My journey home from South Africa clocked in at an amazing 16 hours and 5 minutes of flight time thanks to heavy headwinds which slowed our journey and left me plenty of time to explore United’s onboard Polaris business class product on the Boeing 787.
United Airlines 787 Polaris Review
I’m not sure if the crew was impressed or though I was crazy, but it was the same crew I flew out with. We both had spent about 26 hours in Johannesburg before flying back to Newark (EWR). In fact, I ran into the crew at the Marriott and we all shared a laugh about me going back so soon (I laid out my reason for the trip here). In fact, I was invited to use the crew shuttle to head back to the airport, which was a very kind gesture (I turned down the invitation because I wanted to get to the airport early to review lounges).
Leaving South Africa was even easier than getting in. I presented my BinaxNOW COVID-19 antigen self test and collected my boarding pass, then proceeded through security then immigration where I was stamped out without a word. The airport was very quiet.
Prior to boarding my bag was searched, with the contents being dumped onto a table then hastily reloaded (I did not receive a SSSS – it appears that everyone had to endure this). It made me thankful I was traveling very light.
United Airlines 187
Johannesburg (JNB) – Newark (EWR)
Wednesday, December 16
Depart: 10:00PM [actual departure 9:52PM]
Arrive: 7:00AM+1 [actual arrival 7:17AM]
Duration: 16hr, 00min
Distance: 7,989 miles
Aircraft: Boeing 787-9
Seat: 9K (Business Class)
Onboard, the flight attendants were positioned in the same places as the outbound and all smiled and greeted me as I boarded. Sadly for United, the flight was empty due to the omicron flight ban impacting South Africa. In fact, there were only five passengers in the rear 787-9 cabin, which includes 18 seats.
Obviously I enjoy empty cabins as a passenger, but it was a painful reminder of the consequences of governments acting upon fear, not science.
Before takeoff, the captain came around and introduced himself to every business class passenger, informing us of our delayed arrival into Newark and unusually long flight time. I appreciated that personal touch, though United’s app had already alerted us to our unusually long flight time.
After I got settled, Jules, the purser, welcomed me back onboard and took my dinner order.
Choices included:
- Beef Filet
- with green pepper sauce, sautéed spinach, honey glazed carrot batons, sweet potato wedges
- Chicken Cape Malay
- With with Saffron basmati rice, and Lentil Dahl
- Roasted Vegetables Ratatouille Style
- with brinjal, zucchini, carrot and red onion, 3 colors quinoa, peppers brunoises, sweet corn, fresh coriander, cumin, and smoked paprika seasoning
Each entree was served with a salad composed of mesclun lettuce, sundried tomato, herb grilled croutons, chard sweet corn, and a bocochinie ball.
United still has not brought back paper menus and should consider posting them online and including them as part of the in-flight-entertainment library.
We took off and dinner was served within a half hour, all on one tray, including dessert. As I mentioned on the outbound report, here’s where United could make a meaningful improvement to the soft product by improving the appearance of the meals and offering it in courses. Appetizer and additional dessert choices should be restored (United is trialing additional service on select flights next month).
That said, the meal was fine. Tasty, in fact. I ordered filet mignon and was cooked too long, but still tasty with the green pepper sauce and I enjoyed the sweet potato wedges.
The salad was fresh and I liked the bag of mixed nuts, which even had macadamias in it.
And who doesn’t love a simple vanilla ice cream from Häagen Daz?
It was time for more sleep. With 14.5 hours left in the flight, I got ready for bed. That included requesting pajamas from a flight attendant (this time, I received S/M instead of L/XL and they fit so much better), slippers, and a mattress pad. I then changed into my pajamas and made my bed:
I managed seven hours of sleep, which was a bit disappointing. I was hoping for more, but oddly my stomach woke me up. I was hungry and there was still 7 hours and 41 minutes of flight time left.
Pre-pandemic, United used to offer grilled cheese sandwiches and soup on longhfaul flights as a mid-flight snack (along with a second dish such as noodles or chili or beef stroganoff) plus cold sandwiches and packaged snacks.
These days, it is just cold sandwiches and snacks. José, the flight attendant who worked my section for most of the flight, offered me a chicken sandwich. It looked disgusting, but was actually very tasty (though I concede, maybe I was just hungry). It had a chicken breast, cucumbers, a sun-dried tomatoes paste, and olives which helped my stomach to stop growling along with some other South African snacks.
Now awake, I watched a movie called “Old” which was mildly entertaining, then I was able to fall asleep again for another few hours. I’ll add here that a wi-fi flight pass was available for $22.99, which I thought was a great price for such a long flight. Internet worked well through much of the flight (at least the portion I was awake). It’s nice to stay connected.
