United’s Polaris business class seat on a Boeing 767-300 (Image: United)
By now nearly every United frequent flier has heard about its new Polaris Business Class product.
But what a lot of those flyers don’t realize (according to the emails I get) is that the new Polaris Business class seat is only on a handful of planes in its long haul fleet.
As of this week there are there are 15 United jets flying with the new Polaris business class seat: 14 B777-300ERs and 1 B767-300. (That’s 15 out of about 200 planes in United’s long haul fleet.)
So if you book a “Polaris business class” ticket on United, it’s still much more likely that you’ll get the old seat than the new one. But you will get the new Polaris service and soft product such as the Bloody Mary bar and blankets/pillows from Saks Fifth Avenue.
Odd-numbered window seats are more private on in United’s B767 Polaris business class (Image: United)
But that dearth of the new seats is changing slowly. Last week United announced that it has deployed the first retrofitted Boeing 767-300 with the new seat. It’s now in service between Newark and London Heathrow.
The retrofitted 767 widebody has larger overhead bins, new lavatories with better lighting and what United says is its “largest economy seat” at 18.5 inches wide. United has taken a lot of heat for installing tight 10-across seats (at 17 inches wide) on its 777-300ERs, so if you are flying economy, you’ll likely appreciate the space you’ll get on the 767.
United says that by the end of 2018, it should have 14 retrofitted B767s with the Polaris seats, the larger economy seats and new cabin design.
United’s retrofitted B767-300 has 30 business class seats, 46 economy plus and 138 in economy (Image: United CLICK for more)
Economy class seats on United’s retrofitted 767s are 18.5 inches wide, configured 2-3-2(Image: United)
A spokesperson told TravelSkills that the 767-300 retrofits will be placed onto routes that currently use 767s—which are mostly transatlantic. Right now, most of its newer B777-300ERs are on transpacific routes.
The business class cabin on a retrofitted 767 has 30 Polaris business class seats, all with direct aisle access. Flattened, the seat is about 75 inches long (big enough for someone who is 6’3”) and 21 inches wide.
The new leather economy class seat (configured 2-3-2) is 18.5 inches wide, with in-seat power and an on-demand seatback entertainment system.
Don’t Miss: Reader Report- United Polaris business class to Hong Kong
United’s new Polaris configuration on a Boeing 767-300ER. United calls this a 1-1-1 configuration, but it looks more like 2-2-2 to me (Image: United)
Overall, United’s new Polaris business class is a big step up from its current business class…but it still gets mixed reviews from flyers. What do YOU think? Please leave your comments below.
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They are not slimline seats – similar only in the covering.
This Polaris roll-out has got to be one for the MBA classes. How many millions did they spend on hyping the new Polaris? And STILL it’s mostly ‘not there’. I surely don’t care about Bloody Mary bars or designer duvets. What I care about is a comfortable seat. This is a major disappointment; I’ll stick with Virgin Atlantic for international travel.
I can tell you this, United tore out all of their nice, fluffy Econ seats for those terrible slimline seats in a matter of months. If this would only put in polaris seats in as quick, they would have just about every plane with those nice seats.
But to answer Hajime’s question, every United plane has those crappy slimline seats, yes they are the worst.
BA’s business class seats preferable? With those seats where you stare at the other passenger 12 inches away and the inability to reserve the seat you want, I would rather fly United economy. Just my preferences.
Those Economy class seats look a lot like the Slimline torture seats used in UA’s transcontinental B737s. Do you know if they are the uncomfortable Slimline seats or are they more comfortable?
I flew to/from NRT from LAX and ORD on American with their new business class on both the 777 and 787. Now that was nice, it was even better than the British Business cabin that I flew to LHR.
Nice to see someone tell us the truth on this big scam that United is doing. They started this in December and 9 months later only have 15 of 200 planes with Polaris seats. Sorry but this is false advertising and I have said it ever since. This should of never started this compaign, they should of called it a “preview” of Polaris but not started the advertising until at least half of the fleet have Polaris seating.
I had a trip planned to London in November and I will give British Airways by money(losing out on close to 19,000 frequent flyer miles) because United still does not have Polaris seats on flights out of Dulles.
Again people should be outraged over this lie in advertising.