halls120

Eastbound TATL I’m going with UA, as the Polaris seat is very comfortable. WB it’s LH all the way, because their soft product blows UA’s away, thanks to Kirby Kwality Kutbacks.

canadiancow

My bad, sorry.

We snagged an upgrade on the one segment with an F cabin, so we didn't get to experience J on the 748.

dkc192

I agree with you on the food quality, but what about UA/Polaris makes it hard to sleep?

Kacee

All else being equal, for a daytime flight I would pick LH or LX for the cleaner cabin, cleaner lavs, and better food. For an overnight flight, it's a tougher call because I do prefer the Polaris seat for sleeping.

cricketer

hard-er. footwells are a problem for me. if my legs bend a bit, the knees/shins bump against the table edge. *really* bad on seats like the super diamond which I've flown several times without ever getting a decent sleep. Polaris is much better (and actually even better on the angled seats from my one experience with those) but I still keep getting woken up when my shins/knees bump. Have no problem sleeping 6 hours straight on LH (or any other seat with an open foot area).

To be clear, Polaris is not bad - and I love the privacy etc. But given a new (fresh, clean) older version seat whether ex-CO or ex-UA, I'd take either of those as I slept better in them.

Kacee

LX must be a nightmare for you.

aa4ever

Eastbound definitely UA as the seat and bedding are both much better

westbound I’d probably stick with UA but could potentially debate it more as LH food and
service can be slightly better. I’ve still never found LH food particularly good though. I do rather like LX though, especially on 77W

add me to the list of folks who enjoyed the old UA IPTE seats for sleeping. Tons more padding, always slept great

bitterproffit

I have flown LH, Polaris, and LX this year.

Polaris > LX > LH

Polaris and LX are close and I actually slept well on both. I slightly preferred the Polaris seat to the LX seat. But I really enjoyed the LX service, and would fly them again in a second.

I just can't see spending the equal amount of money for a seat without aisle access like I did with LH. I was on the aisle, and the dude next to me thought he could jump over my legs instead of waking me up. I appreciated the sentiment, but when he tripped and landed in my lap, it woke me up anyway.

cricketer

Yep. Flew LX once and have successfully avoided for a decade or more since. However, I have a ZRH-SFO in a month or so on a family trip. Much to my chagrin, when you're trying to get 4 people in J, your options are limited. Fortunately it's a daytime westbound flight so a bad sleep won't be as much of a problem. And the rest of the family is excited to fly LX as they never have, so taking one for the team!

The odd thing is I'm not crazy tall or anything. A touch above 6'2". But I guess at any given height different people have different proportions and that can make all the difference. Also I guess I just tend to move or flex my legs more in my sleep. If I stayed flat on my back with legs extended, none of this would be an issue for me!

Kacee

Yes, the seats with tunnels for your legs are problematic for people who tend to move in their sleep. It's one of those things you may not even be aware of until you fly in a restrictive seat and wake up with a bunch of bruises. I tend to stay pretty still but the lack of padding on certain seats (LX and B6 come to mind) causes me lots of pain in hips and shoulders. I loved the old IPTE seat for sleeping.

ContinentalFan

The thing I don’t like about LH is the fact that they sometimes reassign seats without asking.

danielflyer

I would pick UA as well. LH long-haul catering really isn’t much better than UA.

lars747

True, however usually if you have Status they get you a better seat unless you gave up your seat to HON Member or Board Member of LH. On UA vs LX i have to go with Lfor the overall at airport and onboard serve. Both aircraft's are fine with Dreamliner somehow has better airflow.

AlwaysFlyStar

I think this really varies depending on individual tastes. Being an American carrier, this could just be UA catering to American tastes more, while Lufthansa is more catered to German tastes. To me, I would take LH on a daytime flight any day over UA for the catering and service, even though the Polaris seat is obviously much more private.

danielflyer

I think Americans people rate LH higher due to the novelty of the menu. Their new short-haul "taste of Germany" is quite good. But as a European I find their long-haul standards, especially the wine menu, to be very low. I've also encountered situations where only a vegetarian meal was available and alcohol was not fully stocked. These things can happen on any airline at any time, but there is a general pattern of this on LH.

I also experienced one incident where stale coffee leaked from the J galley into my seat and onto my belongings. No compensation was provided. UA is much better about giving out miles or vouchers when things go wrong. LH almost never provides compensation.