Last edit by: WineCountryUA
Word is out on another site (not my post) regarding a company memo about the May 1 "enhancements".
Some key points:
- Return of the salad/appetizer cart, although I suspect it's just going to be the meal cart with a fancy cover, to reduce the number of galley trips with hand-run trays
- Beverage carts coming back to the aisle (similar to DL and the former 3-cabin sUA business class service) with branded cart covers
- Soup is gone in Polaris First (so no more differentiation; the product isn't expected to last the full year, anyway)
- Wine tasting arches are gone
- No bloody mary carts (already announced)
- Hot bites will stay
- Bread refills to be offered (return of the bread basket?)
- Pre-departure chocolates returned to the pre-arrival tray
In many ways, this is going to look like the former three-cabin BusinessFirst service with nicer linens and serviceware. Overall, not the sweeping change (or depth of cuts) I was expecting. No word on provisioning of the other items (gel pillows, mattress pads, slippers, PJs, etc.)
POLARIS SERVICE ENHANCEMENTS
Frequently Asked Questions
1. When do the service updates go into effect?
A: The service updates are effective May 1, 2018, on all long-haul international flights.
2. Why are we making changes to our United Polaris® service?
A: Customers have positively received our United Polaris lounge, and this year we are opening more United Polaris lounges beginning this summer in San Francisco, Houston and New York/Newark and in the fall, Los Angeles. As we continue to add more lounges, we want to take into account the feedback that customers have given us — they’ve emphasized their desire to rest and relax during their journey, especially onboard. The updates to the service flow will allow us to continue providing a premium product with high-quality food, wine, amenities and more, but it’ll be delivered in a more efficient way.
3. What is the new international United Polaris meal service flow?
A: The meal service flow for both first and business class will be the same:
Pre-departure
• Pre-poured sparkling wine, orange juice and water offered from a silver tray, with other beverages available upon request.
Main meal service
• Hot towels
• Linen placement
• Pre-meal beverage cart
• Appetizer and salad cart
• Bread and beverage refills
• Entrées
• Bread and beverage refills
• Dessert and pre-plated cheese cart
• Individual water bottles with hang tags
Mid-flight service (when applicable)
• Display mid-flight snacks on console, self-service unit, fold-down trays or galley countertop.
• Heat and serve hot on-demand items (when applicable) upon customer request.
Pre-arrival service
• Hot towels
• Pre-arrival tray setup with entrée and choice of beverage
• Breads and pastries
4. Will we be able to offer other pre-departure beverages?
A: Yes, upon customer request fulfill other pre-departure beverages in accordance with each departure country’s pre-departure liquor procedures. Refer to the Flight Attendant Policies and Procedures Manual to determine if you are allowed to open beverage carts/carriers that contain alcohol on the ground.
5. Is there still a chocolate offered during pre-departure?
A: Pre-departure chocolates/dessert will be catered on the pre-arrival tray instead for customers to enjoy during or after their flight.
6. What’s changing with the Bloody Mary and wine specialty beverage carts?
A: Wines and Bloody Marys will continue to be available upon request, but the dedicated cart service will change. This was a common flight attendant suggestion for improvement. A new branded cart cover is being sourced to improve presentation in the aisle and will be available shortly after launch.
7. Can we still offer wine tastings?
A: Absolutely. Although the wine arches with the 3 tastings will not be boarded, we can continue to honor customers’ requests to sample select wines.
8. What about the United Polaris first class soup and salad course?
A: The salad and appetizer will be delivered at the same time on a tray setup, instead of having a soup course.
9. What about the turndown service?
A: We will continue to offer the turndown service upon request.
10. Will Express Dining continue to be offered?
A: Yes, Express Dining will continue to be offered and can be requested and delivered at any point during the flight.
11. Will we continue to offer the mini desserts and fruit and cheese?
A: The mini desserts will continue to be offered from the three-tier cart with the signature ice cream service. In addition, pre-plated cheese will be added to the dessert cart. To make room for the fruit and cheese on the dessert cart, the specialty tea box will be removed from the cart, although specialty teas will continue to be available from the galley.
12. Are there any updates to the mid-flight and pre-arrival services?
A: There will be a few updates to both the mid-flight and pre-arrival service.