When I woke up, it was time for breakfast, with two choices on offer:
- Feta cheese omelet
- grilled tomato wedges, potato cake, and chicken sausage
- Waffles
- with mix berry compote, lemon zest mascapone cream, and icing sugar garnish
I ordered the omelet and found it tasty with a strong cup of coffee and croissant. Fruit was served on the side.
After finishing, I asked José if there were any waffles left and he gladly brought me a second breakfast. The waffles were a bit soggy, but still tasty with the lemon cream and powdered sugar.
The last 90 minutes of the flight seemed to drag on…it had been 15 hours already, after all. We finally landed in Newark and I made a sprint for immigration: I had less than an hour to make my way to Terminal C for my connection to LAX.
CONCLUSION
Once again, I was reminded of the great potential United has. It’s a great seat with great bedding. The flight attendants were charming. The IFE library was comprehensive and wi-fi worked fast and was cheap and without data caps. It’s just the food…the soft product really need a facelift. That’s a good thing: if United can move back toward the Polaris soft product when the product launched, I’m convinced United will earn universal praise from travelers.
That may be the most overcooked steak I’ve seen on any airline. I don’t even know how it was edible.
A completely unacceptable meal product.
I had to do a double take on that filet. Not a spec of pink. Are you sure that’s not slow roasted pork lol?
I second your comment on the beef. Makes you wonder what the chicken looked like.
The summary says you had seat 9K, but it looks like you were sitting in 9L.
Correct 9L. Thanks.
I whole heartedly endorse your comments out the food. It tastes OK, but the presentation is completely unacceptable. Just keep the ice cream until I’m done. How hard would that be? Especially on an empty flight like yours.
Great report and sad to see JNB so empty looking down the isles of shops in your pic.
The presentation is pathetic. There was a time when that was pretty close to an Intl. economy meal. I can’t stand things all shoved together on a tray. Would it really be so hard to serve it in three courses, especially on a 16 hour flight, my god.
I formerly flew for 27 years, both international and domestic. Worked galley positions hundreds of times. Hard to believe, but there was a time when filets were served throughout economy as well as first class. We had numerous techniques for keeping filets rare (unless ordered otherwise) ranging from staggering cooking times to never even putting them in an oven (the L1011 in particular had a super hot bun warmer in the downstairs galley. We simply placed foil pans of filets there until needed upstairs). In United’s defense, they’ve cut a flight attendant staffing position and all J meals are pre-plated, creating more of a challenge. In all the photos I’ve seen here and elsewhere, I’ve yet to see a genuinely rare steak.
Hi Lorenzo,
I will say I had a decent steak last year out of Sao Paulo on United:
https://liveandletsfly.com/an-impressive-brazilian-steak-on-united-airlines/
and from Tokyo Narita:
https://liveandletsfly.com/united-airlines-steak/
(this was truly rare)
I flew that flight on the 3rd Dec, totally unimpressed by the service. I flew out to South Africa on united to Frankfurt and then in Lufthansa to J’berg. I have to say the service on Lufthansa was amazing. They serve you your meal like a 3 course meal. Seems that United is using Covid as an excuse. I mean who eats half melted ice cream or a cold rock hard roll with cold butter that you cannot spread on your roll. United needs to step it up.
Matthew says: “Obviously I enjoy empty cabins as a passenger, but it was a painful reminder of the consequences of governments acting upon fear, not science.”
I think that is backwards thinking. The science is what causes me to be afraid to be on an airplane for a 16 hour flight—or 2.5 hours for that matter. Fortunately, the Government bailed out the airlines or Matt’s flights would not have existed because all carriers would be out of biz.
What science is that?
Try Palmolive. It softens hands while you do dishes.
You’re soaking in it.
Hilarious!
The science that suggests that we have lost close to 1 million Americans because of covid and are seeing case counts that have hospitals more full than they’ve ever been before…and yet, if you believe in travel blogs, covid is a hoax! A hoax I tell you! Vitamin E and zinc and ivermectin are the answer! Thanks for your helpful reminder Matt! All is well. Nothing to see here. Truly. Nothing.
What are you smoking? Where did I ever say COVID-19 was a hoax? Your logical fallacies and hyperbole won’t fly here.
Science said the vaccines were effective at preventing COVID. Total lie. Fully vaccinated people are getting COVID like crazy. It’s more political science than medical
Yawn
Just thought I’d throw this in… they’re not saying that the vaccine prevents you from getting covid… what they’re saying is that vaccinated persons are less likely to die from the virus than unvaccinated people. Reading and listening is fundamental…..
The vaccine narrative has definitely evolved. At first the “experts” and pols said that vaccines would be our way out of covid. I believe President Biden even said at one point that we should get the shot so we don’t get contract covid. Then it became empirically known that the shot does not prevent infection or transmission so the narrative shifted to “it will reduce severity and the likelihood of hospitalization/death.
