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United Polaris - New Business Class seats & inflight service {Archive}

Old Jan 17, 2020, 6:38 pm
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Archive thread -- Active thread is United Polaris - New Business Class seats & inflight service -- 3+ years after Intro

United website - Explore: http://view.ceros.com/united/polaris-business-class/p/1
from UA's Facebook stream
Only customers traveling in United Polaris business class or United Polaris Global First on international flights and customers in Star Alliance international first or business class cabins on flights longer than six hours will have access to the United Polaris Lounge.
Official Polaris Lounge Access Rules are here: Polaris Lounge Access Rules

United Polaris Business and Polaris First pax may access the Polaris lounge at connecting airports and their final destination within 24 hours of departure or arrival.

*A international J and F pax may only access the Polaris lounge at the departure airport. For purposes of Polaris lounge access, Canada, the Caribbean, Central America, and Guam are excluded from the definition of "international."

Seat Chart.

Press release: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-relea...300278706.html

NEW YORK, June 2, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- With the aspiration of making weary business travel a relic of the past, United Airlines today unveiled its all-new United Polaris business class, the airline's most significant product transformation in more than a decade, featuring a reimagined, sleep-enhancing, departure-to-landing experience for intercontinental travelers.

Named after the North Star, United Polaris is the shining new star of business class travel that flyers can turn to for a tranquil and restful journey.

"United Polaris will change the game in international business travel with an exceptional level of relaxation and comfort throughout our customers' journeys," said Oscar Munoz, president and CEO of United. "This completely reconceived experience exemplifies the new spirit of United and the innovation, excitement and operational momentum across our airline."

Path-Breaking Design

In setting out to create a transformative business class experience, United chose to outfit its widebody fleet with a custom-designed, exclusive-to-United seat, rather than select an option already in the marketplace. Designed in partnership with Acumen Design Associates and PriestmanGoode and manufactured by Zodiac Seats United Kingdom, each United Polaris seat will offer direct access to the aisle, 180-degree flat-bed recline and up to 6 foot 6 inches of bed space.

Crafted as individual, forward-facing, suite-like pods, each customer's personal suite will feature a "Do Not Disturb" sign, mood lighting, one-touch lumbar support, several storage areas, multiple surfaces for simultaneous working and dining, a 16-inch high-definition entertainment screen and, for seats in the center of the cabin, electronic privacy dividers. Complementing the new seats, United and PriestmanGoode have also conceived an all-new look for the United Polaris cabins.

In rethinking the international business class experience, United conducted more than 12,000 hours of research, and sleep emerged as the single most important priority for international business class travelers. United Polaris' path-breaking design and sleep-enhancing focus was inspired and informed by insights from hundreds of customers and employees, inflight product simulations and more than 100 product evaluations.

Sleep-Enticing Amenities

In addition to the sleep-enticing United Polaris personal suites, several other amenities were designed with our customers' sleep in mind.

In a first-of-its-kind partnership, United has worked with leading luxury specialty store Saks Fifth Avenue for custom-designed bedding. All designed to provide the best sleep in the sky, the new bedding collection will feature plush duvets, lightweight day-blankets and a large and small pillow for each United Polaris customer. In addition, mattress cushions will be available upon request.

Slippers will be available on all flights, and customized United Polaris pajamas will be available by request on flights longer than 12 hours**. Flyers will also be able to request a gel-cooled pillow. New amenity kits will feature ergonomically designed eye shades, calming lavender pillow mist and additional products from Soho House & Co.'s Cowshed Spa.

With the introduction of United Polaris, the airline intends to donate tens of thousands of pillows, blankets and other inflight service items to Fisher House Foundation, which United and its employees have long supported.

Elevated Dining Experience

Upon boarding their flight, each United Polaris customer will be welcomed with a pre-departure beverage of his or her choice and gourmet chocolate. While in the air, customers will enjoy regionally influenced in-flight menus updated seasonally, developed in partnership with The Trotter Project and its critically recognized chefs, including Bill Kim of acclaimed Chicago restaurants Urbanbelly, bellyQ and Belly Shack.

The airline will offer an upgraded wine experience, with the highest-quality options curated exclusively by United's Master Sommelier. Inflight service will also include made-to-order signature ice cream sundaes, a dessert cart with a variety of petit dessert options, chocolate truffles and wine flights. On daytime flights longer than eight hours and on all flights longer than 12 hours, hot mid-flight snacks such as lobster macaroni and cheese will be available.

Raising The Bar With United Polaris Business Class Lounges

United will also open an exclusive portfolio of United Polaris business class lounges in nine locations around the world the only lounge of its kind offered by a U.S. airline to business class customers that will feature custom-designed chairs, private daybeds, spa-like showers and chef-inspired hot meals served in a boutique restaurant setting so customers can refresh and dine before boarding their planes. Premium sparkling wines and spirits, refreshing snacks and bottled water will also be offered.

