United now calls its international business class product “Polaris” but not all seats are created equal.
Only the 777-300ER and one 767-300ER currently have the new Polaris seat installed, a beautiful product that makes United’s longhaul business class much more competitive in an age of 1-2-1 seating.
All 777-200s and 787s feature older (but still lie-flat) business class seats. On pre-merger United’s 777s, seating is 2-4-2 in business class, a far cry from an industry leading product. Even the more spacious pre-merger Continental aircraft still do not have direct aisle access at each seat with a 2-2-2 configuration.
I fly on United often…all of you who regularly read the blog know this. But up until today I have never actually flown in the new Polaris seat, even on a domestic flight. I’ve only sat in mock-ups.
That changes today. By the time you read this, I will have just departed on a 15hr05min journey from San Francisco to Hong Kong aboard United’s new Polaris-configured 777-300ER.
I’m looking forward to the roomier seat and mood lighting. Most importantly, I’m looking forward to comparing United’s new product to the many other business class products I have tried and written about here. It’s about time. And I will be fair.
As usual, I’ll provide an initial assessment of the flight tomorrow then a full trip report in the weeks to come.
It’s an amazing improvement. I’ve flown it three times, but only on the EWR-SFO route, which lacks the full complement of service you experience on international flights. Bulkhead seats have a ton more room in the footwell, but even outside of rows 1 and 9 on the 777-300ER the footwells are better than many airlines. United’s keeping the air vents was the best decision.
I can’t believe I’ve actually sampled a UA product before you have! 🙂
I only did the domestic (SFO-EWR) run, but I liked the Polaris seat a lot. Roomy, lots of storage, comfortable for both relaxing and sleeping. The seats had a LOT of gremlins the day I flew, though. Several seats got stuck in the sleeping position, and my handheld controller didn’t work. Hopefully they’ve worked that out.
I’ve flown Polaris on the 77W once (SFO-NRT) and was very impressed. It looked tight as I was boarding but once in my seat (15A, a real window) ir was really good. Maybe not quite as spacious as say EVA but very private and very comfortable.
It was better than the (also very good) ANA 789 I had for the return and the soft furnishings (which you’ve already sampled on the old planes) knocked NH’s socks off. Now if only UA had NH quality flight attendants!
I have two more 77Ws booked in the next fortnight. Then it’s back to (sCO) 777 and Dreamliner for Christmas. My concern is once I’ve flown the 77W I’m addicted and any of the ordinary planes are going to be a disappointment, especially with no 747 upper deck.