United Club HKG Review: What It’s Like After Reopening

The United Club in Hong Kong reopened October 2025, following years of closure that began during the COVID-19 pandemic. While it’s far from the fanciest lounge at the airport, it’s a nice spot with plenty of seating for United Airlines travelers to hang out ahead of their flights.

The lounge at Hong Kong International Airport (HKG) offers nearly 6,000 square feet of space. Its reopening comes as United launches flights from the U.S. to Bangkok, Thailand, and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, via Hong Kong. That means passengers will fly from either San Francisco or Los Angeles to Hong Kong before connecting on a United plane to those two destinations.

I flew on the inaugural flight from Hong Kong to Bangkok in October 2025 and had a chance to visit the United Club twice. Here’s what the lounge was like during my visits.

The lounge is located on the floor above the airport concourse in Terminal 1. To access that floor, you’ll need to take the elevator or escalator located by Gate 61.

This is where you’ll also find the American Express Centurion Lounge, the Chase Sapphire Lounge by The Club and a Plaza Premium Lounge. If you’ve got extra time and have access to these lounges, it may be worth it to do some lounge hopping since everything is right next to each other.

There are several ways to access the United Club in Hong Kong. Access is permitted if you are:

• A premium cabin passenger departing on a United or Star Alliance flight.

• A United Premier Gold elite member or higher.

• A Star Alliance Gold member.

• A holder of a United credit card that includes one-time passes. Passes can also be purchased online or at the lounge.

While it uses the updated United Club branding, this lounge in Hong Kong hasn’t had the full makeover treatment that other lounges in the network have gotten at key hub airports, such as the United Clubs in Denver and in Newark, New Jersey.

Instead, you’ll find the traditional blue and beige armchairs and the utilitarian design that United frequent flyers have come to know and (perhaps begrudgingly) love. It didn’t feel very inspired, although I appreciated the various Asian-influenced art pieces and floral arrangements throughout the lounge.

To enter the lounge, you’ll need a lounge agent to scan your boarding pass. Once you’re in, you’ll find plenty of seating options for both solo travelers and large groups, as well as the self-serve buffet area.

Most of the lounge is an open-air space that overlooks the airport concourse below. That makes the lounge feel extremely spacious, although you should expect to hear ambient noise from the terminal. The lounge’s layout was also pretty unique, with an angular shape that’s hard to describe.

If you want to do some planespotting, find a seat facing the terminal’s massive floor-to-ceiling windows. You’ll mostly be looking out at Cathay Pacific planes, since the Hong Kong-based airline is the airport’s dominant carrier.

I didn’t find the lounge to be overcrowded on either of my visits — one in the morning for my flight to Bangkok and another in the evening for my flight back to Los Angeles. It did feel busier in the evening, though, but that’s likely because United’s evening flights to San Francisco and Los Angeles were scheduled within 15 minutes of each other.

There’s also a section of the lounge that’s been closed off, located to the right of the entrance before you reach the lounge agent to verify access. It used to house United’s Global First Lounge, when the airline still offered an international first-class product, but a United representative told me that the airline doesn’t currently have any plans for that space.

Like most United Clubs, this one offers your typical soups, sandwiches, cheeses and wraps. Because you’re in Hong Kong, you’ll also get some Asian options.

During my visit, the lounge had dishes like Shanghai fried noodles, braised beef with red wine sauce and seared chicken in Sichuan sauce.

If you’re looking for something to drink, there’s a coffee and tea station, as well as fridges with various soft drinks, juices and bottled water. I found this setup to be extremely convenient, since I was able to grab a bottle of water to bring onto my flight.

There’s also a self-serve bar at this United Club. While there’s no dedicated bartender, there is a bar cart next to the bar where you can ask the staff to make you a cocktail. On my first visit, the bar cart was set up as a Bloody Mary station, and on my second visit, it was a spritz station.

The United Club in Hong Kong has two shower rooms, but I wasn’t able to use them on either of my visits. The first time I was there, only one was working and there was already a long waitlist. The second time, both shower rooms — along with the women’s restrooms — were out of order.

I’m not sure if the plumbing will be a persistent issue, but it’s worth keeping in mind if you plan to visit the lounge.

With that said, it seems like showers are a popular amenity at the airport. After finding out that the showers were either full or not working on both visits, I went to some of the nearby lounges to see if I could use the showers there. All of them told me that their showers were booked full or required waiting several hours before the next available time slot.

Of the entire United Club, the restrooms probably have the nicest and most modern design. Instead of the lounge’s more antiquated design, the restrooms used the new design that United has been rolling out at its newest clubs, which is akin to what you might see at a Chase Sapphire lounge.

Other amenities at the lounge include a row of phone booths and a more private working area. I needed to respond to some emails during my layover, so this was a good spot to camp out for a bit.

While this lounge won’t win any design awards, I liked that it was functional with a variety of zones for different purposes. Whether it’s worth a visit will largely depend on the type of United Club access you have.

If you have unlimited United Club access through holding a credit card or Star Alliance elite status, this lounge can be a good place to stop by before your next flight, even if it’s just to grab a bottle of water and a quick bite to eat or get some work done.

Top photo by Benjamin Din/NerdWallet.