I visited the United Club at the G Gates right before boarding my UA1 flight back to Singapore. Gate G4 was literally next door, so it was less a deliberate lounge visit and more a quick look around before departure. I had already spent most of the afternoon at the Polaris Lounge further into the same terminal, so expectations were appropriately low.
Location and access
The United Club is in the International Terminal at SFO, at the G Gates. It is on a lower level, below the main terminal floor.
Access is where the usual United caveats come in. United Polaris passengers can use the Polaris Lounge, so most of them will have little reason to come here unless their gate is nearby. Partner programme Star Alliance Gold members can access United Clubs before same-day Star Alliance flights, including United-operated flights, while MileagePlus Premier Gold members and above generally need to be on an international itinerary. United Club members, eligible MileagePlus credit card holders, and one-time pass users can also enter, subject to the usual restrictions.
Most United Polaris business class passengers flying United would bypass this lounge entirely in favour of the Polaris Lounge upstairs. The United Club here is more likely to see Star Alliance Gold members than United’s own premium passengers.
Layout
Someone on Reddit described the United Club F Gates as a 1980s chain restaurant, and the United Club G Gates as the backroom basement of the same restaurant. Having now visited both, I can see the point. This one is actually on a lower level, and the room does not do much to hide that.
After heading downstairs, the lounge opens into two long halls running side by side. The first area has lounge chairs, recliners, and small tables, while the second feels more like the dining section.
Moving through to the second hall, you get more dining tables, booth seats and lounge chair sofas, and that is where the food and drinks are set up.
Food and drinks
The food was identical to what I had seen at the F Gates United Club earlier that day: teriyaki pork loin, fried tofu, steamed brown rice, cookies, matcha-filled mini beignets, salad bar, cheese board, wraps, and Twinings tea. United Club menus appear to run consistently across locations on any given day, which makes sense but does not give you a reason to seek this one out specifically.
The Memorial Day Svedka Strawberry Lemonade special was running here too, and the standard drinks setup looked the same as at the F Gates lounge.
Amenities
There are no showers here either. The lounge only has washrooms at the back, which is fine for a quick stop but not much more than that.
Concluding thoughts
There is not much here that the F Gates review does not already cover. The food is the same, access is broadly the same, and the overall condition tells a familiar story. If anything, the G Gates location feels even more dated, partly because of the basement setting and partly because the layout does very little to disguise its age.
For a lounge in the International Terminal of one of United’s most important transpacific hubs, this feels underinvested. United Clubs at some other airports are reportedly in better shape, and United has been talking about more lounge investment at SFO, but this particular space still feels like it is waiting for its turn.
If your gate is nearby, as mine was at G4, this is a convenient place to sit for the last 10 minutes before boarding. I would not arrive early for it, and I certainly would not choose it over the Polaris Lounge, but as a gate-adjacent holding area, it is fine.
