The Ones (Ep. 11) - United's Polaris Business to Singapore!

foreign [Music] welcome back to my channel and welcome back to my series titled the ones where our goal is to visit every flight number one that exists in the world today our journey takes us on United Airlines flight number one which is a service from San Francisco out to Singapore on a 787-9 and we'll be doing that in the Polaris business class which I'm excited to try out because it is regarded as the United States best international business class so we're going to put that to the test today but let's head inside and check in for our flight [Music] now United is San Francisco's biggest carrier San Francisco is one of United's bigger hubs and it's their main hub for their trans-pacific services they do have their main check-in area in terminal 3 but mostly just for domestic although you can check in for your international flights so if the international terminal is too busy head over to Terminal 3 and that's my hack of the day for you but we headed to the international terminal where United also has a bunch of check-in desks especially if you are flying in Polaris or you're a member of United's Premier 1K which is their highest status group it's a pretty quick line to get through now just inside security immediately to the right our first up is United's famous Polaris Lounge now United's Polaris lounges are some of the best in the world and it actually the one in San Francisco was ranked the best business class Lounge in the world the year was built until qatar's elmojan business class Lounge was renovated a year later and opened up for that now the Polaris Lounge is tough to gain access to because you can't get in there with status alone you have to have a business class ticket or first class ticket on United or another star Lions carrier so I've only actually been in this Lounge once before if you've seen my Lufthansa 747-8 video but today's our first time getting in here and taking a full tour of the lounge and I hope you'll enjoy that tour down here on the bottom floor is a lot of single or double seats really meant so you can get some work done it's got some quick grab snacks but it's really not meant for you to hang out with big groups especially because the main restaurant and bar and everything is upstairs but it is much quieter and much more private down here just because most people do head upstairs to the restaurant in the bar so if you are looking to get some work done this is a great place as you can see there's a bunch of seats here for you to sit down with charging ports and cubicles to divide you from the other people if you are with a big group it's a little bit tougher to find a spot down here but there are plenty of seats around the edge that have two seats next to each other if you're traveling with another person you also have a great view of the ramp so while you're sitting here you can look out at the ramp there's no great views of the active Runway but once the plane actually take off and are above that terminal you do get to see them for a little bit as they depart the area now there is a little bit of stuff down here to keep you fed there is this table of drinks that's the biggest item here with this assortment of coffees and teas and across from that is the soft drinks and above that is just some apples oranges and croissants so very minimal but if you're just looking for a quick something while you're studying or especially a drink this is a good place for you to stop by and grab something now even though the terminal does obstruct some of the view here from the lower deck of this Lounge I was having a good amount of fun playing spotting watching all the different interesting aircraft take off and land from the SFO the bank of time from about 5 to 7 PM is a actually pretty busy time here for San Francisco with a bunch of interesting aircraft especially transatlantic aircraft departing so I got whatever view I could while I sat around for a couple hours getting some work done and drinking a nice coffee the last item downstairs here at the far end is the shower Suites in the quiet rooms which we will take a look at later so stay posted for that after that there was time to head upstairs where first they had their Banner on display here showing that they were the world's best business class Lounge in 2018 before the Amazon Lounge at Qatar was finished up now upstairs is the main meat and potatoes of this Lounge it's where most of the stuff is that you can do and so therefore it is also a lot more crowded so if you're looking for a more private setting downstairs may be the place you want to hang out anyway they also use this wall that makes it impossible to read the signage on it unless you're right up next to it one thing that makes this Lounge extra beautiful is that in addition to the marble style floor and walls that matches the onboard product the other walls and especially the lighting that carries on throughout this Lounge just gives the lounge an even more beautiful appearance to the far right around the corner is what they call the studio and it's basically an area with some private seating that is separate from the main buffet and the main dining room and so it does end up staying a little bit more private as far as the upstairs rooms go but there is much more food and drink options than what you're going to find downstairs even though it is less than the buffet in the dining room considering this area stayed a little bit more private it is a nice place to hang out and considering it's on the second floor it did afford even better views of the ramp with mostly unobstructed views over the terminal [Music] now back towards the top of the escalators to the top floor we find a few of these work rooms