My United Airlines flight from Washington Dulles to Sao Paulo, Brazil on a 767-400 in Polaris Business Class was very restful…exactly what I needed after an early morning and long day. I’ll offer my first impressions of the flight here and a more detailed review (and also probably a video review) later on.
United Airlines 767-400 Business Class – My First Impressions
I booked via Washington instead of Houston or Chicago so that I could get together with friends who lives in Northern Virgina: that worked out well and after a nice lunch with them, I returned to Dulles Airport where I spent the next several hours in the Polaris Lounge. None of the restaurant items struck me as particularly appealing, so I just nibbled on a charcuterie plate and salad while waiting for my flight to board.
Boarding began at 9:35 pm. The United 767-400 features 34 business class seats all in one large cabin. I found my seat in 7L and settled in for the flight.
My plan was very simple: eat dinner, then go to sleep. Thankfully, the service was very efficient and began promptly after takeoff.
My new favorite drink on Untied is the familiar Aperol Spritz, a nice aperitivo served with mixed nuts.
You’ll notice what I was watching: United Airlines played a fairly prominent role in The Devil Wears Prada 2 and got the movie a month before anyone else. While not as good as the original, I quite enjoyed it.
The meal began with a salad with almonds and Brussels sprouts (odd combo…) and crostini with olive tapenade and a very tart tomato with garlic and basil. I really liked the dark rye bread…much better than the usual white rolls.
I had pre-ordered the Maryland crab cakes as my main course, which were good, but tiny…literally 1/3 the size of what they used to be. Delicious, but I could have used 6-8 more…
But it was good not to be stuffed and I concluded the meal with United’s signature ice cream sundae.
With a cool cabin (no individual air vents), I quickly feel asleep and slept for seven hours.
With just over an hour before landing, I enjoyed some scrambled eggs (same dish as I had the day before, but not as good as from LAX) and coffee before landing.
This was a perfectly adequate, boring flight on United…exactly what I was hoping for. The Maryland crab cakes are very good…it’s a shame you only get a sample.
I’ll share about my time in São Paulo next.
Please review the lounges in GRU.
Just LATAM Lounge I’m afraid. Stay tuned.
This looks like a very average meal.
It was a small domestic dish – not adequate for a longhaul Polaris flight – but did taste good.
For a long haul flight, those crab cakes were quite small; were they real crab? could have been flavored product; they really need to improve their inflight catering; SQ still offers their lobster dish on long hauls, which is quite popular. In your comment section, the printis so small, could you please incr. the size of it some?
Seven hours sleep, individual air vents, works for me.
(nodding)
What’s the pajamas limit? 14 hours? Flew JFK-EZE on 773, 11 hours, got Centennial PJs. Flew LHR-JFK in the new 789 Preferred Flagship Suite, got another pair (even though that was like just 8+ hours, and a daytime flight). Either way, I like me some PJs. Got a bunch of them on EWR-JNB a few years back. 16+.
No PJs on my flight, but I wore my Emirates ones!
If you get to London, be sure to see the musical “The Devil Wears Prada.” I’ve seen it twice and loved it.
Don’t know what you’re doing in SP, but if you could sneak in a review of the SP Rosewood, that would be great. I think it’s spectacular and would be interested in your take.
Would love to, but no overnight on this trip – a very quick turnaround.
I could’ve sworn none of United’s 767-400s have individual air vents…
Oh my goodness, you are right. I must have been half asleep when I wrote this.
That’s right… UA’s B767-400s do not feature individual overhead air vents (gaspers) for passengers in the cabin. As is known, cabin temperature and airflow are entirely managed by the flight’s centralized environmental control system.
Ohhh that’s disappointing.
Hey, at least you got breakfast food prior to arrival! For some reason, UA insists that Polaris customers will eat dinner style sort of meals (Pork Katsu, Fish, Noodles, Chickpea curry, etc.) when coming to the West Coast from Asia. Why can’t they offer eggs, or yoghurt??
For aviation enthusiasts → UA currently has 16 B767-400 aircraft (average age: 24.9 years) in its fleet.
For aviation enthusiasts → The UA B767-400 jet and its right CF6-80C2B7F engine.
Greetings to UA’s legendary signature ice cream sundae!
What is your bizarre obsession with selfies? You’re not a child. You’re 40 years old and acting like a Kardashian. Narcissism, OCD? No other travel blogger is so fixated on themselves. It’s just super weird.
Wow. It’s not because I think I look so great or want to show off…it’s because in an age of AI, I want to show that I still actually travel and write my own reviews…have you seen all the AI-garbage that claims to be reviews? The point of these photos is to show that I am still real…very easy to scroll past me if it bothers you. I mean come on, I look half-dead in this photo…
Oh Matthew, don’t engage with gooners like “Honest Observation” who are jealous of how hot you are. What a loser. Probably a fat, balding millennial who still lives with his parents and spends his day jacking off between playing video games because he can’t get laid in real life.
@More Honest – Snaps to you!!!!
@Honest Observation……Relax. As a gay man that finds Matthew handsome, more pictures please!!!! (especially in the gym) 🙂
I’m sad you were in Northern Virginia and didn’t say hello. I live near Reagan National but could have perhaps met up if you were nearby! Perhaps you might have enjoyed some bubble tea at Eden Center! Setting to notify me by email if you respond. Please reach out if you’re in town next time!