Originally Posted by
dilanesp
Business class is not First. I don't really think there's a definition of "what an airline meal should be" other than "whatever the market will bear", but to the extent there is one, Polaris meals qualify. They are better than what I had in Connoisseur class in the '90's.
I think part of the problem here may just be that UA eliminated Long Haul First. There apparently isn't a big market for true luxury (there's a small market for it, which is why you see it on a few other airlines). United Polaris is an excellent product- but it is aimed at business travelers getting sleep (hence the star logo and name!), not luxury seekers. Other Star Alliance carriers sell true First at appropriate fares; those dissatisfied with Polaris meals might find the experience in those cabins more to their liking.
When Polaris was rolled out, it was rolled out as a hybrid J/F product. Same as when BusinessFirst was rolled out
Now, the Polaris cabin was far too large for the service levels that were initially introduced. Overall poor planning in that aspect.
As for true F, that will only work on very high end leisure routes these days where people are willing to drop 10s of thousands. Think OGG, HNL, PPT, maybe MIA/LAX, Maldives where people are paying up to 10K just on hotels. Businesses won't pay for F, so putting F on business heavy routes means you have upgrade class