As for Matthew’s comment, he is correct that flight bans were knee-jerk reactions NOT based on science. It was known almost immediately that omicron was essentially a cold. The CDC’s list of omicron symptoms are identical to a cold.
I agree that the presentation of food on United Polaris is just horrendous. And was so even before the pandemic.
It’s like eating “fancy” dishes of quality in a fast-food restaurant or at a Six Flags amusement park.
The same in domestic “First”.
United needs to introduce some elegance and sophistication in their premium soft product. Not only food, but also personnel.
I have found that some United flight attendants (not all) can be crude and simplistic in communication – even compared with airlines that have non-native English-speaking crew. United lacks the culinary, service, cultural sophistication which premium passengers expect.
The new Polaris hard-product was a good start, but service and food is mediocre – and was even before COVID.
I flew that flight last month. Also in Polaris. The flight attendants we’re way to overkill on the masks. As i was drinking beer i was told to put mask on between sips. Also while i was sleeping my mask moved a little and I was woken up because of that.
The seats ahead of me and on the side were empty. The first crew was ok, but when they did the shift change the one flight attendant keeps singling me out about the mask.
Also when I ordered coffee and other drinks during non meal times the flight attendants seemed annoyed to bring me the drinks.
I have had way better service on other United flights. I am also a 1K member.
As noted, the Government bails out the airlines upon request so there is no need to improve the soft product.
Wait, you tested with BinaxNow? I thought that self administered tests were a no-go? I’d dearly love to be misinformed on this.
@Christian–I think what @Matthew meant was that they had free COVID tests available at JNB and he took one for non travel use but he likely got tested somewhere else in South Africa.
@Christian, I did use BinaxNow for my travel. This is a valid test for U.S. inbound flights as long as you purchase the COVID-19 Ag Card Home Test with video support. It generates a test result sheet that appears very official.
@John Ryan: it actually probably would have been easier to do one of the free tests at JNB, but I didn’t do that – I just used the BinaxNow test.
There are actually two versions of the BinaxNOW test. That’s probably causing the confusion. One is readily available (while supplies last) in drug stores, the other is available only online and requires registering with Novica to have it proctored online via Zoom call, as Matthew mentions. The latter, the one Matthew used (and I have used multiple times in the last couple of months) is perfectly acceptable. There’s even a mobile app where your results are uploaded so you can just show the check-in agent when you get to the airport.
Maybe you should delete what hotel you were at. That puts the crews in danger.
How?
That’s just common sense really. Any person traveling shouldn’t share hotel information. There’s several instances where flight crew members were attacked or targeted. I have a friend that works for another major airline & he said they were never to post or check in from hotel locations. I was just shocked you posted it I guess..carry on
Attacked and targeted how? For horrible service? For the horror of witnessing polyester uniforms and clog shoes? I mean, what exactly would cause someone to target an airline crew? Did the pilots park the plane outside the hotel and nefarious types wanted the keys?
This is one of the most absurd things I have ever read here in the comments. As if an airline crew is somehow the gold standard for those who seek riches or some sort of gain. You make it sound like they are a traveling entourage of Beyonce, lol.
In my experience it’s easy enough to find out from the locals of a city where particular airline crew stay. I doubt posting such information online will harm them in any way.
Yes, because airline crews are targets for…umm, help me here? As if anyone cares?
If anything it tells me not to stay at that property, lol.
To be fair, the polyester uniforms – in all their instantiations, thus negating the term “uniform” – and clog shoes are pretty terrible. Not attack-worthy, no, but still pretty awful.
Thank god, someone who gets it, lol
“Pre-pandemic, United used to offer grilled cheese sandwiches and soup on longhfaul flights as a mid-flight snack (along with a second dish such as noodles or chili or beef stroganoff) plus cold sandwiches and packaged snacks.”
Gosh those were the days. Simple yet satisfying. For those carrying on about the fillet, if you want a satisfying steak go to a steakhouse.
I would have asked the Captain if the aircraft was at MTOW and the rotation speed 🙂
This whole trip to Johannesburg is total self indulgent BS in the name of protest. I know because I’m a flying geek and I can spot it when I see it. I know cause I am tempted to do the same kind of ridiculous trips sometimes (but without the protest factor). I know how amazing it can feel to have that Lufthansa first class flight and layover as the lure which started off all of his trip planning…. He said it himself from the beginning of this trip post. He’s a Lufthansa Duck crack head and was supposed to fly back Lufthansa first to get a duck. Hat off to trying to get the LH F Fix, but failed this time Matt, however shame for cloaking it in some kind of covid protest. That it undoubtedly was not. I see you
You’re free to express that opinion, but I reiterate again my choice of going to South Africa was in protest. Otherwise I would have headed to Belize and checked a new country off my list.
