NZ J-Class vs. UA Polaris review
Jan 13, 2017, 4:17 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: USA TX
Programs: United 1k, AA Plat, HH Diamond, Marriot Gold Elite, SPG Diamond
Posts: 42
NZ J-Class vs. UA Polaris review
Over NYE I took a vacation in Sydney (fireworks were spectacular) and then the rest of the time on North island, around the Auckland area. I flew NZ LAX-AKL-SYD and back in J-Class. Full fare, not a bid, and it was my first time on NZ. 777's the whole way through.
As chance would have it I just completed a short European trip for work (right after I got back and yes jet-lag was something else) and was upgraded on the inbound as a UA 1k (using a GPU) to United's new "Polaris" service. Note that few, if any UA planes have the new seats yet, so when they say Polaris they are really talking about the soft product, although new bedding is provided.
From a hard product perspective - and this will not come as a shock - NZ was heads and tails above UA, even though the latter now provide extra, better pillows and a mattress pad. To be fair the latter is a nice addition to UA's normally sub-par sleeping experience but NZ is in a different league.
NZ's 1-2-1 seating is superior in most respects to UA's 2-1-2 (and let's not even discuss the 2-4-2 seating UA has on some widebody 777's which is the biggest joke in J-class on any airline barring some Asian carriers that still don't have lie-flats). UA is going to need to roll out their new seats (which all have direct aisle access) to get anywhere near NZ.
Travelling with a companion in J on NZ is a weird experience and basically you should count on either not talking to them or annoying the passengers around you. Overall with the seat angles it is somehow both more private and the least private experience I have had up front. We (my wife and I) found the best arrangement was to sit in the same aisle one behind the other. Sitting across the aisle or in the middle two seats we might as well have been in different parts of the plane though we had eye contact (with most everyone else, too).
We found the footrest "seat" to be gimmicky for the most part. The extra large tray table (I was surprised how huge that thing was) was nice and we had coffee that way a couple times but it's not very comfortable and if you are tall like me your knees will knock together.
The touchscreen display was decent, but a little small and the non-capacitive touch capabilities are fairly awful - expect to use the remote.
Where NZ wins handily is with in-seat storage - very easy to organize things, plenty of space for laptops, e-readers, etc. - and easy to access plugs. I also love how they store pillows and bedding behind each seat.
UA by contrast has very little in the way of in-seat storage for J, their plugs are behind you on a small shelf (unless you are in 2-4-2 which is even worse) and the new "Polaris" bedding, while a welcome addition, adds to the problem - they clearly haven't figured out how they are going to store all that stuff absent the new seats. You get a huge pile of blankets, pillows, etc. now and have nowhere to put them.
NZ wins on meal service. I read they have real ovens on board, maybe that is part of the difference, but I didn't have a bad meal on any of the 4 flights. They were all quite good, actually. UA can be very hit or miss and the menu is getting stale, though they are working on that.
NZ service was very cheerful and helpful throughout. UA J-class can waver between being overly formal/deferential and just ignoring you. Granted I fly UA a lot (nearly 200k last year) so perhaps it is "familiarity breeds contempt" but I found NZ service to be quite pleasant overall compared to UA.
The biggest difference is when it comes time to go to sleep. I like NZ's approach a great deal more than UAs. I found that having to set the bed up/flip it over was actually a good approach because it puts you in "it's time to go to bed" mode vs. UA's recline all the way until you are flat approach. The quality of the seat in bed mode with the memory foam mattress was outstanding. Bed mode was quite private compared to sitting up as well. Overall my wife and I both had the best sleep we've ever had on a plane, got in close to 8 hours in the inbound and outbound and arrived completely refreshed. That rarely if ever happens for me on UA, where 3-4 hours of restless sleep is usually the norm.
