jtet

To get a better feel for what a Polaris cabin looks like head over to https://www.united.com/ual/en/us/fly...nes-fleet.html and pick the plane type that you expect (it can change!) to be on. For one quick sample it seems that UA 923 departing 2 June will be on a 787-9 aka 789. Make your way to the 3D view of the Polaris cabin, and play with the controls to spin zoom, and reposition to a different fixed view point. As stated above, you'll note that every other row on a 787 has a pair of seats in the middle of the 1-2-1 layout that have the desk area on the aisle and thus the seats are closer than the others. The partition in between the two can be lowered if you are traveling with someone you know and wish to chat with.

See also https://seatguru.com/airlines/United...ng_787-9_B.php

NB! Depending on when you fly and how quickly the remaining planes are modified to true Polaris, with a 789 there is a chance that you'll get an older model seat. Currently 5 of 38 aircraft are flying with older style seats, 3 are out of service being modified with Polaris seats, and 30 are flying with Polaris. https://sites.google.com/site/united...s-mod-schedule

lhrsfo

You may find significantly cheaper fares flying to different European gateways and then making your own way to LHR or EDI. DUB springs to mind but take your pick from a wide range. If EDI is your final destination, then you will be changing planes anyway so non-stop is not an option. A night in Paris or Amsterdam could be a very pleasant extra to a vacation.

The other trick would be to look at tickets on UA's partners across the Atlantic - Air Canada, Lufthansa, Swiss, Austrian, Brussels Airways, SAS or TAP. The latter especially has some amazingly reasonable fares. If you buy them on UA's ticket, you'll earn less towards Gold obviously because the ticket is cheaper, but still a good amount. If you buy them through their own sites, then you may well earn more - it's complicated but it's possible to figure it out from UA's site on Partner Airlines. TAP in particular is an interesting one as it offers extraordinarily low fares and free stopovers in Lisbon. Although the service isn't great, the seat is still lie flat and you should get a good sleep.

VegasGambler

A credit card with a fee of less than $100/year will get you one free bag.

Honestly, I think that UA is the most expensive airline to chase status on right now. The 750 / 500 PQP limit on partner premium economy segments kills (or at least cripples) a good way to earn cheap PQP. And even if you manage to earn it this year, are you going to be able to keep it next year when the requirements go up?

pmarrsouth

for couples that don’t really want to talk to each other maybe

JimInOhio

On most "Polarized" J sections, it's the odd row pair that are next to each other. There are exceptions, however, especially in some ot the J cabins aft of Door 2.

hotscot

A lot to think about.
Can I still use my UA credentials on a partner flight, even if I book on the partner website?
Advice appreciated.

pmarrsouth

Yes

porciuscato

You beat me to it. Both Odd and Even pairs have dividers that can be lowered. However, the divider between the even seats is very short and only allows a porthole view of your companion.

Artpen100

I think you can do a lot better than 10-11K. I've been looking at a fair amount of RT TATL flights from June to mid September, and I am usually able to find something (including connections through LHR) in the 4K range. Though even at that, I am booking saver awards and upgrades for miles at booking on various airlines (AF, KLM, BA) instead, though partly just because I had so many miles from cancelled flights from the beginning of COVID.

worldtrav

If you think the amenities will be "First Class' you should head over to the 2022 Polaris meals thread, the soft product is ghastly and likely the worst one among all the majors. Get status somewhere else, lots of options to Europe and you'd need to connect no matter who you fly. $5K for a ticket on UA....

HNLbasedFlyer

All fine as long as your employer doesn't force you on UA -

zombietooth

This is sound advice for the OP. The only thing good about flying UA are the nice lie-flats in Polaris. The food is abysmal on all routes. The service is "drop and forget", and you'll have to beg for refills or go the galley yourself. MileagePlus is a good program if you're OK with flying in E+ or P+ on awards or using UGs, but it's lousy for domestic F flyers or international J flyers on a fixed schedule.

hotscot

Can you recommend a different airline? (Although I'm sure that's a different can of worms.)

I only discuss UA because that's who I've historically travelled with but if another airline has a much better international experience, and reasonable ability to get some sort of useful status then I'll have a look.

This is the first year the dear wife and I have been unencumbered by either employers or cats.
We now have the ability to say, what the heck, lets up and go whenever/wherever we feel like.
Not silly rich or anything but I'll be looking for deals. We're very partial to the UK/Europe but will get around to Asia sooner or later.

We're not getting any younger.

HNLbasedFlyer

What airport are you flying out of.

If you are going to be traveling to Asia at some point - UA had the strongest Asia network and anticipate it will again when restrictions are lifted.

Regardless - you can always grab your Gold status with UA, then try the other Star Alliance airlines - and that alliance in my opinion is the strongest.

zombietooth

I primarily fly to Asian destinations, so I don't have a well-informed recommendation. However, a casual search that I just did for May shows lots of 3.5K range fares (LAX-EDI )with a one week turn. What I see are partner flights, marketed by DL, on KLM and Air France (be aware that an intra-EU F-class connector just means a normal coach seat with an open seat next to you and a higher level of service).