Kmxu

Typically, you will have to request the mattress pad and gel pillow. I did it after the meal service. On one of my Polaris flights, a FA informed pax these optional items after boarding (SFO-HGH). The FA on the return flight (HGH-SFO) did not do that. Also, you should request pajama, too. Good luck.

ASUDan130

Are pajamas even loaded onto long haul flights that are not 12 hours?

LordHamster

I usually request it when they hand out the PDB drinks. I'll then stash my mattress pad & Gel pillow in my overhead till I'm ready to sleep.

eng3

The list of flights is up in the WIKI

thejaredhuang

Do it ASAP, the limited supply of gel pillows vanish as the the FAs start their crew rest.

UA_Flyer

Same exact menu on EWR-LIM and IAH-LIM. Same three choices of entrees and the cheesecake flavors are different.

EWR-LIM is just Business not Polaris Business, but you do receive the Polaris amenity kit and international pillows and blanket.

dogloverjb

Usually you can see the stack of loaded mattress pads in one of the overhead bins and can grab one. The gel pillows you have to ask for and I usually ask them after boarding to please bring me one when they get a chance. I am flying tomorrow and want a mattress pad so if I don't see the stack I will include that in my request.

adambrau

I flew back from Singapore on Saturday via HKG and SFO to EWR. Obviously the crew on the 77w from San Francisco were just giving service out that I have not seen on United for many years. The interior of the Polaris cabin is a pretty huge step up from the rest of the fleet. I haven't flown a Dreamliner but that mood lighting, rather than having the lights come on like you are an inmate at Rikers, really helps ease the sleep to awake transition.

I never eat Breakfast on UA because it is just really either very unhealthy or bland like the frozen banana with cereal. So SIN-HKG the purser was grumpy and defensive when I asked about the wifi lack of functionality. Only a three our flight no biggie. Everyone has a bad day.

HKG-SFO on the 747 I was again in Global First in 1K and the filet of braised ribs came out hard as a hockey puck. Seat was dirty as I approached. Realize our beloved Queens are not long for the world so the state of hard and soft product were kind on weak. Crew certainly made up for the issues out of their control, and I had a good 9 or 10 hour sleep which is a testament to the comfort of those sUA seats.

Had a 4 hour wait for the 77W since I could have taken earlier connections, but was curious to try it out. And wow, if you are fortunate enough to be seated in Polaris I really felt, for the first time in a long time, UA is on point. I love the 747's but past skimping on maintenance of the interior, storage compartments don't close or you can't open them, and the whole atmosphere in the nose is just pretty grim. And that becomes so noticeable after you get on the 77W. If I am going to SE Asia, I am going route through San Francisco/HKG even though it's a longer flight. Too bad the Zodiac seats are delayed and slowing the entry of more 77W's - I can understand why Oscar is angry. I had to work on this sector so did not really play around with the bed but seat 9A was a lovely private seat, a little harder than the old Global first but with all the duvets and mattress pads can't imagine an issue here.

MY BIGGEST SURPRISE was the quality of the food. The FA who was working my section was a very energetic man and I asked him if there were some new type of ovens on these birds. Because the steak was superbly tender. And I know, taking info from FA's is not always gospel truth, but he mentioned the food is not pre-cooked on the ground and reheated in the air, but rather cooked in the air. From a hygiene point of view not sure if this could be true, but the vegetables, the mashed potatoes, and the meat were cooked to perfection. And again, take it with a grain of salt, but apparently a manager of Food and Beverage from Singapore Air had recently flown with my FA as a pax and said some of United's food offering were on par or better than SIA. Now I will probably get flamed but I just mention it to illustrate the real Polaris (and I know it was PS not Polaris on a transcontinental) is something to look forward to. So sad there are only three and the seats are behind schedule - this Zodiac company doesn't seem to have it together as AA dumped them and CX is not happy with the seats on their A359's, I read on a blog. The United seats and the material seemed fine to me, but I was working so didn't have a magnifying glass out. Anyway, as a 25+ year UA flyer UA55 from SFO to EWR was pretty astonishingly awesome and way better than I thought. KUDOS UA - I have finally seen the light I have known was possible but somehow never was realized with the bankruptcy, the merger, SHARES, Smizek and all that other fine stuff. Maybe we (as United Continental!) will make another trip from worst to first....got a long way to go but UCH is (and should be with their profits) finally bringing on (very slowly) a world competitive product in the premium cabin. As far as economy, UA is by far not the only one cramming people in. It sucks that even E+ is a tight squeeze width wise, but cheap plane tickets is what the market demands. LOVE POLARIS PLANES!!!


Adam

eng3

That's disappointing (no sundae)

Maybe the par-cook it on the ground then heat it up in the oven. That's what I'd do. I doubt it, but they could sous-vide the steaks which should make them safe, then finish them in the oven

I bet the quality depends on the FA and the oven. The FA may be bad at following directions or be told by the captain to sit down due to weather then your steak is left in there. The ovens temperatures could be off and require calibration. I doubt they are checked very often. I bet they have a higher chance of being right on a brand new plane versus and old plane they are about to retire.

TCD

And probably the other passengers as well. The FA may be about to return to the oven to get your steak out when 1A intercepts him to launch into a lengthy complaint about the wine selection.

eng3

When a cut of meat is offered as a meal option, has an FA ever asked regarding temperature? (rare, medium, well done, etc)? I've never been asked.

Plane-is-home

I once had a London based purser asking on IAD-LHR AND getting it right. One time experience for sure

1kBill

Once, several years ago in PVG-LAX F. Purser asked, I said medium rare, and that's exactly how it came out. I mentioned to the purser how good the steak was and she said that the galley FA (I think his name was John) tried really hard to get the steaks done correctly. So apparently it can be done, although this was int'l F; I think doing this for 60 +/- C pax would be problematic.

Best steak I ever had on a plane.

rankourabu

For the first time in a while I saw a wine list in GF this weekend
A quick google showed they retailed for $7.99-$15.99

All the extra bedding is lipstick on a pig.

oh, and of course none of the wines on the list were actually on offer.

PTahCha

I believe the 77W is assigned to sUA for now?

Depends on how well the galley FA cooks. A purser told me that back in the Pan Am days, they used to cook the whole roast on the plane. Some of those cooking skills do transfer.