As I’ve already covered, United Airlines has unveiled its new Polaris business class. These new seats will be installed on upcoming Boeing 787-9s, which will be in a premium configuration. In this post, I want to focus specifically on the United Polaris Studio concept, which is the carrier’s “business class plus” concept.
Let me recap the basics, and then I want to analyze this product a bit…
In this post:
Basics of the new United Polaris Studio concept
On upcoming Boeing 787-9s, United plans to introduce Polaris Studio seats, offering an elevated business class experience. While the new 787s will feature 64 Polaris seats, eight of those will be Polaris Studio seats.
United is following the industry trend by introducing a special business class experience in the bulkhead rows (given the size of business class, it’s spread across two cabins, which is why there are two rows of these special seats). The idea is that bulkhead seats have a bit more space to work with, so United is bundling a special experience, in hopes that people will pay extra to sit there.
The Polaris Studio seat is 25% larger than the standard Polaris seat, with an ottoman, and a 27″ 4K OLED touchscreen monitor (compared to a 19″ monitor in Polaris). On top of that, United is offering an elevated soft product. Polaris Studio customers will receive:
- The Global Services ground treatment, from access to Global Reception check-in, to boarding with Global Services members, to surprise and delight tarmac transfers by car
- Upgraded food and beverage, including a caviar amuse bouche, Laurent-Perrier Cuvée Rosé, a premium snack box, and an expanded selection of main courses
- Upgraded amenities, including hoodie-pajamas and slippers on all flights, noise canceling headphones from Meridian, amenity kits with Perricone MD Cold Plasma Plus+ skincare products, United branded playing cards, and a plush velvet throw pillow
The problem with United Polaris Studio seating
I have to give United credit for creating a thoughtful “business class plus” product. The hard product is exactly what you’d expect, while the soft product is a bit more elevated than I was anticipating.
While this all sounds great, there are also some serious downsides to this product. The most significant is that you’re seated at the very front of the cabin, right by the galley and lavatories. On some foreign airlines, that might not necessarily be a huge deal, but:
- US airlines don’t generally have “real” curtains between the galley and cabin for safety reasons (or whatever), so you can expect a lot of light pollution from the galley
- US airline crews aren’t exactly great about keeping their voices down in the galley, and I’d be worried about noise from the galley, whether it’s flight attendants talking, or just loud meal preparation
- Being near the lavatories is never ideal, but especially not on US airlines, given that they aren’t properly cleaned, and these planes will be operating United’s longest flights
So United Polaris Studio might not be a dream product in terms of the sounds, sights, and smells. I mean, just look at the first picture in this post, at how close the seats are to the lavatory. Maybe United hopes that special noise canceling headphones and better champagne will make people overlook that?
The additional issue is just United’s service delivery. Much like American, United has some great flight attendants, but also has some not-so-great flight attendants. The airline doesn’t have a culture of great service (at least not yet), so it’ll be interesting to see how crews do with delivering this elevated service.
I imagine there’s going to be quite a bit of back-and-forth between management and the union over staffing these flights. As we all know, management always wants as few flight attendants as possible, while the union wants as many flights as possible. But if you want flight attendants to actually be able to deliver decent service to 64 passengers, with eight of those being premium seats, you also need to invest in staffing.
What to expect from United Polaris Studio pricing
United hasn’t yet disclosed how much extra it will charge for Polaris Studio seats. So far, the airline has simply stated that “United Polaris Studio will be priced differently than standard United Polaris,” which is obvious.
Presumably this could work in one of two ways (with some minor variations):
- Upgrading to Polaris Studio would be similar to just paying a seat assignment fee after booking any Polaris seat, so you can access the product for a fixed cost on a particular flight, regardless of whether you paid cash, redeemed miles, or whatever
- Polaris Studio could be sold as a separate product from the start of the booking flow, and be priced separately
On the one hand, the former system seems more likely, at least based on the precedent at other airlines. On the other hand, if this could be incorporated into the actual booking process and not be an additional fee, I imagine some business travelers might be able to get away with expensing the product. As we all know, it’s common for business travelers to treat other peoples’ money different than their own.
