I was in San Francisco for work for about a week, and on my last day before my United Airlines UA1 flight home to Singapore, I made a point of arriving at SFO early. I arrived at 3pm, which gave me a good few hours to check out the various Star Alliance lounges before departure.
The United Polaris Lounge was the one I was most curious about. United positions the Polaris Lounge as the proper premium product, a clear cut above the regular United Clubs in the network. The headline features are the à la carte Dining Room, a full bar with cocktail service, and a lounge footprint that at just over 28,000 square feet is the largest in the Polaris network. On paper, it sounded like it had every reason to be good. I wanted to see for myself.
Location and access
The Polaris Lounge sits immediately past security at the San Francisco International Airport’s International Terminal G Gates. If you have just cleared through TSA security screening, it will be to the right.
Access has changed quite a bit this year. From 14 April 2026, United tightened the rules and cut access for most Star Alliance partners. Here is who can get in today:
- United Polaris business class passengers travelling on an international itinerary
- Business class on ANA, Air New Zealand and ITA Airways
- Business class (including basic and flex fares) on Lufthansa Group carriers: Lufthansa, SWISS, Austrian, Brussels Airlines
- First class on Lufthansa, SWISS, or ANA, with one guest
Star Alliance Gold members cannot guest anyone, even if you are also travelling in the above listed cabins.
The short version for Singapore readers is that Singapore Airlines business class passengers can no longer access this lounge due to new restrictions by United Airlines. That access was already complicated before this change, since Singapore Airlines shifted to the A Gates in early 2026, requiring a separate security screening to reach the G Gates (if not a very long walk around the entire airport).
Layout
The lounge spans two floors, and at just over 28,000 square feet, it is indeed a big space. The lower floor is much quieter and smaller. The upper floor is where most of the action is.
Lower floor
Right at the entrance is the check-in desk. From there you will notice two ways up to the upper floor: a lift immediately to your right, and an escalator further ahead. Before you head up, it is worth walking the lower floor first.
Just past the escalator, there is a decorative shelf installation that splits the corridor slightly. Walk around it and you open into a fairly long hall. This is the quieter level by design.
Running along one side are roughly 12 productivity pods with proper desk surfaces and power outlets built in, the kind of setup that actually works for getting something done. There is no food service on this floor, which probably contributes to how calm it stays even when the lounge is busy upstairs.
Towards the back is a small drinks station, along with some additional dining tables and sofas. Further along still is where the more private amenities are: the shower suites and the quiet suites, which I will cover in the amenities section.
Upper floor
The second floor is where most passengers end up spending their time, and it is considerably busier. The escalator puts you roughly in the middle of the upper level, and from here the floor extends in two directions.
Going forward first: ahead of the escalator is the main section of the lounge.
A few more productivity pods are scattered near the escalator landing before the space opens into the main hall, which is anchored by a central bar. Lounge chairs, armchairs and sofas are grouped around it, and to the side of the main hall there is a separate lounging area that feels a bit removed from the bar crowd.
The views from this section are a mix, as you get some tarmac-facing windows and some interior-facing walls of the airport.
Continuing along brings you to the buffet and then, at the far end, The Dining Room. The views here are noticeably better, with more direct sightlines onto the tarmac.
Backtracking from the escalator and heading the other way takes you into a section that functions more as overflow. More productivity pods line up the tarmac side of the lounge, alongside lounge seating and sofas. Towards the wall are dining tables, the kind of spot you gravitate toward if the main hall is filling up. It is quieter back here, and the pace feels different.
At the very end of this wing is The Studio. From the outside it looks like a kitchen pantry setup, which is roughly what it is in its base state. But it transforms depending on the day. I was told by staff that it gets used for different activations of food and beverage concepts on a rotating basis, and I happened to catch one of those in action. More on that in the food and drinks section.
Food and drinks
Buffet
The buffet is upstairs, immediately outside The Dining Room. On my visit, the spread included farro pilaf, Cuban black bean soup, spring vegetable with chicken fricassee, and lemon roasted green beans, alongside charcuterie, salads, and dressings. It was fine, but not the reason to come here. The Dining Room is the real draw, and the buffet also seemed to run low later in the afternoon as the lounge filled up.
The Dining Room
The Dining Room is probably the highlight of the Polaris lounge, given the à la carte dining setup. It operates on a rotating menu, changing daily.
