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  • Home
  • Destinations
    • Asia/Oceania >
      • Tokyo & Others
      • Sydney
      • Beijing
      • Guilin
      • Shanghai
      • Hong Kong
      • Taiwan >
        • Yilan
        • Tainan
      • Puerto Princesa
      • Kuala Lumpur
      • Hanoi
      • Melbourne
      • Singapore
      • Seoul
    • The Americas >
      • New York City
      • Boston
      • Honolulu
      • Chicago
      • Toronto
      • Jacksonville
      • Portland
      • Charlotte
      • Vancouver
      • Minneapolis
      • Seattle
      • Washington D.C.
      • Acadia National Park
      • Arches National Park
      • Providence
      • Savannah
      • Austin
      • Montréal
      • Asheville
    • Europe >
      • London
      • Paris
      • Edinburgh
      • Rome
      • Reykjavik
      • Brussels
      • Amsterdam
      • Copenhagen
      • Porto
      • Lisbon
      • Valencia
      • Oslo
    • Africa/Middle East >
      • Doha
      • Cape Town
      • Dubai
  • Guides
    • United Economy Plus Review
    • Qatar Airways Business Class Review
    • JetBlue Airways Mint Class Review
    • Long-Distance Driving
    • Packing
    • Disneyland
    • United Business Class (Polaris) Review
    • Travel on a Budget >
      • Part 1: Save Money to Travel
      • Part 2: Finding the Cheapest Flight
      • Part 3: Finding the Cheapest Accommodation
      • Part 4: Daily Expenses
  • Services
    • Travel Consultant
  • About Me
    • Blog Updates
  • Contact


United Airlines​ Business Class (Polaris) Review

 

Introduction

Before I was supposed to fly, I randomly checked my flight status and the seat map to make sure I was getting a row to myself on this red-eye (since that's the only reason why you would take a red-eye, right?).

However, I noticed that it was pretty cheap to pay cash for an upgrade on Business. So I just went ahead and did it! Usually, I don't splurge like this but I thought it was worth the experience and was glad I did it.

 

Before The Flight

The flight I was taking was from San Francisco to Newark (UA 1931) on a red-eye. I paid for 2 one-way flights (one from Orange County to Santa Ana, and the other was San Francisco to Newark) with a total of ~$210. The upgrade to business on the SFO-EWR segment was only $388, which is a steal! Usually cash upgrades on this route can easily be thousands of dollars.

Before upgrading, I made sure to check the aircraft type since if I'm paying good money, it has to be on United's Polaris product. I was specifically looking for the Boeing 777-300ER or the Boeing Dreamliner 787-9 aircraft, and this flight was on the former. So, I went ahead and booked it. The total for the 2 flights plus the upgrade was shy of $500, which isn't too bad!
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The seats are in a 1-2-1 configuration, so I made sure to pick the "1" seat because I was traveling by myself. I also made sure to pick an odd numbered row, because the seats bordering the windows could either be more "towards the window" or "away from the window". I wanted to be closer to the window, which are the odd-numbered rows.

Booking Business allows you to utilize Premier Access and 2 free checked bags. But, I didn't really use these benefits since I already had TSA PreCheck. However, you get group 1 boarding, which is nice.

 

The flight itself

When I got on the plane, I was pleasantly surprised at how spacious the seat was. I suppose it's because I'm short, but I was happy to see the different offerings. While I was getting myself situated, a flight attendant came around and offered me water or champagne.

Each seat had 2 pillows and a blanket, all wrapped in Saks Fifth Avenue branding. One pillow was soft, and the other pillow seemed to be more hard (like memory foam). When I sat down, the IFE screen in front of me was decently big with a USB charging outlet. If I pushed at the metal thing below the IFE, a table popped out where you could unfold it.

To the right, there were buttons for adjusting the seat. To the left, there was a little thin shelf where they put the in-flight magazines. To my immediate left, there was a little landing area where I can put a few things, a plug and the remote for the IFE. A little "cabinet" opens when you push on it and inside, there was a water bottle and headphones. There was also an amenity kit and coat hook.
So far, the seat seemed quite ordinary but the bedding felt impeccable. I was very excited to lie down and fall asleep. The amenity kit was also a nice touch. Overall, I had a lot of leg room. 
The headphones were nothing special. While waiting for takeoff, I got myself adjusted by looking inside the amenity kit and tinkered around with the seat buttons.
For now, I put the kit away in my bag since I knew I wouldn't use it right away. However, I liked how it was heavily catered for this red eye since I used the facial cleaning cloth and the sanitizing wipe before landing and felt much more refreshed. 
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For the seat buttons going from left to right...
  • Moon: This tells the flight attendant that you don't want to be disturbed throughout the flight.
  • Lamp: There was a little side lamp where the small cabinet is, and this just turned the lamp on and off.
  • Middle seat cushion (next two buttons): These buttons adjusted the lumbar of the seat either up/down, or further out/reclined inwards. I tried all sorts of combinations here and I couldn't feel anything different (maybe I was doing this wrong).
  • Foot rest: This button moves the foot rest up or down, depending on how high you wanted it to be.
  • Bed: To lie flat, you toggle the farthest right dial all the way to the left, and to stand it up as "chair" you toggle it back to the right.    
Right before takeoff, a flight attendant came around and was taking meal orders. The 3 options were "an option I don't remember", Thai chicken, or they could let you sleep. My original plan was to sleep but I wanted to try the meal. So, I told them I wanted the Thai chicken. They told me it would be served around 1-2 hours into the flight.

To pass the time while we were taking off, I set up my bedding, got myself comfortable, and nibbled on the small bowl of nuts that another flight attendant gave me. I chose to watch a few episodes of The Office before the meal came.

The meal was served much quicker than expected. Initially, I wasn't expecting much (since how good can Thai chicken be on an airplane?) but I was pleasantly surprised. There was actual silverware, the chicken was flavorful, and the vinaigrette they gave me to pair with the salad was also decent. 

Since it was getting late, I chose to save the cookie and the bread to eat right before landing. The FA saw that I finished my meal and actually offered to give me another one, which I politely refused. In any other time, I would had said yes though but I really needed to sleep.
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So I pretty much zonked out until landing, and then the FA woke me up. I ate the cookie and break as the plane was landing (cookie was quite good, bread was just bread). Outside the window, you could see suburban Newark and New Jersey but I was hoping for a better view. Oh well, next time. Then, we landed! 

 

Reflection

Overall, I was impressed with the experience. On a red-eye, all you really want to do is sleep and the product delivered. The bedding was comfortable and I was able to fall asleep. The food was an added bonus. However, I would probably only fly Business again if I got a deal like this time around. I wouldn't had wanted to use miles or pay more cash for this upgrade. But, if you do get a chance I would jump on it!

Contents

Introduction
Before the Flight
The Flight Itself
Reflection
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