Mid-flight service (when available) – While we’ll no longer have formal presentation of mid-flight snacks, snack provisioning levels will remain the same and will continue to be displayed near the galley as is done today. Hang tags advising the customers that mid-flight snacks are available will be added to the individual bottle waters distributed after the main meal service. Hot snack items, when available, will also be delivered upon request.
Pre-arrival service – We’re removing tray table linens to reduce trips through the aisle. The tray itself will continue to have a linen liner. The pre-departure chocolate/dessert will be catered on the pre-arrival tray for customers to enjoy during or after the flight.
13. Will there be any new service items introduced to support the new United Polaris service?
A: Yes, there are a few new elements that will be introduced, including:
Cart covers – Similar to some of our competitors, branded cart covers for both the half and full carts will be boarded for use in the aisle on both the beverage and meal tray carts. Cart covers will be available shortly after launch.
Hang tags – To be placed on individual bottle waters at the end of the main meal service to advise customers that mid-flight snacks are available.
14. Will we be changing the domestic meal service procedures to align with the new United Polaris service (e.g. pre-poured pre-departure beverages)?
A: We will continue listening to the feedback of our customers and our flight attendants and will adjust our processes where necessary to deliver the best service for our customers.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. When do the service updates go into effect?
A: The service updates are effective May 1, 2018, on all long-haul international flights.
2. Why are we making changes to our United Polaris® service?
A: Customers have positively received our United Polaris lounge, and this year we are opening more United Polaris lounges beginning this summer in San Francisco, Houston and New York/Newark and in the fall, Los Angeles. As we continue to add more lounges, we want to take into account the feedback that customers have given us — they’ve emphasized their desire to rest and relax during their journey, especially onboard. The updates to the service flow will allow us to continue providing a premium product with high-quality food, wine, amenities and more, but it’ll be delivered in a more efficient way.
3. What is the new international United Polaris meal service flow?
A: The meal service flow for both first and business class will be the same:
Pre-departure
• Pre-poured sparkling wine, orange juice and water offered from a silver tray, with other beverages available upon request.
Main meal service
• Hot towels
• Linen placement
• Pre-meal beverage cart
• Appetizer and salad cart
• Bread and beverage refills
• Entrées
• Bread and beverage refills
• Dessert and pre-plated cheese cart
• Individual water bottles with hang tags
Mid-flight service (when applicable)
• Display mid-flight snacks on console, self-service unit, fold-down trays or galley countertop.
• Heat and serve hot on-demand items (when applicable) upon customer request.
Pre-arrival service
• Hot towels
• Pre-arrival tray setup with entrée and choice of beverage
• Breads and pastries
4. Will we be able to offer other pre-departure beverages?
A: Yes, upon customer request fulfill other pre-departure beverages in accordance with each departure country’s pre-departure liquor procedures. Refer to the Flight Attendant Policies and Procedures Manual to determine if you are allowed to open beverage carts/carriers that contain alcohol on the ground.
5. Is there still a chocolate offered during pre-departure?
A: Pre-departure chocolates/dessert will be catered on the pre-arrival tray instead for customers to enjoy during or after their flight.
6. What’s changing with the Bloody Mary and wine specialty beverage carts?
A: Wines and Bloody Marys will continue to be available upon request, but the dedicated cart service will change. This was a common flight attendant suggestion for improvement. A new branded cart cover is being sourced to improve presentation in the aisle and will be available shortly after launch.
7. Can we still offer wine tastings?
A: Absolutely. Although the wine arches with the 3 tastings will not be boarded, we can continue to honor customers’ requests to sample select wines.
8. What about the United Polaris first class soup and salad course?
A: The salad and appetizer will be delivered at the same time on a tray setup, instead of having a soup course.
9. What about the turndown service?
A: We will continue to offer the turndown service upon request.
10. Will Express Dining continue to be offered?
A: Yes, Express Dining will continue to be offered and can be requested and delivered at any point during the flight.
11. Will we continue to offer the mini desserts and fruit and cheese?
A: The mini desserts will continue to be offered from the three-tier cart with the signature ice cream service. In addition, pre-plated cheese will be added to the dessert cart. To make room for the fruit and cheese on the dessert cart, the specialty tea box will be removed from the cart, although specialty teas will continue to be available from the galley.
12. Are there any updates to the mid-flight and pre-arrival services?
A: There will be a few updates to both the mid-flight and pre-arrival service.