The first new United Polaris lounge will open at Chicago O'Hare International Airport on Dec. 1, 2016. Lounges in eight other locations Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston, New York/Newark, Washington Dulles, Tokyo Narita, Hong Kong and London Heathrow will follow in 2017.

United Polaris Introduction

United will begin to introduce United Polaris on Dec. 1, 2016, with the new inflight food and beverage experience, new custom bedding from Saks Fifth Avenue, new amenity kits and the new United Polaris lounge in Chicago. The United Polaris business class seat will first take flight in December on Boeing 777-300ER aircraft and subsequently on Boeing 787-10 and Airbus A350-1000 aircraft, as well as on Boeing 767-300 and 777-200 retrofits.

United Polaris will serve business class customers flying the U.S. airline industry's most global route network, reaching more than 330 destinations in more than 50 countries.

More information on the United Polaris business class can be found at united.com/Polaris.

[From [email][email protected] 11/15/2016]
Starting December 1, 2016, United Polaris Business Class service will replace United BusinessFirst service on international flights, and United Polaris Global First service will replace the current United Global First service.

Between 2017 to 2019 eight additional United Polaris lounges will open at EWR, HKG, IAD, IAH, LAX, LHR, NRT and SFO. We do not have the exact opening dates at this time. A scheduling announcement will be forthcoming.
** Flights with pajama service (for both directions)
SFO - ICN, PEK, PVG, HGH, XIV, TPE, AKL, HKG, CTU, SYD, TLV, SIN
EWR - NRT, PEK, DEL, BOM, HKG, PVG
ORD - NRT, PEK PVG, HKG
LAX - PVG, SYD, MEL, SIN
IAD - NRT, PEK
IAH - NRT, SYD
(from United Twitter feed https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CyjFHZLW...jpg&name=large

{Similar Threads:
Polaris Lounge Roadmap 2017-2018 (wiki) (thread)
Polaris lounge ORD - opened 01 Dec 2016 (wiki) (thread)
SFO Lounge changes? Which will become Polaris? Shower options?(wiki) (thread)
United Polaris-New Business Class seats & inflight service and new Polaris Lounges(wiki) (thread)}


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United Polaris - New Business Class seats & inflight service {Archive}

Old Jun 23, 2016, 3:08 pm
  #901  
 
Join Date: Jan 2013
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Originally Posted by LeftsideWindow
It doesn't help that even UA can't seem to keep it straight themselves (see my prior post about marketing Polaris with the hashtag #firstclass on Instrgram).
Actually I'm confident they did that on purpose, so that people following or searching for the #firstclass hashtag -- which just refers to premium cabins in general -- will see Polaris.

Instagram is all about getting your images seen, since links aren't allowed. No doubt they looked for whatever hashtag would provide the greatest reach.
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Old Jun 23, 2016, 7:53 pm
  #902  
 
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Quick update on the Polaris lounge situation at SFO (in case this hasn't been reported as yet): a United lounge attendant at SFO tells me they've this week been advised that the United Club (which is on the right, just after you pass through security at the international terminal) will become the new Polaris lounge while the Global First lounge (situated further along the terminal, between gates 98-100) will become a new-look United Club. Yes, they're essentially swapping the lounges around with the upgrade.

Given that the current Club has a larger footprint than the Global First lounge (I imagine that extra room is needed to allow for the special Quad seating, daybeds etc), the lounge staffer was unaware if this meant an expansion for the Global First space while it's upgraded to become a United Club.

Last edited by djsflynn; Jun 23, 2016 at 10:08 pm
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Old Jun 23, 2016, 7:57 pm
  #903  
 
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Originally Posted by djsflynn
Given that the current Club has a larger footprint than the Global First lounge (I imagine that extra room is needed to allow for the special Quad seating, daybeds etc), the lounge staffer was unaware if this meant an expansion for the Global First space while it's upgraded to become a United Club.
They'd have to expand the GF lounge significantly if it's going to become the UC.

The current UC is often extremely full during the Asian departure bank, so even if you assume that a big chunk of the UC users would be eligible for the Polaris lounge, there's no way the GF has sufficient room to hold all of the * Gold and UC members.
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Old Jun 23, 2016, 8:02 pm
  #904  
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The SFO UC really needs an upgrade.
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Old Jun 23, 2016, 8:34 pm
  #905  
 
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Originally Posted by djsflynn
Quick update on the Polaris lounge situation at SFO (in case this hasn't been reported as yet): a United lounge attendant at SFO tells me they've this week been advised that the United Club (which is on the right, just after you pass through security at the international terminal) will become the new Polaris lounge while the Global First lounge (situated further along the terminal, between gates 98-100) will become a United Club. Yes, they're essentially swapping the lounges around with the upgrade.

