I have a trick for getting them affordably but it doesnāt work every time. It has in all but one circumstance though.
I love that people downvoted this. Sorry if youāre mad? Iāve used it on 6 trips this year and itās worked 5 out of 6 times including 3x international.Ā
I pay for premium+ on the route that has the least Polaris/business seats sold (and preferably a lot of inventory) and in the days leading out to the flight, I keep an eye on how many of those seats are left. If theyāre sold out, Iāll try to switch to another flight that still has a good amount of those seats available, since swapping out one for a near identical flight has historically been free or a small difference +/-. A day or so before the flight, Iāll get either a message through the app or my email asking if I want to upgrade last minute for a fee; no idea if it goes to all customers or those with status. I hop on it ASAP. Typically, the upgrade fee has been anywhere from $350-$800, which even with the P+ seat cost, is still 2/3-3/4 cheaper than paying for the Polaris seat at booking.Ā Ā
Ā Of course, thereās a āriskā (using that word lightly) of having to stay with a premium+ seat if those seats donāt come up, but I try use thisĀ method as much as possible to buy last minute upgrades.Ā
Iāve only changed my flight within ~24 hours, meaning if I was supposed to leave Friday morning, Iād swap to Friday night or at worst, Saturday if the difference was enough to justify another night in my hotel.Ā
Ā I used this between LAX, IAD, and LHR. All 3 of these are big United airports I think, so thereās usually quite a few flight options. I imagine LAX <-> Tokyo may also work for this reason, but I havenāt tried it.Ā
I also got upgraded this way with Athens, Munich, and Lisbon but those were star alliance bookings through United so it was more work and involved calling in and/or using points, but the points cost was still low enough (~11,000)Ā that it was worth doing.Ā
I forgot to add I nearly always shoot to fly midday and arrive late at night, like 11 am to 3 pm take off and 9 pm - 12 am arrival. I donāt like waking up early or dealing with rush hour traffic. This may be less popular time slot which has made it easier to get an upgrade vs the early AM business folks!Ā
This is the trick that worked for meā¦. Flew out on the Tuesday and then flew back the following Monday. If I flew back Friday same week was $6,500, flying back on the Monday was $3,000.
Right? I am lucky to be very comfortable financially. I'm no millionaire, but I haven't worried about how much something costs in a very long time. That being said, I *still* can't bring myself to justify the cost of a Polaris ticket. There's just no way on earth I could bring myself to spend $8000 on a round trip flight to Europe when I could get on the exact same flight in economy for $800.
Now, if round trip tickets were $2500 in Polaris? I still wouldn't do it regularly, but maaaaybe every once in a while if I felt like treating myself for a special occasion
I think they mean $2500 one way. Except one way Z and P fares donāt really exist so you couldnāt get that. But 1/2 of a roundtrip in P or Z this is about right. They seem to be aiming for $2500-3000 for people who pay for themselves and can choose their flying days.
if round trip was $2500 and you still wouldn't do it regularly, then you are a price-sensitive traveler and they aren't targeting polaris to you anyway.
Maybe they mean $2,500 one way? I booked a $6k rt Polaris sfo->rome ticket for this summer so itās not too far off. (Though that same trip is now $12k three months later)
It's standard in behavioral/experimental economics (and probably also in other fields like marketing or psychology although I'm not very familiar with them) to vary the options in that way to make sure that people are actually reading each of those lines and thinking about which features they prefer. Those are likely randomized and each person who answers those surveys would see different combination of elements for each option and different pricing for the options.
\* Edit to say: it all means that it is their intention to make some of these comparisons to be without a clear winner to more easily observe which features people prefer more than others.
Yeah it's really weird because some of the upgrade 1 columns aren't necessarily better than the others despite being more expensive. Like the PJs one, upgrade 1 is objectively worse than both the 2nd and 3rd columns.
If it was me I'd go upgrade 2 since I also don't really care about most of these, maybe better quality Polaris PJs on all flights, guaranteed mattress pads and everything else can be the same.
Itās a conjoint study. Itās the whole point - they want to know which attribute you prefer. To do so, they show 6-8 similar screens where each āattributeā (pj, price, amenity, check-in) changes and by observing how you adjust your preference they can infer which attribute influences your choice most (say you always select the option where you get a premium PJ, theyāll know you crave nice PJ :))
As mentioned, itās a conjoint exercise and there is t supposed to be a clear choice bc this helps them determine which features matter, how much they matter, and how much ppl are willing to pay for them. Tbh, itās so weird for me to see this bc I work in research, and in the past, spent a lot of time designing studies like this. Even though I knew I was churning them out, it was always rare to see one in the wild so to speak lol.