which are in closed areas with desks and plugs and everything so if you need to get some secluded work done this may be the place to do that just past that that we reached the main seating area here that directly connected to the buffet and bar you can see there's much more places for larger groups to sit and that is who is spending most of their time here making it a little bit more crowded we also over here do find the signature Polaris Bar which does have some great drink concoctions including their signature drinks and the blue lighting overhead just makes the bar absolutely gorgeous foreign at the end of that hallway we reached the buffet area and the buffet is broken down into a few different sections depending on what you're looking for may it be a salad an entree dessert or drinks there's an area of the buffet for you now this is more informal than the actual dining room so a lot of people that were traveling with larger groups or traveling with kids were taking advantage of this option it's also much quicker so if you do have a shorter connection it's much easier to grab something from the buffet and take it back to your table as opposed to waiting for a table and a waiter to bring you your food at the far end of the upper deck is where we find the formal dining room which is where I decided I would eat today this is because I wanted to try out some of the stuff they had to offer but there was a little bit of a wait they told me it would be about 30 minutes so I decided to wait for my table instead but unfortunately there wasn't the greatest view of the ramp from up here considering the roof now got in the way so I explored other things particularly the restroom hallway which I got some weird looks filming the restroom hallway but once people came over themselves and saw the fake starry night sky Illuminating the hallway a lot of them understood why and more of them started taking pictures as well anyway it was pretty easy to kill time once I found a good corner with a good view and enjoyed the sunset from the lounge while watching more airplanes take off and land here in San Francisco All That Made Easy by their text messaging system so that the second my table was ready all that they had to do was just send me a text and I could head over which I did get after about 20 to 30 minutes after I headed back to the dining room I was finally sat down in my spot for one given my place setting and a nice menu as well I do like that the menu sticks with the Polaris theme and once you look inside you'll see that there's plenty of great options I decided to go with their signature Polaris Burger even though I was about to get a bunch of food on the airplane I had to try their signature creation and I'll just tell you that it was probably the best cooked item I've ever had in an airport restaurant the potato wedges were cooked perfectly as was the medium rare Burger which they absolutely nailed and perhaps the best part of that entire dining experience is that it's 100 free included in the cost of your ticket which is an absolutely added bonus in most Airport restaurants after that though I decided I would head back downstairs and off to a shower Suite where I could freshen up before my flight unfortunately there was a little bit of a wait for a shower Suite I was told that it would be about 20 to 30 minutes once again luckily I had left myself plenty of time and so I had no problem putting my name on the list and grabbing a seat in the meantime while I waited for my shower the shower Suite is stocked with minimal items but here on the desk you can see as a sign with a bunch of other extra things that you can ask for that they have stored behind the desk [Music] interestingly enough from the shower Suite Lobby was where I actually got the first view of the airplane that would be taking us out to Singapore today which is a five-year-old 787-9 registered to United for its entire lifetime and after roughly 35 to 40 minutes slightly longer than they had anticipated I was finally called up and given my shower Suite walking down another Starry lit hallway just like the restroom hallway and into my private shower Suite personally this may be my favorite shower Suite that I've ever stepped foot in in an airport for a couple reasons first off is just the sheer amount of space that you have while you're in here second off is all of the different surfaces both the sink the walls and the floors and the lighting around the mirror and on the ceiling is just perfect it carries that theme throughout the lounge and right into the shower Suites as well [Music] in addition having the cushioned bench as a place to sit and put your shoes on or get dressed is a wonderful touch and just past that is the beautifully decorated shower as well full with the amenities that you could need to take your shower now showered up and ready to start the day the first stop was back into the main part of the terminal where you can see just adjacent to the Polaris Lounge is your entrance from the domestic Gates so if the international terminal is super busy my favorite hack at SFO is to check in at the domestic Gates and take this short hallway that connects the domestic Gates Right Back to the international terminal here where you pop out as I said right next to the Polaris Lounge now the G Gates is one of two wings of the international terminal here it houses pretty much all the Star Alliance carriers so that if you are flying United or a Star Alliance partner you do have access to the respective lounges but the first gate G1 is going to be our gate today in the meantime it was still about 30 minutes until boarding which gave me a little bit of time to see my airplane and explore the terminal just a bit before getting on board SFO