Trans-Pacific air travel has seen national carriers and low-cost airlines alike fight tooth and nail for the strong market between the USA and Australia. In economy class, we’ve seen prices drop well below the $900 mark, proving that a captive audience is willing to shop around for the best deal when playing half-a-dozen airlines off against each other.

1. United Polaris 777 Business Class
2. United Polaris 777-300 Best Seats

In the business class game, however, the range of prices has remained fairly stable, meaning it generally comes down to either airline loyalty preference, or splitting hairs over the product on offer. It’s no secret that United Airlines’ Polaris business class is one such product that doesn’t usually tickle the fancy of Australian travellers.

On a recent trip to Salt Lake City from Sydney, we thought we’d give United the time of day they perhaps deserve to deliver a comprehensive verdict on the ‘Polaris’ experience in both their Boeing 787 and 777 cabins.

Top Line Verdict: United’s 777 cabin is the far superior experience for both product and service. It’s worth noting this cabin will soon replace all services across the ditch in the near future.

Instagram — @iTripReportSnapchat — @iTripReportTwitter — @iTripReportEmail — iTripReport@gmail.comPayPal Tip Jar — https://www.paypal.me/itripreportwww.itrip. I was extremely excited to fly in United’s Polaris cabin on the Boeing 777. Photo: United Airlines Spacious setting. I will share my thoughts on both the outward and return journeys. Both legs were conducted by a United Airlines Boeing 777-222(ER). However, the designs on the seats that I had were slightly different from each other.

SYD to LAX – Boeing 787

On the ground

Check-in was a seamless process and allowed for two checked-in bags per business passenger, as most J-Class flyers would expect.

Lounge access options for Star Alliance travellers in Sydney, of which United Airlines slots into, are unfortunately slim pickings. Between the Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer lounge and the Air New Zealand lounge, we’d recommend the latter. You really can’t go past a perfectly made flat white before your 12-hour-long slog that has an 11 AM departure time.

Before even setting foot on the plane, the biggest gripe I had with the 787 Polaris cabin was the 2-2-2 configuration that restricts passengers in a window seat from unobstructed aisle access. You know the kind – old school.

Unless you’re in the middle bank of seats, passengers on either side of the windows either have to climb over someone else, or be climbed over. I hadn’t experienced this since Thai Airways’ 747 upstairs business class service to Bangkok a few years prior.

In the air

In short, the service aboard the 787 matched the ageing product. On arrival I was offered juice, water or champagne. Nothing amiss there. But when I enquired what the grape of choice was for the latter, the answer was simply “nothing special.” I’ll put this down to a veteran flight attendant on autopilot trying to maximise her retirement fund, which can be forgiven.

The Saks Fifth Avenue amenities kit was stacked with a blanket, two pillows, mattress bedding and slippers. Pyjamas were available upon request.

The seat itself was lie-flat, but was rather slim in width even for a lanky lad like myself, meaning if you run larger than the average joe, you could be on for a slightly uncomfortable journey.

To their credit, the infotainment system is one of the best I’ve come across and is peppered with an equally impressive catalogue to match. I was, however, confronted with a courtesy message that I’d never once seen in my decades of flying;

“Be mindful of those around you, if you feel that others might find this offensive, please choose another title.”

Only in America, I suppose, and fair enough. But if I’d paid upwards of $10,000 to have a child sitting next to me dictating what I could or couldn’t watch, I’d be pretty annoyed. This unfortunately all comes down to the lack of privacy with such a cabin configuration.

The food was respectable and tasty but nothing to particularly write home about. United’s icecream sundae station was a real treat though, just when I thought the service was over.

The mid-flight service was actually the most consistent of the entire experience, with the grilled cheese sandwich a standout.

The verdict

Not my favourite business class ever, to say the least. At the time of flying, this particular flight was the most expensive, and not enough boxes were ticked to justify United’s 787 Polaris business class over the competition.

Just before landing, the cabin service director did come over and thank me for flying with them before advising me as to the gate number of my SLC connection, which was a nice touch.

The 777 offering, however, was an infinitely better experience entirely…

SFO to SYD – Boeing 777

On the ground

United Airlines’ recently-opened two-level San Francisco Polaris lounge was actually quite refreshing, considering American airports aren’t exactly known for their lounges.

Within the massive 28,120-square-foot space, it was the in-house dining restaurant (similar to most of the world’s first-class lounges) that I was most excited for. Given the late-night flight time to Sydney, it made sense to skip the onboard dinner and load up prior to boarding.

Despite being informed that one entree and one main meal was not available, I thought the menu was quite well balanced. As I washed down a sourdough caprese bruschetta and creamy pesto cheese tortellini with half-a-dozen glasses of Piper Heidsieck, the overall service experience that I observed in the dining room was pleasantly reactive but hardly ever proactive.

I didn’t try any of the cocktails but did take solace in the fact that the drinks list was an extensive one – enough to make up for any dishes that aren’t available. Plus the selection of cheeses with a drizzle of honey was simply scrumptious.

In the air

Naturally, I hadn’t set the bar particularly high for my return journey given the first leg of the trip, but I was excited to hear that the 777 offered the latest generation of United’s Polaris business class seat.

It was a great first impression. A warm, attentive greeting by cabin crew, the privacy of a direct-aisle access lie-flat bed and a much more sophisticated product overall. United have finally pulled their weight in line with the global standard for long-haul J-class.

In addition to the Saks Fifth Avenue bedding, this flight included an actual amenity kit complete with the regular lineup of moisturiser, lip balm and a toothbrush.

Given the timing of the flight, I didn’t wait around for service to start before I immediately went horizontal and copped a juicy seven hours sleep – their much-lauded pillows are some of the comfiest I’ve ever come across at 38,000 feet.