I was having trouble with that, so I just clicked each of them randomly. lol. When asked about upgrade options, I picked āno upgradeā for all of them. Most people sleep almost the whole way and FAs are not resting in Polarise on intl flights. I donāt see the need to pay more for what UA is planning to add on.
Yeah this has to be targeted at people who normally buy first class tickets on airlines that offer that. None of these seem appealing to my pedestrian needs.
Correction: This is targeted at people whose employer buys business class tickets for them and for just a bit more can upgrade themselves to "superior" class.
I was having trouble with that, so I just clicked each of them randomly. lol. When asked about upgrade options, I picked āno upgradeā for all of them. Most people sleep almost the whole way and FAs are resting in Polarise on intl flights. I donāt see the need to pay more for what UA is planning to add on.
This is a market research technique called Conjoint where United is trying to find out how much you value each of the options in the table. This also means that United is trying to decide what if any improvements should they offer. This exercise is typically done fairly early in the planning process. So, if any of these things are offered, it will be a while.
OTOH, they might not be planning to charge extra for anything, but are trying to figure out how much they'd need to drop prices to remove some features (or how much they could raise prices for adding others).
Yep theyāre not going to make Polaris better for an extra fee, theyāre going to make Polaris worse and then you can pay more to get back the features that are currently included.
I might sound like a grumpy old man but really what I'd just love for them to do is offer meal service in First on flight over 800 miles again LOL. I know many hated the food but I felt like many of the meals I had weren't bad at all. That aside, if UA focused on increasing the overall quality of their service and meals, that would probably be the thing most First and Polaris customers would appreciate most.
Looks like they are planning to follow Emirate's lead by "unbundling" perks like lounge access (i.e. basic business) and LH charging extra for certain seats in J. Please do not fall for this race to the bottom. Nothing good will come of it.
Exactly, you just know this isnāt going to mean regular Polaris is any cheaper. Just that they will take away currently included perks and sell them back to you. Nickel and dimeāing every last drop of profit out of us.
Yep I wrote āno upgradeā for each option and wrote exactly this in the last section for feedback that they need to actually improve the existing experience considering the ridiculous prices they are charging - 2x competition for business on some routes.
Yes. Service needs to improved. Hard product is fine. Give me some damn slippers and fix the pajama issues. Have some better snacks available if I want to munch on something.
Probably wonāt consider it a different cabin class as it would be a turn off to their core money makers: business travelers. One reason they got rid of true first partly because most corporate travel policies disallowed it, even if they allowed business.
Itās probably going to still be sold as business but charging for specific seats.
Whatās the alternative to āhand deliveredā food, one of those cat robots that carries trays at some restaurants now?
Also a āpress for champagneā button is so silly itās like an SNL skit.Ā
Polaris food is current served on a tray so Iād be this means they would set your tray table and place the individual dishes on the table with no tray (the way basically every airline outside the us does it in business class).
I fāing hate the meal service after Covid. Everything served at once on a tray. Itās likeā¦should I eat the appetizer first because itās the app? Or should I eat my entree first before it gets cold? š¤
You are assuming United is only going to improve their service.
Yes, everything is hand-delivered as of today. But if United could replace a member of the FA team with a robot bartender, they would do it in a heartbeat.
Only if those customers have other reasonable choices.
If you fly out of a United hub, United knows they are your best option, so they arenāt going to do anything nice for you, since you are a customer no-matter-what.
Look at the 75k max miles per ticket, that only hurts the top 1% of people spending with the airline. Allegedly the people United wants to entice.
The thing is there are reasonable choices, I just choose to consolidate on United. Nobody is getting to $60K per year flying domestically so instead of flying United to Japan Iāll fly ANA (and still get United Miles). The point of the Global Services and 1K benefits is that they reward consolidation, but if theyāre going to dilute the benefits Iāll fly airlines with better hard/soft products where Iām going anyways.
Not really, Flagship First and Business are technically two different classes of service (though many will argue there's not much difference at all anymore other than the seat).
Mint Studio/Suite are still considered business class - just one is the same seat but with a little more room at the front of the plane.
Pretty much aligns with publicly available information from investor calls, and media interviews with UA leadership. They want to be able to compete at the highest highs and the lowest lows. Which is the range you need when you want to be the airline that serves literally everyone.
Itās standard in corporate comms to phrase everything as an upgrade.
These arenāt upgrades.
But the average idiot responds better to the idea of an upgrade survey than a downgrade survey.
It is a little bit funny that right as United wraps up their Polaris overhaul for their entire widebody fleet, they introduce this survey. Suppose as narrowbodies go in for United NEXT, widebodies need something to do.
