United Airlines' Domestic Polaris First (COVID Edition)

It had been just shy of seven months since the last time I got on a plane. Coincidentally my last flight was also on United and if you read my last review, you’ll know I was more than just a little disappointed.

United’s Polaris First Class cabin has definitely helped improve my view of the airline and makes me think that the problems I experienced with United’s Premium Plus cabin may have more to do with the growing pains that come with launching a new product.

Since foreign airlines like Air France, Malaysian, Emirates, Qatar, and others have begun offering more expensive, private suites, American based carriers have attempted to follow suit by improving the quality of their own first class products. Although no US carrier currently offers private suites such as Qatar’s “Q-Suite,” seats that can become fully lie-flat beds are becoming a standard on new first class configurations.

I will acknowledge that this review is a little hard to gauge for me as it is the first time I’ve flown since COVID has drastically changed the airline industry so I have had to tone down certain critiques. For the time being, menus and hot meals in first class seem like an old relic from a time long past but this is the reality we currently live in and as such I have had to be a little more generous with how I score the service and food (aka the “soft product).

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GROUND EXPERIENCE

Eugene is home to Mahlon Sweet Field, a small regional airport that somehow still counts as the fifth largest in the Pacific Northwest. One of the beauties of such a small airport is that you can arrive to your flight about an hour before boarding and make it to your gate with time to spare. This small size however means that there are no lounges to speak of so it’s not really something I would critique an airline for.

The check in process is swift and, since I had checked in online, I just dropped off my bag, and was on my way to the TSA screening area in less than five minutes from arriving.

My brief one hour connection in San Francisco International (SFO) left me feeling slightly annoyed with United. Due to the worries of COVID I certainly did not want to drink from a drinking fountain and I definitely did not want to buy a $5 bottle of water, so I made my way to the United Club lounge, conveniently located a very short walk from my gate, to get something to drink and maybe a small bite to eat before the flight.

When I tried to scan my boarding pass at the front desk of the lounge I was told that despite my Gold Premiere status and despite the fact that I was flying on domestic first class, I did not qualify to enter into the lounge. I have no qualms sounding entitled here but this seems like such a cheap move on United’s part, trying to get passengers to shill out $60 to enter the lounge or $500 to get a yearly membership.

It was not long ago that Gold Premiere members were always allowed into the lounge regardless of what class they were flying in as long as they were flying on a flight operated by United. It was also not long ago that people traveling on United’s first class cabin would also be granted access into the lounge regardless of their frequent flyer status.

Turning people that are clearly loyal to your airline away from your lounge to save a couple of bucks on cheap cold cuts and grocery store cheese is hardly a way to keep customers loyal to you and I walked away more than a little irritated.

My annoyance with United was fortunately short lived due in part to the short nature of my one hour layover at SFO. I am sure that I would have been much more annoyed if the connection was longer and I was allowed to stew in my displeasure.

Boarding has drastically changed thanks to COVID as airlines have begun loading planes from back to front in order to accommodate safe social distancing practices. First class passengers however are allowed to board at any stage of the boarding process meaning that I did not have wait to be the last one to board.

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CABIN & SEAT

United’s Polaris product on this particular 787-9 is split into two cabins with rows 1-5 in the front most cabin and rows 6-8 in the next cabin.

My biggest piece of advice when choosing a seat in this cabin is to take one of the seats in the bulkhead rows (1 and 6). According to SeatGuru, seats in this row may be less than ideal for some as their proximity to bathrooms and the galley may prove bothersome for people, but these seats have a huge advantage compared to others and will make a world of difference for taller passengers such as myself.

Every non-bulkhead seat (rows 2-5 and 7-8) have this weird thing where, due to the configuration of the seats directly in front of them, the leg space tapers off into a very narrow section, forcing your feet to be practically on top of each other if you have your feet up.

This problem however is nonexistent on the bulkhead rows as the lack of seats in front of you allows you to have the full width of your seat to put your feet up and will make it more comfortable when laying down fully.

This is honestly more of a problem for people on the taller end of the spectrum such as myself and it may not be as noticeable for more “normal” sized people. That all being said, the seat is definitely large and comfortable enough to at the very least recline in a semi-laying position which is definitely welcome over your standard airline seat.

My seat, 2A, had three windows assigned to it. Like all 787s, this one had the dimmable windows and although each window has an individual button underneath it to adjust the level of dimming, controlling the centermost window will adjust the levels on all three which is extremely convenient so you don’t have to perform the same action three separate times.

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AMENITIES & IFE

The In-Flight Entertainment system in the Polaris cabin is not the best but its also far from the worst. The large 16” screen has good contrast and vivid colors. Live TV was not available which honestly isn’t that big of a deal to me as they had a massive selection of movies and TV shows to keep one entertained even on the longest of flights.

