Review: United 787-10 Polaris Business Class

As someone who just started to fly Polaris and Fauxlaris, here are a few observations:

- Amenities reduction, including PDB/alcohol cut are thanks to Spreadsheet Master Kirby
- they might have actually listened to the feedback to not print wines options on the menu, every single time I asked for wines, there was one type on the menu ‘not available on this flight’
- The Polaris Lounge at EWR is gorgeous, but the almost went passive aggressive with the a la crate dining. Slow pace, and some staffing literally saying ‘go to the buffet area if you don’t need have time to wait’
- Meals have been consistently meh, I always anxiously arrived at the lounge earlier to get my stomach stuffed, so that FAs could take my meals onboard

So, yeah, either you got unlucky and had a bad crew, or I got “lucky” with a good one.

Just flew SFO-FRA on Tuesday and had the exact same menu. And the exact same food choices. Although my salmon looked really different (and much better). It was cooked perfectly and was true restaurant quality.

Don’t know if catering is that different btwn EWR and SFO or if my crew just did a much better job with the prep. My appetizer also tasted great and looked just a bit different than yours.

One thing I think we all can agree on... experience in United is totally inconsistent.

I also flew Polaris in late June ORD-FRA on a retrofitted 777-200 with a similar menu and mine and my wife’s food experience was much better.

I'm guessing an onward connection to LHR. AMS or VIE with Brussels Airlines and then onto EVA business class over to BKK.

I have to agree with most of what you have stated here, just keep one thing in mind...UA Sr Mgmt stated that the changes in the meal prep and presentation were DIRECTLY linked to the complaints they were receiving from passengers about the length of the service...You commented several times on how much you liked the speed/pace of the service so it would seem that Kirby & Co were right to make the changes, albeit with the consequence of a less pleasing meal...

Of course the real issue here is the staffing levels that all the US carriers are maximizing their profits with...If the Big 3 added a F/A or 2, or 3 [777-300ER's] then the true "Polaris" service could have been delivered the way I am sure we all want...

I'll put in a shout for EVA Air 787 on either AMS-BKK or VIE-BKK.

Hi Ben,

Flew last week exactly on the same route on United from EWR to BRU on 787-10 in business class, and I agree: it's a pretty awesome plane, perhaps the best I have ever flown in business class. The seats there are as close to being suites as they come, especially odd numbers window seats (and aeven numbers in the aisle).

Kudos to United for being so generous with the business award seats, at least on this route.

Re: EWR-C - it truly is lipstick on a pig. IMO other than IAD, it's the worst experience out of all the UA hubs. Disgusting & small bathrooms (the only ones I can remember where there is a line for urinals)...endless crowding pre- and post-security, as well as down the piers. Terrible UClub situation (and now closing one of the two pop-ups). Overpriced, mediocre OTG "selection". Rude TSA.

Oh, and EWR-A is one of the worst experiences in the US too (other than the renovated UClub).

Other than that, it's just peachy.

And regarding the seats...sure, 1/4 of them are quite good (I did a TATL on one). The angled seats have minimal privacy, are quite cramped, with a side table that is awkwardly behind you.

Give me standard reverse herringbone or Vantage XL any day.

Couple of comments:
The first thing that struck me about your photos of the food was how plain, cheap in fact, the dinnerware (plates, bowls) look. Sort of what I would expect to find at an all-you-can eat lower class restaurant chain:-(

I found the Polaris seats on the 777-300 to be more than compact -- almost claustrophobic especially when the seat was reclined. It's got to be even more of a factor on the 787 with its narrower body

How many types of J class seats does UA have?
Polaris; the standard ones on the 787-8s and -9s and the 767s, and the 2-4-2 arrangement on some of the 777s?

That's an awful lot of variation.

I'm also stunned like you, Lucky to learn they already have 14 787-10s! That's impressive.

Presumably your next long haul features Austrian? Outside chance you took Swiss, but generally I would rule out you taking a 10ish hour flight anywhere in Asia on Swiss or Lufthansa in J. Basing this on what I would do

The 781seat is definitely narrower with overall less space than the 77W. I've flown both aircraft many times and the difference is quite apparent. I would be leery of selecting the 781 on a true long-haul due to the space issues.

