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How to tell if your plane will feature United’s New Polaris Business Class Seat
I think there is some confusion as to what United is doing with Polaris. Will the plane have it, will it not? Just to clarify…United is offering the Polaris soft product now; however, United will start flying the 777-300ER featuring their new Polaris business class seat in February. Initially it will run between EWR and SFO, and then starting March 25, it’ll be used on the SFO to HKG route. For the time being, the 777-300ER will be the only plane in the fleet featuring the Polaris hard product, it’ll also be featured on the 787-10, and the A350-1000, as well as retro-fits on the 777-200 and 767-300, but this could take years. Clearly…if you’re on the 777-300ER between SFO and HKG you’re going to have the new Polaris business class seat and all of the soft product amenities. But, United will roll out more 77Ws this year and use them on various routes and to avoid any confusion…here’s how to tell if your plane will feature United’s New Polaris Business Class Seat.
With the flight schedule update this weekend, United will offer one round trip six days each week between Newark Liberty International Airport and San Francisco International Airport between Feb. 16 and May 4. The airline expects to begin 777-300ER intercontinental service between San Francisco and Hong Kong on March 25, with the aircraft replacing a Boeing 747-400 currently being used on the route. Flight and aircraft schedules are subject to change.
United expects to place into service all 14 aircraft in its 777-300ER order in 2017.
If you want this:
Look for this:
Here is what the new product, Polaris, seat map will look like on the 777-300ER ( 77W )
If you see this…
it’s the old hard product, BusinessFirst. If your business class (BusinessFirst) looks like those orange seats, You will get the Polaris soft product ( including PJs on flights over 12hours), but not the hard product. Same with First Class (Global First). Meaning…the old seat, not the new.
You’ll still get this:
If you’re interested in their First Class( GlobalFirst)…I enjoyed my time on it from LHR-LAX in 2015 and it didn’t even offer all the new swanky Polaris soft product amenities. It’s definitely worth the extra 10k points on trips to North and South Asia!
Just to recap:
- If you’re flying on a new 777-300ER – it will feature the Polaris seat and service
- If you have any doubt…check the seat map
*feature image courtesy of United.com
Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Welcome Offer
Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3x on dining, including eligible delivery services for takeout & dining out
- 3x on select streaming services
- 3x on online grocery purchases
- (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
- The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
- 2x on all other travel
- 10% Anniversary Bonus
- Every year you keep the card, your total spend will yield a 10% points bonus. If you spend $10k in a year, you’ll get 1k bonus points
- Chase Sapphire Preferred continues to redeem at 1.25c in the Chase Travel℠ and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver ( primary ), purchase protections, etc.
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- Redeem in Chase Travel℠ for 1.25 cents per point
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2027.
- $95 Annual Fee
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.
Main Cast:
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is exceptional starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.
If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex® and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Ink Business Cash® , Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.
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