The screen is a bit far out of reach without leaning forward but fear not! United has a nifty retractable remote control attached to your arm rest. The remote could use a little work as it’s not the most user-friendly device. It sometimes lags in the response time from when you click a button and the command actually follows through which makes it a little annoying when you click twice and then after the delayed reaction you’ve inadvertently pressed enter twice on the IFE.

The thing that really blew me away was the unbelievably fast speed of the onboard WiFi. With download speeds of 17 Mb/s it’s faster than some public WiFis I’ve seen on the ground at coffee shops. This speed comes at a ridiculous price however. Being connected for the full length of the nearly four hour flight will set you back almost $20 which is insane considering airlines like JetBlue and Southwest have been offering complimentary WiFi on their flights for years now. The blazing speed is also kind of pointless when websites like YouTube and Netflix are blocked. You don’t need 15+ Mb/s speeds for Facebook and Instagram.

This price is even more absurd when you consider that some international carriers like Air New Zealand offer free WiFi on their Trans-Pacific flights for everyone! Even foreign airlines that still charge for WiFi will at the very least give premium class passengers codes for complimentary access, but US based carriers desperately try to squeeze every penny out of passengers, even ones that have already spent a decent amount of money on premium class accommodations.

The lack of the usually advertised Saks Fifth Avenue amenity kit was a bit of a letdown but, again, understandable due in part to COVID and them wanting to limit the amount of possible ways to spread germs.

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FOOD & BEVERAGE

There’s no aspect of traveling in a premium class cabin that has been impacted more noticeably than the in-flight dining since the beginning of the COVID pandemic. As I mentioned in the opening, the onboard dining was probably the hardest aspect of this flight to review. Typically one would expect a hot meal on a long flight and in premium class one expects options with a menu to choose your meal from. The options are typically limited but you have the option nonetheless, even if it meant little more than having the “chicken or the fish.”

Since the COVID crisis began, for the sake of safety, airlines have done away with most inflight meals and have instead opted to serving prepackaged, individually wrapped meal “boxes.” While this is a massive step down from what one would hope for from a premium class product, it’s important to remember that these are unprecedented times and is honestly the best option in order to keep everyone safe.

That being said however, although the snack box we were provided in Polaris class was adequate it could have been significantly more substantial as proven by some foreign carriers such as Emirates and Malaysian airways.

The box we were provided contained a variety of snacks: potato chips, milk chocolate M&M’s, almonds, parmesan cheese spread, crackers, and a “snack stick” which is little more than a glorified Slim Jim. Like I said, it was a decent little snack box but it was somewhat of let down when other airlines are at the very least offering boxed meals including sandwiches at least. I will say that the parmesan cheese spread was not bad but it tasted more of cheddar than anything else.

One bonus is that if you’re like me and drink a lot of soda, you no longer have to ask for “the entire can,” as it’s just given to you by default in order to minimize any potential spreading of germs. Unfortunately though, the wine selection has been severely limited and likewise is only available in the small, single serving bottles and the “good stuff” isn’t really sold like that. The complimentary glass of sparkling wine one expects on a United Premium seat was also gone in exchange for individual bottles of water. Again, while disappointing, it’s an understandable sign of the times.

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SERVICE

The first class cabin crew was very friendly and welcoming, knowing all of our names at each seat even though some of us were last minute upgrades (myself included).

Additionally, the crew made frequent checks up and down the aisles ensuring that anyone with empty (or even remotely empty) glasses got prompt refills, even though this meant I had to get up to go to the bathroom multiple times but that’s a failure on my part for having no self control and not telling them “no, I’m fine.” I simply can’t say no to Diet Coke.

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OVERALL IMPRESSION

United’s Polaris First Class product is a strong competitor among other US carriers but is still a far cry from the first class products of some European and Middle Eastern airlines.

That being said, the seat design was clearly well thought out and ergonomic. Although I mentioned the tapering nature of the foot rest on most seats, it’s an understandable problem since there are seats in front of you that also need room to be able to turn into lie-flat beds.

The in flight entertainment is great although the lack of exterior camera feeds is slightly disappointing for an AvGeek such as myself however the large 16” monitor is great for watching TV shows and movies. It’s also really nice to see more and more planes having WiFi connectivity but United really needs to chill with how much they’re charging. $18 for a 3.5 hour flight is highway robbery, or I guess airway robbery.

United’s Polaris class certainly helped clean the unsavory taste in my mouth left by the Premium Plus experience I had back in February. It’s far from perfect but as far as a US airline goes, it’s top notch.