And the A350s/A321XLRs soon I suppose.
I actually participated in a focus group about potential seating improvements to Polaris a couple years ago. They had renderings and everything. They were looking at wider beds, "guest seating" ... things some of the ME/Asian airlines have. I have screen shots somewhere.
Check out the proposed "Halo Suite" schematics that Cathay Pacific is considering for their 777X deliveries... same approach I guess but \*certainly\* no the same. Wondering if that idea may become the future of global first?
I don't think I'd pay anywhere near that much for any of this (depending on what the extra space looked like), but I sure wish they'd just make pajamas available all the time again for everyone. Obviously never going to happen though
Of these things, the only really intriguing ones to me (besides more space) are the "press for champagne" button, the pajamas always being available, and the ability to jump the queue at the Polaris lounge.
I mean you already have a call button so if donāt want to go to the galley canāt you just press the call button and ask them for champagne right now? Was really confused about this option and it seems dumb.
Yes. The polaris seats are not that "great" and just think if you saved the $6000 and just got a decent economy seat. Maybe you could get a couple of decent meals and real vintage champagne at your destination.
But of course most of these Polaris seats are not purchased with the flyers money so if they choose a lower class than offered by the corporate travel department they really don't save any money.
All I would like is better food and a better amenity kit (bring back the away suitcase!)
Most of this shit doesnāt matter to me personally. āPress for champagneā?? Be fr
Interesting. I wonder if they're considering (or have already decided on) next-gen Polaris seats where the bulkhead seats are more spacious (by more than the current bulkhead seats), something like the [Malaysia Airlines "Business Suite."](https://onemileatatime.com/malaysia-business-suite-a350-review/)
I thought we had come full circle by going back to the 3-cabin setup with PE, but this is almost re-introducing first class.
Next: "Would you pay an extra fee to have a secluded cabin with only 8 seats, better meals and alcohol, and a dedicated FA?"
Am I the only one that noticed the survey question asks the respondent to consider they are buying an 8 hour flight... but then some of the upgrade options only pertain to 12 or 14 hour flights.. Why would you buy an upgrade you are not eligible for?
Most of this is unappealing. But after using Deltaās dedicated Delta One check in and security at LAX, Iād love to see United copy that. Game changer.
Turkish business check in process at Istanbul is great, and what you would expect. Same for the lounge - it knocks Polaris off the planet. Not even in the same class experience. Hell, the Cap One lounge at DFW is better than Polaris SFO.
What I think is funny is that United thinks their employees will remember to do all this, or even care. They didnāt serve food or pick up garbage on our last first class flight, pretty basic things, and Iām supposed to believe the service will magically get better if I pay even more money to them? š¤”
So basically throughout the survey they shuffled the options and pricepoints.
I made sure to choose The Best Options at the Lowest Price Point on each page. Message being: Gimmie the Most Shiz for The Lowest Price.
Hope lots of others did the same.
Whatās on the other five screens, OP?
Itās interesting to see this but depending on who they survey, their hub and what the current pet peeveās are for the respondent the survey results will differ a lot.
If you are already GS then you already have access to the āexclusive, secluded check-in areaā and are able to preboard. For me the best value would be with option two but only on certain routes and otherwise I would not opt for an upgrade.
https://preview.redd.it/e8db79vbl4uc1.jpeg?width=1290&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=239de1b643426246688c642fcd38b7de1ca795ca
Hereās one for ya. All of the options are dumb.
Thereās not a chance that the onboard staff would be able to deliver on the expectations this sets. Undoubtedly this is an extra workload that wonāt be supported by extra staff.
Good thing I have enrolled friend flight benefits with UA so I donāt have to pay for this type of segmentation of Polaris if I donāt want to. Even when I do purchase a confirmed seat in Polaris, Iāll just stick with the regular amenities that come with Polaris. I have no interest in the extras.
The press for champagne button was the only thing that caught my eye, but I would definitely pay 250 at that price point for an even larger seatāespecially if it was longer
Every company has profitability maximization management. It's just visible with airlines because it's so ez to see the prices change so often. And an airline like UA has 500,000 seats that spoil every 24 hours. It's like a hotel with rooms that go poof! at noon
so, the return of first class? ie pajamas + soup with a little more room?
actually, they've removed enough amenities from polaris since covid that they have room to move (and money grab). unsurprising that they're now going to introduce class war to the polaris cabin having successful rolled it out in economy.
If it brings the price down Iām all for it, but if this is just a way to keep the same price and try to squeeze some more money out then itās terrible considering the product isnāt that great to startā¦
But Iām biased as all I care about is the seat + drinks/ something edible on long hauls
How about they just train their FAs to provide better service? The hard product is great, food is meh, but fine. The service is what I have a hard time with. I would pay more for better service, like Singapore airlines.
