Seamus

Underhill, the CDG lounge with showers is the arrivals lounge. It is a small but pleasant setup outside the secure area. Not sure what are the requirements for accessing it. We were able to use it thanks to the Continental BusinessFirst concierge when we had a few hours to spend waiting for the next flight to arrive with my niece.

tatersalad - you may have answered your own question when noting that you will likely not use the lounge access beyond this trip. In that case, the 60 day membership makes sense. And BTW, drinks, including alcohol, are free in NWA and CO lounges.

mrwunrfl

I have a Red Carpet Club membership. It provides access to Star Alliance lounges around the world in addition to the RCCs. It is really only useful to me in the USA because I have a Star Gold card as a United elite FF (premier exec, awaiting my new 1K card). With that FF status level you get access to Star Alliance lounges on days when you are travelling internationally on a *A carrier. This is actually not good if you are willing to pay for the RCC because the clubs can fill up with *Golds (at SFO, for example, when all the flights arrive from Asia).

Was nice to use the America West lounge at Las Vegas and USAirways Club in Pittsburgh over the holidays using the RCC card and same day tickets on those carriers.

Some of the *Gold lounges in the USA are nice, some not so nice (i.e. waiting rooms, but still nicer than out there with the hoi polloi . Same thing in Asia. Better F&B in Asia, tho.

You can stay in the club until boarding but that is not a good idea. You should get there 31 minutes before departure and stay there even if your flight is late.

Carole, here are the guest rules for the RCC:
"Member guest limit for Clubs in the United States is two, or spouse and dependent children. Member guest limit in Clubs outside the United States is one, or spouse and dependent children."

mrwunrfl

You should get there - to the gate - just before boarding begins and stay. I had a flight that the monitor showed would be 20 minutes late, so I went to the RCC which was right below the gate at Dulles. The plane arrived early and emptied quickly as it was a small United Express flight. When I saw people boarding just minutes later, I jumped up and ran up to the gate but they had closed the door to the jetway and did not let me (or 3 other pax) board. That cost me one and a third innnings at Fenway.

gail

Maybe I am missing something (always a real possibility!), but when I checked NWA WorldClub site there appears to be no club or affliate in Indianapolis, Amsterdam or Delhi - perhaps the latter 2 are listed on KLM site.

Some airlines are cutting locations of their clubs as part of financial difficulties - before you buy membership, make sure there is a club you can use in locations you want.

ms_go

Check to see if your airline club membership will allow you access to a club that is not maintained by an airline but rather an airport contractor (the OP mentioned this might be the case in Delhi), as it may be only for priority passengers. In passing through the Manchester (UK) airport a couple of years ago, I found a club with a big Star Alliance sign outside and logos of the various airlines (including United), but was not allowed to enter with my United Red Carpet Club membership card. It was only for first/business passengers and Star Golds. I was, however, able to use the club operated by partner bmi in another terminal.

Also, guest rules for reciprocal use of partner clubs may not always be the same as for the club to which you belong. I've been able to bring my husband and daughter into Lufthansa, bmi, SAS and Air Canada clubs with no issues, but last year we tried to use a US Airways club in Charlotte and were told that United Red Carpet Club members were restricted to one guest (they let us in anyway, as a "gift from US Airways&quot.

mrwunrfl - does Star Gold access to the Star Alliance lounges during international travel allow you to bring a guest? I've always used my RCC card and never tried to enter strictly on status. Just curious.

tatersalad

gail:

You are right about Indianapolis; Amsterdam is indeed KLM and Delhi is someone else. See<https://www.nwa.com/services/bustrav...frica.html>

From this website you can click the tabs to view all the NWA and partner locations.

mrwunrfl

ms_go, I don't know the answer to your question. But you made me think that the no frills club that I used in Nagoya was actually a Star Alliance lounge and not an ANA club.

i just checked the access admission requirements for the *A clubs:
http://www.united.com/page/article/0,1360,3113,00.html
and was reminded that only UA and US require same day international tickets for *Gold fliers. For most of the foreign carriers admission is also granted when flying domestically on those carriers.

Looks like *Gold = RCC for access to most *A lounges.

ms_go, I think you found one of the few exceptions: the bmi diamond club lounge available to *Gold but not RCC, whereas their Business Lounge accomodates both (or so sez the webpage).

Richard1148

Tatersalad: Regarding the lounge in Orlando, there is only one there, which is the Delta Crown Room. It is located in a different terminal from the NW gates, so although you can go to it, you would have to go through security twice - once to go to the Delta side where the Crown Room is and again to go to the terminal where NW has their gates.

tatersalad

Richard1148: Thank you for this info.