Originally Posted by scnzzz

I have to say, Polaris isn't terrible, but I don't think it lives up to its branding by a long shot. I'd say we're already on Polaris 2.0, which includes:

1. PDB returning to the old standard (i.e. no chocolate, which I looked forward to, and while I may be in the minority I thought the spike glass>>mini dixie cup)
2. Paper cups for ice cream. Yes, glass shards are no joke but they really should have been able to fix this by now, not least by at least subbing in the pre-Polaris glassware)

This is combined with growing pains on Polaris 1.0, which while understandable, really should have been sorted before the big re-branding effort.
1. 9 months in, still only one Polaris lounge in the system - and mixed reviews at best on that one. I'll get to see it in all its glory on Monday afternoon, right in time for the TATL departure rush.
2. The multiple year wait for seats on all but a few routes (and early 2000's seats on all 78s for the foreseeable future) - to be conveniently combined by a fun phase of aircraft swaps (cue several to-be-merged "I booked Polaris 772 but got subbed to a PMUA 772 " threads)
3. Soft product remains inconsistent. I have of late seen a trend of outstanding service on 744 flights and consistently substandard service on 788/789 flights. Not trying to spark pmUA vs pmCO here; just what I have noticed since the announcement and a function of the routes I fly.

On the plus side
1. There are a handful of planes with contemporary J seating; and eventually what, about half the fleet by late 2019?
2. Hopefully there will be Polaris lounges with sufficient capacity at the hubs (also I would hope DEN gets a Polaris lounge at some point given IIRC they announced adding LHR starting next March)
3. Gel pillows + S5A bedding
4. Buffalo Trace (not sure if this predated Polaris, but I guess I'm digging deep here)
5. ???

(BTW, UA isn't exactly the "cheap J fare" on TATL routes, for those pointing out that UA isn't expected to be SQ or LH. I don't fly much TPAC so not familiar with pricing there)

Originally Posted by scnzzz

Can't speak for everyone else, but I fly UA (a lot) because corporate policy. Personally I find AA/OW fits better for my personal travel needs, even out of SFO.

No expectation that Polaris would have been perfect on Dec 1, and I for one was wowed by the soft product - at first. Then I started noticing inconsistencies in service (which given that soft product was all that was there, is kind of important). And then Polaris became Polaris lite (a bit) with the changes to PDB service, and the ice cream debacle. And the inconsistencies continued. Hard product rollout continues very slowly, and I have to say I'm disappointed that they chose not to keep Channel 9 on the 77Ws. I get that the 78x fleet was a pmCO decision; but IIRC the 77W fleet was post-merger.

So I for one don't see this as a case of "I want it all now", but more a case of UA coming out with their grand promotion a bit too soon, and more promised than delivered 9 months in.