Mid-flight service (when available) – While we’ll no longer have formal presentation of mid-flight snacks, snack provisioning levels will remain the same and will continue to be displayed near the galley as is done today. Hang tags advising the customers that mid-flight snacks are available will be added to the individual bottle waters distributed after the main meal service. Hot snack items, when available, will also be delivered upon request.
Pre-arrival service – We’re removing tray table linens to reduce trips through the aisle. The tray itself will continue to have a linen liner. The pre-departure chocolate/dessert will be catered on the pre-arrival tray for customers to enjoy during or after the flight.
13. Will there be any new service items introduced to support the new United Polaris service?
A: Yes, there are a few new elements that will be introduced, including:
Cart covers – Similar to some of our competitors, branded cart covers for both the half and full carts will be boarded for use in the aisle on both the beverage and meal tray carts. Cart covers will be available shortly after launch.
Hang tags – To be placed on individual bottle waters at the end of the main meal service to advise customers that mid-flight snacks are available.
14. Will we be changing the domestic meal service procedures to align with the new United Polaris service (e.g. pre-poured pre-departure beverages)?
A: We will continue listening to the feedback of our customers and our flight attendants and will adjust our processes where necessary to deliver the best service for our customers.
- Return of the salad/appetizer cart, although I suspect it's just going to be the meal cart with a fancy cover, to reduce the number of galley trips with hand-run trays
- Beverage carts coming back to the aisle (similar to DL and the former 3-cabin sUA business class service) with branded cart covers
- Soup is gone in Polaris First (so no more differentiation; the product isn't expected to last the full year, anyway)
- Wine tasting arches are gone
- No bloody mary carts (already announced)
- Hot bites will stay
- Bread refills to be offered (return of the bread basket?)
- Pre-departure chocolates returned to the pre-arrival tray
In many ways, this is going to look like the former three-cabin BusinessFirst service with nicer linens and serviceware. Overall, not the sweeping change (or depth of cuts) I was expecting. No word on provisioning of the other items (gel pillows, mattress pads, slippers, PJs, etc.)
[Rumor] More Polaris "Enhancements" coming May 1, 2018? ...
#241
Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: Seoul
Programs: None anymore
Posts: 983
I minded when trying to sleep on EWR-LHR...having the meal service take 2 hours for the entire J cabin on a short redeye is ridiculous. Given this means busing back and forth between the seats and the galley, I'm not entirely sure this really saves much time in prep. Methinks that the long Polaris serving times has something to do with having dense J configurations, more than anything...
#242
Join Date: Feb 2008
Programs: 6 year GS, now 2MM Jeff-ugee, *wood LTPlt, SkyPeso PLT
Posts: 6,526
Then they should do an express service or reduce the carts on redeye flights - I only fly TPAC, which are really long and at least for flights ex.US they're during the daytime, where I don't mind a 1.5-2hr service during my 13 hour flight. Singapore Airlines for example has a reduced meal service for flights operating at night, maybe UA should do the same.... But instead they want to have a blanket solution based on comments from a fraction of their flyers.
These cutback in catering are a good e.g. Against the European carriers - who have all cut service levels to some extent - some of the ticky-tack stuff UA has been doing to product will probably fly to some extent, but it does not fly against the good Asian Carriers, or the ME3. It really is a lack of vision by management not looking at how they need to compete in different markets.
p.s. and I see the same thing domestically ex-SFO. DL has lots of special fares/product up/down the west, VX has long offered good product, but UA has treated SFO like it was a fortress hub, offering nothing special, one size fits all....
#243
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Bay Area
Programs: UA 1k now; AA (no status); HY Diamond; SPG Platinum
Posts: 707
#244
Join Date: May 2013
Posts: 3,361
I minded when trying to sleep on EWR-LHR...having the meal service take 2 hours for the entire J cabin on a short redeye is ridiculous. Given this means busing back and forth between the seats and the galley, I'm not entirely sure this really saves much time in prep. Methinks that the long Polaris serving times has something to do with having dense J configurations, more than anything...
I personally like how EK works the initial service in J: they work in teams with one taking orders on a tablet and the other seeing the drink orders and prepping in the galley.
Here are a lot of moving pieces for something that appears as simple as drinks. Eliminating cart service can have wide ranging implications for what is stocked in the galley and how other aspects of service will work.
#245
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 57,616
It takes some time to prep carts. If properly staffed and configured, an FA for each aisle can immediately begin serving drinks after takeoff while another preps meals in the galley.