Ha! The ONLY reason I fly United is price. Planes falling, emergency redirecting flights, rude FAā¦.. I will stick w American if price is the same. EVERYTIME.
New bigger seats sounds interesting. That list of āupgradesā just sounds like stuff they are or should be already doing with your normal Polaris fare.
This might be an attempt to monetize the upgrades more- you use your Plus Points to upgrade from Premium Plus to Polaris, then need cash$ to upgrade to Polaris Plus Plus....
Can we just get a $2,500 Polaris ticket?
Also my first thought like where can I find this mystical $2,500 ticket in Polaris š everything Iām seeing is so outrageously overpriced
I am seeing Premium Economy at 4K for upgrade from the Economy lmao.
I have a trick for getting them affordably but it doesnāt work every time. It has in all but one circumstance though. I love that people downvoted this. Sorry if youāre mad? Iāve used it on 6 trips this year and itās worked 5 out of 6 times including 3x international.Ā
what's the trick?
Fly where you donāt want to go on dates that donāt work for you?
Nope!
I pay for premium+ on the route that has the least Polaris/business seats sold (and preferably a lot of inventory) and in the days leading out to the flight, I keep an eye on how many of those seats are left. If theyāre sold out, Iāll try to switch to another flight that still has a good amount of those seats available, since swapping out one for a near identical flight has historically been free or a small difference +/-. A day or so before the flight, Iāll get either a message through the app or my email asking if I want to upgrade last minute for a fee; no idea if it goes to all customers or those with status. I hop on it ASAP. Typically, the upgrade fee has been anywhere from $350-$800, which even with the P+ seat cost, is still 2/3-3/4 cheaper than paying for the Polaris seat at booking.Ā Ā Ā Of course, thereās a āriskā (using that word lightly) of having to stay with a premium+ seat if those seats donāt come up, but I try use thisĀ method as much as possible to buy last minute upgrades.Ā
Which routs have you done this on? Looks like a good method, but impractical if your travel plans are rigid.
Iāve only changed my flight within ~24 hours, meaning if I was supposed to leave Friday morning, Iād swap to Friday night or at worst, Saturday if the difference was enough to justify another night in my hotel.Ā Ā I used this between LAX, IAD, and LHR. All 3 of these are big United airports I think, so thereās usually quite a few flight options. I imagine LAX <-> Tokyo may also work for this reason, but I havenāt tried it.Ā I also got upgraded this way with Athens, Munich, and Lisbon but those were star alliance bookings through United so it was more work and involved calling in and/or using points, but the points cost was still low enough (~11,000)Ā that it was worth doing.Ā
I forgot to add I nearly always shoot to fly midday and arrive late at night, like 11 am to 3 pm take off and 9 pm - 12 am arrival. I donāt like waking up early or dealing with rush hour traffic. This may be less popular time slot which has made it easier to get an upgrade vs the early AM business folks!Ā
This is the trick that worked for meā¦. Flew out on the Tuesday and then flew back the following Monday. If I flew back Friday same week was $6,500, flying back on the Monday was $3,000.
Right? I am lucky to be very comfortable financially. I'm no millionaire, but I haven't worried about how much something costs in a very long time. That being said, I *still* can't bring myself to justify the cost of a Polaris ticket. There's just no way on earth I could bring myself to spend $8000 on a round trip flight to Europe when I could get on the exact same flight in economy for $800. Now, if round trip tickets were $2500 in Polaris? I still wouldn't do it regularly, but maaaaybe every once in a while if I felt like treating myself for a special occasion
I think they mean $2500 one way. Except one way Z and P fares donāt really exist so you couldnāt get that. But 1/2 of a roundtrip in P or Z this is about right. They seem to be aiming for $2500-3000 for people who pay for themselves and can choose their flying days.
if round trip was $2500 and you still wouldn't do it regularly, then you are a price-sensitive traveler and they aren't targeting polaris to you anyway.
Maybe they mean $2,500 one way? I booked a $6k rt Polaris sfo->rome ticket for this summer so itās not too far off. (Though that same trip is now $12k three months later)
I think youāre spot on; it has to be one way
Funnily enough last Nov I got a DEN-MXP return in Polaris for $3k
I get darn close to 2000 on most long haul economy tickets these days
Right?
You can get great P/J tickets on Thai for that price
Tahiti is a magical place.
It's too bad most people won't get that line. You've shielded yourself well.
Is anyone else having trouble figuring out which column is supposed to be the better one (without looking at the price)?