So, how much could United get away with charging? It’s interesting to note that around a year ago, United surveyed some customers about the concept of introducing a “business class plus” concept, and floated several different ideas. The proposed pricing ranged from $300 to $650. For example, below is one of the scenarios that was presented.
Admittedly pricing will probably depend on the route, and it’ll be different on a San Francisco to Singapore flight than on a Newark to London flight. Let’s use the San Francisco to Singapore route as an example, since it’s the first route expected to get the new seats:
- I could be totally off, but I feel like United is going to try to charge $1,000+ over the standard Polaris experience, based on how many amenities are bundled
- However, I question if that’s realistic, and I think something in the $500-800 range would be more likely to be the sweet spot in terms of maximizing revenue
- Part of the issue is that United has eight of these seats to sell, making up 12.5% of total inventory
- I also wonder how much repeat business United will get for this product, based on the concerns addressed above, about proximity to galley and lavatories
Presumably any leftover seats will go to employees with travel privileges traveling on a space available basis, since they’re entitled to the best available seats, once all other passengers have been processed.
That’s also why I suspect that United will offer pretty lucrative upgrade opportunities for elite members on a space available basis, like with PlusPoints or MileagePlus miles, so that this doesn’t end up being full-on “employee class.”
Bottom line
United is rolling out a new Polaris business class experience. That’s not all, though, as the airline is also introducing the Polaris Studio product, which will be front row business class seats with 25% more space, bigger entertainment screens, and improved amenities.
I’m impressed by the amenities that United is including with this product, as this more of an upgrade than you’ll find on most airlines with a similar concept. The catch is that sitting so close to the galley and lavatories, especially on a US airline, isn’t necessarily desirable.
I’m curious to see how much the airline tries to charge for these seats, and what demand ends up looking like.
What do you make of the United Polaris Studio concept, how popular do you think it’ll be, and what do you think the airline will charge?
This is a really exciting time for me to have moved from BA to United. I'm starting to feel like losing my GGL status and aiming for GS instead is going to be a great move. US airlines area really upping their game!
And it's not just being 'near' the lavs like other planes, but these 789s have the lavs right up in the bulkhead, door opens into the center section of seats
GS ground: special check-in is less useful if you check-in online and don't have checked luggage, boarding early isn't that important since overhead storage isn't a problem, tarmac transfers doesn't help if you don't have a connection.
Food isn't that big a deal.
Amenities: I own a hoodie and noise cancelling headphones.
Better seats is the only thing that seems like it might be worth a premium. Depends on how much of a premium,...
GS ground: special check-in is less useful if you check-in online and don't have checked luggage, boarding early isn't that important since overhead storage isn't a problem, tarmac transfers doesn't help if you don't have a connection.
Food isn't that big a deal.
Amenities: I own a hoodie and noise cancelling headphones.
Better seats is the only thing that seems like it might be worth a premium. Depends on how much of a premium, how good the seats are and the lav and noise issues.
I can not stop thinking of the implementation and experience of "Press for champagne" button on us carrier
We’ve all experienced that lol.
I recently returned longhaul on an eu carrier and my seat was kaput. Just wouldn’t move so I couldn’t lie flat. The cabin was full.
Then my IFE went crazy and screen went blank. Of course not blaming the crew who were magnificent.
I decided to take up their offer to sit in premium economy with two empty seats each side and I received the buss...
We’ve all experienced that lol.
I recently returned longhaul on an eu carrier and my seat was kaput. Just wouldn’t move so I couldn’t lie flat. The cabin was full.
Then my IFE went crazy and screen went blank. Of course not blaming the crew who were magnificent.
I decided to take up their offer to sit in premium economy with two empty seats each side and I received the buss class meals.
The captain was doing her rounds, had been informed, and she was really apologetic.
They made a report on their tablets and told me I didn’t need to raise a complaint myself.
Within 72 hours, whilst I was on another flight, I received an email notification with a beautifully written apology and a EUR500 voucher and within 10 days a refund of the fare difference ( EUR 975) !!
I don’t even have any status with them.
That is service !
Can you imagine paying all that extra money for the "benefit" of a "suite" when that means that every time someone lays a deuce in the lav in front of you, it's like you were in the lav *with* them?
@ TravelinWilly -- While not a pretty visual, I just laughed out loud. Thank you!
