LH Business v UA Polaris
 

I took a quick look at the Lufthansa forum and did not see much. I saw a UA thread that was closed in 2015 comparing UA v. LH. Moderator: please redirect as necessary.

Assuming all things mostly equal, would you fly on LH biz or UA Polaris? Additional note: I now will go out of my way to fly the 788/9. I do not know if it is the placebo effect but I do feel different after flying this bird. Is the LH A350 comparable/better/worse?

Currently, a lot of the LH long-haul fleet in J is 2-2-2, not all aisle access. LH has announced a nice new all-aisle J product for many of its aircraft but it will be a while for that to roll out. I'd lean toward Polaris in the meantime.

General consensus is that the food and service on LH is better but the seat on UA is better. Personally I go out of my way to avoid the 787s, but I love A350s.

I always jump into these threads with a minority viewpoint - the seat is better on LH. It's less private, but it's massively superior for sleeping if you're on the taller side - because of the completely open area around your feet/shins/knees.

As I said, I'm a minority. Sleeping trumps all else for me. YMMV.

Just flew SFO-MUC on LH.

UA all the way.

The seat is better in every way if traveling solo.

I would fly United. Only exception is if fare class C or D, in which case I will go with LH as gives me the option for plus points upgrade to F.

The UA Polaris seat is miles ahead of LH's business class seat, which makes UA the clear choice here. Unless you don't like privacy or like playing footsie with the passenger next to you!

Yeah I didn't quite understand that until I finally sat in one of the middle two seats.

My seat-mate was a little aggressive with kicking me out of his space when I accidentally, on three separate occasions (while trying to sleep), entered his space. But it shouldn't be possible to get that far into their space.

However, if you're in one of the window pairs, this doesn't happen. Or at least it didn't on the 3 long hauls I just flew in a group of 3 (where we took the two windows and one seat across the aisle). But everyone who tried sleeping in the middle had the same experience.

There's more than just the seat that matters to me, but I'd take almost anything over the middle seats if I'm not in a very close relationship with my seat-mate.

I would pick UA for better privacy and aisle access. Of course, you can also now fly LH 787 on FRA-EWR with all-aisle access. I would leave the ex-PR A350 out since their schedule is a bit inconsistent on TATL.

Note that this does not apply in the case of the OP's A350 option.

I asked a similar question about LX vs UA a couple months ago. I ended up taking UA and will (somewhat reluctantly) say that I now prefer UA over any of the LH group airlines, especially on flights where sleeping is my main goal. The privacy of the Polaris seat and the presence of air vents are two big advantages for UA over LH group airlines. If it's a daytime westbound TATL and I want to "enjoy" the meal service a bit more, then I might pick LX or OS, but the lack of direct aisle access on LH is a pretty big deal breaker for me.

I say "somewhat reluctantly" because I abhor Scott Kirby's blatant disregard for catering. At the end of the day though, J class for me in most cases is about getting a shot at a good night's sleep, and UA is far superior to any of their LH group partners in that regard.

Do you like spending thousands to climb over your fellow passenger? If so, you probably want to go with LH.

Another minority opinion: I sleep best in a bulkhead B/E Diamond (ex-CO BF) seat... Service is probably a bit better on average on LH, but the food can be quite bad, too. I take whichever is more convenient at the time.

Of the *A carriers, I actually like flying AC TATL these days, if I have time for the connection. Everything is pretty good - service, seats, IFE, food/drink. Transit logistics at YYZ/YUL isn't ideal, but it's not the worst thing in the world. The Acqua di Parma amenity kits are super cool, too.

Beware that the window pairs on the 748 do have the footsie configuration.

Well, I'd counter that with "Do you like spending thousands to not sleep at all, and probably not want to eat anything that's offered either? If so, you probably want to go with UA" :D

I agree on the bulkhead BE Diamond, I also slept beautifully on the ex-UA IPTE (the infamous 2-4-2 stare at your friend - but that never bothered me while I was asleep in a window with my eye mask on!). The TK 2-3-2 is fabulous, and Apex seats are solid too.

The AC Super Diamond seat is my least favourite though. Worst for your knees and shins because of the way the table is done. Any seat with the table on the side wins. That would be one great improvement to UA's Polaris seat.

On the other hand, the middle pairs on the 748 are further apart from your neighbour and boast a significantly larger foot-space. Though if you're on the 748, go upper deck window and then Plus Points into F! OP doesn't have that to think about on the A350 window pairs.