Award Travel Vacations is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation when you use these links through MileValue.com. This compensation may impact how and where links appear on the site. This site does not include all financial offers. The content on this page is accurate as of the posting date; however, some of the offers mentioned may have expired.

United Polaris is the next generation of business class seats that United offers on long haul flights. You can find these seats on all of their widebody aircraft that fly to Europe, Asia, Oceania, and even South America. 

Even though I typically fly OneWorld airlines, I have to admit Polaris looks like an amazing lie-flat business class seat. I’ve been wanting to try United Polaris for a few years. But never made it a priority to book. When I saw United had a flash sale (more on this soon), I knew this was my chance. Did it live up to the hype?

United Airlines 787-9 United Polaris Sydney to Houston-IAH: Review

Booking

I booked this during a United flash sale for the Asia-Pacific region. During this sale, business class flights were going for just 60,000 United miles each way. A steal considering saver space is 80,000 miles while partners go for 99,000 each way. With United’s dynamic pricing it’s not uncommon to see flights for 250,000 points! 

Because of the way the flash sale worked, I was able to book Wellington to Sydney with Air New Zealand, this United Polaris flight and United First from Houston to Columbus, Ohio all on one ticket. On the day of booking, this routing was going from about $6,200 dollars. Amazing value for 60,000 United miles transferred from Chase. 

Seat

787-9 Polaris cabins are arranged in a 1-2-1 seating pattern with two seats in the middle section. The middle seats perfect for people traveling together. All seats have direct aisle access so you aren’t jumping over anyone as they sleep. 

I loved the little finishes and color combinations throughout the cabin. Very on brand for United. The blue and silver on the outside of the pods contrasted well rather than a one solid color that most airlines go with. 

I assigned myself seat 3L at the time of booking. A solo seat on the right side of the plane. For solo travelers, I recommend the odd number solo seats. These seats face forward and are closer to the windows giving you more privacy. The even number seats face towards the interior of the plane. 

The seat also has a footwell which turned into part of the seat when turned into bed mode. The one thing I didn’t like about Polaris was the footwell. It was at a slight angle due to the angle of the seat in front of me. Inside the footwell were slippers. They were cheap. Although, I still appreciated them to walk around the plane during the flight. 

To the right of the seat was a small little compartment. It was big enough for a water bottle and headphones. You could probably put some additional small items in there but it was too small for much more than the water bottle. 

The IFE was incredibly responsive. There are two ways to control it. The screen itself is a touch screen. But it’s pretty far away from the seat to comfortably do that. The main way to control it was through a remote located at the seat. 

Waiting at my seat when I arrived on board was an amenity kit, small gel pillow, full side pillow, mattress pad, and blanket.

Other than trying Polaris out for the first time, I was excited to get the new AWAY amenity kit. It looks just like AWAY luggage. Inside were your standard amenity kit items including an eyeshade, socks, pen and dental kit. It’s a bit flimsy, but I use it for my electronics chargers now. 

Bathroom

The bathroom was your standard airplane bathroom. It wasn’t cleaned often throughout the flight. There was typically water (or I hope it was) everywhere. A few amenities were provided including hand cream, face mist and a clothes refresher. 

Food and Drink

During boarding, flight attendants came around to take lunch orders. While waiting to have mine taken, I took some pictures out of the window. I was skipped over and watched as everyone behind me got their orders taken. This wouldn’t have bothered me if they came back to get mine. It wasn’t until after drinks that I was finally asked what I wanted. 

Only the fish option was available out of four dishes. I am allergic to fish. The solution was to provide an economy meal. After almost everyone else in the cabin received their meal, I got mine. Luckily I was informed a chicken parm was available from the Polaris menu. 

The chicken parm was great. Lots of good flavor and the perfect amount of sauce and cheese. The potatoes weren’t cooked all the way through. The greens were fresh and crisp as well. Dessert was the famous Polaris sundae. This was something else I was looking forward to. I asked for hot fudge and strawberries on the vanilla ice cream. I declined the whipped cream but ended up with that anyways. 

Part way through the flight, I ordered a snack. On this flight it was a grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup. It was a bit of a let down. Although the soup had some good flavor, it was cold. The edges of the grilled cheese were hard since it was burnt. 

Breakfast service started two hours prior to arrival in Houston. I chose the fairy bread french toast. That was french toast with sprinkles and coconut. It tasted pretty good. The menu didn’t say anything about coconut so that was a bit of a surprise. The meal also came with a croissant and fresh fruit. The croissant was cold but the fruit was fresh. I asked for coffee with my breakfast several times, but it never came.

United Airlines 787-9 United Polaris Sydney to Houston-IAH Bottom Line

Unfortunately, I walked away from my Polaris experience a bit sour. It received high praise in many reviews. That didn’t match my experience. Flight attendants were a mixed bag. The person in front of me got excellent service while I felt I was an inconvenience. I think my experience was outside the norm. 

Would I take a Polaris flight again? Probably if that was the only option. Would I recommend it to other travelers? Absolutely. Just go into the flight knowing the service won’t be as good as Emirates. 

Have you flown United Polaris before? Let me know your experience in the comments!

Looking for more flight reviews? Our private Facebook group has more flight reviews. 

The opinions in this article are the author’s and not those of a bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.