Hardly an impartial trial "The special charter flight was an invitation-only affair for selected United employees..."

I'm low maintenance & in general just want a comfortable seat & good wine. However removing the hot appetizer really pushed my buttons & it still irritates me.

That publication missed that the 'flight' didn't go anywhere. It was on the ground at EWR with a mock destination.

They did do some in air testing earlier this year / late last year with customers while they were coming up with meal concepts - chartered a 747 from ORD-HNL.

why would they charter a 747 when they have their own

+2.
Wine list surely has to improve. And, unless the appetizer is a salad, I'd prefer something that is heated.

I'm a little more ambivalent on the hot appetizer... if it's along the lines of cheap frozen hors d'oeuvres, like what's served in GF these days, pass. I actually was a fan of the first round of cold appetizers on the sCO flights in 2012 or so, after the international premium cabin service was standardized. As I recall, there were two different cold apps served from trays on the three-tiered cart and plated seat-side. The apps were substantial in portion and reasonably high-quality.

That went away pretty quickly, early 2013 I believe.

It was a UA 747, but operated as a charter flight for a group of NDA'ed customers to evaluate a few different service concepts for Polaris.

I remember that. It was a throwback to how Biz First did the apps before the mid 2000s. I remember the chef's idea with the hot apps was to 'serve something a business traveler would get at a conference or meeting, so it feels familiar.'

Not the mandate i would have gone with but explains the hotel passed hor d'oeuvres.


Few other Polaris nuggets...

EWR lounge attendants say the main C100s club will convert to Polaris next year, using the existing space. A new United Club will also open, not clear if it will be adjacent, above, or somewhere else.

LAX attendants say no Polaris for 'a few years.'

Saw on Twitter the UA head of rev mgmt. said at a conference the 763s will start converting in May.

Are you talking about appetizer served just before the main dish or the heated nuts served with the first drinks?

What kind of hot appetizers are we talking about?

I guess they have salads with cold deli meats or prawns.

Fried shrimp for example. It's rarely hot by the time you get it.

Served after the nuts in Global First.

Used to be served in Business on CO at the same time.

Also in my 763 timing reference above it was the head of network planning, not rev mgmt who say May is when they start.

Showers
 

So the Polaris Lounges with have "spa-like showers." There will be one lounge open in 2016 with others to follow in 2017. They took away the arrivals access in Europe now(with the exception of LHR).

So for this year, one lounge and probably one plane with the Polaris seats. Time to shop around for me - likely to end the year at Platinum. On balance, more has been taken away this year than added.

The timing is always interesting. Yes, the program can change at any time but so many changes have happened in the middle of a year that there's no reason to trust anything listed as a benefit.

You're still able to access the LH arrivals lounge in FRA (which has tons of showers and great breakfast buffet).

I was at IAH E club last week, and was told the third floor would be converted to Polaris.

Makes sense. Plumbing already in place with the existing shower suites... I'd just be concerned about square footage up there for all Polaris pax.

Seems like there is a lot of "back office" space on the third floor that could be relocated.

I guess this also means no more showers for the regular UC there, which is a loss for Star Golds not seated in business.