Jan 22, 2017, 3:51 pm
Last edit by: wilp888
Sleep-Enticing Amenities
In addition to the sleep-enticing United Polaris personal suites, several other amenities were designed with our customers' sleep in mind.
In a first-of-its-kind partnership, United has worked with leading luxury specialty store Saks Fifth Avenue for custom-designed bedding. All designed to provide the best sleep in the sky, the new bedding collection will feature plush duvets, lightweight day-blankets and a large and small pillow for each United Polaris customer. In addition, mattress cushions will be available upon request.
Slippers will be available on all flights, and customized United Polaris pajamas will be available by request on flights longer than 12 hours*. Flyers will also be able to request a gel-cooled pillow. New amenity kits will feature ergonomically designed eye shades, calming lavender pillow mist and additional products from Soho House & Co.'s Cowshed Spa.
With the introduction of United Polaris, the airline intends to donate tens of thousands of pillows, blankets and other inflight service items to Fisher House Foundation, which United and its employees have long supported.
In addition to the sleep-enticing United Polaris personal suites, several other amenities were designed with our customers' sleep in mind.
In a first-of-its-kind partnership, United has worked with leading luxury specialty store Saks Fifth Avenue for custom-designed bedding. All designed to provide the best sleep in the sky, the new bedding collection will feature plush duvets, lightweight day-blankets and a large and small pillow for each United Polaris customer. In addition, mattress cushions will be available upon request.
Slippers will be available on all flights, and customized United Polaris pajamas will be available by request on flights longer than 12 hours*. Flyers will also be able to request a gel-cooled pillow. New amenity kits will feature ergonomically designed eye shades, calming lavender pillow mist and additional products from Soho House & Co.'s Cowshed Spa.
With the introduction of United Polaris, the airline intends to donate tens of thousands of pillows, blankets and other inflight service items to Fisher House Foundation, which United and its employees have long supported.
SFO - ICN, PEK, PVG, HGH, XIV, TPE, AKL, HKG, CTU, SYD, TLV, SIN
EWR - NRT, PEK, DEL, BOM, HKG, PVG
ORD - NRT, PEK PVG, HKG
LAX - PVG, SYD, MEL, SIN
IAD - NRT, PEK
IAH - NRT, SYD
(from United Twitter feed https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CyjFHZLW...jpg&name=large
Trip reports with photos:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-...l#post27799060
Polaris In-flight Experiences
Dec 19, 2016, 10:15 am
#481
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 5,439
The "issue" I have with Polaris w/r/t soft product and crew service levels in particular is that the superstars that make some Polaris flights great would already have been superstars under the old product (which made for some great flights). Conversely, I doubt there are many/any F/A's that are going "oh now that Polaris is here, I should start giving a damn..."
Dec 19, 2016, 11:07 am
#482
Join Date: May 2006
Location: STL
Programs: UA Platinum, AA Platinum Pro, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 1,429
I suspect the feature will come in time; knowing what meals people are ordering, what elements or food items the do/don't want allows them to further refine the product so that it can be consistently delivered. Had they launched meal ordering from Day 1, and constantly failed to deliver because caterers didn't load correctly or FA's weren't distributing correctly, etc. it probably would have sent the wrong message to UA (that its not executable) or passengers (that UA has a bad product).
On the surface it appears easy enough. UA says "we are going to have Steak/Pasta/Chicken/Fish on route EWR-XYZ in FEB" and let's turn this feature on for people to order; people book a reservation today for a flight in FEB and select steak (btw UA hasn't even posted the menus for anything beyond DEC yet). Fast forward to FEB, passenger boards and FA reads off meal choices which don't match Steak/Pasta/Chicken/Fish and starts to get peeved that they aren't getting what they selected. Had they continued BusinessFirst, they probably could have started implementing the option to pre-order. But I think they probably need a better sense of how well things (probably 6-12 months) are going before fully launching.
That's just my thoughts...not defending UA here. This overhaul is about 2 years late in my opinion but its something.