That said UA is catching up - the Polaris bedding is really quite good, and they figured out that it is the mattress pad that makes the biggest difference. It's not quite as thick as NZs but it is a nice addition and I had a more relaxing time. Frankly I would have been very impressed with it had I not just gotten off an NZ long haul 2 days prior
Service-wise UA is really trying with Polaris, but I can't give a good review yet because they are clearly still in training mode and figuring it out. They have new wine tasting options and you get checked on more often, also they've combined some of the servings (on UA in J, you'd get 5 separate carts rolling down the aisle for snacks, salads, meals, desserts, cheese, now it's 3) which I appreciate even though that is probably more of a benefit for the FAs. I liked NZs approach better - it was quicker, for one, and they didn't deal with carts down the aisle at all.
In the end, what mattered the most was that after a 13 hour flight to AKL, followed by a 1 hour layover and a 3 hour flight to SYD, I arrived feeling far more rested and relaxed than I did a 3 hour flight to EWR followed by 7 hours in Polaris to GVA. And vice-versa. Flying both routes almost back to back isn't something I'd recommend to anyone, but it did allow for a good comparison. To be fair to UA they were the second trip meaning I was still worn out from the first.
Overall I'd give a no-reservations thumbs up to NZ's product and service. Top notch and they will be the airline I fly to ANZ from now on (well, given that UA is pretty much ceding their partner to that route anyway...)
That said I think with the new seats UA Polaris may give them a run for the money. We'll have to wait and see on those.
As chance would have it I just completed a short European trip for work (right after I got back and yes jet-lag was something else) and was upgraded on the inbound as a UA 1k (using a GPU) to United's new "Polaris" service. Note that few, if any UA planes have the new seats yet, so when they say Polaris they are really talking about the soft product, although new bedding is provided.
From a hard product perspective - and this will not come as a shock - NZ was heads and tails above UA, even though the latter now provide extra, better pillows and a mattress pad. To be fair the latter is a nice addition to UA's normally sub-par sleeping experience but NZ is in a different league.
NZ's 1-2-1 seating is superior in most respects to UA's 2-1-2 (and let's not even discuss the 2-4-2 seating UA has on some widebody 777's which is the biggest joke in J-class on any airline barring some Asian carriers that still don't have lie-flats). UA is going to need to roll out their new seats (which all have direct aisle access) to get anywhere near NZ.
Travelling with a companion in J on NZ is a weird experience and basically you should count on either not talking to them or annoying the passengers around you. Overall with the seat angles it is somehow both more private and the least private experience I have had up front. We (my wife and I) found the best arrangement was to sit in the same aisle one behind the other. Sitting across the aisle or in the middle two seats we might as well have been in different parts of the plane though we had eye contact (with most everyone else, too).
We found the footrest "seat" to be gimmicky for the most part. The extra large tray table (I was surprised how huge that thing was) was nice and we had coffee that way a couple times but it's not very comfortable and if you are tall like me your knees will knock together.
The touchscreen display was decent, but a little small and the non-capacitive touch capabilities are fairly awful - expect to use the remote.
Where NZ wins handily is with in-seat storage - very easy to organize things, plenty of space for laptops, e-readers, etc. - and easy to access plugs. I also love how they store pillows and bedding behind each seat.
UA by contrast has very little in the way of in-seat storage for J, their plugs are behind you on a small shelf (unless you are in 2-4-2 which is even worse) and the new "Polaris" bedding, while a welcome addition, adds to the problem - they clearly haven't figured out how they are going to store all that stuff absent the new seats. You get a huge pile of blankets, pillows, etc. now and have nowhere to put them.
NZ wins on meal service. I read they have real ovens on board, maybe that is part of the difference, but I didn't have a bad meal on any of the 4 flights. They were all quite good, actually. UA can be very hit or miss and the menu is getting stale, though they are working on that.
NZ service was very cheerful and helpful throughout. UA J-class can waver between being overly formal/deferential and just ignoring you. Granted I fly UA a lot (nearly 200k last year) so perhaps it is "familiarity breeds contempt" but I found NZ service to be quite pleasant overall compared to UA.
