Polaris not meeting expectations
 

Flew Polaris IAH-EZE and back. Totally disappointed. Wines continue to be underwhelming. It is hard to believe that one pays north of $4-6K for a business ticket and UA keeps pouring crap. Yes, CRAP!! $30 champagnes and $20 wines. Salad is smaller than it used to be. Cheese plate was uneatable. Service sucked. Very disappointed. It is all downhill folks.

Yes, that is exactly what occurred. When she made that comment I replied, stating again there was a problem with the seat and she then ignored me.

I can assure you this was exactly what occurred. I see enough DYKWIA incidents to not be one of those people.

Count me in as a fan of the "cooling gel" pillow. Without it, my head was drenched in sweat with all the other pillows/bedding. Made a huge difference, at least for me.

That's most unfortunate.

There is one other possibility: did the FA perhaps mistakenly think you were a non-rev? I've seen a few threads in which FAs treat passengers with almost breathtaking contempt, and it turns out they were reading from an outdated manifest, wondering why the non-rev was giving them orders. :rolleyes:

That was my thought when reading the post.

It sounds to me more like a feeble attempt at humor by the FA.....in that United-condescension kind of a way we've all come to love and cherish over the years.
Wasn't there someone recently mentioning the FA commenting on the ice cream being served in a similar "tone".
I honestly believe the some FA's are completely oblivious to how they are interacting with their customers sometimes.

My first Polaris experience was on a 752 EWR-GLA.

Short answer "Whereever it fits"

The overhead bins above our seat (2CF IIRC) were full of Polaris soft product, and the seats had the typical assortment (blanket, comforter, 2 pillows, etc)

I shoved the pillows behind my lower back until I was ready to sleep, and the blankets in the side of my seat toward the window. My Fiancée, in the aisle, shoved them all onto the "ottoman" and shelf despite the dire "No Stowage During Taxi..." signage and no one said a word.

IMO, that's currently the most awkward part of the Polaris service delivery both on the 752 and on the 788 -- there's so much stuff that if you aren't actively using it, it's impossible for it to not be in the way.

Really on every plane type, with the exception of the 747 Upper Deck Window seats.

There really is just a lot of stuff to deal with...

For comparison purposes, I typically only look at UA vs AA and/or DL; perhaps that is short-sighted, but I think its a far more objective comparison vs trying to compare UA to other non-US carriers where the standards are somewhat different.

That being said, a sample size of one flight doesn't exactly equate to an entire downhill slide. To be honest, IAH-South America were always BF-lite flights in that the salad/app were together and the cheese was pre-plated. I did notice the smaller salad, although I can't say that I've seen a full size salad in any other Business Class offering as of late.

As for the wines, well I don't know that you will find that AA or DL are spending that much more on their wine. A quick glance at DL's DeltaOne wine listing shows selections in the $20 range as well.

While I'll admit that I was definitely not blown away by the champagne that they were pouring, I'm also aware that I'm not flying LH or TG F.

I'll still hold judgment on Polaris until they have rolled out most of the other elements of the service, and also had more than a 2 month window of comment/complaints to determine what changes they can make to make the product better.

As UA, DL and AA tend to charge identical prices for business class as foreign airlines, I think it's reasonable to directly compare the products. If they were cheaper then it would be fair to cut them some slack.

Awesome Polaris UA 138 nrt to den on 787
 

Currently on UA 138 nrt to den. This is my 4th Polaris flight to / from Asia and the best so far. Great senior flight crew that offered me the memory foam pillows and the bed mattress. The new blankets and pillows are great for a long haul flight. The FA knew his wines well, and service was on game just like on an EK flight. All went well except during dinner service some guy from Eco walked up and tried to grab some lava cakes off the dessert cart. Was very funny and the FA just gave him a very funny look. I've never experienced that. What's a flight with out some drama. Can't wait to see the new seats on the 777-300 when they come. The chocolates at the end was a nice touch.

Great job UA for this new service.lets see if you can keep it up a year from now

Special kudos to one FA that went above and beyond my expectations. A 33 year vet to the industry.

one special note, 12hr rule for PJ is stupid, all trans pacific should get them period....

What happened to the guy in Y who grabbed the dessert?!

So then did you ask the purser the same question? I don't think anyone's in danger of being ejected from an airplane by a polite question. If the answer is rude, ask it of another crew member. Then write up the obnoxious FA after the flight.

No, I merely made a comment to the purser that I wished I was sitting downstairs. I am not someone that actually wants to make a fuss.

Interestingly enough at the end of the flight when the purser came round to thank everyone for flying with United she commented that she hoped the flight had improved for me. I just smiled (she did not cause me any problems and was delightful).

However, I did send a note to United to firstly to inform them of the problem with the seat (and I thought they may want to retrieve their Polaris blanket) and secondly to ask them to "retrain" the FA in question. I also commented that I normally receive excellent customer service from most of the UA personnel - from FAs, GAs, 1K call desk and check-in agents (especially SAN agents).

I am waiting to hear back from UA, and in fairness I could not find a receipt for the first time I submitted my comments on Sunday evening so resubmitted it this morning.