Ben,

Always love reading you’re reviews. I was reading this one on my lunch break and I burst out laughing when I read your line about Etihad butlers and United McDonald’s. Everyone in the break room looked awkwardly at me as I laughed at my phone. Thanks for a good laugh.

Hi Ben,
I want to ask how you booked the flights? Was it on UA website or somewhere else? I have flown Polaris on a number of different routes and I'm not very impressed with the "improvements".... especially the food

One thing I’ve noticed about US Airlines in Business on International flights is how they don’t proactively offer Wine or Champagne with the Main Course, treating them as if they don’t exist, this never happens on Foreign carriers. Some have suggested that the US crews do this in hopes of taking unopened bottles, anyone else noticed this?

Why did you cross the Atlantic twice to have a night in Newark? You could just flown directly from Porto to Brussels, no?

'Etihad has a partnership with Savoy for training their onboard butlers. Maybe United should have a partnership with McDonalds?"

United used to have a partnership with McDonald's in the early 1990s. I have both the Ronald and Grimace United happy meal toys from their Orlando flights! United replaced the galley carts with ones designed to keep the burger warm while the lettuce and bun stayed cool until served. That was for economy.

As a 27yr UA flight attendant I'm sad to say you'll see more and more of the Polaris service and perks disappear just like PS did. Management has already taken away so much of what Polaris started with. We liked preparing the plated meals and most of us gave extra attention to the way meals looked and were proud to serve a meal that looked great. Now it's just a frozen reheated dish..no more bloody Mary cart,wine tasting cut back on hot bites and taking away desert selections just ice cream only. We hear so many complaints how Polaris has fallen and now more staffing cuts. We really had chance to be the top at in-flight service but as usual United chose not to give a chance

Comforting to know that my decision some 30 years ago to NEVER again "Fly The Friendly Skies" was the right one.

As a native San Franciscan, United was my home-town airline, and as a consequence I suffered through scores of mediocre to awful flights aboard various 'Mainliners', from DC-6's and 720's (Google them) in the 1960's, to 747's and the last of the Stretch-8's in the 1980's.

It was while being literally screamed-at by an obviously unhinged United gate agent at SFO that I turned and walked forever away from UAL; a decision I've never regretted. United doesn't fly anywhere that's not also served by better carriers.

Ok. That was you I saw in the Marriott on Monday. I am not crazy or overly jet lagged then

United loves the duck appetizer as I've seen this in many other reports! 🙂 Looks like a decent flight with United. I would agree - in what I have read of Polaris in the past, it has seemed better than it does in this report. I'm certainly not jumping to fly United anytime soon though after not flying them for a few years due to some negative experiences I've had with them.

You mentioned the other 787 models" business seats as old. While the style may not be the current, the seats on a new plane are not old at all. I find them perfectly comfortable.

I do the the SFO HKG routing a few times a year. Sometimes I upgrade to Polaris, sometimes I just use Premium Plus which is pretty good.
The caliber of the food and FA’s is consistently good to great. I think it’s due to the fact that the crews are based in Asia.

There is really no comparison to the reverse herringbone design to the UA Polaris if you just simply look at the density of how many people are packed into the same amount of space. UA had managed to pack in the same no. of seats as the last generation 2-4-2 Business class design so you can certainly feel the number of passengers once they are ready to disembark.

I would be surprised if the seat widths are slightly tighter on this plane than the 777-300 as it is just physically 2 different interior dimensions. The exact appearance on both planes could be just deceptive. You also forgot to mention that the elbow rooms on the Polaris are next to miniscue as compared to any herringbone design layout. You will notice it if you are over 6 ft. tall with broad shoulders!!

For those who want to try out this plane, you can get lucky with cross-country fares, especially to SFO. (Google Flights price tracker is helpful for this.) They're sometimes as low as $659 (or I've even seen $549). With a Chase Sapphire Reserve or an Amex Business Platinum, that comes out to about 43,900 points. Not as good as 25,000 point business standard, but I literally have not seen one of those in a year or more, so I'll settle for it being not as bad as 60,000 point business standard (soon to be sky's-the-limit).

United flies 787-10's, 777-200's (avoid), and 757-200's for these routes, so you've just got to look at each flight to find the 787-10's.