has actually recently voted to have the best airport selection of food in the United States so there's plenty of food options even without lounge access we do see the United Club here as well so Star Alliance Gold members do have access to the United Club regardless of cabin but perhaps my favorite feature of the terminal at the far end if you've watched my channel you know it well is the terrorists overlooking the rest of the G Gates From the Terrace amongst other things you get a great view of the aircraft parked here at the G Gates including the Singapore Airlines a350 that just 30 minutes before us was going to be departing on the exact same route as us there's also plenty of places to just sit and relax and considering I find the terminal itself to be kept just a little bit too warm I love spending some more time outside here where it's a little bit cooler but a few minutes left until boarding it was time to head downstairs to my boarding gate if you've watched my videos you know that upstairs here in sfo's international terminal it's all the restaurants and seating from there you can head downstairs to the East Pacific boarding gate where you actually get a pretty good view of your airplane while you wait to board now as United began to call for boarding here for flight number one the gate lights began to show up even though they were still only on the pre-boarding stages now as United's Premier 1K level of status I do fall in the freeboarding category towards the end before they actually get to boarding group number one now people have their opinions on U.S airlines a lot of people think that the other airlines around the world are much better and while they may not be to the level of the gulf carriers one thing I will say is that I personally find polaris's business class to be probably amongst the most comfortable seats that I've flown in in business class you can see the beautiful cabin atmosphere in a one two one setup obviously you want to be sitting in an odd numbered row because you'll be a little bit closer to the window than if you were in an even numbered row although even in the even numbered rows you still do have a good amount of privacy from the aisle 5A is going to be my seed if you know the 787-9 you know never to order row number five because it's missing a window so I only have one window as opposed to the rest having two also just to show you here's row number six this is the one that's a little bit closer to the aisle as opposed to the window but that little side partition does still give you plenty of privacy all player seats come stock with the same items basically you get the bedding which includes the Saks Fifth Ave blanket Saks Fifth Ave pillow and the comforter and in addition to that is the famous United Polaris gel pillow which is one of my favorite pillows in the world in addition to all that you get the away amenity kit which is also one of my favorite amenity kits just because of the hard shell makes it great to reuse for later purposes now slippers and pajamas aren't given in Polaris but on flights over 12 hours they are available on request a set of slippers however was waiting for me in my seat upon arrival we were also given a nice pre-departure beverage Choice along with the menu for today's flight I opted to go with a champagne to lead off what was supposed to be a wonderful 16-hour flight out to Singapore taking a look around the suite from left to right first we see the buttons to control the seat here we see first that The Siege recline by that wheel which you can push to one side or the other and when that lights green your seat is in the fully upright position there's also buttons to control the leg rest the lumbar support the lighting and what we'll see later as the Do Not Disturb mode and love them or hate them above that is where we're going to find those 787 Windows which are dimmable without any window shades of course my seat comes in with only one as opposed to the rest mostly having two directly in front of you with a nice sized touch screen in-flight entertainment screen which will take a deeper dive into a little bit later and directly below that is this nice little storage shelf with the USB charging port next to it I used it to charge my Apple watch so I could just rest the watch in that compartment below that's where you find your tray table with just with a little push releases it it slides on out and can unfold to be actually quite a nice size down below is the footrest where I opted to store my bedding for the time being since I couldn't reach it anyway and down below is a spot where you can store things I usually put my backpack but today my backpack was a little bit too full for that also attached to the seat in front of you just next to your seat back TV is where you're gonna find your coat hook and then to your right if you're in an odd numbered row is where your main countertop is going to be which is a pretty nice size countertop next to that countertop is the remote to control the TV with which is nice if you're reclined a universal power outlet and a USB charging port along with the plug for the headphones [Music] above that counters where you're also going to find this little storage cubby which can store a good amount of stuff you have with you also has this nice little mirror in case you want to check up on yourself throughout the flight just below that in your right arm rest is where you're going to find the literature pocket with these things like safety card and the United hemispheres magazine there's not a whole lot of space to store anything else in there but this small pocket here does allow you to hold your phone if you are reclined and in a live flat position it also does retract down there so if you are lying