The Verdict

The 777 Polaris cabin finally allows for the United Airlines J-class offering to compete with its competitors back and forth across the ditch. The service in both directions, while kind-natured and accommodating, just isn’t as proactive as other offerings. Even the previous generation 787 product could have been made enjoyable with a more finely-tuned approach to hospitality.

My advice would be to sit tight for the Boeing 777’s ‘new’ Polaris business class rollout worldwide, which is already on its way, and you should definitely be excited about.

The author travelled as a guest of United Airlines en route to Salt Lake City.

We've put together a list of all United Airlines Polaris new Business Class routes.

Introduction

United Airlines introduced their new business class product in December 2016.

Many people prefer of course to fly with this product rather than in the old business class cabin. Therefore, it is helpful to know on which planes and routes this product is operated.

Here on our page premium-flights.com, we publish new business class deals every day, from North America and from Europe, and from time to time those with United Airlines and the new Polaris seats as well, when good deals are available.

Images by Untied

Images by United

A little warning, the following information is not binding in any way. United Airlines can change flight equipment at any given time without further notice, for example if an aircraft is out of service or for any other reason. Furthermore, they change the routes quite often for the summer or winter schedule. As you booked a business class flight you will of course be in business class, but without the new POLARIS cabin. You usually won't be able to change or cancel your flight free of charge.

(Last update 01 January 2020)

New Polaris Business Class routes:

To EUROPE

From Chicago (ORD)

• London (LHR) – on selected flights only
• Frankfurt (FRA)
• Munich (MUC)
• Zurich (ZRH)

From Newark (EWR)

• London (LHR)
• Brussels (BRU)
• Frankfurt (FRA)
• Nice (NCE)
• Zurich (ZRH)

From San Francisco (SFO)

• Frankfurt (FRA)
• London (LHR) – on selected flights only

From Washington DC (IAD)

• Brussels (BRU)
• Frankfurt (FRA)
• Zurich (ZRH)

To ASIA

From Newark (EWR)

• Hong Kong (HKG)
• Tokyo (NRT)
• Mumbai (BOM)

From San Francisco (SFO)

• Hong Kong (HKG)
• Taipei (TPE)
• Tokyo (NRT)
• Beijing (PEK)
• Shanghai (PVG)

To the MIDDLE EAST

• Newark (EWR) to Tel Aviv (TLV)
• San Francisco (SFO) to Tel Aviv (TLV)

To OCEANIA

From San Francisco (SFO)

• Auckland (AKL)

To SOUTH AMERICA

• Houston (IAH) to Buenos Aires (EZE)
• Houston (IAH) to Santiago (SCL)
• Washington Dulles (IAD) to São Paulo (GRU)

Within the UNITED STATES

• Newark (EWR) to San Francisco (SFO) – on selected flights only
• Newark (EWR) to Los Angeles (LAX) – on selected flights only

There are a few other routes who sometimes get flown as well with the new Polaris seats, but that's too hard to predict and the reason why we didn't put it in the list.

Overview Polaris destinations on world map

Asia

Europe

Oceania

Middle East

How to check if a United Airlines flight offers the new Polaris seats?

All of United AirlinesB777-300er and B787-10 offer the new Polaris Business Class product. More and more Boeing 767-300ER and 777-200ER offer the seats as well. View list below for exact numbers.

The way you can tell if an aircraft has the new polaris cabin is from the seat map. We use ExpertFlyer, but you can as well use Seatguru to check the seat maps, here is what you need to look out for.

An example for a 777-300ER: If the seat map is showing a 1-2-1 cabin layout, like this….

…then the flight will be operated with the new Polaris cabin.

For the B767-300ER the new Polaris cabin will look like this, in a 1-1-1 configuration due to the smaller fuselage

United Polaris 777 Business Class

On the other hand if the seat map is showing a 2-2-2 cabin layout like this….

…then you’re looking at an older model Business Class cabin and NOT the new Polaris cabin. Other aircraft with old seats show even more seats in a row.

Overview of how many United Airlines planes are equipped with new Polaris seats

• Boeing 777-300ER: 21 of 21
• Boeing 767-300ER: 29 of 38 (during 2021 all should be retrofitted)
• Boeing 777-200ER: 41 of 51
• Boeing 787-8: 1 of 12
• Boeing 787-9: 3 of 27
• Boeing 787-10: 12 of 12

The New Polaris Experience

For United Airlines it was more than just introducing new seats, it was a whole new Polaris experience. You get better seats, better food, better amenity kits and better lounges, called Polaris Lounge.

Airports with Polaris Lounge

These airports have a Polaris Lounge at the moment.

• Chicago O’Hare (ORD)
• Houston (IAH)
• Newark (EWR)
• Los Angeles (LAX)
• San Francisco (SFO)

And these airports will open a Polaris Lounge in the future

• Hong Kong (HKG)
• London Heathrow (LHR)
• Tokyo Narita (NRT)
• Washington Dulles (IAD)

Below you may find All Qatar Airways Qsuite, BA new Club World Suite and Delta One suite routes:

Frequently Asked Question

How many United Airlines planes are equipped with new Polaris seats?

United Polaris 777-300 Best Seats

In total 107 airplanes are currently equipped with the new Polaris cabin. All Boeing 777-300ER; 12 Boeing 787-10; 3 Boeing 787-9; 1 Boeing 787-8; 29 of 38 Boeing 767-300ER and 41 of 51 Boeing 777-200ER

How many destinations are operated by the new United Polaris cabin?

Over 20 destinations in Europe, Asia, North America, South America, Middle East and Oceania are operated by the airplanes with new Polaris seats installed.