exerda

I've actually had good luck in Polaris Business so far with the wines: every one of my flights has had every one of the wines listed in the menu (3 white, 3 red, plus a fizzy). My typical experiences on pre-Polaris C flights was that they might have had 1 or 2 of the wines on the menu, never the ones I wanted, and probably had one "cheaper" wine (if there could be such a thing) as a substitute.


I was disappointed to not have the cheese course the other day. They did sundaes and the petits fours, but hadn't catered cheese.



This.

There is no way they are cooking from raw items on the plane. Meats are sous-vide cooked at the ground facility and finished in the ovens. Other items are basically just reheated.

Could be that the dishes are plated with more steps now than they used to be, making it easier to get the different items the right temperature.

wco81

Where do you guys check the wine prices?

Some online site? Including shipping and taxes?

PsiFighter37

If you have the wine name, you can just type it into Google and get an answer very quickly.

AugustusM

Wine-searcher.com is the best site for this as it also has foreign pricing.

restlessinRNO

I was very happy when UA reintroduced a wine list internationally last December. But I can't understand why they can't stock at least the majority of the wines on the list. Other airlines manage. BTW did you check the retail price of the champagne in GF?

narvik

Some US$16.00/bottle wines aren't half bad nowadays. Just saying.

cerealmarketer

I wonder if you were given the biz class list, but they boarded the first class wines (they still have distinct wine lists for the two classes).

Those prices are closer to what's on the biz class list.

Though sounds like you couldn't tell the difference!

rankourabu

I thought business menu/list is blue?
This was was decked out in pukey yellow/brown on GF

cerealmarketer

Mystery deepens. At least last month they were offering some interesting wines in GF

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/27949822-post181.html

cesco.g

After some 5 Polaris flights since the roll-out here my 2c:

A. Food

The good:

+ expanded dessert options, such as
raspberry cheesecake squares, apple tartlets.
assorted macaroons
small desserts such as tiramisu, raspberry, lemon cups
+ hot snacks:
tomato soup,
beef stew
+ better food and selection of 2 pre-arrival snack course items

About the same as pre-Polaris:

~ appetizers
~ main dishes
~ cheese selection


The scale back:

- bread selection, I surely miss the pretzel bread
- smaller salad; no selection of salad dressing


Bottom line food: the added dessert items is a huge improvement over the ever-repeating sundaes! ^^^

The hot inflight snacks are a nice addition as well. Really liked the beef stew I had a couple of times. ^^

I was looking forward to some regional flavors as pointed out pre-launch, but not seen sofar.

Cheese selection is a huge downer; there would be so many great regional options out of EU (Switzerland, France, Germany ......)

Overall definitely improvement with some way to go, yet according to launch presentation expected a bit more, newer, different on the main dish, cheese, regional side.

I definitely do not agree with "same-as-before" comments voiced elsewhere.



B. Drinks

+ San Pellegrino
+ wine flight/tasting

~ no/varying champagne selection



C. Inflight ammenities

Ammenitiy kit is great & well-stocked, puts many other "premium" carriers to shame; e.g. CX "baglet" I got on a TPAC the other day; also LX, LH were rather skimpy, IIRC.

Was about to comment that a second smaller blanket is not that important.
But the temp on my last flight was pretty high and was glad to use the lighter vs. the heavier "tarp".

Personally, I find the little and the gel pillow too small. Always use and like the large regular pillow. The slippers are great, but not given out automatically, which is fine. I always forgot to ask for the mattress pad sofar.

narvik

(bolding mine)

Regarding temperature: is it just me or they cranking up the temps more & more these days?
I know the FAs modus operandi is to first set the thermostat to "arctic" as the FA are busy with service and they like it cooler, and then set the thermostat to "warm" so that all passengers fall asleep so the FAs have less to do. But recently all my flights have been way too hot.
Maybe they have installed a new thermostat setting "hell"?

NEVER used the thick blanket as it's just way too warm, and only use the thin one. And even that becomes too much sometimes.

kirkwoodj

Thick blanket/duvet is good to use as "mattress pad" with less bulk & hassle ^

fly747first

What planes are you referring to? Most of UA's long-haul fleet has individual air vents above each seat.

sbm12

There is a separate FA working in the galley from the FAs serving food out in the cabin. They might get distracted but it should not be from talking to a passenger at their seat.

narvik

Good idea! Will try it next time.


772v3