United 777 Polaris
United Airlines Polaris class merges previously separate First and Business cabins into one upper class flight experience on most transatlantic and transpacific routes. Pros: Excellent award availability through United Mileage plus reward program, true 180 degrees lie flat bed, Wifi onboard. Cons: service average at best, run out of food choices during dinner, 19” wide seats in 2-4-2 configuration are one of the narrowest in the business. Bottom line: good choice when redeeming miles and looking for direct flights with lie flat bed, not so much if you want a memorable luxury flight experience.
Boeing 777-200 (777) Version 1 (50/226) Version 2 (28/336) Version 3 (28/336) Version 4 (32/330) Seat map (50/226) Interior specifications. Jun 25, 2019 Like the Boeing 777-300ER, Polaris is in a 1-2-1 configuration and Premium Plus is in a 2-4-2 configuration. However, United’s older 777-200ERs have business class in a 2-4-2 configuration, which is tight, to say the least. United Polaris Business Class boards in group 1, where United Gold, Platinum, and Star Alliance Gold also board. It was a very very long line. EWR-BOM Boeing 777-300ER 1/11/20. The polaris cabin on the 777-300ER is absolutely gigantic. There are 2 cabins.
Booking
United has been in the (very slow) process of upgrading its Boeing 777, 767, and 787 aircraft with their new Polaris seats in business/first class. Unfortunately, United does not plan on retrofitting its domestic 777 sub-fleet with these seats. This is the second half of our overview of the United Airlines Polaris business class seat on a Boeing 767. Part 1 of our United Airlines Polaris review can be found here. In terms of seat choice in the business cabin, the standout seats are the window seats in rows 3, 5, 9 and 11 all of which enjoy two windows each.
For our return flight from touring Iberian peninsula, I chose Turkish Airlines Business class Booking through United Mileage plus reward site is a breeze and after deduction of 140000 miles and $106, my wife and I had a reservation taking us from Barcelona to Istanbul, Houston and Jacksonville.
About 1 month before our travel, United changed timing on the Houston connection, and rebooked us in Polaris cabin from Barcelona to Newark, NJ, lowering the cost of the tickets to 60,000 points per person and $48.16 in taxes. ( I had to wait till trip was completed to get back 20,000 United Rewards miles).
Full price
I wasn’t completely disappointed, since I did want to review Polaris Class, and it got us home few hours earlier.
Checking-in
Barcelona International airport is very well organized. Check in and security was as easy as it gets, and unlike some other airports that do double screening of travelers flying to US on American based airlines (Dublin, Toronto etc.), here everything was super smooth. In less than 30 min we were entering VIP lounge.
Lounge
VIP Lounge Barcelona
VIP lounge at Barcelona airport serves most Starwood Alliance flights as well as some other non-affiliated airlines. It is spacious, has a good choice of food and drinks, both alcoholic and non. I has a shower facilities and quiet are as well.
VIP Lounge Barcelona
Boarding
welcome drink
Boarding took place on time, and B777 has separate walkways for Polaris class and economy. This way boarding was completed relatively fast. Champagne, water and snacks were served upon seating. Flight attendants seemed stressed and overworked.
Seats
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United Polaris Class on B777-200 utilizes 2-4-2 layout as comparing to 2-3-2 layout for airlines outside US and Great Britain. By squeezing an extra row, seat width is reduced to 19”. This can be narrow for a full size person these days, especially if you tend to sleep on your back. Seat cushion, however, was very comfortable and sleep quality once the bed was in full flat recline was great.
Polaris-B777-200-seats
As far as storage goes, these seats are not most generous. Fortunately there is plenty overhead bin space to use in the premium cabin, so for take-off and landing I just stored our things there. Seat controls are easily accessible and straight forward.
Entertainment
I’m not a big consumer of the in-flight entertainment opting instead for good book or audiobook. For the purposes of this review, I tested the system. Noise canceling headphones worked great. 19” tv screen provided plenty of viewing area, and choice of movies and TV shows was very good.
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Polaris-B777-200-seats
You can also use Wi-Fi for free in combination with United App for more in flight choices of entertainment. There are USB ports and electric plugs easily accessible.
Amenities
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The seats were stocked with a full-size pillow, a thick rolled-up blanket (from Saks Fifth Avenue) , an amenity kit and noise-cancelling headphones. The amenity kit contained a face mask, socks, a plastic-wrapped toothbrush and toothpaste, plastic-wrapped ear plugs, lip balm and face cream. No thrills.
Food and Service
As I stated before, during dinner service, flight attendant informed us that they run out some menu choices. Neither my wife nor I consider airline food a must have experience, even if it is a first class flight, however, this can be very annoying for most travelers paying full price for a business class seats and experience. Big no no. Flight attendants were also unfamiliar with their wine choices, again not a good “Polaris” experience.
salad
Food that was served, however, was very good. Nice touch was a dessert tray with cookies and ice cream as well as selection of cheeses passed with after dinner drinks.
Between meals a snack bar with serve serving drinks was set up in the front galley.
self-service-bar