Dec 19, 2016, 11:50 am
#483
Join Date: Oct 2013
Programs: UA 1K, Marriott Gold, Hyatt Plat, GE/TSAPre
Posts: 251
It's probably a lot harder than people on here want to believe. While people are convinced that from Day 1 of the Polaris launch everything should be perfectly planned and executed, the other thing which may not be transparent is that its really a learning period for UA. All of the focus groups, all of the practice runs, really can't compare to hard data of normal operations and actual customers. The best planned menus, or service features may prove to be ineffective, under/over provisioned, not realistic in execution.
I suspect the feature will come in time; knowing what meals people are ordering, what elements or food items the do/don't want allows them to further refine the product so that it can be consistently delivered. Had they launched meal ordering from Day 1, and constantly failed to deliver because caterers didn't load correctly or FA's weren't distributing correctly, etc. it probably would have sent the wrong message to UA (that its not executable) or passengers (that UA has a bad product).
On the surface it appears easy enough. UA says "we are going to have Steak/Pasta/Chicken/Fish on route EWR-XYZ in FEB" and let's turn this feature on for people to order; people book a reservation today for a flight in FEB and select steak (btw UA hasn't even posted the menus for anything beyond DEC yet). Fast forward to FEB, passenger boards and FA reads off meal choices which don't match Steak/Pasta/Chicken/Fish and starts to get peeved that they aren't getting what they selected. Had they continued BusinessFirst, they probably could have started implementing the option to pre-order. But I think they probably need a better sense of how well things (probably 6-12 months) are going before fully launching.
That's just my thoughts...not defending UA here. This overhaul is about 2 years late in my opinion but its something.
I suspect the feature will come in time; knowing what meals people are ordering, what elements or food items the do/don't want allows them to further refine the product so that it can be consistently delivered. Had they launched meal ordering from Day 1, and constantly failed to deliver because caterers didn't load correctly or FA's weren't distributing correctly, etc. it probably would have sent the wrong message to UA (that its not executable) or passengers (that UA has a bad product).
On the surface it appears easy enough. UA says "we are going to have Steak/Pasta/Chicken/Fish on route EWR-XYZ in FEB" and let's turn this feature on for people to order; people book a reservation today for a flight in FEB and select steak (btw UA hasn't even posted the menus for anything beyond DEC yet). Fast forward to FEB, passenger boards and FA reads off meal choices which don't match Steak/Pasta/Chicken/Fish and starts to get peeved that they aren't getting what they selected. Had they continued BusinessFirst, they probably could have started implementing the option to pre-order. But I think they probably need a better sense of how well things (probably 6-12 months) are going before fully launching.
That's just my thoughts...not defending UA here. This overhaul is about 2 years late in my opinion but its something.
More likely, I think, is either at check-in or via email at T-48 or T-72 (like the "entertainment options on your upcoming flight" emails) directing you to make a selection based on current menus.
Here's hoping UA doesn't treat pre-ordering as an upsell opportunity...."For just $5 we'll actually cook your steak medium rare!"
Dec 19, 2016, 11:56 am
#484
Join Date: May 2006
Location: STL
Programs: UA Platinum, AA Platinum Pro, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 1,429
I agree with you but want to add that I see it as unlikely that meal options will be a booking-time option as in your scenario.
More likely, I think, is either at check-in or via email at T-48 or T-72 (like the "entertainment options on your upcoming flight" emails) directing you to make a selection based on current menus.
Here's hoping UA doesn't treat pre-ordering as an upsell opportunity...."For just $5 we'll actually cook your steak medium rare!"
More likely, I think, is either at check-in or via email at T-48 or T-72 (like the "entertainment options on your upcoming flight" emails) directing you to make a selection based on current menus.
Here's hoping UA doesn't treat pre-ordering as an upsell opportunity...."For just $5 we'll actually cook your steak medium rare!"
I see your point and I guess I was thinking of my experience with AA pre-ordering. For some reason I thought they let you order beyond T-72 but I could be wrong on that.
Dec 19, 2016, 12:14 pm
#485
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: CLE
Programs: UA 1K MM, DL Plat
Posts: 982
Just one quick update, as my return flight from Asia was yesterday and I already posted about my Polaris flight outbound...