Given that the current Club has a larger footprint than the Global First lounge (I imagine that extra room is needed to allow for the special Quad seating, daybeds etc), the lounge staffer was unaware if this meant an expansion for the Global First space while it's upgraded to become a United Club.
Great news. The international United Club is probably the most centrally-located of all the UA lounges and is a reasonable walk from any of the gate areas in which UA boards longhaul flights. It also confirms the rather self-evident truth that the Polaris lounges are going to need to be large facilities (certainly larger than GFLs), especially at hubs, to accommodate the volume of pax at peak international departure banks.

I'm not sure if the soon-to-be-former GFL further down the concourse will need to be expanded significantly when it becomes a United Club, as it would presumably only be serving Y pax (*G and members) on international departures from the G boarding area. This will also distribute the United Clubs pretty evenly across the various concourses and shorten average walking time.

I like the idea.
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Old Jun 23, 2016, 9:02 pm
  #906  
 
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I'm sure this has been discussed several times already, but is there speculation that Polaris award tickets will cost more miles than business awards currently cost? Since GF is going away I wonder if they will do something like take the average of the old GF and BF miles required, given that the product will fall somewhere in between those two products. I find it hard to believe a much improved product will remain the same price.
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Old Jun 23, 2016, 9:09 pm
  #907  
 
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Originally Posted by djsflynn
Quick update on the Polaris lounge situation at SFO (in case this hasn't been reported as yet): a United lounge attendant at SFO tells me they've this week been advised that the United Club (which is on the right, just after you pass through security at the international terminal) will become the new Polaris lounge while the Global First lounge (situated further along the terminal, between gates 98-100) will become a United Club. Yes, they're essentially swapping the lounges around with the upgrade.

Given that the current Club has a larger footprint than the Global First lounge (I imagine that extra room is needed to allow for the special Quad seating, daybeds etc), the lounge staffer was unaware if this meant an expansion for the Global First space while it's upgraded to become a United Club.
That's indeed an interesting development. Should be a nice lounge. A regular UC in the GF lounge space? Not sure how that's going to work.
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Old Jun 23, 2016, 11:33 pm
  #908  
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Originally Posted by TravelTheWorld66
I'm sure this has been discussed several times already, but is there speculation that Polaris award tickets will cost more miles than business awards currently cost? Since GF is going away I wonder if they will do something like take the average of the old GF and BF miles required, given that the product will fall somewhere in between those two products. I find it hard to believe a much improved product will remain the same price.
Well it may or may not be better than the previous BF product and it may or may not be better than the business class product from other airlines.
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Old Jun 24, 2016, 2:06 am
  #909  
 
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Originally Posted by TravelTheWorld66
I'm sure this has been discussed several times already, but is there speculation that Polaris award tickets will cost more miles than business awards currently cost? Since GF is going away I wonder if they will do something like take the average of the old GF and BF miles required, given that the product will fall somewhere in between those two products. I find it hard to believe a much improved product will remain the same price.
For me it would have to be proven a "much improved product" before I would pay a premium... otherwise I will just continue to book J awards on LH, LX, TK, etc.
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Old Jun 24, 2016, 3:24 am
  #910  
 
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Originally Posted by djsflynn
Global First space while it's upgraded to become a United Club.
this statement amuses me
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Old Jun 30, 2016, 1:55 am
  #911  
 
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360 Degree Virtual Tour of Polaris Lounge and Seat

Didn't see this posted yet. United uploaded a 360 video (in 4k also! ^) on their youtube channel today that showcases a computer generated version of their new Polaris lounge and 777-300ER seat/cabin. Here's the link:

Pretty nifty! ^

Just an FYI for those who don't have much experience with 360 video (taken from the Youtube support page):

YouTube supports playback of 360 spherical videos on computers in Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, and Opera browsers. You can also watch 360 videos on YouTube apps for Android and iOS. For an immersive experience, you can even watch 360 videos with Cardboard and the YouTube Android app.
On computers, you can click and drag or use the arrow keypad in the upper left of the video to change which way your perspective is facing. On mobile, you can move your entire phone (if equipped with an accelerometer), or use your finger to hold and drag.

360 video won't control your perspective for you, so you have to manually move the camera to look at different things. For example, if the narrator is talking about how the tray table works along with a corresponding animation and you happen to be facing backwards, the video will not automatically move the camera around for you towards the "action" of the shot. If you do not move the camera yourself to look at what is happening in the part of the screen being referred to as a focus point, you may miss some of the action in the shot.

Last edited by blahmeh14; Jun 30, 2016 at 2:19 am
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Old Jun 30, 2016, 4:44 am
  #912  
 
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Very neat, thanks for posting. I'm looking forward to this 777 layout.
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Old Jun 30, 2016, 7:42 am
  #913  
 
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is that Matt Damon narrating?
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Old Jun 30, 2016, 8:18 am
  #914  
 
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Originally Posted by NH_Clark
is that Matt Damon narrating?
Yeah that's him. He's been gifting his voice for the last couple of years to United. No Robert Redford, but he's ok.
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Old Jun 30, 2016, 8:25 am
  #915  
 
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Polaris will be a very nice and competitive hard product if it arrives as promised. I can't wait to try it out!
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