I'm looking forward to flying this plane EWR-LAX in three weeks in seat 3L. Was a $658.20 ticket, which I paid for with Amex Travel, so when the 35% points rebate is returned to me (because I have a Business Platinum), it will have cost 42,783 points. At that price, didn't want to pass up the chance to try out this cabin. And, since the transcon "P.S." (or whatever they call it these days) soft product was always a lesser offering than international Polaris, I won't have my expectations set too high.

Tiny article correction -- the article suggests that Economy Plus is what's behind Polaris. Not so on the 787-10, which has the new three-row Premium Plus cabin between the two. (Though on domestic and some international flights, the cabin is sold as ordinary Economy Plus, first come first served for the Premium Plus seats.)

Love love love this review, your sense of humor, the details, LUCKY IS BACK!!!!!

T0 whom it may concern

I was not impressed with this presentation of Polaris especially. They have changed. AA international business class is far superior. UA bedding should be good it comes from SFA. I used to work in their Carlin comfort Dept wonderful.
The salad and appetizer, lacks luster in presentation .Trays preset bf not a good idea..Not at all sophisticated.The main entree was pleasant. In appearance
I must ad the dessert lack luster compared to AA Sunday .

Breakfast as well

I personally prefer AA business class Domestically Trans con

is a lovey presentation especially the white tablecloth & white napery
As well as. Their First class trans con to SFO/lax Lovely indeed

. .I don’t care for module seating looks like a train
To be quite honest . You have no idea what f and B class was like in the eighties
It was fabulous especially on UA &TWA-AA but in the end the FA Attitude
Says a lot. They can make a big difference . Glad I’m older to experience this

Fabulous compared to today , May I ad some may be over critical o f AA
But their trancon service can not be matched FIRSTCLASS To SFO/LAX it is the best . Again ,I agree with most of your comments thank you
Ben your correct with the FA

Is it just me or does the first picture of the seat in bed mode look like there’s a huge gap halfway up the seat where two cushions meet? Doesn’t seem like that’d be comfortable.

Also the footwell definitely looks bigger than traditional staggered seats, can you sleep on your side and fit feet comfortably? Mine don’t in the narrow wells on 767s like Austrian/Delta.

" followed by 1Ks, followed by Polaris. Yay, it’s fun to be the sixth group invited to board when you’re in the forward-most cabin on a plane"

Don't you mean Group 1 (not "Polaris") which includes Polaris + anyone else with status that provides Group 1.

@ Jeremy -- Yep, I could sleep comfortably on my side, just not with my knees bent very much.

I also love United's -10 Polaris. My first -10 was out of EWR in March, then SFO, LAX and IAH.

Yesterday I flew an old 777-200 "Polaris", with 2-2-2. The new -10 Polaris is vastly superior.

Lucky: How do you compare the A350 to the 787-10? Noise level, etc.?

Why do active duty military board before families?? That's disgusting! What kind of values are they imposing?

Military people also get first priority upgraded seats too.

I initially LOLed at your boarding comment. After all, I'm not confused by the sign. But then, I'm always in group 2. I can see why the kettles are perplexed. However, the new signage has dramatically cut down on gate lice IMO and it does tell you sit (the heck) down. I guess reading is a lost art.

BEN I Have A question would appreciate a response at your leisure.
Subject TAXES DEPARTURE TAXES FROM THE UK TO USA

Can I enter LONDON REMAIN THEIR FOR UNDER 24 hrs , from time of
Arrival to time returning back to NY USA, TO AVOID Taxes. Again within 24 hrs

NOTE OR REMAIN IN TRANSIT 6 hrs and return back to states what taxes
Do I pay if any in any class of service,

I travel Stby standby could be in - business coach. first
Thank you your blog is really excellent your details are always on target
May not agree all the time We being perfectionist. .
I followed your wedding and hope you are happy in FLORIDA with your partner and of course the Dog. Ps I have avoided some taxes b f traveling from another city while in transit only .the LHR taxes are really over the top, thanks

The lack of boarding signs higher than 1 or 2 means the other customers are not yet supposed to line up. It's an effort to get them out of the way so the higher priority customers can board.

Even numbered rows tend to be better for those with a little claustrophobia or customers of size as it can be difficult to squeeze through the narrow passageway into the odd numbered rows.

The pre-plated main dishes are because United has recently removed two flight attendant positions from the aircraft, including removing a galley position. That may also help explain some, but not all, of the perfunctory service. There are too many customers for too few flight attendants and those who were once inclined to do so no longer have time to offer personalized service. Still, training by McDonalds might help. The current training by Disney is really too advanced for many of us.