I can add one data point to the stack. All grilled cheese sandwiches are not created equal. I really enjoyed the midflight snack on the way out. However, on the way home, the grilled cheese probably deserved quotes around the "cheese". It was very much Asian Cheese-food-product... pretty nasty. And then whether it was just left in the warming oven too long and dried out, or made with different bread, I don't know. But the bread was not so much "grilled", as it was a dry crunchy cracker. From being one of the best new offerings with Polaris, on the trip out, it became one of the more awful things I've eaten on an airplane, on the way back.
Returning ICN-SFO, I think the biggest Achilles Heel with Polaris is still the hard product they chose to launch it on. It's hard to be really positive about a Business Class experience when you have an old seat on a plane with a busted lav, fewer IFE movie choices than Thai or Asiana coach class, and a non-working power outlet.
After numerous intra-Asia flights over the last 2 weeks on Asian carriers, it's really tough to view Polaris as a major step-up. It's certainly a step-up for United, but it's still not even as good as what the overseas carriers have already been routinely doing. *sigh*
I can add one data point to the stack. All grilled cheese sandwiches are not created equal. I really enjoyed the midflight snack on the way out. However, on the way home, the grilled cheese probably deserved quotes around the "cheese". It was very much Asian Cheese-food-product... pretty nasty. And then whether it was just left in the warming oven too long and dried out, or made with different bread, I don't know. But the bread was not so much "grilled", as it was a dry crunchy cracker. From being one of the best new offerings with Polaris, on the trip out, it became one of the more awful things I've eaten on an airplane, on the way back.
Returning ICN-SFO, I think the biggest Achilles Heel with Polaris is still the hard product they chose to launch it on. It's hard to be really positive about a Business Class experience when you have an old seat on a plane with a busted lav, fewer IFE movie choices than Thai or Asiana coach class, and a non-working power outlet.
After numerous intra-Asia flights over the last 2 weeks on Asian carriers, it's really tough to view Polaris as a major step-up. It's certainly a step-up for United, but it's still not even as good as what the overseas carriers have already been routinely doing. *sigh*
Dec 19, 2016, 1:37 pm
#486
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Port St Lucie, FL, UA1K since 1994 and 3mm, Delta 1mm
Programs: Marriott Titanium Life, Hilton Gold
Posts: 566
Flew BRU-EWR yesterday.
2nd Polaris trip and still not at all impressed.
CO 767...
Food - D. Had the beef, was not call short ribs but was an overdone chunks swimming in a brown grease.
Snack was a deli plate. The fruit part of the plate was frozen chunks. - guess that is why its POLARis but Inedible.
Drinks -- back to normal product. No fancy plastic glasses -- no wine tasting..
Still do not like -- no choice in breads, forced to have a balsamic dressing thought not my favorite.
Flew VIE to BRU on a 90 min Austrian flight and the food for a short flight was much better than POLARIS
2nd Polaris trip and still not at all impressed.
CO 767...
Food - D. Had the beef, was not call short ribs but was an overdone chunks swimming in a brown grease.
Snack was a deli plate. The fruit part of the plate was frozen chunks. - guess that is why its POLARis but Inedible.
Drinks -- back to normal product. No fancy plastic glasses -- no wine tasting..
Still do not like -- no choice in breads, forced to have a balsamic dressing thought not my favorite.
Flew VIE to BRU on a 90 min Austrian flight and the food for a short flight was much better than POLARIS
Dec 19, 2016, 1:43 pm
#487
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Wesley Chapel, FL
Programs: American Airlines
Posts: 30,042
Flew BRU-EWR yesterday.
2nd Polaris trip and still not at all impressed.
CO 767...
Food - D. Had the beef, was not call short ribs but was an overdone chunks swimming in a brown grease.
Snack was a deli plate. The fruit part of the plate was frozen chunks. - guess that is why its POLARis but Inedible.
Drinks -- back to normal product. No fancy plastic glasses -- no wine tasting..
Still do not like -- no choice in breads, forced to have a balsamic dressing thought not my favorite.
