
A window seat in United’s new Polaris business class- but where do you store all that stuff? (Image: United)
Earlier this year I received a query from a colleague who travels to Europe and Asia in business class around twice a year. She had a trip to Hong Kong coming up and was wondering if she should try out the new United Polaris flight (with the new seats). Since the service was brand new, she was concerned that it might not be up to par and had some concerns about flying in a brand new plane over all that water. She was weighing her options for SFO-HKG nonstops that include United, Cathay Pacific and Singapore Air. “Which one do you suggest?” she asked
My reply: “I would have to say go United this time. Based on what I saw at SFO plane is really nice. Avoid the aisles and get a good window seat (per instructions in this post) and I think you’ll be happy. Plus you’ll be one of the first folks to try it, so will have lots of cocktail party material when you get back. As for safety concerns, the plane is brand new, but it’s a B777– a real workhorse and has been around long enough for any kinks to be worked out.”
She took the flight last month, for which her company paid the $5,500 roundtrip fare. Here’s her report with some notes from me…
Well Chris, I don’t think people are going to be too happy with this new plane. Several passengers, on both legs of my journey, were complaining at the end that the seats “weren’t comfortable”– that they are too hard and they really miss the storage space provided in the previous iteration. That was my main complaint too, there’s nowhere to put anything. That small compartment isn’t cutting it, especially with the two blankets and two pillows piled on your seat at boarding. Where are you supposed to put those things if you aren’t using them? I also noticed that window seats no longer have those nice spacious bins under the windows like they did on the 747s. [Note: United recently reduced the number of items left on the seat at boarding. Passengers should now request extra pillows or blankets.]
On the positive side, the blankets were both very nice and felt expensive. They were warm and comforting as was the pillow. The chocolate before and after the flight is a nice touch.

A window seat in United’s new Polaris cabin on B777-300ER- note the long bar (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

These are the window seat storage bins on United 747s – enjoy them while you can! 747s fly away in October (Photo: Chris McGinnis)
When it came to the seat, I found the long armrest bar along the window to be strange and I banged my arm against it while sleeping more than one time. It’s the bar they have going across where you can control your seat. It’s strange as it sort of floats at the end of the window.
Click here for images of “old” United BusinessFirst seats
Also the configuration of the seat didn’t allow me to put both arms on the rest at the same time. I felt like I had to lean to the left to the armrest closest to where my drink was, but because it’s sort of angled my arm wasn’t on the other arm rest.
I don’t know, I wasn’t in love with it and the seats felt hard and I couldn’t find the right configuration while just watching a movie to be comfortable. I miss the ottoman that joined with the area where your feet go (on the old planes).

Seating controls include a simple dial for adjusting recline as well as buttons for more specific movements, lumbar support, lighting, and do not disturb light (Scott Hintz)
Am not sure how to describe it all but I felt like the seat wasn’t great and many other people said the same thing. They couldn’t figure out how to control it, as to me the only controls that made sense were the rolling button and the leg lift. When pressing the other buttons I had no idea what they did and if they were doing something but I didn’t feel anything happening.
As for service, on our way out this NEW plane didn’t have wi-fi. People were PISSED in business class. (But they did compensate us with miles in the end– and they offered it to everyone on the whole plane, not just business class. I received 8,750 miles.)
The United Lounge at SFO is under construction and the part that is still open is very crowded and seems like a mess.
Inflight service on the first SFO to HKG leg was terrible. Flight attendants made no personal greeting once we got on the plane (like before) and none of them offered us the PJs or extra cool pillow option (which I read about on TravelSkills). Guess you have to read a blog or your brochure in order to know about it– and ask specifically for it.

