United unveils new business class, dumps first

A typical window seat in United's new Polaris business class. (Image: United)

A typical window seat in United’s new Polaris international business class. (Image: United)

December 1 is the launch date for what United Airlines is calling a ”reimagined international travel experience” – the carrier’s long-awaited new business class, which will come with some new airport lounges as well.

United is calling the new cabins “Polaris Business Class” and they’ll start to appear in December on the airline’s 777-300ERs, and later on its new 787-10s and A350-1000s. United said its 767-300s and 777-200s will be retrofitted with the new cabins and that the fleet-wide retrofit is a “multi-year process” that we expect to take up to three years. United’s current first class product will disappear with the retrofit. So will those controversial rear-facing, four-across BusinessFirst seats.

Also on December 1, United will cut the ribbon on a new Polaris business class airport lounge at Chicago O’Hare, the first of nine such installations. Others will be coming at Los Angeles International, San Francisco, Houston Bush Intercontinental, Newark, Washington Dulles, Tokyo Narita, London Heathrow and Hong Kong, United said.

New business class seats will recline up to 180 degrees. (Image: United)

The new Polaris business seats, custom-designed for United, come in “forward-facing, suite-like pods,” the airline said. They all offer aisle access and 180-degree lie-flat recline. The seat dimensions are 6 feet 6 inches long and 22 inches wide. A spokesperson told TravelSkills that “bed length, width, side furniture and storage are all in line with Global First today.”

Passengers will find 16-inch high-def video screens, mood lighting, and the perfect level of seat recline achieved via a wheel instead of a button (something we first saw on the Hawaiian Air biz class rollout last week), along with multiple storage areas and surfaces for simultaneous working and dining.(Always a difficult feat to do both so will be interesting to try this!)

For those traveling with companions, the two seats in the center of the cabin will have electronic privacy dividers. And another nice touch: All seats have toggled do-not-disturb notifications.

Improved in-flight menus are designed by the Chicago-based Trotter Group. (Image: United)

Other enhancements to business class will include new custom-designed luxury bedding from Saks Fifth Avenue; free pajamas and “cooling gel filled pillows” on flights longer than 12 hours; new amenity kits; and upgraded in-flight menus and wine selections.

“In-flight service will also include made-to-order signature ice cream sundaes, a dessert cart with a variety of petit dessert options, chocolate truffles and wine flights. On daytime flights longer than eight hours and on all flights longer than 12 hours, hot mid-flight snacks such as lobster macaroni and cheese will be available,” United said.

Seats come with innovative storage spaces and new amenity kits. (Image: United)

The new Polaris airport lounges will feature new custom chairs, private daybeds, spa showers, and hot meals “served in a boutique restaurant setting” so travelers can dine before boarding if they want. Private seating stations in the lounges come with pull-out desks, induction chargers, AC/USB ports and table-mounted lamps.

Polaris lounges offer some private seating spaces for work and device recharging. (Image: United)

The airline has created a special website at www.United.com/Polaris to introduce all the features of the new cabins and lounges. It also offers a virtual tour of the cabin via YouTube video.