The "light pollution", as you say Ben, is by far the biggest issue here.
And even on international airlines that do have curtains, the cabin crew does not consistently use them. I learned this the hard way on Virgin's A350... the bathroom thing wasn't actually a big deal at all, the noise was minimal, but the light was a deal-breaker. Combine the early light exposure with the crew assembling breakfast service.... not the nicest way...
The "light pollution", as you say Ben, is by far the biggest issue here.
And even on international airlines that do have curtains, the cabin crew does not consistently use them. I learned this the hard way on Virgin's A350... the bathroom thing wasn't actually a big deal at all, the noise was minimal, but the light was a deal-breaker. Combine the early light exposure with the crew assembling breakfast service.... not the nicest way to wake up when you're only operating on 3-4 hours of sleep anyway.
I agree that the location at the front of the cabin is not ideal.
Evidently, to some BA FA’s I’m known as the man in 2A, as this is the seat reserved for my regular trips between LHR-DEN. To combat any possible noise pollution I always use foam ear plugs. I am able to practically eliminate light pollution by sleeping left side down. I am sure that the door helps with both as I manage at least 3-4 hours shuteye.
Ahhh that’s why the better headphones…
Good business sense though. Take an undesirable seat location, make it bigger, throw in like $50-100 worth of better soft product (depending on how much champagne guzzled) and charge people $500+ for it. Not a singled dreaded seat in the cabin.
Hopefully they bump elites into these instead of giving them to evil non-revs.
' evil non-revs ' .... lol would LUV to hear some non-rev horror stories. Find it ironic that these people actually 'worked' for this privilege/benefit versus the entitled pubic who's in that seat because a 3rd party (company) or credit card account status 'paid' for the seat ...
And here I thought "Bathroom Odors" was just a poor word choice for some new name-brand scent in the bathrooms lol.
I thought the same thing lol
They should just bring back F class and charge a lot more.
UA elites frequently rave about the front row seats (eg rows 1/9) in current Polaris due to the wider footwell, so this trade off is already well known. I’m in the camp that the light, noise and traffic is a negative.
Will pilots be able to grab these seats?
@ ted poco -- For crew rest they have dedicated facilities. However, I see no reason that space available or positive space employees wouldn't get these seats, if available. After all, they could fly in international first class, back when that cabin was offered.
Every airline’s first class is near the lav and front galley. Lufthansa, Qatar, Emirates, Swiss… Like where are they gonna put it? In the middle of economy class? 160 plus points upgrade coming your way.
@ Chris -- Yeah, so that misses several points.
First of all, if we're talking about first class, there are typically four to 14 seats. That's a different amount of bathroom traffic than a business class cabin with 64 seats.
Second of all, foreign carriers have proper curtains between cabins and the galley/lavatory area, and crews are also better about minimizing their noise.
Third, all the airlines you cite have lavatories quite a...
@ Chris -- Yeah, so that misses several points.
First of all, if we're talking about first class, there are typically four to 14 seats. That's a different amount of bathroom traffic than a business class cabin with 64 seats.
Second of all, foreign carriers have proper curtains between cabins and the galley/lavatory area, and crews are also better about minimizing their noise.
Third, all the airlines you cite have lavatories quite a distance from the seats on most of their aircraft. Just look at these seat maps, and you'll see the difference:
https://www.aerolopa.com/ek-77w-2
https://www.aerolopa.com/lx-773-3cl
https://www.aerolopa.com/lh-388
https://www.aerolopa.com/qr-388
The lav doors open directly adjacent to the seats on the United 789s.
I’d be a little surprised if they offered a PlusPoints path to upgrades for this but certainly imagine there will be buy up offers as that scheme is what has allowed them to so effectively monetize first class and business class to date.
I remember when they first rolled out Polaris and there was a period where flight attendants seemed to offer better service because they themselves were excited about the product and it...
I’d be a little surprised if they offered a PlusPoints path to upgrades for this but certainly imagine there will be buy up offers as that scheme is what has allowed them to so effectively monetize first class and business class to date.