Flew VIE to BRU on a 90 min Austrian flight and the food for a short flight was much better than POLARIS
2nd Polaris trip and still not at all impressed.
CO 767...
Food - D. Had the beef, was not call short ribs but was an overdone chunks swimming in a brown grease.
Snack was a deli plate. The fruit part of the plate was frozen chunks. - guess that is why its POLARis but Inedible.
Drinks -- back to normal product. No fancy plastic glasses -- no wine tasting..
Still do not like -- no choice in breads, forced to have a balsamic dressing thought not my favorite.
Flew VIE to BRU on a 90 min Austrian flight and the food for a short flight was much better than POLARIS
Oh I could barely open the stupid balsamic desssing bottle. Who in the hell did they hire to make these decisions? Odd.
Dec 19, 2016, 1:47 pm
#488
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: New York, NY
Programs: UA, AA, DL, Hertz, Avis, National, Hyatt, Hilton, SPG, Marriott
Posts: 9,454
I guess we see the areas in which United sought to save a few pennies...
Dec 19, 2016, 1:49 pm
#489
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Port St Lucie, FL, UA1K since 1994 and 3mm, Delta 1mm
Programs: Marriott Titanium Life, Hilton Gold
Posts: 566
Dec 19, 2016, 5:43 pm
#491
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Northern California
Programs: UA-Plat, UA-MM, Hertz PC, HH, APEC ABTC
Posts: 235
NH is great about free upgrades. I've gotten them several times from HND or NRT to points in SEA. Seems that if they have empty seats, they'll give them to *gold. Gate agents were very kind and generous.
Dec 19, 2016, 7:18 pm
#492
Moderator, Omni, Omni/PR, Omni/Games, FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Between DCA and IAD
Programs: UA 1K MM; Hilton Diamond
Posts: 67,146
A bit off-topic, but I wish I had that experience. The times I've had to fly NH in Y, I have even asked about buying an upgrade and have had no luck. Last few times, I've just paid for C.
Dec 19, 2016, 7:26 pm
#493
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2010
Programs: AA
Posts: 14,744
AA's preorder is available 1-30 days in advance, and works really well. If AA with their not so great IT can implement it, I'm surprised other airlines can't.
Dec 19, 2016, 7:32 pm
#494
Suspended
Join Date: Sep 2015
Programs: MPlus,OW,Hotels.com
Posts: 130
Just one quick update, as my return flight from Asia was yesterday and I already posted about my Polaris flight outbound...
I can add one data point to the stack. All grilled cheese sandwiches are not created equal. I really enjoyed the midflight snack on the way out. However, on the way home, the grilled cheese probably deserved quotes around the "cheese". It was very much Asian Cheese-food-product... pretty nasty. And then whether it was just left in the warming oven too long and dried out, or made with different bread, I don't know. But the bread was not so much "grilled", as it was a dry crunchy cracker. From being one of the best new offerings with Polaris, on the trip out, it became one of the more awful things I've eaten on an airplane, on the way back.
Returning ICN-SFO, I think the biggest Achilles Heel with Polaris is still the hard product they chose to launch it on. It's hard to be really positive about a Business Class experience when you have an old seat on a plane with a busted lav, fewer IFE movie choices than Thai or Asiana coach class, and a non-working power outlet.
After numerous intra-Asia flights over the last 2 weeks on Asian carriers, it's really tough to view Polaris as a major step-up. It's certainly a step-up for United, but it's still not even as good as what the overseas carriers have already been routinely doing. *sigh*
I can add one data point to the stack. All grilled cheese sandwiches are not created equal. I really enjoyed the midflight snack on the way out. However, on the way home, the grilled cheese probably deserved quotes around the "cheese". It was very much Asian Cheese-food-product... pretty nasty. And then whether it was just left in the warming oven too long and dried out, or made with different bread, I don't know. But the bread was not so much "grilled", as it was a dry crunchy cracker. From being one of the best new offerings with Polaris, on the trip out, it became one of the more awful things I've eaten on an airplane, on the way back.
