United Airlines is set to introduce a new premium seating option called Polaris Studio on its upcoming Boeing 787-9 aircraft. Positioned at the front of the business class cabin, Polaris Studio aims to provide passengers with enhanced comfort and amenities while remaining part of business class rather than a separate first class cabin of service. We’re now seeing what pricing will look like, at least on an introductory basis.
Inside United’s New Polaris Studio Business Class Suites
United will debut two rows of Polaris Studio seating on its new 787-9 aircraft, four seats in row one and four seats in row nine.
Seat Design and Features
Each Polaris Studio suite is approximately 25% larger than United’s standard Polaris business class seats. The suites feature privacy doors and 6/8 seats will feature a companion seat with a seatbelt, allowing a guest to join for dining or conversation.
Why only 6/8? The center seats in row one will be herribgone-style (facing toward one another) and not conducive to guest seating unlike in row nine, where the center seats will be reverse-herringbone style, making a guest ottoman more accessible.
The suites are equipped with a 27-inch 4K OLED touchscreen, currently the largest in-flight entertainment screen offered by a U.S. carrier. Additional features include:
- wireless charging
- Bluetooth connectivity
- digital seat controls
- elevated finishes such as quartzite tables and wool-blend upholstery
Amenities and Services
Polaris Studio passengers will enjoy check-in at the posh Global Services Reception (currently reserved for United’s invite-only high-spending elite tier) at hub airports and will be invited to board ahead of other Polaris passengers.
Onboard, passengers in Polaris Studio will receive upgraded amenities, including Perricone MD skincare kits, United-branded playing cards, Saks Fifth Avenue bedding, a velvet throw pillow, and exclusive hoodie-pajamas and slippers.
The dining experience includes an amuse-bouche of Ossetra caviar paired with Laurent-Perrier Cuvée Rosé Champagne, followed by a specialty post-dessert snack box.
Availability and Pricing
United plans to introduce Polaris Studio on its new Boeing 787-9 aircraft (no retrofits will occur on existing aircraft) in late April 2026. Initial international routes will include flights from San Francisco (SFO) to Singapore (SIN) and London (LHR).
One Mile At A Time flags initial pricing, which appears as $499 one-way, regardless of route. The pricing is the same regardless of seats.
United Strikes The Right Balance
United faced a dilemma: what to do with the extra real estate made possible by the Adient Ascent seat design. It could have simply offered more legroom in these bulkhead seats, as it currently does with its Polaris product. It also could have reintroduced Polaris First Class, a whole new cabin of service.
Instead, it struck a reasonable balance in offering an upgraded product without trying to call it first class. United offered a “Global First” cabin until 2018, but in its last decade or so of its existence, the class of service did not offer a meaningful differentiation between business class and became known as “employee class” since so few would buy it (leaving empty seats for employee standby travel).
This new approach will offer “first class” amenities like caviar and rosé Champagne without tricking people into thinking it is a first class product along the lines of Lufthansa or SWISS (two of United’s joint venture partners that still offer first class seating onboard).
CONCLUSION
United will debut the “Polaris Studio” seat next month as a subset of business class, which will offer elevated service and extra room…for a price. The sub-section within business class represents a more economical use of real estate and a realistic product offering than a separate class of service.
> Read More: United Airlines Unveils “United Elevated” Cabins On 787-9
Opportunity wasted
Will look at lh or sq once we meet our goal of paying off new home in ~3 years from now for a luxury vaca celebration
The questions: How much extra and will they let these seats go empty?
I’ve asked – price has not been set yet (or at least not publicly revealed).
And will they let these seats go empty or (1) upgrade elites/non-revs or (2) allow same-day seat selection?
Calm down bro already jonesing for free upgrades. But do we have to pay ? Hahaha
All I can say is what on earth were AA thinking with the 1990’s screens they put in their equivalent Biz+ seat
Bingo. I’m going to discuss that in a post tomorrow.
Seats look fine. But it’s United so expect mediocre (to put it kindly) catering, filthy planes and inconsistent (again being kind) service.
