Review: United Airlines 787-9 Polaris Business Class SFO-PPT

United’s Polaris business class seat is comfortable and helped us get some rest on the flight to Tahiti, but what stood out the most was the service.

View other posts in this series:

Booking United Polaris business class

Our original flight plan wasn’t to fly United but rather to fly Air Tahiti Nui between LAX and PPT. There were no business class awards available on that flight, so instead we booked premium economy for 65,000 AA miles each. I continued to monitor availability but none appeared.

At the same time, I also booked a separate award on United Polaris business class from LAX to SFO to PPT. There was no saver award space at the time, so the flight cost 170,000 United miles per person. Then, as I outlined in a separate post, saver award seats opened up within a week of departure. I canceled my original booking (for free), the miles reappeared in my account immediately, and I rebooked at 85,000 United miles per person.

Faced with either 65,000 miles for premium economy or 85,000 miles for United Polaris business class, I kept the business class booking and canceled the Air Tahiti Nui flight. Yes, there is a connection, but the premium to arrive rested wasn’t that large in this case.

Earning United Miles

If you want to earn United miles, there are various ways to go about this. Some of the more popular options include:

Apply for a United Airlines credit card
Apply for a Chase credit card that earns Ultimate Rewards points (as those transfer 1:1 to United)
Buy miles when offered with a 100% bonus (1.88 cents per point)
Transfer miles in from Marriott, a preferred partner (60,000 Marriott points to 30,000 United miles)
Earn with United MileagePlus X, which offers bonus points for gift card purchases to other vendors
Earn with the United or Chase shopping portal, which can stack with United MileagePlus X

If you’re looking for credit cards, here are a few options to consider. The following links include a referral that may earn me a commission.

The revamped Chase Sapphire Reserve card offers a large 100,000-point bonus plus $500 in travel credit good at Chase Travel for spending $5,000 in the first three months. This one has a large annual fee ($795) but comes with credits that may help you offset the cost.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred card offers 75,000 points for spending $5,000 in the first three months. Why get this one instead of the Reserve? The significantly lower annual fee for the Preferred ($95).

The Chase United Quest card has a large 100,000-point bonus plus 3,000 PQP (if you care about status) for spending $4,000 in the first three months. It has a hefty annual fee ($350) but is good if you fly United often.

Arrival and First Impressions of United Polaris business class

Sometimes air travel just doesn’t want to give you an easy time. We arrived at our gate (G1) in time for when boarding was scheduled to start. The good news is the gate is pretty close to the United Polaris lounge. We just needed to go down the escalator to get to our gate.

We arrived to find our plane at the gate and quite a few people standing around. Boarding was delayed, but the gate agents didn’t provide any guidance. I should have known better when the duty free employee left the secure area, but our flight wasn’t going out as planned. Turns out there was a mechanical issue (missing part) but the gate agent said “come back in about four hours and we’ll see what’s going on”. That’s not a good sign.

We could have gone back to the Polaris lounge but decided against it. The kids needed to let out some steam, so we explored the airport to find a good place to do that. Thankfully, the nearby F gates had some entertainment by the restaurants. While we were waiting, we did get emails offering us $20 meal vouchers each, which we saved for later.

Our replacement plane

Four hours later, there was no sign of our plane. We did get moved over to gate G8, but it wasn’t looking good. Thankfully, the gate agent announced we have a replacement plane and it’s on the way. Everyone was cheering but I was more curious to watch the pilot inspect the engine of this new plane. He intently observed the engine starting up, but eventually gave a thumbs up sign. Thank goodness!

One last bit of news before we boarded, the gate agent called up Jenn. We were concerned something major was wrong that only she was called up. Turns out her seat had no functional entertainment. They offered her a $200 travel voucher or 10,000 miles. If it were $200 in cash, we would have easily taken that option. But the travel voucher expires in a year so we took the miles instead.

Onboard the aircraft

Once we made it onto the aircraft, we all breathed a collective sigh of relief. The United Polaris cabin may have a high density, but it didn’t feel all that dense when sitting down. The flight attendants introduced themselves, apologized for the delay, and managed to make us laugh. We’ll talk more about the service on the flight later, but the flight attendants were a highlight.

On this flight, we took a whole row across but the kids wanted to sit together in the middle. It’s been a while since Jenn and I have sat next to each other on a plane, and that pleasure will have to wait for another time.

The United Polaris business class seat

My seat for this flight is 4L. The seats are staggered along the windows, so this seat is more exposed to the aisle. The odd-numbered rows have window seats that are closer to the window instead of the aisle. You should choose those if you want marginally more privacy. But I didn’t find my seat inferior–it did make it easier for me to tend to the kids as I could see when they needed assistance.

If you’re flying as a couple and want to talk to each other, take the middle seats in odd-numbered rows. When the divider is down, you can easily have a conversation with your seatmate. But the kids, seated in an even-numbered row, were able to at least see each other during the flight.

The Polaris business class cabin efficiently fits 40 seats between the boarding doors (with another 8 seats past the central boarding door). However the design doesn’t feel that cramped when you’re sitting in it.

