There is a new type of lounge popping up at airports

United Airlines opened its first Club Fly location at Denver International Airport in 2022.

Feb 26, 2025 - 19:17

There is a new type of lounge popping up at airports

Started by American Airlines (AAL) as the Admirals Club in 1939, the airport lounge has gone through many evolutions in the eight decades that have since followed.

Traditionally, it is a separate area in which travelers with frequent flyer status or a higher ticket fare can relax, work and enjoy a range of complimentary foods and drinks.

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A man and a woman are seen at an airport lounge. United Airlines has added a grab-and-go option for its frequent fliers at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston.
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These are the airports offering grab-and-go lounge options

While the latter are traditionally meant to be eaten in the lounge itself, the last year has brought with it a new type of lounge for rushed travelers looking to go in, grab a snack and continue on to their flight.

Delta (DAL) first started teasing the grab-and-go lounge concept at the start of 2023. Two such outposts of its SkyClub are now available at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson and New York's JFK airports; travelers with lounge access can bypass the line for main access and grab something from a section with wraps and sandwiches, dry snacks and cold soft drinks.

Calling it Club Fly, United Airlines (UAL) has also been offering grab-and-go options at Denver International Airport since 2022. Three years later, it opened a second location at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston this week.

Similarly designed as a "snack room" but with a space theme to honor Houston's NASA heritage, the new grab-and-go lounge will have a coffee bar, fresh-squeezed orange juice and refrigerators with snacks, wraps and pastries.

United on new lounge: 'Not all customers travel the same way'

According to United's numbers, over 300,000 travelers have visited the Denver location since it opened in 2022, while the airline expects even greater demand at the larger airport.

Access is the same as for the regular lounge: travelers who have reached the top tiers of United's MileagePlus loyalty program, those traveling in business on longer flights and holders of several premium credit cards.

Unlike with many other airlines, United lounge membership can also be purchased for $650 a year which would then open up access to both regular and grab-and-go sections.

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The new Club Fly location is strategically located in IAH's Terminal B, from which many connecting and shorter United Express domestic flights take off. United also said that over 50% of travelers passing through Houston are connecting, so the lounge is designed to serve those who are rushing to the next flight and only have time to grab a quick snack.

"Designed for on-the-go United Club members, Club Fly offers a club experience that matches the ways travelers' needs have evolved, especially when they're pressed for time," Alexander Dorow, who heads United's Club and Lounge Program, said in a statement. "Not all customers travel the same way and that encourages us to constantly look at new opportunities to add value to our club program and support travelers throughout their entire journey."

While airport workers will be there to work the coffee bar and oversee other food stations, entry itself will be automated to take place without an agent; the gate will either open or not depending on the type of boarding pass one scans.