Questions and Answers

I am planning a trip which involves a leg between Paris and the US. I am torn between booking award seat on UA or BA. BA award costs more (5,000 more miles and $280 more in surcharge) but is it worth it in terms of the overall experience in hard product, soft product and lounge experience? I am also curious as what the new Polaris First experience is like, even though the actual cabin is the old international first in a 777-200. I very much appreciate your input and thoughts.

Here is a recent trip I had on United, albeit a 747, yet the seats are the same and you will get the Polaris soft product. I was very impressed by the quality of the Saks bedding, although sounds like you are flying to US in the day. The older Global First seats are still quite nice. Is BA worth 5,000 points and $280? If it were on a 787 I’d say maybe but UA is not a bad choice. BA’s aircraft, 777 and 747 are just as old.

[URL=’http://www.rewardflying.com/report-blog/2017/1/2/united-airlines-b747-400-polaris-first-class-pvg-ord’]www.rewardflying.com/report-blog/2017/1/2/united-airlines-b747-400-polaris-first-class-pvg-ord[/URL]

Go with the UA flight, I doubt Polaris first could be much worse than BA first

[QUOTE=”MarkS, post: 25906, member: 2121″]Here is a recent trip I had on United, albeit a 747, yet the seats are the same and you will get the Polaris soft product. I was very impressed by the quality of the Saks bedding, although sounds like you are flying to US in the day. The older Global First seats are still quite nice. Is BA worth 5,000 points and $280? If it were on a 787 I’d say maybe but UA is not a bad choice. BA’s aircraft, 777 and 747 are just as old.

[URL=’http://www.rewardflying.com/report-blog/2017/1/2/united-airlines-b747-400-polaris-first-class-pvg-ord’]www.rewardflying.com/report-blog/2017/1/2/united-airlines-b747-400-polaris-first-class-pvg-ord[/URL][/QUOTE]
Many thanks for your reply and link to your trip report on United! Very humorous piece that I can relate to being a current Platinum member (which is a disappointing experience). I agree with you on the comfort of the Polaris bedding as I recently experienced it on a HNL-IAH flight (but the international first class bedding looks even better). Since I have never been on a BA flight, I want to give it a try but given the extra expense of the ticket itself plus overnight stay in Paris or London and the less-than-stellar reviews on OMAAT, that made me hesitant.

[QUOTE=”Brad B, post: 25914, member: 701″]Go with the UA flight, I doubt Polaris first could be much worse than BA first[/QUOTE]
Thanks for your input. Have you had experience with either product?

[QUOTE=”747380, post: 25933, member: 155″]Thanks for your input. Have you had experience with either product?[/QUOTE]

I have never flown in BA F but as Lucky says it is the world’s best business class. Unless you want to fly the A380, I would go with UA F as the seat is a really nice size and I have heard FAs on BA are hit or miss just like UA. I think the potential for a better flight is on UA instead of BA. However if you want to fly the A380 in F I would spend the 110K UA miles and fly in LH F and plan on a long connection in FRA to try the FCT.

I am flying Polaris next month but I have read good reviews about it.

[QUOTE=”Brad B, post: 25988, member: 701″]I have never flown in BA F but as Lucky says it is the world’s best business class. Unless you want to fly the A380, I would go with UA F as the seat is a really nice size and I have heard FAs on BA are hit or miss just like UA. I think the potential for a better flight is on UA instead of BA. However if you want to fly the A380 in F I would spend the 110K UA miles and fly in LH F and plan on a long connection in FRA to try the FCT.

I am flying Polaris next month but I have read good reviews about it.[/QUOTE]
Thank you for your response. I like and agree with your suggestions. I had already looked into LH for the date I needed to travel from Paris and as expected, no saver awards available. The more modern BA F cabin looks much more attractive but seats and space are smaller than those of UA but less amenity with UA (eg, no pajama since the flight is shorter than 12 hours)…that’s what makes the decision so difficult. If I know that I will have excellent FAs on board either flight, then that would be the tie-breaker.

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[USER=155]@747380[/USER] LH doesn’t release F to partners until 15 days prior. If I were you and you do have 110k miles this is what I would do, book ticket on UA in F so you at least have a seat, then 15 days prior when availability opens up change the flight to LH, you will have to pay the difference in miles and a change fee, however when booking LH F with UA miles you always have to pay a close in booking fee, so it will only be a few more dollars.

[QUOTE=”Brad B, post: 25997, member: 701″][USER=155]@747380[/USER] LH doesn’t release F to partners until 15 days prior. If I were you and
[QUOTE=”Brad B, post: 25997, member: 701″][USER=155]@747380[/USER] LH doesn’t release F to partners until 15 days prior. If I were you and you do have 110k miles this is what I would do, book ticket on UA in F so you at least have a seat, then 15 days prior when availability opens up change the flight to LH, you will have to pay the difference in miles and a change fee, however when booking LH F with UA miles you always have to pay a close in booking fee, so it will only be a few more dollars.[/QUOTE]

you do have 110k miles this is what I would do, book ticket on UA in F so you at least have a seat, then 15 days prior when availability opens up change the flight to LH, you will have to pay the difference in miles and a change fee, however when booking LH F with UA miles you always have to pay a close in booking fee, so it will only be a few more dollars.[/QUOTE]

Great suggestion. Now I have a more compelling reason to stick with UA for now.

