Originally Posted by
view-with-a-room
Flew United Polaris OSA-SFO end of week. 75K Aeroplan miles and $150. The Aeroplan miles were idle so the redemption was good news to me. Prior to upgrades, business class was 50%. The flight departed with zero empty business class seats. The empty seats do add to the value of booking business class so the masses of upgrades are not a good thing for United or the customers booking direclty into business class. The pricing is what confuses matters. EVA round trip is $5000 but United is $10,000 round trip. The United Polaris hard product is excellent. The United soft product isn't excellent by any measure. The food in particular was terrible. Booking via miles United, EVA and ANA can all be booked for 100K via United. Departing Asia, EVA or ANA would be the better option. United is the only airline flying directly from Osaka to SFO. World Expo 2025 Osaka Kansai could be / should be an opportunity for United.
The flight departed KIX at 6:30PM and arrived SFO at 11AM so the timing is excellent. KIX is a entertaining airport with convenient access via the new Osaka Station Umekita Underground Gate. The lounges were a mess with a number of closed lounges.
KIX is notorious for having low yields, despite serving a major metropolitan area with numerous corporate headquarters. UA tried ORD-KIX at one point but it didn't stick. Delta pulled out of KIX after inheriting a KIX-NRT tag flight from NW. AA tried DFW-KIX in the late 90s/early 2000s and couldn't make it work. Air Canada only offers seasonal service. The only other flight to North America, besides Hawaii, is JAL's service to LAX on a 787.
UA and AA both started NGO flights to coincide with the 2005 expo and the opening of Chubu Airport, but neither of those lasted very long; AA's only lasted for a few months, UA's became a victim of the financial crisis.