flat you don't want to be banging your elbow on it it can retract into the seat and then over your right shoulders where you're going to find your reading light with a button to just control the brightness although it's hard to tell in this lighting lastly my favorite feature in these 787s if you do get warm you do have individual air vents which isn't a given in these long-haul aircraft for some reason then checking out the restroom unfortunately the bathrooms on most 787s are pretty basic United's is pretty much the same at least they do at the blue accent wall the best thing they do have though is the amenities that come with it it's the same hand cream that you're going to find in the amenity kit as well which has a nice scent to it at least now to take a look through possibly my favorite amenity kit in the skies which is the away amenity kit now away is partnering with United if you're unfamiliar with them they're a luggage brand which is the reason why their amenity kits look like a mini piece of luggage inside though you're gonna find things like socks tissues dental kit earplugs and eye masks which are pretty normal along with the United pen you also get the Sunday Riley amenities which include a bunch of lotions lip balm and a cleansing cloth as well black parents came around to offer pajamas next either a small or medium or a large extra large I went with the small medium which fit me wonderfully and were very comfortable one thing I will say as you can see here this is a United Polaris eye mask I had from the old amenity kits personally I found these to be a little bit more comfortable and I do kind of miss this old quality of face mask foreign next thing I want to take a look at while we wait for other people to board is the United's in-flight entertainment system which starting off when you initialize it does lay out exactly how the flight's going to work as far as when meals are going to be served in this nice format this is the same in all cabins you know exactly when food will be available to you now as far as United's in-flight Entertainment System goes I do think that it's one of the best that you can find in the world just based on a selection alone and they do refresh the selection every couple of months so if you are a United frequent flyer you don't have to worry about getting stuck with the same options every single time you fly although I will say that I have been sad sometimes to see some of my favorite movies and TV shows just appearing after a couple months but they do have a great selection for example here you can see movies this is just the drama section you can see it just kind of goes on forever and this is the same with pretty much every genre that you would need to find another thing they do well is sorting movies by language they pretty much have every region of the world they fly to and it's either movies from that region or American movies translated to that language moving on to the TV shows next you'll see that it's more of the same like what we see in the movies where there's a bunch of different categories and within each of those categories there's a bunch of different shows some of these shows do have full seasons some of these shows are just a few Random episodes that fit a certain theme or whatever for example here you can see with modern family they still have the Valentine's Day episodes so that was something that they set up in February and it's just still around my guess is that in the next month or so that'll change some other features they have on the in-flight entertainment is things like the wellness section here which includes things for just mental collection but also some relaxation tips if you're looking for something to help you sleep there's also some great audio selections they have a selection of podcasts that you can choose from in addition to that some audio mixes some different albums featuring different genres if you just want to listen to some tunes while you're flying and then in a mix of music and TV shows they also have concerts and live events on here so if you're looking to watch a concert or maybe a stand-up bit there is plenty of stuff you can watch directly on your seat back TV lastly they also have games there's not a huge selection but it is nice if you're just looking to kill some time or especially if you're traveling with kids the other thing they have is a search function which is nice when they have so many options on a CPAC TV so you can type in the title that you're looking for and find it right here on the search engine in addition if you're scrolling through and you see something you like you can add it to your favorites which is accessible from your home screen making it an easy shortcut to things you know you're going to want to watch another great feature that they have on here is the ability to dim your windows directly from your screen you can see that middle icon there that looks like a window you tap on that and you can actually adjust the 787's dimmable windows in order to do that they also have the in-flight map which can also be loaded picture in picture so if you are watching something and you just want to check on the progress of your flight you are able to pull up this window or a little map in the corner to do so here's a little bit of what that map looks like I do love when the maps are adjustable where you can move it around you can zoom and you can also change the different views that you're looking at not all maps are created equal in this sense you also have the flight data page which you can pull up and see exactly the statistics about your flight although when we're still on the ground it's still pretty boring what isn't boring is seeing over 16 hours left of flight time there which makes