No thanks.
Okay? Why even comment?
The worst rows on a 787-9…right next to the lav doors. LOL.
I’m sure they’ll charge thousands more for it over standard business class and justify it by being a bit bigger seat with slightly more fancy amenities.
Perfect for those traveling with their pet, um, service dog! The extra seatbelt will be useful for them.
Truthfully it does look like an upgraded enjoyable space.
I mean am I incorrect? I suppose I could ask the same of you ♂️
Why the difference in orientation of the centre seats? Is a monument in the way in row 1?
Because they don’t have to accommodate spacing for a seat in front of them. All of the other seats interlocks to the one in front otherwise.
Very interesting play. and I suspect it has more to do with GS differentiation than anything else. There are a lot of disgruntled GS members about the fact that there is very little between them and regular 1K despite the threshold of spending being between $50-75k a year to be invited to GS.
But on any SF bound long haul there can be up to 20 GC per flight, as the Bay Area has a lot of big spenders and is a key long-haul hub.
I expect these seats will be reserved for GS and full-fare flex Polaris tickets only (~$10k return). I also wouldn’t be surprised for there to be a new ‘secret’ tier withing GS for allocating these seats, say C-suite members of big companies who are responsible for $M in UA spending.
It may not be that fancy of an upgrade but in terms of perception of having something better than everyone else (which is what this type of marketing is really all about) it does the ticket.
I will be beyond surprised if these seats are restricted to chairmans circle members
I think it’s row 1 that will be reverse herringbone and row 9 that will be herringbone, according to AeroLOPA’s version of the configuration diagram. Though contrary to AeroLOPA’s diagram, the center pair of seats in row 1 won’t have the buddy seats along the aisle in the forward corner as clearance is necessary when the aisle transitions narrower approaching the forward galley. Row 9 has the benefit of wider fuselage at that point, reducing the encroachment of the aisle on the seat bones.
Interesting that the layout does not look at all conducive to card playing, but that is the activity they chose to put in the photo?
This new upgrade and service will work once United decides to properly staff its aircraft rather than the bare minimum. Until that happens, best of luck!
This is what I was thinking. I wonder who remembers what Polaris was like when United first launched Polaris back in 2016 they had the wine flight, they also had the bloody mary and mimosa cart. They eliminated all of that in 2018 because they were 300% over their wine and liquor budget. Polaris use to be a lot more than what we experience today but due to bean counters and flight attendants being over worked United slowly eliminated many things that made Polaris Polaris when they first launched it. Back in 2016 and 2017 the service took for ever because United didn’t have enough flight attendants I don’t think flight attendants mind doing the work when they are properly staffed but when you have minimum crew flight attendants are going to cut corners.
I’ll give Polaris Studio 2 years or so before you begin seeing United make cuts and changes to the service in the studio and eventually the service in Polaris Studio will be the same exact service everyone else gets in regular Polaris and you’ll just be paying for 25% more legroom.
The key is consistency in their on board service offerings. Food quality on Polaris has been consistently abysmal if not mediocre,.. some FA’s are extremely nice and helpful while others are very cold, standoff-ish and downright lazy. It’s a hit or miss for me on UA. But hey, this cabin overhaul is a massive upgrade from the current ones. Thumbs up
Yuch. I fly J but and usually prefer to be in the first few rows. Now, I’ll have to move many rows back to avoid the load pair gabbing in the first row. And, you wanna bet there will be cases where mom and dad have these seats and they try to move the kids from coach to these for most of the flight?
I know this can be spun to make me look bad, but if I’m in J, I’d like there to be no F or this, call it J+.
Nice things cost money.
Let’s add that, as of March 20, 2026, UA has 51 B787-9 Dreamliners in its fleet with an average of 6.6 years.
should have simply done a 4 or 8 seat true F cabin
Or better yet, since very few businesses pay for J any more, do a 12 seat F cabin, then do a 60-72 seat O cabin with 2-2-2 seating with 48 inches of pitch. The rest could be steerage