Wine flights offered on departures after noon (Scott Hintz)
I tried a wine flight on the way out just because I saw it on your post, but again, the FA didn’t offer or suggest it— they were just pouring wine in individual glasses like before. I saw the three glass wine flights on the bottom of the drink cart and asked for one as did the person behind me. But if I had not asked, neither of us would have been given the option. Plus, the flight attendant knew nothing about the wines we were trying, and could not pronounce what they were. When I asked for a suggestion to replace the Chardonnay (which they were out of), she had no clue what to offer, saying “I know it’s white, but…” So I’m not exactly sure what I was drinking.
MORE: Images of a brand new United 777-300ER with new Polaris seats
I’m not sure the new plane itself is great, either. Every time flight attendants made an announcement a loud ringing happened or you could hear other flight attendants chattering in the background. It just seemed weird and some of the older, seasoned travelers were NOT happy about the new plane. People did like being in their own seat with aisle access, but I heard grumblings of “I wish they didn’t change the seats” and “where is all the storage!” Oh, and the FAs kept telling us the aisles were narrower and that it was difficult for them to reach into our pods to get to the tray tables…so they seemed to be a bit uncomfortable too.

This is what she was expecting, but … (Image: Matthew Klint)
As for food, it was fine– I had the beef shortrib and it was good as always. But get this- on this flight we did not get the standard ice cream sundae bar. Instead they plopped down a Haagen-Dazs cardboard container and said go for it! I asked about the sundae bar and the flight attendant said, “We don’t have that anymore, they took it away last month.” And I was like, “Huh? It’s right there on your menu.” [Note: United is having some teething issues with the new bowls which are cracking and breaking so the lack of ice cream sundaes is likely temporary.)
So I think I will go Cathay next time to check it out!
Have you flown United Polaris with the new seat yet? Let us know what you think in the comments below!
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This whole Polaris ordeal is a pain, it’s taking years to get it off the ground even though United started it in December.
I don’t know how many times I have to write this but you can’t start something when you don’t have the product.
Now it seems the product isn’t as great as advertised.
Again does this surprise us about United, they are like the congress that goes to town-hall meetings hearing people pleading with them on doing a proper health bill and still don’t know how to give us proper health care.
It’s all about money and competition, United has a terrible international business class with everyone else getting better so United has to do something and what they are doing is giving up a pipe dream, something that does not exist but could exist in a year or two.
Sorry but United will never get better.
Cathay Pacific has no WiFi (pretty unbelievable and for me a deal breaker), so the clear choice on this route is Singapore Air – superior service plus WiFi.
How can they have an issue with the sundae bowl. Whip out the originals is it isn’t working!
why on earth would you recommend United to a colleague? I wouldnt do that to my enemies. no seriously why? Singapore or Cathay or United?
One would think on such a popular (and competitive) route, UA would be pulling out all the stops!
I’m really surprised there weren’t very clear written, or imagine this – personal verbal instructions on how to operate a seat with a $5500 price tag. Shame on United!
In October, I am flying from IAD to VIE on Austrian Airlines. This flight was 70,000 United MileagePlus miles with no fuel/airline surcharges or taxes except for the 9/11 tax $5.60. I find United miles are great to use on other airlines despite United’s business to Europe flight miles of 57,500. I would rather pay more miles for a better product.
I flew EWR-SFO on May 10 and I liked the seats a lot. The privacy was great: I felt like I was the only person on the plane. The roll ball for the seat control was intuitive and easy, and in bed mode the seat was comfy. Unlike most other United seats, the footwell was big enough to spread my feet out. It is FAR better than the old 747 seats (flew those a month ago). The side table is great: you can put everything there and get rid of your food tray when you are done. I was pleasantly surprised with hard product. Soft product and service are, as always with United, in need of improvement
Wow. Just flew biz class Delta Seattle/Hong Kong on older Delta A330. Almost everything about my trip was the opposite of this person’s United experience. And this is not even Delta’s new Delta One Suite they will roll out later this year. Only similarity is that there is very little room to store things. Seats were comfortable, service was great and cabin crew seemed genuinely happy we were traveling up front with them, everything on the menu was available (including the ice cream sundae bar and the listed wines–which the crew could describe). Every seat is true direct aisle access. The SkyClub in Seattle is great. Oh yeah, and the fare was a bit under $5K round trip. By the way, the WiFi worked great for the entire trip (except for when over Russia).
surprise surprise, ….. usually the hard product is OK, with terrible service. Now United has hit a home run , with thumbs down all around. $ 5,500 / rt. Can you image paying for that ?