Polaris concept flights video
Feb 9, 2019, 1:41 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: NYC: UA 1K, DL Platinum, AAirpass, Avis PC
Posts: 4,599
Polaris concept flights video
Years ago UA invited some fliers and employees to take part in test flights, with a United Club closed off to function as what's now a Polaris lounge and take a flight loaded with pillows and bloody mary carts.
Anyone else take part in them - maybe you'll see yourself in this video I came across - was posted a couple years ago
What's left from the concept flights...
2 pillows, a mattress pad, sometime PJs, petit fours, and the Polaris lounges
Anyone else take part in them - maybe you'll see yourself in this video I came across - was posted a couple years ago
What's left from the concept flights...
2 pillows, a mattress pad, sometime PJs, petit fours, and the Polaris lounges
Feb 10, 2019, 5:00 am
#2
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Virginia and Vitoria, ES Brazil
Programs: UA 1K, Million Miler, *G, JJ, AD, Global Entry, CLEAR, H.O.G. Life Member
Posts: 1,407
You need to send that to Oscar to remind him that Polaris was to be a game changer on board, not just the lounges, and not devolve into the same old service with a different seat.
Feb 10, 2019, 10:24 am
#5
Join Date: Mar 2012
Programs: Mileage Plus 1K; Marriott Platinum; Hilton Gold
Posts: 6,355
Feb 10, 2019, 11:17 am
#6
Join Date: Jun 2014
Posts: 261
The money would have been better spent on upgrading meals, salads, appetizers, and alcohol. If they brought back the business first service from 2004, complete with cheese board and appetizer cart, everyone would be happy. Instead they saw the waste, correctly cut the unwanted services, but foolishly failed to reinvest the money in things people actually like.
Feb 10, 2019, 11:32 am
#7
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 350
my how things have fallen. i recall when service started how impressed i was. disapointed that only ORD had a lounge, but i loved the overall service and had GS the last 3 years partly because of it. This will be my last year as I'm only at $2500 spend so far this year and expect that trend to continue. It just isn't worth the premium.
The matress pad looked much thicker in the video than the actual one
Where did some of those seats come from? i don't recognize. there looked like a few single aisle J seats but none looked recognizable to me
The midflight snacks are pathetic. On my last J flight, I actually went to Y to ask for a mid flight snack and Y told me nope- these are for Y customers. So the flight after that, I booked Y. When Polaris first started, I loved the hot rice or noodle bowls mid flight, plus sandwiches and tomato soup. to be honest at this tpoint, they'd be better off just going to the pre polaris noodle soup. at least they catered 50 on a 747 so it was easy enough to get 2 or 3.
The matress pad looked much thicker in the video than the actual one
Where did some of those seats come from? i don't recognize. there looked like a few single aisle J seats but none looked recognizable to me
The midflight snacks are pathetic. On my last J flight, I actually went to Y to ask for a mid flight snack and Y told me nope- these are for Y customers. So the flight after that, I booked Y. When Polaris first started, I loved the hot rice or noodle bowls mid flight, plus sandwiches and tomato soup. to be honest at this tpoint, they'd be better off just going to the pre polaris noodle soup. at least they catered 50 on a 747 so it was easy enough to get 2 or 3.
Feb 10, 2019, 11:47 am
#8
Join Date: Sep 2013
Posts: 1,116
my how things have fallen. i recall when service started how impressed i was. disapointed that only ORD had a lounge, but i loved the overall service and had GS the last 3 years partly because of it. This will be my last year as I'm only at $2500 spend so far this year and expect that trend to continue. It just isn't worth the premium.
The matress pad looked much thicker in the video than the actual one
Where did some of those seats come from? i don't recognize. there looked like a few single aisle J seats but none looked recognizable to me
The midflight snacks are pathetic. On my last J flight, I actually went to Y to ask for a mid flight snack and Y told me nope- these are for Y customers. So the flight after that, I booked Y. When Polaris first started, I loved the hot rice or noodle bowls mid flight, plus sandwiches and tomato soup. to be honest at this tpoint, they'd be better off just going to the pre polaris noodle soup. at least they catered 50 on a 747 so it was easy enough to get 2 or 3.