I remember when they first rolled out Polaris and there was a period where flight attendants seemed to offer better service because they themselves were excited about the product and it was something passengers were excited about as well. Not sure if this new product will elicit the same feedback loop or if there will be a negative cycle of higher entitlement among studio suite passengers that elicits disdain from flight attendants.
I’ve also still noticed cultural divides in the legacy staff at United with ex-UA folks having more of a natural inclination to elevated international service vs ex-CO staff being more resentful of serving passengers though I’m biased as a United loyalist pre-merger.
Good morning Ben,
May I take a moment to submit my alternative view, as a United frequent flyer, that while there are moments their service could be improved, on average they are leagues ahead of American. Furthermore and importantly, I have found the bottom decile of United crewmembers to be merely disinterested. The bottom decile of American crewmembers, on the other hand, are downright...
Good morning Ben,
May I take a moment to submit my alternative view, as a United frequent flyer, that while there are moments their service could be improved, on average they are leagues ahead of American. Furthermore and importantly, I have found the bottom decile of United crewmembers to be merely disinterested. The bottom decile of American crewmembers, on the other hand, are downright surly.
Further, I have never had a United gate or ticketing agent scream at me, but I have had a US Airways ticketing agent do so when I very politely inquired whether I may be rebooked on flights that had a connection time of longer than 30 minutes. The agent, who was so old that premenstural syndrome could not possibly have been an explanation, screamed that I should take a look at the monitors upon arrival at my connecting airport. I smiled, nodded, and walked away. Two passengers behind in me line caught up with me in the airport later to express their shock and sympathies. This US agent almost certainly now works for AA, unless she has perished off the face of the earth which would be a good riddance.
Could you set a lower bar? While I don't disagree, that's such a low standard that, unless you're flying Spirit or Frontier, you can't get any lower anyway. Maybe compare UA to true premium carriers since UA is trying to up their game while multiple foreign carriers are already there...and have been for years.
Maybe they will spin the bathroom situation as 'global services bathroom access'
Ultra giga premium bathroom access.
More like "convenient access to bathrooms servicing the global population"
@JB:
Don't forget "Due to overwhelming passenger demand for..."
Doesn't make any sense to me. Will be telling to see how many bottles of LP Rose they ultimately end up stocking per flight. They are not set up for a first class infrastructure the way that AA is (not saying that AA delivers first class service ever, just that they have the infrastructure). AA could market their plus seat to get access to Chelsea lounge or flagship first dining. United offers... faster service at...
Doesn't make any sense to me. Will be telling to see how many bottles of LP Rose they ultimately end up stocking per flight. They are not set up for a first class infrastructure the way that AA is (not saying that AA delivers first class service ever, just that they have the infrastructure). AA could market their plus seat to get access to Chelsea lounge or flagship first dining. United offers... faster service at already good Polaris lounges? I'm just not sure how many people really value a huge monitor - sounds good, but quite frankly most of the time I turn the monitors off, they are so bright, especially the new ones. I think the market here is for big and tall people and ultra high net worth folks that just don't care. Maybe they'll get one or two upgrades for folks treating it as a special occasion. But as you note it's 12.5% of the cabin and unless they are generous with elite upgrades, hard to imagine this product being wildly successful.
Certainly the pricing will be the key here but I think you underestimate people’s willingness to pay incrementally for upgraded experiences.
Post-pandemic folks are spending far more on personal travel. Just look at domestic first class where they’re monetizing a vast majority of seats.
Add to that the fact that many work travelers can likely figure out ways to purchase these seats within travel policies and it could be well monetized.
Now...
Certainly the pricing will be the key here but I think you underestimate people’s willingness to pay incrementally for upgraded experiences.
Post-pandemic folks are spending far more on personal travel. Just look at domestic first class where they’re monetizing a vast majority of seats.
Add to that the fact that many work travelers can likely figure out ways to purchase these seats within travel policies and it could be well monetized.
Now the second question is whether they can maintain enough of a differentiated product to command a stronger premium, or if this eventually dilutes to just paying for a nicer seat (I agree a nicer monitor is not a selling point).
I fully expect this to be extremely short-lived just like UA's little "wine-flight debacle. They seem to be incapable of actually following through with anything. And when they somehow manage to do so, it's a multi-year effort like Polaris such that by the time it's complete, it's hardly novel or even industry standard.