me extra happy that I have my Polaris seat for this entire Journey now taking a look at United's in-flight wi-fi system which is extra important on the 787 considering the composite structure makes it so you can't even get any cell service while you're still on the ground once you get in there though you'll see a few options for example you have free messaging so if you're just looking to text throughout the flight they do offer that at no cost for the entirety of the flight Wi-Fi comes in a few different packages you can purchase it for different increments of the flight or you can get the full flight package which is something I definitely appreciate considering that most Airlines don't offer it as a full flight package anymore forty dollars is somewhat expensive but it does seem like they are working to reduce that as well I also want to add that one of the main critiques of us-based flight Crews is that they're kind of hit or miss some of them aren't as welcoming but I will say that the crew I had on this flight was amazing I had them actually on the return flight back to San Francisco a few days later and they were just as fun then specifically the Purser the one talking to the pilot there in the background of those clips his name is Andre one of the best purses I've ever had flying around the world with the Jet Bridge pulled away I decided to store things like headphones and chargers in my amenity kit which is something I like to do considering how sturdy it is you can reuse them for things very easily then I decided to get fully comfortable for the Long Haul here by putting my Polaris socks on storing my shoes and popping on my slippers that came with my Suite as well now the history of this route's a little bit interesting and that's because Singapore Airlines and some of the Star Alliance carriers haven't always seen eye to eye on certain things so when Singapore Airlines announced that rather than flying through Tokyo to get to San Francisco they were going to launch a direct service United was quick to launch the exact same service shortly before them since then the two have pretty much made up and they work in harmony now and after covid United has actually added a second daily flight between San Francisco and Singapore meaning that depending on the day there's either three or four flights a day between San Francisco and Singapore to choose from between both United and Singapore Airlines foreign okay [Music] [Music] once we were in the air considering it was almost 11 pm the crew wasted no time handing out our first meal so that those who wanted to sleep could get to sleep as soon as they wanted this meal service of course started off with a nice hot towel to get us ready while they heated up our meals and took our orders I also decided to get charged up which like I mentioned involves plugging my Apple watch in here so I can store that on the handy dandy shelf that comes here underneath that seat back TV screen meal service started with their signature bowl of nuts and a special surprise as you see a couple weeks before this flight took place United started serving rose on their flights I don't usually drink Rose but I felt like I had to to commemorate the occasion for the main course I decided to go with the tortellini option now United serves all their stuff in just one main tray here it had the tortellini with meatballs as the main course as the two sides they were two different salads although unfortunately I can't recall exactly what each salad was although one was just a mixed green and then also came with a slice of garlic bread as well as a pretzel bun as well for dessert they had these great custard Tarts that I thought were fantastic and to go with that I had a nice cup of chamomile tea to get me ready for sleep to get the seat ready for bed you just hold the switch down over towards the reclining position and let go when it's reclined to your perfect amount so to get it ready for bed you just hold it down until it's completely laid flat which took about a minute or so then I was able to get the bed fully ready they have the two different blankets the blanket and the comforter as well as the two pillows both the feather pillow and the gel pillow which is a great touch they do also have mattress pads available you just have to ask for them however I didn't feel like that was necessarily A need considering the seat's pretty comfortable itself to go along with the comfy seat Comes The Comfy pajamas I actually thought they were very comfortable in the united Polaris branding on the back was an extra bonus even without the mattress pad this is one of the most comfortable airplane seats I've slept in the only drawback is it's not the biggest footwell so especially if you're a side sleeper you don't have a ton of space for your legs and your feet now when it comes to turning your screen off for sleep you can put it into a relaxed mode you can turn it off or you can set a message such as don't wake me at all or wake me for meals so the crew knows whether or not they should wake you I left mine on wake me for meals so they knew if they came by with food that they were allowed to wake me up in addition to that they also have a do not disturb on the outside there's a little moon symbol here you can see on the button panel and it triggers the Do Not Disturb light on the outside but that meant that my Suite was now fully configured for sleep so it was time for bed and I'll see you guys when I wake up in a bit after sleeping for a little over seven hours I woke up with just under eight hours left in the flight which seemed daunting looking at the map here you can see we were just over halfway there and still nowhere near land so I decided to check out the snack options they have