If you’re an avid traveller, especially in First or Business Class, it probably hasn’t escaped your attention that the major US carriers have been catching up on their competitors in Asia and the Middle East with their cabin products in the last few years.
One of those is United’s latest ‘Polaris’ Business Class, now being rolled out on a variety of the Star Alliance carrier’s routes. This one is of particular interest to us as you can use your KrisFlyer miles to redeem a seat in this new cabin, laid out in a 1-2-1 configuration with direct aisle access for all.
All ‘Polaris’ seats are not created equal
United refers to all of its long-haul Business Class products as ‘Polaris’. Heck it even refers to many of its domestic seats on ancient Boeing 757s this way. That causes a lot of confusion, so let’s clear it up.
‘Real’ Polaris, which is what we’re taking about here, is the very latest 1-2-1 configuration direct aisle access seats. A far cry from what United has offered before, they look like this:
As you would expect, these seats convert to fully flat beds, with bedding provided by Saks Fifth Avenue.
Unfortunately United is not flying the new Polaris seats to Singapore. It’s daily flights to Los Angeles (ending next week) and San Francisco use the Boeing 787-9, which has a far inferior 2-2-2 Business Class seat. It looks like this:
Perhaps bearable if you are travelling as a couple or with a friend, but certainly not ideal for solo passengers.
In order to experience the new Polaris seat therefore, you’ll have to start your journey from another Asian city. Luckily United is flying the new product daily from several cities which aren’t too hard to get to from Singapore.
Beijing to San Francisco
| Flight Details | ||
| Aircraft: Boeing 777-300ER |  |
|
| KrisFlyer miles: 105,000 | ||
| Distance: 9,516km | ||
| Flight Time: 11:50 / 12:35 | ||
| Other Redemption Options | ||
 |
Lufthansa Miles & More |
67,500 |
 |
United MileagePlus |
70,000 |
 |
Thai Royal Orchid Plus |
72,000* |
 |
Avianca Lifemiles |
75,000 |
 |
EVA Air Infinity MileageLands |
87,500 |
* Thai Royal Orchid Plus redemptions on Star Alliance airlines must be booked as round-trip. Mileage shown is one-way.
Taipei to San Francisco
| Flight Details | ||
| Aircraft: Boeing 777-300ER |  |
|
| KrisFlyer miles: 105,000 | ||
| Distance: 10,410km | ||
| Flight Time: 11:45 / 13:40 | ||
| Other Redemption Options | ||
|
Lufthansa Miles & More |
67,500 |
|
United MileagePlus |
70,000 |
|
Avianca Lifemiles |
75,000 |
|
EVA Air Infinity MileageLands |
87,500 |
|
Thai Royal Orchid Plus |
96,000* |
* Thai Royal Orchid Plus redemptions on Star Alliance airlines must be booked as round-trip. Mileage shown is one-way.
Hong Kong to San Francisco
| Flight Details | ||
| Aircraft: Boeing 777-300ER |  |
|
| KrisFlyer miles: 105,000 | ||
| Distance: 11,147km | ||
| Flight Time: 12:35 / 14:40 | ||
| Other Redemption Options | ||
|
Lufthansa Miles & More |
67,500 |
|
United MileagePlus |
75,000 |
|
Avianca Lifemiles |
75,000 |
|
EVA Air Infinity MileageLands |
87,500 |
|
Thai Royal Orchid Plus |
96,000* |
* Thai Royal Orchid Plus redemptions on Star Alliance airlines must be booked as round-trip. Mileage shown is one-way.
Check out a review of this route in Polaris, on a flight between San Francisco and Hong Kong, by One Mile at a Time.
Tokyo Narita to San Francisco
| Flight Details | ||
| Aircraft: Boeing 777-300ER | ||