By bypassing the checkin? As little as you seem to fly United, I’m guessing you don’t have lounge access. Perhaps you used one of the almost useless lounge passes?
WAS quiet, until some blogger posted about it….
I haven’t been to a DL lounge in ages, but I find the UA lounge food options generally meet my needs, and are comparable/slightly better than most Priority Pass lounges. What magic am I missing in DL lounges?
Nice travel hack! Cool they have a shuffleboard, would be fun. What’s up with the panels above the fire place though? Seems like a missed opportunity for a big TV screen.
Is the elevator code: “Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A”?
@Unintimidated – Define “prestige.”
@Unintimidated — At it again, I see, you uncultured swine. Denver has actually come a long way from a ‘gold rush’ town and a railroad hub; as have other cities in the ‘Mountain West.’ You’d be surprised how ‘big banks’ like Goldman decided to create new ‘hubs’ in places like Salt Lake City. Apparently, you have little appreciation for outdoor activities, like hiking, skiing, or concerts at Red Rocks. Your loss, ‘brother…’
The only opinion on this that I actually want to hear is from @Denver Refugee. Where you at?
I spoke too soon… great Playstation meme, @Denver Refugee.
Sorry, sorry.. I meant Xbox. A, B was the giveaway.
@1990 – Why are you hating on uncultured swine like that, comparing them to certain members of the commentariat?
@1990 – Salt Lake City is not Denver. I’d happily be a Goldman managing director or a Kirkland partner in the Salt Lake office. I’d live in Park City.
@Denver Refugee, easy to define.
Employers: FAANG excluding Amazon unless you are there as a Principal or Distinguished level engineer or research scientist, and at Google, only DeepMind counts; AI companies with their own models (so, OpenAI and Anthropic). Note, trading firms come later in the finance category.
Universities: HYPSMC.
Hospitals: Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic, NYP (Columbia and Weill Cornell), UCLA, MGH
Law firms: Cravath, Wachtell, Skadden, Kirkland, Latham, Davis Polk, Debevoise, and Paul, Weiss; Susman Godfrey, Kellogg Hansen, Munger Tolles
Banks: Goldman, JPM
High finance: any firm or fund with at least $10B AUM.
@Denver Refugee — *oink oink*
@Unintimidated — Never understood why they throw-in Caltech to that silly acronym, but good for them, I guess… no disrespect. So, if you’re so ‘with it,’ sir, why bother ‘gently’ trolling on here?
@1990 – And I’m a bit surprised UC Berkeley and/or Carnegie-Mellon aren’t on that list, being FAANG feeder schools and all.
@Unintimidated – “at Google, only DeepMind counts; AI companies with their own models”. You realize, of course, that “AI” isn’t anything more than fancy autocomplete. By comparison, “Machine Learning” (i.e. fancy statistics) has shown some value, but only in very limited problem domains.
Komani code! @Denver Refugee, one of culture.
Shhh…Gary. Don’t tell people about the 3rd floor at the A concourse club.
That said, the B44 United Club should get a lot less busy once the B32 club reopens in a few weeks. I’m hearing that training is happening now and the B32 club should be open before the end of August.
The B32 club will open this week.
The newish Admirals Club is the nicest space at DEN. Smallish but they don’t have nearly as many flights.
@L737 — I am clearly not worthy. It was Nintendo the whole time. Psh.