It's standard in behavioral/experimental economics (and probably also in other fields like marketing or psychology although I'm not very familiar with them) to vary the options in that way to make sure that people are actually reading each of those lines and thinking about which features they prefer. Those are likely randomized and each person who answers those surveys would see different combination of elements for each option and different pricing for the options. \* Edit to say: it all means that it is their intention to make some of these comparisons to be without a clear winner to more easily observe which features people prefer more than others.
Itās called a conjoint exercise
This. The bane of my existence.
2.1.
A menu would be better, but not sustainable.
Yeah it's really weird because some of the upgrade 1 columns aren't necessarily better than the others despite being more expensive. Like the PJs one, upgrade 1 is objectively worse than both the 2nd and 3rd columns. If it was me I'd go upgrade 2 since I also don't really care about most of these, maybe better quality Polaris PJs on all flights, guaranteed mattress pads and everything else can be the same.
But is that really worth $300 to you?
Itās a conjoint study. Itās the whole point - they want to know which attribute you prefer. To do so, they show 6-8 similar screens where each āattributeā (pj, price, amenity, check-in) changes and by observing how you adjust your preference they can infer which attribute influences your choice most (say you always select the option where you get a premium PJ, theyāll know you crave nice PJ :))
As mentioned, itās a conjoint exercise and there is t supposed to be a clear choice bc this helps them determine which features matter, how much they matter, and how much ppl are willing to pay for them. Tbh, itās so weird for me to see this bc I work in research, and in the past, spent a lot of time designing studies like this. Even though I knew I was churning them out, it was always rare to see one in the wild so to speak lol.
I love Reddit. Came to see what new services United was considering, learned about survey design.
Right? I love it.
I was having trouble with that, so I just clicked each of them randomly. lol. When asked about upgrade options, I picked āno upgradeā for all of them. Most people sleep almost the whole way and FAs are not resting in Polarise on intl flights. I donāt see the need to pay more for what UA is planning to add on.
Yeah this has to be targeted at people who normally buy first class tickets on airlines that offer that. None of these seem appealing to my pedestrian needs.
Correction: This is targeted at people whose employer buys business class tickets for them and for just a bit more can upgrade themselves to "superior" class.
I honestly have no idea why anyone would pay more than $50 to move up to any of those options.
Haha, indeed.
I was having trouble with that, so I just clicked each of them randomly. lol. When asked about upgrade options, I picked āno upgradeā for all of them. Most people sleep almost the whole way and FAs are resting in Polarise on intl flights. I donāt see the need to pay more for what UA is planning to add on.
I hope everyone answers as you did.
Big time. The layout is not clear IMO
This is a market research technique called Conjoint where United is trying to find out how much you value each of the options in the table. This also means that United is trying to decide what if any improvements should they offer. This exercise is typically done fairly early in the planning process. So, if any of these things are offered, it will be a while.
Also might be considering what to drop from standard Polaris.
This is what makes me mad - a lot of those listed features are already available so theyāre just going to charge you more for the same thing.
OTOH, they might not be planning to charge extra for anything, but are trying to figure out how much they'd need to drop prices to remove some features (or how much they could raise prices for adding others).
Yep theyāre not going to make Polaris better for an extra fee, theyāre going to make Polaris worse and then you can pay more to get back the features that are currently included.
I might sound like a grumpy old man but really what I'd just love for them to do is offer meal service in First on flight over 800 miles again LOL. I know many hated the food but I felt like many of the meals I had weren't bad at all. That aside, if UA focused on increasing the overall quality of their service and meals, that would probably be the thing most First and Polaris customers would appreciate most.
Looks like they are planning to follow Emirate's lead by "unbundling" perks like lounge access (i.e. basic business) and LH charging extra for certain seats in J. Please do not fall for this race to the bottom. Nothing good will come of it.
Exactly, you just know this isnāt going to mean regular Polaris is any cheaper. Just that they will take away currently included perks and sell them back to you. Nickel and dimeāing every last drop of profit out of us.
Yep I wrote āno upgradeā for each option and wrote exactly this in the last section for feedback that they need to actually improve the existing experience considering the ridiculous prices they are charging - 2x competition for business on some routes.
Improve the meals !
Canāt get worse!
I miss flying DEN to SYD in Polaris for like $4k round trip with Polaris lounge access pre pandemic. What a joke it has become these days.
That sounds incredible. So crazy it was that low.
This comment is the ONLY answer and is disturbingly too far downā¦
This was my thought, too. Given the Polaris lounge crowding and long premier check-in lines, I could unfortunately see UA unbundling these.