Waiting at my seat were some headphones and a bottle of water. These headphones aren’t noise-canceling and pressed on my ears when using them. Despite that, my ears didn’t feel sore after using them.

Right outside the compartment is a light, the TV remote, and a universal electrical outlet.

Below that side counter are the seat controls. The buttons are intuitive and easy to use. If you want to dim the lamp shown in the picture above, the controls for that are also here. Sadly, it didn’t dawn on me to look here when sleeping.

Right in front of me is the video monitor, which is plenty large enough for this flight in Polaris business class.

The footwell is long enough for me when fully in bed mode (I’m 5’11” on a good day).

When fully reclined, the walls of the seat feel like they give a great amount of privacy despite the seat not having a door.

Above my seat are a couple of air nozzles.

And the window has an electronic shade. I prefer a regular manual window shade personally.

Amenities in United Polaris business class

For this flight, a pillow and a variety of blankets were waiting for me at my seat. The blue blanket has the Saks Fifth Avenue branding on it. The branding is supposed to give off a sense of luxury, but any way you slice it, it’s still just a department store.

Also at each seat was an amenity kit by Therabody. Its shape almost reminds me of a headphone case.

Inside are some typical amenities you might need for the flight.

Alex’s favorite thing in amenity kits is the blindfold, which he demonstrates here.

We also had a pair of slippers at each seat. It’s challenging to find slippers that fit my feet due to tall it is. These don’t fit me but look comfortable.

Lastly, you can request a mattress topper. I asked for it after meal service ended and the flight attendants dropped it off shortly thereafter. I don’t think it adds much padding to the seat, but there are only a few available for the whole cabin.

You might wonder if they have pajamas, but those are only available on Polaris business class flights longer than 12 hours. This one is only 8.5 hours long.

The food in United Polaris business class

Sadly, because of the aircraft swap, there were no menus loaded on this flight. We did choose our meals in advance, but didn’t think to take screenshots of the selections for reference. Three of us ordered the beef short rib and Char ordered a kids meal.

Service started with a hot towel roughly half an hour after takeoff.

Immediately after, the flight attendants pushed the drink cart through the cabin. I like it more when there is no drink cart in business class, but I get it given how more efficient it can be to have one.

I chose the champagne (Laurent-Perrier). The flight attendant serving me quipped that he is a fan of champagne, winked at me, and then poured it into a regular glass because it holds more liquid than the champagne flutes. Good looking out. It also came with some lukewarm nuts.

Since there is a lack of menus, the flight attendants had to ask everyone their preference for the appetizer 30 minutes after the drink cart. “I have a cheese or I have a fish” was the question posed. I chose the cheese, which was a burrata. But it does seem strange to call it an appetizer since it’s served at the same time as the entree.

The beef is pretty good, and one of the better meals we’ve had on a US-based airline. We didn’t find it dry and the sauce compliments the dish well. The salad is refreshing and the cheese is delicious. I’d probably get it again the next time we fly United Polaris business class.

Flight attendants also walked around handing out bread. Alex enjoyed the garlic bread, but we do prefer the garlic bread on Singapore Airlines more.

Kids meal

If you want a kids meal in Polaris business class, you’ll need to preorder it before the flight so it gets catered. Char’s kids meal ended up being macaroni and cheese (with peas). It came with some fruit and packaged bread (not the fresh stuff?). I get that there are peas in the mac and cheese to balance it out, but kids generally don’t think of dishes needing balance. It’s simple enough to remove the peas if needed.

She enjoyed the meal and, always being a ham, did a goofy pose for the camera.

Desserts

After the meal service ended, the dessert cart came out. The options for dessert are an ice cream sundae, a slice of cheesecake, and a cheese plate. Here is where I need to admit something–I declined dessert. I had a massive headache, caused in part because of the early wake up plus the stress of the delay. While sugar does temporarily help with headaches, I couldn’t build up an appetite as the headache also made me nauseous. (I couldn’t even drink most of my one glass of champagne… oh well.)

Alex went with the ice cream and added in some chocolate sauce. He was in heaven with the dish. If there’s one thing I find that’s consistent with US-based airlines, it’s having ice cream as a dessert option. The vanilla ice cream tastes like it’s Häagen-Dazs, which is cool with us.

Jenn went with the cheesecake. She notes it’s pretty good–so good that Char ended up trading her ice cream to have more of it.

Mid-flight snacks in Polaris business class

If you get hungry in the middle of the flight, head to the forward galley to find a nice spread. There are plenty of packaged snacks like Garrett popcorn and fresh fruits. If they have any leftover desserts, you’ll find them here as well. You might wonder if the cheesecake got warm just sitting out, but the plate it’s on is cool to the touch.

Dinner service

About an hour and a half before landing, the flight attendants asked if we wanted a meal before landing. The options were either a ravioli or some chicken (there might have been a third option but I didn’t catch it). I chose the ravioli, which was massive. I thought the flavor was fine, but Alex was turned off by the olive flavor in the sauce. The same salad made an appearance, and I guess they had more cheesecake to get rid of.

I don’t have any regrets about the choice, but it was hard to eat given the state of my headache.