The matress pad looked much thicker in the video than the actual one
Where did some of those seats come from? i don't recognize. there looked like a few single aisle J seats but none looked recognizable to me
The midflight snacks are pathetic. On my last J flight, I actually went to Y to ask for a mid flight snack and Y told me nope- these are for Y customers. So the flight after that, I booked Y. When Polaris first started, I loved the hot rice or noodle bowls mid flight, plus sandwiches and tomato soup. to be honest at this tpoint, they'd be better off just going to the pre polaris noodle soup. at least they catered 50 on a 747 so it was easy enough to get 2 or 3.
Feb 10, 2019, 12:50 pm
#9
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: DAY
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Posts: 10,159
And Wine. And Champagne. And PJs. And meals that don't look like TV dinners from 1970.
Feb 10, 2019, 3:06 pm
#11
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: NYC: UA 1K, DL Platinum, AAirpass, Avis PC
Posts: 4,599
Salad served as its own course in a large bowl - dressing poured for you
Bread basket like today
Main course on a plate (basically a steak house style menu - almost always a large cut steak or bone in meat offered in the choices) - they had a separate side dish of green beans or spinach, steak house style available but the mains had vegetables on them already
Cheese from the cart - not that different than now, better crackers I guess
Sundae and warm cobbler instead of the petit fours
Some other formalities like FAs using a small metal crumb sweeper like you'd see in a restaurant, the concierge greeting everyone before departure to arrange a shower, the cheese being brought on its own cart before the sundae, FAs changing into a 'serving jacket.' Real first class was pretty much always better, but for 2 cabin back then it was nice.
Food wise it probably only cost 20% more than what they're offering now - save for the extra FA positions
Feb 10, 2019, 7:09 pm
#12
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 11,461
Cold appetizers on a cart to pick (smoked salmon, prosciutto, smoked duck, or something like that - nothing caviar like)
Salad served as its own course in a large bowl - dressing poured for you
Bread basket like today
Main course on a plate (basically a steak house style menu - almost always a large cut steak or bone in meat offered in the choices) - they had a separate side dish of green beans or spinach, steak house style available but the mains had vegetables on them already
Cheese from the cart - not that different than now, better crackers I guess
Sundae and warm cobbler instead of the petit fours
Some other formalities like FAs using a small metal crumb sweeper like you'd see in a restaurant, the concierge greeting everyone before departure to arrange a shower, the cheese being brought on its own cart before the sundae, FAs changing into a 'serving jacket.' Real first class was pretty much always better, but for 2 cabin back then it was nice.
Food wise it probably only cost 20% more than what they're offering now - save for the extra FA positions
Salad served as its own course in a large bowl - dressing poured for you
Bread basket like today
Main course on a plate (basically a steak house style menu - almost always a large cut steak or bone in meat offered in the choices) - they had a separate side dish of green beans or spinach, steak house style available but the mains had vegetables on them already
Cheese from the cart - not that different than now, better crackers I guess
Sundae and warm cobbler instead of the petit fours
Some other formalities like FAs using a small metal crumb sweeper like you'd see in a restaurant, the concierge greeting everyone before departure to arrange a shower, the cheese being brought on its own cart before the sundae, FAs changing into a 'serving jacket.' Real first class was pretty much always better, but for 2 cabin back then it was nice.
Food wise it probably only cost 20% more than what they're offering now - save for the extra FA positions
Feb 10, 2019, 7:24 pm
#13
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Los Angeles / Basel
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The problem was passengers drank far too much wine - it broke the UA budget. Horrible forecasting by UA.
Feb 10, 2019, 7:33 pm
#14
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: New York, NY
Programs: UA, AA, DL, Hertz, Avis, National, Hyatt, Hilton, SPG, Marriott
Posts: 9,452
History has shown that most of United’s initial forecasting for Polaris was wrong. Essentially, United developed and promised an unsustainable product, and we are seeing the entirely predictable results... especially when middle managers are charged with reducing costs to maximize margins.
Feb 10, 2019, 8:05 pm
#15
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: SFO / LHR
Programs: UA GS 2.2MM / UC / AS Gold 75K / Bonvoy Plat / Hilton Diamond
Posts: 1,028
So much of the original Polaris concept was un-necessary flair, and many of us gave feedback to that effect. Problem is, as you say, once given it is hard to taketh away. Management got the extreme willies on the wine front, and the pendulum swang the other way where there is "bare bones" sparse roundtrip provisioning of wine. They've decided it's ok to say "sorry, we don't have it", have the FAs in apology mode, and go from there.
They can't sift through all of the Polaris expense line items (PJs, slippers, bedding, wine, food, staffing etc) to any level of specificity ... it's easier to apply the hatchet / haircut method and chop everything.