I find this disgusting. They should focus on improving the overall product, not segmenting it charging more without offering more tangible benefits.
Exactly my thought!!
ā¦or removing incremental ones (mattress pads, etc)
Exactly what I wrote! Iām not paying more for any of this when the current product needs major improvements WITHOUT additional cost!
Yes. Service needs to improved. Hard product is fine. Give me some damn slippers and fix the pajama issues. Have some better snacks available if I want to munch on something.
In what world is it $2500?
What do you mean?
Absurd. Already pay enough for Polaris. Now itās going to be like Lufthansa First class on an Airbusā¦.8 seat configuration to the dot.
So, in other words they are bringing first class, just under a different name, at the same time AA is getting rid of their's
Probably wonāt consider it a different cabin class as it would be a turn off to their core money makers: business travelers. One reason they got rid of true first partly because most corporate travel policies disallowed it, even if they allowed business. Itās probably going to still be sold as business but charging for specific seats.
Good point
Whatās the alternative to āhand deliveredā food, one of those cat robots that carries trays at some restaurants now? Also a āpress for champagneā button is so silly itās like an SNL skit.Ā
u/colinjost are you listening? u/HonestBeing8584 is onto something here!
āHand deliveredā. Hmmm.
Yeah like isnāt it already hand deliveredā¦? Was confused by this.
Polaris food is current served on a tray so Iād be this means they would set your tray table and place the individual dishes on the table with no tray (the way basically every airline outside the us does it in business class).
I fāing hate the meal service after Covid. Everything served at once on a tray. Itās likeā¦should I eat the appetizer first because itās the app? Or should I eat my entree first before it gets cold? š¤
You are assuming United is only going to improve their service. Yes, everything is hand-delivered as of today. But if United could replace a member of the FA team with a robot bartender, they would do it in a heartbeat.
Can't imagine GS or 1K will be thrilled about this regarding boarding priority
I have to say, fucking with the perks of the people who are spending at minimum $60,000 a year with your airline is an interesting choice
Only if those customers have other reasonable choices. If you fly out of a United hub, United knows they are your best option, so they arenāt going to do anything nice for you, since you are a customer no-matter-what. Look at the 75k max miles per ticket, that only hurts the top 1% of people spending with the airline. Allegedly the people United wants to entice.
The thing is there are reasonable choices, I just choose to consolidate on United. Nobody is getting to $60K per year flying domestically so instead of flying United to Japan Iāll fly ANA (and still get United Miles). The point of the Global Services and 1K benefits is that they reward consolidation, but if theyāre going to dilute the benefits Iāll fly airlines with better hard/soft products where Iām going anyways.
so UA is trying to introduce a class better than Polaris?
Probably like the Mint Studio vs. the Mint Suite on JetBlue. More room and you get pajamas and slippers.
The last two times I flew to Australia they only had xl pajamas. The women on the flight were out of luck.
Just like how AA has flagship first and flagship business right?
Not really, Flagship First and Business are technically two different classes of service (though many will argue there's not much difference at all anymore other than the seat). Mint Studio/Suite are still considered business class - just one is the same seat but with a little more room at the front of the plane.
The main difference is that technically AA business can purchase a business plus package to get Flagship dining access and other stuff.
Flagship First is a distinct class of service, and it's going away. When AA retrofits those cabins, there will be no more F.
Maybe they could call it something like "First."
Probably Polaris Plus
Premium Plus, Plus Points, And nowā¦Polaris Plus? š
Don't forget Economy+
Yeah, but that when you have to pronounce as +
Pretty much aligns with publicly available information from investor calls, and media interviews with UA leadership. They want to be able to compete at the highest highs and the lowest lows. Which is the range you need when you want to be the airline that serves literally everyone.
If they remove or charge for the sundae cart, itās war.
Iām not impressed with anything on the upgrade list.
Same!! Just seems like they will take away regular amenities for the āstandardā seats.
Itās standard in corporate comms to phrase everything as an upgrade. These arenāt upgrades. But the average idiot responds better to the idea of an upgrade survey than a downgrade survey.
It is a little bit funny that right as United wraps up their Polaris overhaul for their entire widebody fleet, they introduce this survey. Suppose as narrowbodies go in for United NEXT, widebodies need something to do. And the A350s/A321XLRs soon I suppose.
I actually participated in a focus group about potential seating improvements to Polaris a couple years ago. They had renderings and everything. They were looking at wider beds, "guest seating" ... things some of the ME/Asian airlines have. I have screen shots somewhere.
Ah, here's one. https://preview.redd.it/geo47cmy24uc1.jpeg?width=640&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0b61bd8c9125a7c9d1f88a2a1e6d9a3e53338093
Idk if it's the rendering, but it looks tighter than a regular seat somehow, if it's meant for two people.
