Review: United's new Reykjavik (KEF) to Newark (EWR) service in Polaris
- Jacob
- Jun 6, 2018
- 4 min read
While I typically travel ~125,000 miles per year through work and personal trips, my 2018 travels have mostly consisted of short-haul trips so far, placing me about a quarter of the way to renewing my United 1K status with 7 months remaining. In an effort to get back on track, I spent this past Memorial Day weekend gallivanting across Europe on one of my favorite mileage runs to date. After spending a few hours on Google flights back in early March, I found a perfect itinerary, taking me to Vienna, Austria (with an overnight layover) and Copenhagen, Denmark (my actual destination). My itinerary:
May 25: Austrian flight 94, Washington Dulles (IAD) to Vienna (VIE), departing 5:05 PM arriving 8:10 AM (+1)
May 27: Austrian flight 301, Vienna (VIE) to Copenhagen (CPH), departing 7:15 AM arriving 9:00 AM
May 28: SAS flight 595, Copenhagen (CPH) to Reykjavik (KEF), departing 8:30 AM arriving 9:45 AM
May 28: United flight 139, Reykjavik (KEF) to Newark (EWR), departing 11:55 AM arriving 2:05 PM
May 28: United flight 4974, Newark (EWR) to Washington Dulles (IAD), departing 8:50 PM arriving 10:29 PM
To be sure, this was not a trip for the casual tourist, but at a price point of just $598 (albeit in economy) and yielding 8,759 Premier Qualifying Miles (PQMs), it was too good to pass up. While most of my mileage runs include layovers too short to allow me to leave the airport, this one was perfect for seeing Vienna and Copenhagen, with about 24 hours in each. Perhaps the best part of the trip was that I was able to find "R" upgrade space (using United Expert), allowing me to confirm my seat in United Polaris (business class) in advance using one of my 1K Global Premier Upgrades (GPUs), the focus of today's review.
Since I'd been to Vienna before, I actually added another city to my trip, taking the 3-hour train ride to Budapest for a fantastic day trip. I spent the night at the Vienna Moxy (review forthcoming), and then flew to Copenhagen the next day, staying at the Marriott Copenhagen (review also forthcoming). I then began the trek back to the US with a mild 3-hour flight onboard SAS to Reykjavik, where I connected to United's newly launched service to Newark.
Transit in Reykjavik went fairly smooth, with about an hour between flights. Passengers have to clear immigration when departing from the Schengen Area, and then board flights to the US on the lower level in the "D" gates. As this was only the fifth flight (having launched that week), boarding was fairly bumpy, to say the least. While I learned that United had sent three agents from the US to assist during the first week, it was clear that the local gate agents were still learning the ropes. We boarded about 15 minutes behind schedule, with the lead agent reading slowly from the United boarding script line by line. Document checks and enhanced security only added to the delays, but we ultimately departed just a few minutes late thanks to a low load factor. I'd estimate that the Boeing 757 was only two-thirds full, with much of the back of economy completely empty.
United's internationally-configured 757s are equipped with 16 lie-flat seats, arranged in a 2-2 layout. At my seat I found a Saks Fifth Avenue pillow, blanket, and duvet, and upon request I received one of United's new gel pillows and mattress pads. I also found an amenity kit complete with a toothbrush, toothpaste, an eye mask, socks, and a few other standard products.
Soon after taking my seat a flight attendant took pre-departure drink orders and passed out lunch menus. I was disappointed to learn that the dining service would be more limited due to pending catering security permits that prevented the flight to be catered out of KEF. Instead, both the outbound and inbound flights were provisioned from Newark, which I was told resulted in more basic options.
Within 15 minutes after departure meal service began with the standard hot towels and nuts, as well as drink orders. I requested one of the new Polaris wine flights, but was told that United had discontinued the tasting (due to its extreme popularity). This was disappointing, but I did request a sampling of the available wines. I tried a California Chardonnay, a French red, and California Pinot Noir, and while none were particularly memorable, they were at least drinkable (not always a guarantee on US carriers).
I ordered the grilled chicken breast for lunch, which was served in a red cream sauce with grits and green beans. While not very spicy, the sauce was delicious and the chicken was tender and juicy. The entree was served on one tray with a quinoa salad and an assortment of breads. Dessert was a pre-packaged cheesecake slice, by no means anything special but fairly tasty. The service was friendly and very attentive, which is not always the case. Overall, not a bad meal, if not the true Polaris experience.
With about 4.5 hours remaining in-flight, I decided to test out the new Polaris bedding, setting up my mattress pad and duvet in my lie-flat seat. I have to say, having flown United's old inferior business product numerous times, this is a huge improvement; I fell asleep soon after closing my eyes, and was able to easily sleep 2 hours. As someone who usually has trouble sleeping on planes, even in business class, this was a refreshing experience. Make no mistake: the Saks Fifth bedding has elevated United to among the best sleep experiences in skies.
I awoke with about two hours left of the flight to breathtaking views of Greenland (now on my list of future destinations), and spent the remaining time getting a bit of work done using the in-flight WiFi. Speeds were solid, easily supporting web browsing and email.
To the point
Overall, while my Polaris experience wasn't anything life-changing, United got me to Newark in comfort without any major issues. While the dining service wasn't the Polaris offering that I'd expected, the quality was fairly good and the service was friendly and attentive. Certainly not worth $2,000+ the flight sells for in business class, but if you can find award or upgrade space, this is a great way to get to and from Reykjavik for your next trip to Iceland.
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