After a recent visit to New York during Easter weekend, I had the chance to fly the new United Polaris business class on my flight back from Newark to Madrid. I was already looking forward to visiting the United’s new Polaris lounge at Newark and I read positive stories about the new Polaris business class seats.
Flight: United Airlines 51
Route: Newark (EWR) – Madrid (MAD)
Date: Monday April 22, 2019
Depart: 7:55PM
Arrive: 9:20AM
Duration: 7h25min
Aircraft: Boeing 767-300
Class of service: Polaris Business Class
Check-In
The check-in for United Polaris business class passengers in Newark is located in Terminal C. When I wanted to print our boarding passes, I was pleasantly surprised to see that United had changed our aircraft to a refurbished Boeing 767-300 with new Polaris business class seats!
Polaris Business Class Lounge
The new Polaris lounge opened in July 2018 and is located centrally in terminal C. Therefore, it is a 10 minute walk or less to most gates. After passing the security check, turn left until you reach the entrance of the lounge. The entrance of the lounge looks elegant and spacious.
The Polaris lounge appeared to be very roomy and I noticed different types of seating areas. The seats at the window offer a fantastic view on the planes.
The lounge offers several facilities like a customer service center, shower facilities and a buffet with a decent selection of food and beverages. I am also pleased with the service at the buffet. The staff was always looking after the area to ensure it was clean and answered my questions in a friendly manner.
Dining and bar
After taking a nice shower, I felt completely refreshed and returned to the lounge to check what else it had to offer. If you walk straight after entering the lounge you will arrive at the restaurant with bar. In addition to the buffet, you can also choose to be served in this lounge. It was around 6pm when I took a seat here to have pre-dinner before my flight. This section also offers a view on the airplanes.
Due to the time, it was a bit busy but luckily a waitress came to me and asked what I wanted to eat. For a drink, I took a glass champagne, but I immediately noticed that this wasn’t the most expensive in price… As a starter, I chose the Brodo di Pollo. To be honest, the small portion size of this dish disappointed me a bit. Later, I ordered Kale Caesar and Ginger Sweet Pea, I was more pleased with this.
Later on, I moved on to the bar section. The bar is beautifully decorated and offers various cocktails and other nonalcoholic drinks to choose from. Everything in the Polaris Lounge is free of charge.
I tried several cocktails here and had a nice time chatting with the bartender. One cocktail I tried was called “The Paper Plane”, it consists of bourbon, amaro, aperol and chamomile tea. This drink was very strong but delicious. I also tried a cocktail called Polaris but I didn’t really like the flavor. I tried the London Spritz which I thought was very refreshing and tasted fruity. After a while, I decided to go to the gate.
United Polaris Business Class Seat
I boarded the plane through door L1 and was warmly welcomed by the crew. The United Boeing 767-300 is equipped with 30 flat bed seats in Polaris business class in a 1-1-1 configuration. The cabin looks very modern and I like the blue edge on top of the seats. The odd numbered window seats are offering the most privacy. I was seated in 3A, which is a window seat in front of the cabin.
A whole pile of nice Polaris bedding was waiting for me on my seat and next to my seat, I found a bottle of water. The seat itself is comfortable and offers a lot of privacy. The seat controls were located on my left. To my right, I found the entertainment controls, as well as a 110V and USB outlet, and headphone jacks. There is also a reading light here.
A cool detail is that every seat has its own lamp. Here is also a small storage compartment where I found the headphones. The ottoman appeared to be a decent size.
In front of me was the tray table which can be slide out from underneath. On my seat, I also found my amenity kit. This kit contained an eye mask, airplane socks, a toothbrush with toothpaste, earplugs and a United Airlines pen.
A few moments later, the crew came by to introduce themselves and the menus were distributed. I expected a welcome drink before departure, but I did not receive one. When I approached the crew about this, I was told that this time the pilot had not given them permission to serve welcome drinks in order to prevent delays.
In-Flight Dining Service
The plane doors were closed and we were ready for takeoff. It was rainy weather outside, but once we were in the air, I saw a beautiful sunset over New York. After the safety light went out, the crew took action to ask what drink I would like to have from the menu. I went for a glass of Laurent-Perrier Millesime champagne.
This is not the most expensive champagne, but it certainly tasted well. Nuts and a glass of water were also brought to me. While enjoying the champagne, I flipped through the menu.
Dinner and breakfast would be served on this flight and soon I was asked what I wanted for dinner that evening. The options for the main course were beef, chicken bowl, lemon with salmon and ravioli.
I was not really impressed by this meal service in the new Polaris business class. However, the starter was decent, especially thought the meat was very delicious. Latter, my table was neatly cleared to make room for the chicken meal.
The meal was tasty and the quality of the food was not that bad. For dessert, I was given the option to choose from an international cheese assortment served with grapes, crackers and port and some sweet treats, but this time I went for the Sundae strawberry ice cream and it was perfect!
Turndown Service
This aircraft features 2 business class restrooms and these are located in front of the plane. When I came back, I put my seat in flat bed mode.
From my “bed” I decided to watch the in-flight entertainment before going to sleep. The screen is nice and big. At the bottom left of the screen, there is an additional USB outlet. The range of movies and series offered were not very interesting for me and because I was feeling very tired, I decided to go to sleep instead.
Despite the noise in this old Boeing 767, I still got a good sleep and especially with the comfy Polaris bedding, but when I woke up about 2 hours before landing, I had a dry throat. I opened my three window shades and saw that it was already light outside.
Breakfast
A while later, the crew came to ask what I wanted for breakfast. I said I was hungry so I went for the full breakfast. I also had a cappuccino and orange juice. The breakfast consisted of fresh fruit, an omelet with potatoes, meat and a dessert.
Later, a selection of bread was also offered, I went for a croissant. I found the breakfast tasty and I was reasonably satisfied with the quality of the food on this flight. However, American companies continue to score poor on food and beverages compared to European or Asian companies like British Airways, for example.
After breakfast, I took a second cappuccino and then I saw on my in-flight entertainment screen that it was almost time to land in Madrid. I had a chat with one of the crew members, who was very friendly. I then fastened my seat belt. Around 9am we were on the ground in Madrid and it was time to leave the aircraft. I thanked the crew again for this great service and walked out of the aircraft.
United Airlines Polaris Business Class Bottom Line
I can definitely see, United has made an improvement with both the new Polaris Lounge at Newark and the new Polaris seats in the plane. The new Polaris lounge at Newark is a significant improvement compared to the more crowded United Clubs. I especially like the different seating areas and the size of the lounge with a beautiful view on the aircrafts. I clearly saw that the staff were very professional and friendly because I was greeted multiple times and the buffet was fully stocked at all times.
The new Polaris business class seats offer a lot of space and certainly the window seats offer plenty of privacy. These seats are comfortable and certainly the Polaris bedding is a nice plus. The crew during this flight were friendly and certainly available to make sure the passenger is taken care of. As it is often the case with American companies, food and drinks are often disappointing and this flight was no different. Overall, I had a pleasant experience in the new United Polaris Business Class.
What is your experience with the new United Polaris business class? Let me know your thoughts and questions in the comments below.