[QUOTE=”747380, post: 26015, member: 155″]Great suggestion. Now I have a more compelling reason to stick with UA for now.[/QUOTE]

Look forward to hearing how the trip goes, and remember when LH F opens up make sure to look at all your options as long as your origin and destination stay the same, you can look at most airports in the US and Canada where LH flies and then fly UA to your destination, search on FRA-destination for availability and then when you find it try to book the whole thing online, if that doesn’t work call UA Res and spoon feed them the info. Better yet have [URL=’http://as00.estara.com/UI/gui.php?donotcache=1201839075925&accountid=20010417&referrer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.continental.com%2Fweb%2Fen-US%2Fcontent%2FContact%2Ftechnical%2Fdefault.aspx&pagetitle=Continental+Airlines+-+continental.com+Support+Contact+Information&template=1178&log1=www.continental.com%2Fweb%2Fen-US%2Fcontent%2Fcontact%2Ftechnical%2Fdefault.aspx&log2=&log3=&calltype=webvoicepop&guiid=43834a54eac25&timestamp=1201839058′]UA call you[/URL] so you don’t have to wait on hold

Hello,

Just looking at the United review posted from previous post, I think BA would probably a better experience. I have traveled with all BA first 777, 787, and 747. My option would be like this BA 787 > BA 777 > UA 747 > BA 747. I have read many reviews if you can route with BA a380, I would also put that above BA 777. Hope that helps!

[QUOTE=”Brad B, post: 26025, member: 701″]Look forward to hearing how the trip goes, and remember when LH F opens up make sure to look at all your options as long as your origin and destination stay the same, you can look at most airports in the US and Canada where LH flies and then fly UA to your destination, search on FRA-destination for availability and then when you find it try to book the whole thing online, if that doesn’t work call UA Res and spoon feed them the info. Better yet have [URL=’http://as00.estara.com/UI/gui.php?donotcache=1201839075925&accountid=20010417&referrer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.continental.com%2Fweb%2Fen-US%2Fcontent%2FContact%2Ftechnical%2Fdefault.aspx&pagetitle=Continental+Airlines+-+continental.com+Support+Contact+Information&template=1178&log1=www.continental.com%2Fweb%2Fen-US%2Fcontent%2Fcontact%2Ftechnical%2Fdefault.aspx&log2=&log3=&calltype=webvoicepop&guiid=43834a54eac25&timestamp=1201839058′]UA call you[/URL] so you don’t have to wait on hold[/QUOTE]
My trip is not till September. I will be happy to write my review. Should I do it here, under Ask Lucky section or do you have another suggestion? Thank you for your additional suggestions. However, I am not hopeful that I will find any LH F saver seat on 747-8 or A380 because I looked up availability for the next 15 days with my login as Platinum member but all I found was availability on A330 flights. Maybe LH will release more seats for September. Another surprise I found was that UA changed the fee schedule for award ticket change or deposit. There is now a $50 fee for Platinum members to change or cancel award tickets within 60 days, whereas it was free last year for both Platinum and 1K members. Bummer! Yet another downgrade of benefits for Platinum members. I didn’t see any announcement. Did you?

[QUOTE=”Wesley C, post: 26033, member: 310″]Hello,

Just looking at the United review posted from previous post, I think BA would probably a better experience. I have traveled with all BA first 777, 787, and 747. My option would be like this BA 787 > BA 777 > UA 747 > BA 747. I have read many reviews if you can route with BA a380, I would also put that above BA 777. Hope that helps![/QUOTE]
Hello Wesley,
Thank you for your input. It’s very helpful. Unfortunately the available BA flight is on a 747, not A380. If it were on the A380 then it would make the decision easier.

[QUOTE=”747380, post: 26131, member: 155″]My trip is not till September. I will be happy to write my review. Should I do it here, under Ask Lucky section or do you have another suggestion? Thank you for your additional suggestions. However, I am not hopeful that I will find any LH F saver seat on 747-8 or A380 because I looked up availability for the next 15 days with my login as Platinum member but all I found was availability on A330 flights. Maybe LH will release more seats for September. Another surprise I found was that UA changed the fee schedule for award ticket change or deposit. There is now a $50 fee for Platinum members to change or cancel award tickets within 60 days, whereas it was free last year for both Platinum and 1K members. Bummer! Yet another downgrade of benefits for Platinum members. I didn’t see any announcement. Did you?[/QUOTE]

[USER=155]@747380[/USER] United completely changed their program on October 6th. They gave plenty of notice, a couple months if I remember. But you are correct, Platinum members got the worst of it in terms of change fees / redeposit fees while non-members got lower fees. In addition routing rules were changed completely eliminating a stopover unless in a specific region, for example inside Europe. No more RTW with a stop in Asia and Europe. Plus you can’t piece together flight itineraries. You have to take what the search engine gives. You can’t even call an agent and suggest a route. They claim what you see is what they see. I’m a million miler and they’ve slowly pushed us down the ladder too.

But given your situation, a $50 fee to fly LH first is a small price to pay. The process on the website for changes has changed as well. It’s a little more restrictive but I also think better than before. But again, if it doesn’t show up on a search you can’t “spoon” feed them the flights anymore as was suggested. There has been some talk about agents being able to go to the “old” system and do this. It might work, but by Sept it will have almost been a year of the new system so who knows. Good luck.