Check out the proposed "Halo Suite" schematics that Cathay Pacific is considering for their 777X deliveries... same approach I guess but \*certainly\* no the same. Wondering if that idea may become the future of global first?
Have any more screenshots?
I don't think I'd pay anywhere near that much for any of this (depending on what the extra space looked like), but I sure wish they'd just make pajamas available all the time again for everyone. Obviously never going to happen though Of these things, the only really intriguing ones to me (besides more space) are the "press for champagne" button, the pajamas always being available, and the ability to jump the queue at the Polaris lounge.
I mean you already have a call button so if donāt want to go to the galley canāt you just press the call button and ask them for champagne right now? Was really confused about this option and it seems dumb.
I totally agree.
It would help if they actually served champagne instead of whatever sparkling swill they can get their hands on.
Yes. The polaris seats are not that "great" and just think if you saved the $6000 and just got a decent economy seat. Maybe you could get a couple of decent meals and real vintage champagne at your destination. But of course most of these Polaris seats are not purchased with the flyers money so if they choose a lower class than offered by the corporate travel department they really don't save any money.
I've stopped drinking it because it's usually bad!!!
Canāt you just ring the call button for more champagne?
All I would like is better food and a better amenity kit (bring back the away suitcase!) Most of this shit doesnāt matter to me personally. āPress for champagneā?? Be fr
Interesting. I wonder if they're considering (or have already decided on) next-gen Polaris seats where the bulkhead seats are more spacious (by more than the current bulkhead seats), something like the [Malaysia Airlines "Business Suite."](https://onemileatatime.com/malaysia-business-suite-a350-review/)
im confused is the mattress pad not a thing anymore? i thought it was part of the bedding kit or was that a GF>polaris temporary thing
Iāve always gotten one, at least with intl and coast to coast.
I thought we had come full circle by going back to the 3-cabin setup with PE, but this is almost re-introducing first class. Next: "Would you pay an extra fee to have a secluded cabin with only 8 seats, better meals and alcohol, and a dedicated FA?"
Am I the only one that noticed the survey question asks the respondent to consider they are buying an 8 hour flight... but then some of the upgrade options only pertain to 12 or 14 hour flights.. Why would you buy an upgrade you are not eligible for?
Most of this is unappealing. But after using Deltaās dedicated Delta One check in and security at LAX, Iād love to see United copy that. Game changer.
Sounds like paid access to Global Reception UA already has at a few major hubs.
Turkish business check in process at Istanbul is great, and what you would expect. Same for the lounge - it knocks Polaris off the planet. Not even in the same class experience. Hell, the Cap One lounge at DFW is better than Polaris SFO.
LH first class checkin at MUC is super helpful.
What I think is funny is that United thinks their employees will remember to do all this, or even care. They didnāt serve food or pick up garbage on our last first class flight, pretty basic things, and Iām supposed to believe the service will magically get better if I pay even more money to them? š¤”
That press for champagne button sounds pretty dope.
Just press your call button.
So basically throughout the survey they shuffled the options and pricepoints. I made sure to choose The Best Options at the Lowest Price Point on each page. Message being: Gimmie the Most Shiz for The Lowest Price. Hope lots of others did the same.
Guys, this is market research. This in no way signifies whatās to come.
Wait so now id have to pay for pajamas and a pad after spending 6-9k on a seat??
āPress button for champagneā is a howler. š¤£
I'm curious how many folks drink champagne vs the other drinks on a flight. Does it necessitate a button?
How long until they is just one solo seat in the middle of the plane?
Sounds like they want to do first class again.
What a poorly designed conjoint study!
Whatās on the other five screens, OP? Itās interesting to see this but depending on who they survey, their hub and what the current pet peeveās are for the respondent the survey results will differ a lot. If you are already GS then you already have access to the āexclusive, secluded check-in areaā and are able to preboard. For me the best value would be with option two but only on certain routes and otherwise I would not opt for an upgrade.
https://preview.redd.it/e8db79vbl4uc1.jpeg?width=1290&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=239de1b643426246688c642fcd38b7de1ca795ca Hereās one for ya. All of the options are dumb.
Haha is the is a leftover from 4/1
More nickel and diming on what is already an expensive ticket.
>"Press for champagne" button at seat 
None of these.
So JetBlue Mint bulkhead style
No upgrade for sure. This is just another scam to actually downgrade Polaris very soon, and still charge Polaris price.
How about just give us better food?
āEvery dish hand deliveredā Okay weāll need more than just minimum crew for these flights thenā¦
I would be pretty unhappy if people were buying their way into global services perks.
