Originally Posted by
Dyce
Goodwill gesture? You're kidding, right?
Not sure about others, but for a $10K ticket the service is SEVERELY lacking. Just because the plane is half empty shouldn't mean nickel and diming customers who have paid for a (still) advertised level of service. And yes, I am booking other airlines with better f&b service for the majority of my international trips at the moment. United need to wake up and lead instead of consistently reacting (months later) to what other airlines are doing. Case in point: lounge re-openings.
I absolutely agree you should not pay $10K for UA Polaris right now. If you did, you did not get your money's worth and should choose other airlines.
But right now there are VERY few paid longhaul business class travelers. It's not like United is losing a ton of $10k tickets by degrading the product. They may be disappointing FF'ers who are upgrading into Polaris, but that's quite different than losing a bunch of full fare business travelers.
The swanky international business class service is produced by the travelers, mostly spending other people's money, who pay for those tickets. Until those people return in big numbers, this isn't likely to change and I do hope nobody in this forum spends $10K of their own money on a Polaris ticket.