these carts up in the galley where you can grab whatever you want off of them the sandwiches were pretty good however I decided that the main thing that I wanted was one more of those custard Tarts so I grabbed one of the sandwiches one of the custard Tarts and I also had them bring me a nice cup of tea which they were very quick about now you can see with the TV in front of you on my laptop on the tray table the counter to my right made excellent space for other things for example you can see I had the coffee the custard Tarts the chips and the sandwich and still space for more in addition that accent light perfectly set the mood here you can see one of the split screen modes where you can see things like the flight map and your TV program at the same time for example I'm watching crazy Rich Asians to get me in the mood for Singapore and I can still keep track of my movie as well if you are messing around with searching around you can also have picture in picture at the bottom you'll see my program's still playing down there finally a few hours later I found our flight on flightrader 24 and it looked like we are reaching the Philippines this was the first site of land that we had flown over during the entire flight although looking outside you'd never know considering just how dark it was outside the flight attendants then came through the aisles with that snack cart offering snacks to whoever was awake with pretty much all the options that were there I had opted to take a nice bottle of water as well as what the flight attendant recommended which was a cheese and fruit plate both of which were great a bottle of water I downed very quickly considering just how thirsty I had become through this flight [Music] another hot towel service meant that breakfast was most likely right around the corner so I grabbed my menu took a look through the breakfast items to pick out exactly what I would want prior to my arrival here in Singapore I decided to go with the shrimp kanji which was amazing also came with a fruit cup not quite as good as the fruit that I would have shortly in Southeast Asia but not bad also came with the croissant and a nice Greek yogurt as well I opted to of course go with another cup of tea this time it was green tea instead of chamomile tea to help me wake up and start my day in Singapore [Music] after what seemed like forever we had finally begun our descent into Singapore the good news we were way ahead of schedule by about 45 minutes the bad news that meant that we had beaten the sunrise and there wasn't actually much to see on the arrival we did have City Lights as we looped around the city to come in from the north over Malaysia but other than city lights and boat lights there wasn't really a whole lot to see on our arrival foreign [Music] thank you [Music] [Music] at long last we had reached Singapore which personally is probably my favorite place I visited this far in my travels this also meant that the windows started fogging up as is the signature Changi arrival as soon as the humidity hits the airplane those windows fog up before you have any chance to reach the gate and any chance to have any good footage as he attacks the end of the gate now that we've reached the gate you know it's time for it's time for our final Reflections and while I don't think there's any debate that Polaris doesn't necessarily rank up there with the world's best business classes up there with the Q Suites and Emirates and Singapore Airlines itself I do think that it Rivals the other U.S carrier as well I personally believe that Polaris is the best business class that you can find on a U.S airline I think that it beats the Delta one Suites I think that it beats the American Airlines Flagship Suites and especially if you have the right crew I think that it's a very enjoyable experience between the seat itself the in-flight entertainment and I think the food offerings depending on where you're going out of are also excellent personally I fly Polaris more than I could count but it is probably my favorite business class seat and that is definitely the reason why I choose to come back even when Delta and American are options as well now switching our mindset from United Airlines to Singapore's Changi Airport unfortunately United parks at the absolute furthest gate from baggage claim fortunately Changi Airport does have a SkyTrain inside security to transport you around the terminal if you're not looking to walk so depending on your mood that day you can just take the train which only takes a couple minutes as opposed to about the 15 to 20 minute walk now I do have a video that'll be coming up soon detailing Singapore's Changi Airport and everything that it has to offer which is so much in every single terminal here so I don't want to spend too much time there what I do want to focus on is just how empty this immigration area is considering every time that I've been here this line has taken forever but today it took me about two minutes and I was back through immigration and onto baggage claim now that we were out at this picturesque baggage claim it didn't take long before I was able to fully collect all my bags head out through the sliding glass doors and into the wonderful world of Singapore where the sun had finally began to start coming up I will some other videos coming up soon including some videos hopping around Singapore so stay posted for those but in the meantime welcome back to my series titled the ones thank you for following this journey along with me for now safe travels and I'll see you guys next time thank you foreign

Channel: Patrick Shea

Views: 73,796

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Id: 5cO0NX3vFcg

Length: 35min 31sec (2131 seconds)

Published: Sun May 14 2023