The biggest difference is when it comes time to go to sleep. I like NZ's approach a great deal more than UAs. I found that having to set the bed up/flip it over was actually a good approach because it puts you in "it's time to go to bed" mode vs. UA's recline all the way until you are flat approach. The quality of the seat in bed mode with the memory foam mattress was outstanding. Bed mode was quite private compared to sitting up as well. Overall my wife and I both had the best sleep we've ever had on a plane, got in close to 8 hours in the inbound and outbound and arrived completely refreshed. That rarely if ever happens for me on UA, where 3-4 hours of restless sleep is usually the norm.
That said UA is catching up - the Polaris bedding is really quite good, and they figured out that it is the mattress pad that makes the biggest difference. It's not quite as thick as NZs but it is a nice addition and I had a more relaxing time. Frankly I would have been very impressed with it had I not just gotten off an NZ long haul 2 days prior
Service-wise UA is really trying with Polaris, but I can't give a good review yet because they are clearly still in training mode and figuring it out. They have new wine tasting options and you get checked on more often, also they've combined some of the servings (on UA in J, you'd get 5 separate carts rolling down the aisle for snacks, salads, meals, desserts, cheese, now it's 3) which I appreciate even though that is probably more of a benefit for the FAs. I liked NZs approach better - it was quicker, for one, and they didn't deal with carts down the aisle at all.
In the end, what mattered the most was that after a 13 hour flight to AKL, followed by a 1 hour layover and a 3 hour flight to SYD, I arrived feeling far more rested and relaxed than I did a 3 hour flight to EWR followed by 7 hours in Polaris to GVA. And vice-versa. Flying both routes almost back to back isn't something I'd recommend to anyone, but it did allow for a good comparison. To be fair to UA they were the second trip meaning I was still worn out from the first.
Overall I'd give a no-reservations thumbs up to NZ's product and service. Top notch and they will be the airline I fly to ANZ from now on (well, given that UA is pretty much ceding their partner to that route anyway...)
That said I think with the new seats UA Polaris may give them a run for the money. We'll have to wait and see on those.
Jan 13, 2017, 8:09 am
#2
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: New Zealand
Programs: NZ Elite, QF Platinum (LTS), VA Platinum
Posts: 1,672
Cheers for the review! It's reviews like this that save me $$. Reviews and you tube are the closest you can get to "try before you buy" when it comes to flying. I think it must be disappointing to pay to try a product sometimes and not be happy with it especially as that can be costly at the pointy end. Sleep is important to me long haul and lets face it - there's not a lot to see transpacific so a good sleep is even more relevant.
Jan 13, 2017, 11:27 am
#3
Join Date: Dec 2014
Programs: NZ*Elite *G, QF*G, SPG*Platinum, Accor*Platinum, Hilton*Gold
Posts: 1,006
I do not dispute the facts or experience on the review. In my view any class of travel will be always be better than UA, AA or DL. While not a LCC but the expectation should be set to that level. VS might shine through but I will not consider any American carriers as my first choice and for this reason I would chose to fly NZ to the States
Now that you have a baseline, suggest you compare with CX, EK and QF/LH in J in future? My only concern is positive reviews like these are taken up by NZ management as nothing is wrong and no further improvement opportunities to be gained is a disservice to NZ.
My observation of American culture is heavily service orientated based and where positive or negative experience comparisons can be drawn upon at home, they tend to amplify and distort what actually happens in expectations when compared to others outside home.
Now that you have a baseline, suggest you compare with CX, EK and QF/LH in J in future? My only concern is positive reviews like these are taken up by NZ management as nothing is wrong and no further improvement opportunities to be gained is a disservice to NZ.
My observation of American culture is heavily service orientated based and where positive or negative experience comparisons can be drawn upon at home, they tend to amplify and distort what actually happens in expectations when compared to others outside home.
Last edited by dadig; Jan 13, 2017 at 11:32 am