United B787-8 Polaris Business Class review (LHR-EWR)
I was soooooo excited to finally get to fly United's Polaris hard product. I'd only flown United Business once, and that was on a Dreamliner with the old 2-2-2 hard product. The plane only had the Polaris soft product (Saks Fifth Avenue bedding, gel pillows, elevated food, and a robust amenity kit).
And the best part? I get to spend a few hours in United's coveted Polaris Lounge, often regarded as some of the best in the industry.
Posts from this Trip Report:
- Introduction: A circle tour around Asia
- Swiss Air A330-300 Business Class review (BOS-ZRH)
- Swiss Air A350-900 Business Suites review (ZRH-ICN)
- When things go wrong on day of travel...
- ANA B787-900 Business Class review (HND-DEL)
- Air India A320neo domestic Business Class Review (DEL-BLR)
- United B787-8 Polaris Business Class review (LHR-EWR)
Prelude: Check-in at Heathrow T2
Star Alliance carriers fly out of Heathrow's Terminal 2 - The Queens Terminal. I spend the night in a cheap hotel room out near Terminal 4, which is connected with a free transfer via the Elizabeth Line.
The check-in agent was quite puzzled when she saw my nearly 6-hour layover in EWR and insisted on checking if I could get a seat on a sooner flight to BOS. I had to tell her that the whole scheme was to visit my one of the best lounges in the US. I think that convinced her on just how crazy I was :)
Singapore Airlines Lounge Heathrow T2
Because there are quite a few Star Alliance carriers, there are also quite a few lounges that Business Class passengers have access to. There's the SilverKris Lounge, the Maple Leaf Lounge, the United Club, and the Lufthansa Business Lounge.
From what I've heard, the Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge and United Club are the two best ones available. I wasn't really in the mood for any alcohol at 7AM, so really it boiled down to space and food. I figured most United Polaris flyers would instantly gravitate towards the United Club, so I chose to pop into the Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge. And sure enough, the lounge was absolutely empty - I was one of four people there!
And let me tell you - this is such a beautiful lounge. I spent just about 15 minutes here, so didn't get to try out a majority of the seating options or amenities. There's a whole second half of the lounge I somehow forgot to take pictures of, but there's large windows that let plenty of natural light into the space. Plus, given I had just spent a few weeks around Asia, a traditional Asian breakfast of porridge, noodles, and stir fry was just what I needed!
Boarding & Seat
By the time I got to the gate, boarding had already started. Every passenger was required to show their passport, as usual for international flights. Now if I'm not mistaken, passengers on US-bound flights typically have to answer a few short questions about baggage and the purpose of their visit during the boarding process. That didn't happen this time - a little odd.
United's Polaris cabin has all-aisle-access seats in a 1-2-1 configuration. But the window seats along the side are a little bit staggered in that some seats are much closer to the aisle while others are much closer to the window. See this Aerolopa diagram. I selected seat 5L, which is a window seat much closer to the window.
I was one of the last Business Class passengers to board, and waiting at my seat was a plethora of items. Of course, this includes our favorite - the oh so comfortable Sake Fifth Avenue bedding!
What you're seeing is a day blanket, a sleeping blanket, a sleeping pillow, and a smaller gel pillow. Wow! Talk about amble bedding! Definitely a whole lot better than Swiss's excuse of just one pillow and one blanket...
In the cubby off to the side of the seat was a set of noise cancelling headphones and a bottle of water.
The amenity kit features United's Centennial branding with special eye masks, socks, and box. But you have basically anything you need in this amenity kit - a dental kit, earplugs, eye mask, socks, tissues, a wet wipe, lip balm, eye gel, hand cream, and face mist.
I'm a pretty big fan of Perricone MD's products. I don't need things to be super expensive or fancy - Perricone's is more affordable and practical, which might be why this amenity kit has so many different things!
The tray table lives above the knees similar to American or Air Canada's Business Class products. I prefer tables that stow to the side due to the extra knee legroom while in the lie-down position, but this wasn't bad.
As you can see above, the tray table doesn't pull fully outwards towards the seat. It sort of stops halfway and then folds out into one massive table. I'm a little torn on this - on one hand I like ANA's "move your seat towards the table" function, but on the other hand it's a much larger table as a result.
But overall, these seats are quite well-designed in my opinion. Again, unlike Swiss's A330 product, these walls were built pretty tall, which means no looking at the back of heads while seated! Really gives a lot of privacy, which is amazing.
Nooo peeky!!
Food & Drink
Right before pushback, the flight crew came around and handed out menus for the flight. A short but pretty solid menu for a daytime flight across the Atlantic.
The crew first passed out ramekins of warm nuts. I ate exclusively the almonds :). Yes I know, I'm a psycho - I thought we've established this.
The first official fruit course was brought out about 45 minutes after takeoff. I was a little surprised to see a dish of yogurt and honey and a pastry on the tray. Didn't say anything about those on the menu - but hey I'll take some bonus freebies!
I had preordered the Souflee pancakes on the United app. It was super tasty! Probably not as good as the real deal in Japan, but hey, since I didn't get to try it there I had to make up for it somehow, right?
For dessert, I opted for the cheese plate. I also asked for a glass of champagne with the cheese - gotta give credit to my friend Xavier for the educational tip there!
I watched a couple movies and tried to get some work done for a couple hours after the meal. Unfortunately, the wifi only worked for about 10 minutes the entire flight (hence the delay on this post).
What a great way to wind down an amazing trip around the globe! And the best part? The journey wasn't quite over yet - I still had a chance to eat, shower, and have some wine at the amazing United Polaris Lounge after landing in EWR.