Returning ICN-SFO, I think the biggest Achilles Heel with Polaris is still the hard product they chose to launch it on. It's hard to be really positive about a Business Class experience when you have an old seat on a plane with a busted lav, fewer IFE movie choices than Thai or Asiana coach class, and a non-working power outlet.
After numerous intra-Asia flights over the last 2 weeks on Asian carriers, it's really tough to view Polaris as a major step-up. It's certainly a step-up for United, but it's still not even as good as what the overseas carriers have already been routinely doing. *sigh*
Dec 20, 2016, 2:30 am
#495
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: SZX/HKG/BWI
Programs: UA 1K 1.1MM, CX Diam 1.0MM, Bonvoy LT Titanium, Hertz PC, MGM Pearl
Posts: 2,637
Flew SFO-TPE on Polaris the Monday or Tuesday after the teddy bear giveaway. I usually see one crew on the outbound and inbound way too often, so much so I can expect what mannerisms even beforehand. But Mrs. mjcewl1284 and I had an incredibly wonderful (and different) crew on this flight. A few observations I made:
-The extra pillow is helpful, since it provides much needed support. I could see why others may see it as way too much though. Mrs. mjcewl1284 ended up giving one of her's to the person across the aisle.
-Amenity kits and PJs available upon request. No attitude from FA when requested by Mrs. mjcewl1284 and me.
-The PDB wine glass needs some work. I am a sparkling wine kind of person and (God forbid) prefer the plastic that was used before over the new glass.
-Meals in my opinion had some dazzle but more or less the same in my opinion pre-Polaris. Choices of desserts were offered, not just one but there were limited quantities.
-For the first time in a while, the majority of wines I saw in the menu were served (How any airline cannot serve one wine listed on a menu is beyond me, but it's happened on UA
). Had the wine tasting setup, which was interesting although UA really needs to up the pricepoint to be anywhere competitive with other airlines.
-Besides food, the only other gripe I really have is FAs going through aisles using flashlights. I understand it's their job and etc etc but please stop with the quick and sudden movements (Not just this flight but pretty much the majority of all my flights, I just wanted to mention again).
-The purser was able to produce one of the bears for Mrs. mjcewl1284 upon request ^
I've never enjoyed the hard product on the 744 so I won't mention it again, but it's not a deal breaker for me on Polaris.
Overall, I like the direction where UA is going with Polaris (and it's long overdue imo). Hopefully when the hard Polaris product rolls out, it's a win-win for both UA and pax but I do echo the sentiments posters here repeat about FA attitude. We were fortunate to have a different crew on this route and the results were night and day, imo.
-The extra pillow is helpful, since it provides much needed support. I could see why others may see it as way too much though. Mrs. mjcewl1284 ended up giving one of her's to the person across the aisle.
-Amenity kits and PJs available upon request. No attitude from FA when requested by Mrs. mjcewl1284 and me.
-The PDB wine glass needs some work. I am a sparkling wine kind of person and (God forbid) prefer the plastic that was used before over the new glass.
-Meals in my opinion had some dazzle but more or less the same in my opinion pre-Polaris. Choices of desserts were offered, not just one but there were limited quantities.
-For the first time in a while, the majority of wines I saw in the menu were served (How any airline cannot serve one wine listed on a menu is beyond me, but it's happened on UA
). Had the wine tasting setup, which was interesting although UA really needs to up the pricepoint to be anywhere competitive with other airlines.-Besides food, the only other gripe I really have is FAs going through aisles using flashlights. I understand it's their job and etc etc but please stop with the quick and sudden movements (Not just this flight but pretty much the majority of all my flights, I just wanted to mention again).
-The purser was able to produce one of the bears for Mrs. mjcewl1284 upon request ^
I've never enjoyed the hard product on the 744 so I won't mention it again, but it's not a deal breaker for me on Polaris.
Overall, I like the direction where UA is going with Polaris (and it's long overdue imo). Hopefully when the hard Polaris product rolls out, it's a win-win for both UA and pax but I do echo the sentiments posters here repeat about FA attitude. We were fortunate to have a different crew on this route and the results were night and day, imo.