Cracks me up how everyone cares so much about the food. You just circled the globe in a pressurized tube traversing the stratosphere. Good job UAL for the safe flight.
We did this flight back in August and the Polaris section wasn’t full. The notion that in a restaurant you can take off your mask the whole time you are sitting down is the same on an airplane. The air is recirculating every 3-4 minutes through HEPA filters. If there is nobody sitting around you, having the mask on the whole time is ridiculous, especially since everyone is vaccinated and negative. The Polaris lounge in Newark wasn’t open so we couldn’t take advantage of the smaller crowd. The food in Polaris is average at best. I did like the configuration of the Polaris seats in flat mode and most plugs and things were within reach. I flew Premium economy coming back from London and I was fine with those seats.
It’s really nice to read that UAL employees treat you as a general friend which is so much evolved from the bad-apple “photogate” episode.
Thanks for the review. I just flew with UAL to Peru in Polaris for the very first time and was so disappointed! Then entire pod was dirty with trash and food crumbs everywhere. I had to ask for disinfectant wipes to clean my pod, especially the trey which clearly wasn’t cleaned. Even the flight attendant noticed and made a comment about protocols not being followed. The food was edible, but more along the lines of a frozen food entree I would have bought at the store. The service from Houston to Lima was terrible! The two flight attendants sat in the gallery 9n their phones most of flight and if I needed water, I had to go to them to get it. I think what made me so disappointed was it was the first time I had gifted myself, 57th birthday, the luxury of first class and it was not luxurious at all. I doubt I will ever do it again because it wasn’t worth the money!
I’m disappointed you didn’t ask for a second dinner 😀
Also disappointed that they searched everyone again, I remember they used to do it on all outbound HKG flights as well.
Seriously – Publicizing where a crew stays is a security risk. A lot of carriers including US based carriers forbid crews from telling passengers where they stay – especially for security and terrorism issues. True one can probably Google it, but highly recommend you remove this from your post.
They are airline crews, lol. Not Beyonce.
not sure why this point is being dismissed with such derision. The point is that airline crews may have IDs that can access secure areas of the airport and of course, the plane itself, so a terrorist or other criminal may be interested in obtaining that ID. Sure, chances of that happening are low, but why not err on the side of caution?
I purchased 6 first class tickets, nonstop roundtrip from Newark to Honolulu on United. We received a meal just after takeoff and nothing for the remainder of the 11 hour flight. We had to ask for a snack, which were pretzels, chips, etc. A waste of $19000.
UA is supposed to provide a pre-arrival meal of a hamburger or soba noodle salad. Did FAs explain that catering forgot to land the pre-arrival meal?
Were you required to have BTA (Basic Travel Allowance) money to board your flight … in case the situation arose that you were forced to layover somewhere during your travel ? I have a friend who claims she has been denied to board her flight for this
reason … puzzles me. Trying find answers and since you just traveled,
I thought I would ask. I am trying to get her home … but this has popped up. Would please take the time to respond to my email address ? Thank you sir.
Respectfully,
Roger
Honestly never heard of such a thing and I was not asked.
Thank you
Have you noticed how United turns on the fasten seat belt sign for three hours after the main meal is served so the crew can take a break?
It is sad to see JNB so empty, the Flight was empty let’s hope and pray for better 2022.
Hello,thank you for all the information you gave about leaving South africa…could you tell mecwhst I need to go to South africa besides a passport..thank you. Steven Montano
Negative COVID-19 PCR test not more than 72 hours old.
United Newark to Joburg Dec 2022.
Worst imaginable service. Food was terrible, a stody turkey roll in the middle of the night made matters worse.
No headphones, no toilery bag, no blanket, awful food
Emails to United about this remain unanswered.
What a dissapointing airline, I won’t use them again.
So many omissions. No pre-flight drink… no hot towel… no linen for tray. Their business class is a joke. I’ve flown UAL 1.5 million miles, so they have been my first choice usually when I travel. I only fly business class — on paid tickets. But no more…stick to foreign international carriers. Most still respect their business class customers. Oh, and don’t get me started on how United loads FIVE CLASSES of customers before I, a fare-paying Business Class passenger, am allowed to board.
I just flew yesterday in Polaris from Athens to New Jersey. The atrendant was so rude she became slightly polite when
I started recording the converaation. Chicken was so dry that I couldn’t eat. I’m don’t care for ice cream so there was no desert alteenative for me. Round trip to Athens and back was unimpressive. I seemingly paid the extra $$$$ for comfortable seating and bed. United needs to step up their game or they will lose us. I had an amazing experience flying business with Turkish Airlines a few months ago. I just might stick with them as much as I can.