All 4 lavatories are for Polaris Class, but many of the premium economy customers believe they are entitled to them and flight attendants spend half the flight shooing them out of first class.

And you may think it is a solid product, but I am, more often than not, embarrassed by it. I'm a United FA.

Technical correction: first UA 787-10 was delivered in November 2018, not March. I was on the inaugural, um, first scheduled from LAX to EWR in January. Another United slap in the face when they put the aircraft in service before the much hyped inaugural then changed the event to "first revenue scheduled flight for 787-10". I digress.

@PCC: No APD on transits less than 24 hours UK.

Flew ORD-FRA last Tuesday. Dreadful. It's a dismal product - but nothing that surprised me considering it's an US airline.

@UA-NYC : and yet your worthless airline of AA and DL *combined* still doesn't know how to fly JFK-HND on their own metal. I guess your time isn't worth much since you have so much time to do connections instead of flying nonstop.

All domestic airlines, even those who offer international travel, are maximizing their profits by minimizing their staffing. And that puts the burden squarely on the crew serving you in the air. Something’s gotta’ give...pre-plated meals, no offering of wine with dinner, and unfortunately a stressed-out demeanor of the cabin crew. Please don’t blame it on them. They know they’re forced to offer a less-than-stellar service because they know what it used to be. The airlines love to tout their “new and improved” product while at the same time cutting their staff. Anyone who has travelled enough can see through the smoke and mirrors. I’m a retired flight attendant and I know how it works.

@ Kacee... Just FYI, the official code for a 787-10 is 78X, not 781

@ PCC... Not sure if English is your first language or not, but your spelling, grammar, unnecessary abbreviating and use of CAPITALS make your posts uncomfortable and almost impossible to read. Please proof read before posting!!!

Eh, after reading this review I don't feel bad to book Qatar Qsuites again.

I so wanted to fly non-stop EWR-BOM-EWR by Polaris business, but the beauty, comfort, quality, food, attention to details and etiquette forced me to consider the JFK-BOM-JFK Qsuites in their new A350-1000!

Just the presentation of food itself can seriously challenge some restaurants and give a run for their businesses. Plus, being at the 1st class Al Safwa lounge in Doha is a mind boggling experience!

Guess, I might never get to experience Polaris business.

Just catching up reading -- I've flown on United Business class twice in the last 3 years and had pleasant service experiences with two west-coast based crews, one LAX-SYD on a 787-9 Fauxlaris, and one SFO-TPE on the real deal 777-300ER.

'Fauxlaris' is perfect description. Unfortunately, there are still many planes with the arrangement.

Do not waste your money. The food was OK for my husband and horrendous for me with gluten free. The food was brought onto the plane in foil containers (not a good sign). I received fruit, salad without dressing, horribly dry chicken and a dried out roll. The salad had a cold cod chunk on it. The seating area was beautiful on our way to Italy. On the way home, it was so crowded, it would have been awkward had a stranger been next to me!
The worst part of the trip was because my husband missed the first flight on our trip ( a 55minute flight from Columbia, SC to Dulles, which actually made our tickets more expensive) this terrible airline charged him $7,800 dollars to fly the other five legs of our trip and charged us a $500 change fee on top of it to “change” the rest of the flight to his original ticket. Then they didn’t even “change” the ticket correctly so we didn’t even seat us next to each other for part of the way home. Lovely birthday for my husband United. Do NOT fly Polaris!!! Absolutely horrendous experience and very curt response when we asked for a refund. I will tell everyone I know from our military time, our friends, family and coworkers about this $8,300 charge for the rest of my life. Don’t fly with these awful people. We have flown many overseas flights with other airlines and United is the only airline I would not recommend. AWFUL!!!

That breakfast meal looks like what I usually get in Y, just with fancier plating...

Just flew First Class UA on 777-200 Polaris SFO-HNL. Do everything possible to not get EVEN nbr seats. They are claustrophobic and awkward. Otherwise for just over $600 each way, it was great. The flight attendants were attentive and the meal was good.