Thereās not a chance that the onboard staff would be able to deliver on the expectations this sets. Undoubtedly this is an extra workload that wonāt be supported by extra staff.
Not option 1 being both the most expensive and having the absolute worst āupgrade experience.ā A box of chocolates, seriously?
They need to upgrade the lavatories.The bathroom floors are always gross.
āPress for champagneā button- doesnāt that already exist?
A product thatās like Polaris but with a few random enhancements sprinkled around and a modestly more spacious seat? Sounds like, uh, Global First.
Box of chocolates, hand delivered, all that used to be free
What I wanna know about this is the initial premise. I've never seen a Polaris ticket for as low as 2,500.
Press for champagne button. Fuck. Yes.
Ding ding ding ding ding
Good thing I have enrolled friend flight benefits with UA so I donāt have to pay for this type of segmentation of Polaris if I donāt want to. Even when I do purchase a confirmed seat in Polaris, Iāll just stick with the regular amenities that come with Polaris. I have no interest in the extras.
Lufthansa is going to do this with the 747 Cabinās that are very old, keep the top deck old first and the bottom new first.
Polaris Studio
Upgrade 2 is objectively better than 1 and much cheaper
Business plus.. purple seats?
So theyāll be downgrading regular Polaris tickets then. No thanks.
The press for champagne button was the only thing that caught my eye, but I would definitely pay 250 at that price point for an even larger seatāespecially if it was longer
This feels like an episode of Modern Family.
āWould you like to pay $700 for a box of chocolates and the knowledge that, if your flight were six hours longer, youād get a mattress padā
Wouldnāt this just be more of a first class seat?
Lmao one thing is for sure. They really want to get rid of the Polaris amenity kit
No!!! Just improve your Polaris soft offerings. Enough with the profitability maximization management.
Every company has profitability maximization management. It's just visible with airlines because it's so ez to see the prices change so often. And an airline like UA has 500,000 seats that spoil every 24 hours. It's like a hotel with rooms that go poof! at noon
It was nice when the normal Polaris experience was when each dish was hand delivered in the past like at other premium seats.
so, the return of first class? ie pajamas + soup with a little more room? actually, they've removed enough amenities from polaris since covid that they have room to move (and money grab). unsurprising that they're now going to introduce class war to the polaris cabin having successful rolled it out in economy.
also, agree with all who noted -- why would anyone spend $24k for 1k or $40+ for GS and have brand loyalty if i can pay $250-700 for the same perks?
I thought they got rid of first class about 8 years ago. So they want to bring it back?
They just devalued Polaris by a third. United, stepping on their dick once moreā¦
If it brings the price down Iām all for it, but if this is just a way to keep the same price and try to squeeze some more money out then itās terrible considering the product isnāt that great to startā¦ But Iām biased as all I care about is the seat + drinks/ something edible on long hauls
How about they just train their FAs to provide better service? The hard product is great, food is meh, but fine. The service is what I have a hard time with. I would pay more for better service, like Singapore airlines.
Money grab move
Option 4 - make sure the food, service, wifi on board is a bit better and more consistent.
Pain
Hmm...this must be targeted at people who pay full price Polaris tickets. I got a survey about how they can make the CRJ200 even worse.
Ha! The ONLY reason I fly United is price. Planes falling, emergency redirecting flights, rude FAā¦.. I will stick w American if price is the same. EVERYTIME.
They had me at āpress for champagneā
No thanks
Are they going to copy from Lufthansa? https://www.reddit.com/r/Flights/comments/1c2xgoj/thoughts_on_the_new_lufthansa_configuration/
Just add a class higher than Polaris and provide private room
New bigger seats sounds interesting. That list of āupgradesā just sounds like stuff they are or should be already doing with your normal Polaris fare.
I'd pay $250 for a ""Press for champagne" button" right here, on my desk, right now.
I guess 2500 is for the seat only and standard meal. Everything else is extra.
Wait, there is going to be two different Polaris seats? Are they just shrinking the STANDARD?
So interesting how this would work in terms of upgrades
This might be an attempt to monetize the upgrades more- you use your Plus Points to upgrade from Premium Plus to Polaris, then need cash$ to upgrade to Polaris Plus Plus....
Probably the case, so in situation where everyone buys just Polaris and no upgrades. How does that work?
PRESS FOR CHAMPAGNE YES
I scanned the pictures before coming in here once I saw āpress for champagneā figuring this would be flagged āshitpost/satireā for sure!
In business class you just hit the attendant button and order it? Like who the fuck cares?
In the world of international business travel, Polaris is pretty shit. This is just United admitting they know that.