Wi-Fi and Entertainment

United is in the process of rolling out free Wi-Fi for all MileagePlus members onboard their flights. That free Wi-Fi is powered by Starlink, but our flight wasn’t equipped with the technology yet. Instead, we had the option to purchase Wi-Fi for the following amounts:

$7.99 or 800 United miles for 1 hour
$9.99 or 1,000 United miles for 2 hours
$14.99 or 1,500 United miles for the full flight

Note that video or audio streaming is not supported on the paid options. Alternatively, you could just get free messaging, which is what I did. But the price to purchase Wi-Fi isn’t all that bad if you need to use it.

Entertainment-wise, there is a quite a variety of shows to watch. It seemed like one of the larger selections of videos and shows I can recall seeing.

I also checked out the relaxation mode on the monitor, which had United Polaris business class branding. You can choose what scenery and music you want to see and hear.

And then it just shows a still image with music playing in the background. I’m not sure who this helps to get to sleep. I’d think the screen would make me stay awake. I also kept looking at the screen, waiting for something to happen but nope.

Service

Our flight attendants for this United Polaris business class flight were Ty and Mark. Mark is the purser and it sounds like they try to stick together on their routes. They both handled themselves with a perfect combination of charm, humor, and professionalism. Once we made it onboard, they apologized for the delay, established a rapport with each guest, and added their own humor to get that unpleasantry past us.

They’re also good with anticipating needs. Jenn spent quite a bit of time helping Char eat her dinner and tending to her needs. They noticed and proactively reheated her entree in the oven so that she could enjoy it properly.

Throughout the flight, they stopped by and asked if there was any way to help make it more enjoyable. Even with such a large business class cabin, they were putting in a great effort to make this a memorable flight.

At the end of the flight, Mark shook my hand and thanked us for allowing him to take care of my family. Service can make or break a flight–especially as United attempts to become more of a premium airline. And this particular flight was perhaps the best we’ve had for a US-based airline ever. And that alone more than made up for the rough start with the four hour delay.

I don’t like United’s baggage tracking techology

I’m used to Delta’s tracking, which is pretty good about giving us updates every step of the way. That includes WestJet flights booked as a Delta codeshare.

So when I tried out United’s tracking, I felt a little disappointed. First, we saw that it was checked in at LAX, but never got word that it boarded the plane. But it made it to SFO with us. I had to track it with our Apple AirTags to be sure they were with us.

Next, we saw that they were loaded onto our flight at 7:58AM. Sure, that works–if not for the fact that our plane wasn’t in SF at that time. On top of that, it went mechanical, so shouldn’t the bags have been offloaded at some point? Couldn’t the app let us know that our bags were placed onto the new aircraft?

Call me crazy, but airlines shouldn’t have this technology if they don’t plan to use it correctly. When the app only gives some updates and therefore isn’t accurate, should I be concerned about where they are? I’d be less stressed if I had no updates on where they were rather than worried they were left behind.

Timing of flight

The scheduled departure and arrival times of the flight are supposed to be 1:25PM and 6:55PM. But massive delay caused everything to be shifted. We departed at 5:30PM and arrived at 11PM. But that 11PM arrival felt more like 2AM.

It then gets a little bit tricky trying to avoid massive jetlag. Thankfully, the kids have traveled with me enough to know that when I say to get sleep, they will sleep. The tougher part is getting them back awake. I only got two hours of sleep myself, which helped adjust for the time change and still left me tired enough to sleep once in town. I let the kids sleep 3-3.5 hours since they typically sleep longer than I do.

Thankfully, that plan worked out fairly well. Always have a game plan on when to sleep on the plane to conquer jetlag.

If we flew at the scheduled time, I might not have required them to sleep. A 7PM arrival would feel like 10PM. They would be sluggish but I would only need them to make it to the hotel and then they could crash.

Arrival to PPT

We touched down at 11PM local time and everyone deplaned using the forward door. We went down the stairs and said one last goodbye to the United plane.

Everyone moved towards the arrivals hall, where everyone would encounter a long wait to clear immigration. There is no expedited immigration services at PPT for business class customers. However, there is a line for families with young children. We didn’t say anything to the officers, but they directed us to use the family lane. That probably saved us a good 30 minutes of waiting. That’s because all the United passengers were stuck behind everyone who came off a flight from Auckland.

And bless these individuals who had to keep the party going well past 11PM to welcome everyone into the country. Live music sets a great tropical first impression into the country.

Recommendation: Yes, if the price is right

Assuming we could find essentially saver award rates, wouldn’t hesitate to fly United Polaris again. It’d be fantastic if we could find service as excellent as we did, but I’m sadly not counting on it. That aside, we arrived rested and overall had a better dining experience than anticipated. It’s not up to the standards of Asian airlines, but the gap isn’t so large that we would turn our backs on the experience if given the chance.

Had we kept the original pricing of the journey, which was double what we ultimately paid, my praise of the overall journey might not have been as positive. Thus, price matters a lot when trying to assess how enjoyable the business class experience is.

food.wada.travel

experiencing the world via gastronomy with our children