The Guide to United Polaris Business Class

When flying in a United Polaris business class cabin, you’ll get a lie-flat bed, lounge access, free checked bags and a bunch of other goodies. Polaris is available on United's long-haul international flights and select domestic routes, such as transcontinental flights and to Hawaii. Here’s what to know.

Basic overview

When you purchase a Polaris fare, you might notice three options to choose from: base, standard and flexible. While Polaris base fares are cheaper, they come with more restrictions, such as change fees, cancellation fees and the inability to upgrade to Polaris Studio. If you want flexibility and perks, stick to standard and flexible fares.

• Bag allowance: Polaris passengers can check up to two bags (weighing up to 70 pounds each) for free. If you're on a base fare, you only get one complimentary checked bag.

• Premier Access: Those flying in the Polaris cabin also get Premier Access, which includes priority check-in, access to exclusive security lines (where available), priority boarding and priority baggage handling.

• Seats: You’ll find Polaris cabin seats set up in a 1-2-1 or 1-1-1 configuration. Both versions of the seat recline to a full 180 degrees and feature 76 to 78 inches of sleeping space. The width of the seat varies by aircraft and ranges from about 20 inches to about 22 inches. Most Polaris passengers can select a seat for free, but base passengers will need to pay.

• Lounges: Polaris lounges feature spa-like shower facilities, full-meal catering and Wi-Fi, and they're available at Chicago-O’Hare, Houston-Intercontinental, Los Angeles, Newark, San Francisco and Washington-Dulles airports. If your departure airport doesn't have a Polaris lounge, you can access a United Club or check with a United agent to see if there are other alternatives arranged by the airline. Travelers on a base fare don't get access to the Polaris lounge, but they can access United Clubs.

• Entertainment: United Private Screening offers on-demand movies, TV shows and more on a large personal screen. Enjoy the selection with a pair of noise-reducing headphones.

• Amenities: United provides Saks Fifth Avenue bedding to Polaris passengers, a pair of slippers and an amenity kit, featuring skincare items, ear plugs and an eye mask. Flights longer than 14 hours also include pajamas on request.

• Food and beverages: When flying in Polaris business class with United, you’ll be presented with a menu featuring dishes from around the globe. Usually, a meal features a salad, an entrée, bread and a dessert, like an ice cream sundae. You should get stainless steel silverware, cloth napkins and glassware made of actual glass. All beverages, including alcohol, are complimentary.

How to book a Polaris business class ticket with United

Go to United.com and enter your travel cities, dates, number of passengers and class of service. For Polaris, select “Business or First” from the drop-down menu.

You should be able to find Polaris flights under the “Business” column. Make sure it actually says “United Polaris business” when you select your flight options, especially when you try to redeem MileagePlus miles, as the options might include United partner airlines that don’t operate a Polaris cabin.

Also, flights with connections can be tricky and don’t display cabin information at first. Make sure to click on the “Details” dropdown arrow to see which flights do and don’t include a Polaris cabin.

After filling out your passenger details, you’ll have the option to select a seat at no additional cost.

Submit payment, and you’re now one of the lucky passengers to get a lie-flat seat in United Polaris business class.

» Learn more: The best airline credit cards right now

United Polaris vs. United Polaris Studio

United is debuting Polaris Studios on select Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners equipped with the airline's "Elevated" interior. While these seats aren't a separate cabin from Polaris business class, they do offer upgraded onboard catering and amenities. To buy a Polaris Studio seat, you need to be ticketed in United Polaris business class and pay a seat selection fee, which typically starts at $499.

You'll find Polaris Studios in the front rows of each business class section, which are the bulkhead seats of 1A, 1D, 1F, 1L, 9A, 9D, 9F and 9L. These seats are 25% larger than standard Polaris seats on the plane and they have a 27-inch 4K OLED screen (compared to 19 inches for standard Polaris seats on the same plane). Polaris Studio passengers also get perks typically reserved for United's ultra-top-tier Global Services elites, including a private check-in area and pre-boarding privileges. Onboard, you'll get a bite-sized caviar snack, elevated catering options and fancier amenities, including hooded pajamas and larger skincare amenities.

» Learn more: A first look at United's swanky new planes with Polaris Studios

These planes operate specific routes, and you'll find them on United's international long-haul routes from its San Francisco and Houston hubs. Here are some of the routes that offer Polaris Studio:

• San Francisco to London.