Great review - lots of in-depth details. I'm gonna call you out on non-rev travel comment. First of all, "glamour" is a state of mind, and most people might debate what that even means these days. I was an AA employee and can tell you that the gate dance is one of the most fun parts of being an Av-Geek. Will I make it? Which cabin can I get in?
Don't assume all non-revs are able to or even want business class. Flying outside the USA means the employee has to pay the taxes which can quickly add up, especially to a destination like London for example, where the taxes escalate according to the class of travel. I've taken plenty of economy flights as non-rev out of choice because the gate agent could review the seat map with me and advise where the best bank of empty seats might be.
Since an employee is not charged for the flight until it is completed there is no obligation to travel in any class or even to board the flight you wait-listed for.
Cheers.

Thanks for the great review of the 787 Polaris space. Wonderful details, insights.

My wife (travel advisor) and I had United business class from ORD to GRU and return GRU to ORD. Had honeymoon seats. A little claustrophobic getting in the tight space, but felt better once settled inside. Great seat controls. Easy to adjust the wheel from normal seating to flat. Good storage. Flat shelf at the entry with small cabinet behind for water, personal goods. Small space under the TV screen for putting books, iPads, phone. Handy things for travel (goodie bag; still using one we got from Virgin, good design. Soft sided. A bonus design feature: a rigid bar above the TV set for grabbing onto and pulling up or holding on as needed.

Don’t like the Polaris business class storage bin design above the inside seats. Very high to give the section a more open feel. Looks great but it’s hard for shorter people to access. Even the tall flight attendant who came to help said her shorter colleagues had trouble with it. The bins above the window seats are fine. Easy to access. We had the same issue on the high bins on Lufthansa from SAN to BER and return. Lufthansa had bad seat design; hard to adjust; what looked like a pocket on the side of the seat was a hole! Passengers were always needing help retrieving cell phones, books and vanity kits.

On ORD to GRU, decent choices during dinner. Moist salmon. Decent spare ribs. Breakfast not that good. Odd egg dish. egg whites with kale in gross pastry. Good fruit bowl. Provided plain greek yogurt. Not sure much got used. Mushy croissant. Hard bread with dinner. Need to have better choices of breads. Perhaps have attendants offer a choice from a basket, as done on some airlines. Good beverage service.

Friendly crew. Helpful. Right level of attentiveness. Positive demeanors. But major shortcoming: failure to provide guidance on steps to take going through immigration in GRU. São Paulo International Airport is big, sprawling. Landed Terminal 3. Had trouble finding the right line for retrieving bags and going through immigration, before rechecking to the next destination. Could benefit from better signing. For international passengers. Get bags. Then to immigration. And connecting flights. Need to check terminals for connecting flights, including the remote Terminal 1 for Azul and domestic flights (we were going to SDU — Rio). SDU — Santos Dumont — neat little airport on the water in Rio. Pilot circled by Sugar Loaf on the approach.

Went on cruise from Rio to Buenos Aires, then back. Return flights. BUE TO GRU. Economy 787 Air Canada. Very odd. They moved the boarding up and filled the plane 30 minutes before departure. And we just sat there. Like adding 30 minutes to the flight. Then the pilot said we were delayed pushing back because another plane was blocking the way. For food on the two-hour+ flight, served an odd chicken salad sandwich and small fruit bowl. Decent beverages. Good crew. Friendly, efficient, helpful.

GRU to ORD. Great crew. Chicago-based. Terrible beef dinner. Dry block of meat. Best was the cheese plate with crackers and Port. Slept pretty well. Maybe 5.5 to 6 hours on the 10-hour flight. As you noted, the best bedding in the skies.

Okay breakfast frittata and fruit. Good croissant.

The purser provided great information coming into ORD on steps to take retrieving baggage, going through immigration and exiting or going to connecting flights. She gave specific details (“after the carousel, look for the double doors on the left,” etc.). Delivered in four languages, too. So imminently clear to travelers of all levels of experience. Takes the stress out of arrival in a foreign country.

Overall: we are fans of United and Polaris Business Class and will recommend it to friends and my wife’s clients.

Have just flown United Polaris Business class from San Fransisco to Melbourne.
My seat was 7A closest to the window. The seat is ok, but the very narrow footwell which is angled makes it very hard to sleep comfortably. The on board food is average and their in flight service is adequate but not very personalised for a business class product. I found their toilets incredibly small and the crew didn’t seem to regularly replace toilet paper rolls or empty the paper towel bin. Overall an average inflight experience, more like a p;remium economy product. The actual Polaris business lounge and dining is superb