How Is United Airlines Business Class?

With the debut of its new Polaris Business Class in 2016, United Airlines made headlines. On most of its planes, it provided all-aisle access, a multi-course and elegantly presented food service, and an unusual quantity of sleep equipment, such as many pillows and blankets. 

While the airline's early ambitions have been scaled back due to cost saving, the Polaris Business Class upgrade continues to get praise.

United's aircraft have taken years to undergo seat adjustments, and a huge proportion of its flights still have seat layouts that force passengers to step over a seatmate. 

In any case, the soft touches remain, and passengers will be charmed by Saks Fifth Avenue's generous pillow and blanket combination.


United is also a leader in flying narrowbody Boeing 757 jets from the United States to secondary European locations, which implies that many customers will have lower trip times. 

United's coast-to-coast network in the United States is superb, with strategically located hubs providing exceptional access to the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, as well as Oceania and South America.

As a member of the Star Alliance, United collaborates with over two dozen airline partners, including Air Canada, Air India, All Nippon Airways, Austrian, Ethiopian, LOT Polish, Lufthansa, Swiss International, and Thai, with whom travelers may earn and redeem points for their travels. 

Travelers can also codeshare with these airlines, allowing them to fly on different Star Alliance airlines on the same ticket. Alliance of Stars

Related: Can United Airlines Credit Be Transferred?

It's hard to believe it's been five years since United debuted the Polaris business class offering. The airline's strategy to launching the new product, on the other hand, has been a long-running story.

While American Airlines quietly began establishing new lounges and modifying older flights without fanfare, United seemed to prioritize marketing over bringing the new product into operation at first.

Billboards and TV commercials appeared throughout the country even before the first Polaris lounge opened or the first jet with new Polaris seats flew a single journey, promising a reimagined flying experience. In actuality, many customers who purchased pricey "Polaris" tickets ended up traveling in older planes for the first few years.

Aircraft and routes

While the soft product (food, service, and amenities) debuted a few months ahead of schedule, the whole experience, including the remodeled contemporary seats, debuted in early 2017 when United received its first Boeing 777-300ER.

United has subsequently received all 22 of the 777-300ERs (commonly known as "77Ws") that it had ordered. These are the only planes in the fleet that are certain to have the new Polaris seats, along with the airline's 13 new 787-10s (out of 14 on order) and 12 787-8s.

The only Dreamliner type featuring a mix of new and vintage seats is the 787-9. The upgraded seats are currently installed in 15 of the carrier's 38 787-9s. By summer 2022, the rest should be finished.

The new cabins are also on board 33 of the 38 Boeing 767-300s, with some of them built in a premium-heavy "high-J" arrangement with a massive 16-row Polaris cabin with 46 seats. The upgraded cabins aren't on any of United's 16 Boeing 767-400s, however several are still in long-term storage owing to the epidemic. 

As a result, United's widebody aircraft now delivers the much-improved business-class offering to the majority of its passengers.

Widebody planes from United are designed to fly long-haul international routes (think trans-Pacific and trans-Atlantic flights and longer flights to South America). They are, however, now available on a number of domestic routes, mostly to Hawaii.

United's new transcontinental flights between New York-JFK and Los Angeles (LAX) and San Francisco (SFO) are operated by the "high-J" 767s (SFO). The 787-10 is also frequently seen on flights from Newark (EWR) to LAX and SFO. The 77W also often flies between EWR and SFO during non-pandemic seasons.

How to check if your flight will have true Polaris seats

With United's refit program approaching completion, you can expect the improved Polaris seats on your long-haul international business class travel. Even so, it's a good idea to do some research on your flights before booking to avoid any unpleasant surprises.

Checking the seat map to determine if your aircraft has real Polaris seats is the quickest method to find out. Polaris cabins will always be configured in one of two ways: 1-2-1 or 1-1-1. Two seats were usually on the sides of United's previous designs. Seats rotate between facing forward and facing the aisle, as shown on the seat map.


Cabin layout and seat selection

While the main architectural components of the Polaris cabin are consistent across the fleet, due to sizing limits, there are small differences across aircraft types. We'll start with the 777s, which account for the majority of the Polaris fleet.

Because of the extensive use of mood lighting, the Polaris cabin seems to be incredibly sleek and blue.

United's 777-300ERs are outfitted with 60 Polaris seats in a 1-2-1 layout, with 28 seats in the front and 32 in the back.

The modified 777-200s, on the other hand, have 50 of the same seats, with 32 in the front cabin and 18 in the back.

SeatGuru claims that the 772's seats are one inch narrower than the 77W's at 22 inches wide, however a TPG worker who flew a 772 modified with Polaris seats reported it felt the same as the 77W. Both variants have a pitch of 78 inches.

For both 777 types, seat selection follows a similar pattern. An odd-numbered window seat is preferable for solo passengers (A or L). As you can see below, these seats are closer to the window and provide significantly more privacy than the even row window seats (the odd-numbered seats are in the front and back, while the even-numbered row is in the middle).

If those are all taken, go on to the remaining odd-numbered window seats, however keep in mind that 7A and 7L on both the 772 and 77W have no windows. The same is true for the 772's 12A and 12L, as well as the 77W's 16A and 16L.

Lounges

Polaris comprises bringing United's old fleet up to modern-day standards, as well as bringing the ground experience up to modern-day standards. This includes the launch of nine new Polaris lounges all across the world.

Chicago (ORD), Newark (EWR), San Francisco (SFO), Houston (IAH), and Los Angeles (LAX) are the first five to open (LAX). The Polaris lounges are a significant improvement over the carrier's aging United Clubs and Global First lounges. 

Each Polaris lounge has an open, breezy decor, restaurant-quality a la carte eating, and a drink menu with an aviation theme.

Polaris lounges were slated to open in four additional sites, including United's hub at Washington Dulles (IAD) and three overseas destinations: 

London (LHR), Hong Kong (HKG), and Tokyo (HKG) (NRT). However, because to the epidemic, these preparations were put on hold.

Related: United Airlines Baggage Fees?

Another distinction of the new Polaris lounges is their more stringent entry restrictions. When flying economy, elite members with a Star Alliance Gold designation on their boarding cards do not obtain instant access (as they would with regular United Clubs). 

Passengers flying in international Star Alliance business or first class are not permitted to use these lounges.

Conclusion

Although it took some time, United's top-of-the-line Polaris business-class pods are now available on most long-haul international flights. This product is unquestionably superior to the one it replaces.

Because to United's transition to dynamic reward pricing, booking Polaris awards through the MileagePlus program has become more difficult. 

Fortunately, there are a variety of alternative programs that you may utilize to effortlessly book these flights with your hard-earned points and miles.

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