For my visit the entrées were bacon-wrapped pork tenderloin, shrimp saffron orzo, wild mushroom bourguignon bouchée, and the Polaris signature burger, which appears to be a fixture regardless of what else rotates. Small plates included roasted cauliflower soup, fennel avocado salad, beef kofta, and a cheese plate. On the dessert list were a chocolate olive oil cake, matcha panna cotta and a chocolate chip skillet cookie, though in practice only the matcha panna cotta and the skillet cookie were available when I sat down. The skillet cookie is another constant, as far as I can tell.
The main issue was the wait. I put my name down at around 4pm and was quoted roughly 30 minutes by SMS, but I was only seated closer to 4.45pm after I came back and had to ask again. The lounge did not feel especially busy at the time, and when I asked, the staff mentioned a “transition period” without really explaining what that meant.
The wait itself was not the end of the world, but the lack of clarity was frustrating. If you are planning to eat at The Dining Room, put your name down as soon as you arrive and build in more buffer than you think you need. Based on other reports, 45 minutes is not especially unusual here, as sometimes non-peak hours can be over an hour’s wait.
I had the Polaris burger with every topping, the shrimp saffron orzo, and the chocolate chip skillet cookie. The burger was satisfying enough, but the shrimp saffron orzo was the standout: properly seasoned, generously portioned, and more substantial than I expected from an airport lounge dining room. The skillet cookie arrived warm, which paired very nicely with the vanilla ice cream.
The Polaris Bar
For drinks, the bar was running an anniversary cocktail called the Sundae Cart Old Fashioned on the day I visited. I ordered that, but received a regular Old Fashioned instead, and did not ask for it to be remade. Later on, I ordered the United Polaris Star. No complaints about the drinks selection overall, which is better than what you usually find in US airline lounges.
The Studio
One other thing worth mentioning: on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, The Studio on the upper floor hosts Buri Buri Bento, a seasonal food concept that United has set up to showcase local Californian businesses. In the daytime, it was just a pantry bar.
Later in the day, it transformed into a sushi bar, with a staff member doing the rounds of the lounge with a trolley. He came by and offered me a few pieces: a California roll, a spicy tuna roll, salmon nigiri, and unagi nigiri. That was a welcome surprise and considerably better than I expected from a lounge pop-up. If you happen to be there on one of those days, it is worth seeking out.
Drinks Station
On the lower floor, there is a small drinks station near the rear of the lounge, with tea, beer, and juices. It was also National Strawberry Month, so strawberry agua fresca was available throughout the lounge. I liked this more than expected.
Amenities
Private booths
The three enclosed private booths at the far end of the upper floor’s left wing are worth seeking out if you have work to get through before a long flight. Each is fully enclosed with glass walls and a proper door, which gives you visual separation from the rest of the lounge without feeling claustrophobic.
There is ample power outlet provision at the desk, and the acoustic separation is good enough that a video call does not feel like a public performance. Most seats elsewhere in the lounge also have some power outlets though. If reliable desk space and quiet are both on your list, go straight to the booths.
Quiet Suites
The Quiet Suites are also on the lower floor, beside the shower suites. They were fully booked when I arrived, so I did not use one. From what I could see through the open door while one was being turned over, these are proper enclosed rooms with a daybed. Allocation is first-come, first-served with no pre-booking, so if resting is a priority, arrive early.
Shower Suites
The shower suites are on the ground floor at the end of the main hall. Each suite comes with slippers, a toothbrush, deodorant, and the standard towels and toiletries. A note worth passing on: some items are not left out in the suite by default and require asking the staff. It is not a big deal, but it means the experience is slightly less self-contained than you might expect at this level.
Washrooms
The washroom toiletries, for what it is worth, are by Perricone MD, which is a notch above the generic dispensers typical of US carrier lounges.
Concluding thoughts
The United Polaris Lounge San Francisco is genuinely good, and for a US carrier lounge, it is about as strong as it gets. The space is large, the showers and quiet suites are useful, the bar is well stocked, and The Dining Room gives the lounge a proper premium feel.
The Dining Room wait is the one thing that lets the experience down. Waiting 45 minutes when the lounge did not feel especially full was frustrating, especially without a clear explanation. If you want to eat there, put your name down as soon as you arrive.
Everything else worked well. The buffet is not especially memorable, but The Dining Room, Buri Buri Bento pop-up, private work booths, and shower suites make this feel like a real flagship lounge. I can see why United treats Polaris Lounges as a separate product from regular United Clubs. This one mostly lives up to that positioning.