• San Francisco to Singapore.

• San Francisco to Zurich (seasonal).

• Houston to London.

• Houston to Sao Paulo.

• Houston to Sydney.

• Houston to Tokyo-Narita.

You can tell if you're flying on a plane with Polaris Studios by looking at the seat map on United's website.

If you are flying on a plane that does not have Polaris Studios, you can select a bulkhead seat in Polaris for free (assuming you're not on a base fare). These seats are typically more spacious than the others, but you won't get the extra perks of Polaris Studio.

United Polaris vs. United Premium Plus

A few years ago, United introduced the United Premium Plus cabin on some of the airline’s long-haul international flights and select domestic routes.

These seats are located behind Polaris business class seats in its own mini-cabin of just a few rows. United’s Premium Plus seat varies from 18.5 to 19 inches wide and offers passengers 38 inches of pitch and six inches of recline. Already, the biggest difference from the United Polaris seat is that a Premium Plus seat doesn’t make a bed in the sky. You simply get to recline several inches, but in terms of sleep on a long-haul flight, it’s not the same.

As for similarities, you also get to check free bags, receive a blanket and an amenity kit and a premium meal service when flying United Premium Plus. You’ll also have Premier Access at the airport.

In short, the United Premium Plus offers more of a premium economy experience (it’s a step up from Economy Plus, which is just an economy seat with extra legroom), whereas United Polaris offers a true business class experience.

» Learn more: Is United Premium Plus worth it?

Ways to get good value

Book with United MileagePlus miles

Because of the premium on-the-ground and in-flight experience, United Polaris seats can cost thousands of dollars for a round-trip flight. Using your MileagePlus miles instead of cash to pay for these flights is a good way to get outsized value from the rewards you’ve accumulated.

For example, a one-way award ticket from the U.S. to Europe could set you back as few as 80,000 MileagePlus miles.

Let’s say you can book a one-way Polaris flight from Newark to Berlin for $3,254.

Subtract the tax of $6.20, and the value of your United miles comes to 4.1 cents per mile after redeeming 80,000 miles instead of paying cash.

NerdWallet puts an estimated value of United miles at 1.2 cents apiece, so the redemption above is a great one. Make sure you calculate the value on your specific tickets as it can vary significantly.

» Learn more: How to use your United miles for max value

Use partner airlines’ miles to book the same tickets

If you don’t have United miles or don’t have access to any, you can redeem a partner program’s miles to book the same flights. United is part of the Star Alliance, so any member’s loyalty program should do the trick.

For example, you can book the same flight as in the example above for 80,000 Aeroplan points.

Although it costs the same amount in points, Air Canada points can be easier to earn thanks to their plethora of transfer partners.

» Learn more: The full guide to United partners

Pay for an upgrade to Polaris with PlusPoints

If you’re a top-tier elite member with United, specifically a Premier Platinum or a Premier 1K member, you can redeem PlusPoints toward an upgrade to United Polaris.

United elite flyers earn PlusPoints at the following rate:

• Premier Platinum: 40 PlusPoints.

• Premier 1K: 280 PlusPoints (in addition to the 40 PlusPoints earned after reaching Premier Platinum status) plus 20 PlusPoints for every 3,000 Premier Qualifying Points beyond 22,000 points.

So, if you’d like to upgrade yourself from economy class to Polaris business class on a long-haul flight, you can use 40 or 80 PlusPoints, depending on your purchased fare class. If you do the math, you’ll see that you receive such an upgrade once per year as a Premier Platinum member and up to eight times per year as a Premier 1K member.

Note that fare classes Y, B, M, E, U, H, Q, V and W are eligible for the cheaper 40 PlusPoints upgrade from United economy to Polaris on long-haul flights, while other fare classes will cost you 80 PlusPoints. Keep in mind that basic economy fares (which can be in any fare class) are ineligible for upgrades. Still, redeeming PlusPoints for an upgrade to Polaris business class yields more value than using your MileagePlus miles because miles don’t expire, but PlusPoints do.

United Polaris business class, recapped

When flying United Polaris, especially in one of the newly configured aircraft, prepare for a treat. The cabin offers a comfortable journey on a long-haul flight with premium lie-flat seats, bedding and in-flight meal service.

If you can redeem airline miles for one of these flights instead of paying a pretty penny, even better — you’ll save cash and get quite a bit of value in return.

Featured image courtesy of United Airlines.