I personally like how EK works the initial service in J: they work in teams with one taking orders on a tablet and the other seeing the drink orders and prepping in the galley.
Here are a lot of moving pieces for something that appears as simple as drinks. Eliminating cart service can have wide ranging implications for what is stocked in the galley and how other aspects of service will work.
I personally like how EK works the initial service in J: they work in teams with one taking orders on a tablet and the other seeing the drink orders and prepping in the galley.
Here are a lot of moving pieces for something that appears as simple as drinks. Eliminating cart service can have wide ranging implications for what is stocked in the galley and how other aspects of service will work.
#246
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: LAX/TPE
Programs: United 1K, JAL Sapphire, SPG Lifetime Platinum, National Executive Elite, Hertz PC, Avis PC
Posts: 42,228
If they had live mock-ups in a properly equipped training center to help with product testing and setting up the training in parallel, these concerns would have been noticed, voiced and the almost non-existent product management team could have designed revisions.
It seems UA only listens when customers "claim" they want less of something, or when Delta does something that results in a reduction for their own customers.
#248
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: SRQ, PDX
Programs: UA 1 MM, AA, DL
Posts: 930
Exactly. One would think 12,000 hours of R&D would have included active FA participation, especially since Polaris dumped a lot of extra work on them. It would be interesting to learn what their "input" was to the process prior to it's rollout...and since.
#249
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 57,616
So, UA only tested the Polaris soft product in “controlled” situations? Sounds like a recipe for failure, courtesy of incompetent management.
#251
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Silicon wasteland
Programs: UA 1KMM
Posts: 1,381
Glass ice cream dishes are back!
I skimmed, but didn't see this.
I actually ate ice cream out of a bowl yesterday, LAX-NRT. Matched in style to the old bowls, but not funky shaped. Regular old bowl. But it wasn't paper.
There, a positive reivew and Polaris re-enhancement.
(and I got offered hot bites proactively, FWIW). Very good crew.
I actually ate ice cream out of a bowl yesterday, LAX-NRT. Matched in style to the old bowls, but not funky shaped. Regular old bowl. But it wasn't paper.
There, a positive reivew and Polaris re-enhancement.
(and I got offered hot bites proactively, FWIW). Very good crew.
#252
Join Date: May 2013
Posts: 3,361
To test a business class product in "un-controlled" or real situations you have to operate flight(s). I think incompetent management would operate these non-revenue flights while competent management, and reasonable customers, would understand that adjustments to products are services are necessary and common post-implementation.
#253
Join Date: Sep 2013
Posts: 1,116
I minded when trying to sleep on EWR-LHR...having the meal service take 2 hours for the entire J cabin on a short redeye is ridiculous. Given this means busing back and forth between the seats and the galley, I'm not entirely sure this really saves much time in prep. Methinks that the long Polaris serving times has something to do with having dense J configurations, more than anything...
#254
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: NYC
Programs: UA MileagePlus 2MM
Posts: 1,567
While I would like to defend UA for the Polaris ideals, I have heard enough galley chatter which indicates working in the front cabins is less desirable than economy. I don't have any data to back this up, just something I continually hear. Seems like there is some Polaris fine tuning going on and I wonder if management is listening to the Flight Attendants - probably not. My last flight indicates no, despite the great service given during flight, upon deplaning a couple of the the FA's lamented the fact that taking extra trips wasn't worth the effort. Wish they wouldn't make these comments in front of paying pax but as I said couldn't fault them on their service.
Adam
Adam
#255
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2001
Posts: 10,971
Was on TPAC going west bound and the changes from September seem to be:
1 - a piece of chocolate instead of a real dessert (for 1 of the 3 choices)
2 - white cheese instead of American cheese for the mid-flight grilled cheese sandwich
3 - omelet prior to landing was the cheap domestic F kind - the international kind was better
I don't drink so no idea about alcohol.
Menu is a lot more simplified (less paper) - just food, no more "Polaris User Guide".
747 tin kit which was cool.
1 - a piece of chocolate instead of a real dessert (for 1 of the 3 choices)
2 - white cheese instead of American cheese for the mid-flight grilled cheese sandwich
3 - omelet prior to landing was the cheap domestic F kind - the international kind was better
I don't drink so no idea about alcohol.
Menu is a lot more simplified (less paper) - just food, no more "Polaris User Guide".
747 tin kit which was cool.