Check In and Security
United and all Star Alliance airlines operate from Terminal 2 at Heathrow. I arrived in on the Heathrow Express which is about a 10-15 minute train ride from London’s Paddington Station to Heathrow. It’s faster than an uber or taxi and if you book your tickets early, you can get a ticket for £10-17 each way.
The walk though from the trains to Terminal 2 is quite long. I’d budget about 15 minutes for that walk at least.
I arrived at Terminal 2 at about 8:00, which was about 4 hours prior to the 12:05 pm departure time. I decided to get here early so I could do some lounge hopping in Terminal 2 today. More on that later.
Check In Hall at Heathrow’s Terminal 2 is massive. So, you are going to want to pay attention to the signs to see where your airline check in desk is located. United’s check in is located all the way to the right hand side as you enter.
United’s check in desk at Heathrow has a few different options. There is an area for economy, one for premier access, one for Polaris and 1K, and one for Global Services.
I went to the 1K and Polaris line where there were two agents at the front of the line asking if I was 1K or Polaris and to show them my boarding pass. As I was fumbling in my bag to find my phone, she said, “Ah, please don’t do that! Just come on through!”
There was no line and friendly check in agent checked in my bag, printed my boarding pass and even let me know where to go and how to find the United Club. It was a very thorough check in process, which I appreciate.
There are also self-service kiosks for all Star Alliance carriers in the center of the Check In hall that you can use if you are just looking to print a boarding pass. I would’ve used these if there was no line for the regular full service Polaris check in.
Terminal 2 at Heathrow has two lines for security, one for general screening and one gold track security lane. Gold Track is available for those traveling in premium cabins or who are Star Alliance Gold members. You scan your boarding pass at the automated gate, and you’re in!
Heathrow is supposed to be implementing new scanning machines for bags where you don’t have to take out your electronics, liquids, or anything else out of your bag. Sadly, it was implemented in the regular lanes but not the fast track lane. Making it feel not so fast…
Security took me a few minutes, as of course, I got randomly selected for additional screening… which always happens to me when departing Europe, which is why I always allow for additional time. Today, there were not a lot of people at T2, so even with the random selection, it took me no more than 5 minutes.
Quick Note on Lounge Hopping
Heathrow’s Terminal 2 offers you a unique opportunity to access a few different Star Alliance Lounges. Because I had so much time to kill before my flight, I decided to do some “lounge hopping.” I’ve reviewed the Lufthansa Senator Lounge in the A gates before, and it’s nothing to write home about (it’s also closed for the time being), so I skipped that one and decided to check out the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge, the Singapore Airlines Business Class Lounge, and the United Club before my flight. All of which you have access to with a Business Class ticket on United.
Lounge: Singapore Airlines Business Class Lounge
Once inside of the B satellite, I made a left turn off the escalator and immediately there was the elevator to the Singapore and Air Canada lounges. As I exited the elevator, I found myself with a dilemma that only someone in business class or Star Alliance gold could face: which lounge do I go to first? Do I turn left for the Air Canada Lounge or right for the Singapore Lounge?
I was only standing there for maybe 5 seconds trying to decide when the agent from the Singapore Lounge came out and said “Sir, welcome to the Singapore Airlines lounge! Please come this way!” It was great! He made up my mind for me! He scanned my boarding pass and let me into the business class section.
Once inside there’s a long hallway into the main lounge area where you’ll pass by the food, bar, and dining area.
The food selection was excellent. They had a traditional English breakfast with eggs, sausage, bacon, baked beans… etc. but they also had some Singaporean offerings like Noodles, Chicken and rice. I got some of the noodles and chicken, and a sausage (but I put that on my plate before I realized there was Singaporean food), and it was delicious.
There is also coffee and self serve soda available.
There’s also croissants and other pastries as well as yogurt, and a lot of juices on offering, including blueberry and peach juice! I tried the peach juice and it was great!
The lounge is very nicely decorated and has very nice Singapore Airlines vibes. The main seating area is next to the bar and features a few seating options. The first of which is some armchairs by the windows.
There are also some chairs with tables for eating or working.
As you head deeper back into the lounge, there’s some more armchairs.
There’s also a living room kind of area with a TV.
There were these private looking pods that look a lot like a Singapore Airlines business class seat in terms of shape and design. I decided to sit in one of these for my stay and it was comfortable and private.
The lounge also has showers and bathrooms. I went into the bathroom and it is very clean. They had a bathroom attendant standing in there, who gave me a paper towel when I finished washing my hands. I didn’t take any pictures of the bathroom because I would’ve felt super awkward taking a picture with him standing there.
While in the lounge, I saw a Singapore Airlines 777-300ER pushing back.
The Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge
After a while, I decided to head to the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge. Wow, was I impressed. I’ve been to a few Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounges: LAX, FRA, YUL, and this one was by far the best.
You walk in and the vibe just feels relaxing. Like an Airport Lounge should feel, right? The lighting is nice, and the chairs all looked comfortable. They also play some chill beats music, which none of the other Star alliance lounges in this terminal do. It was also quiet. There were not many people because a lot of people flock to the Singapore Lounge or the United Club- probably because of the food for Singapore, and that the United Club accepts one time pass holders, if they can. United also has the most number of flights compared to these other two airlines from LHR, so the United Club gets crowded very easily.
Upon entering the lounge, you can either go right or left, though it doesn’t matter because it’s a circle.
If you go left, you’ll find the buffet, the bar, and the coffee and drink stations. On offer was your traditional English Beeakfast: sausage, bacon, eggs, has browns and baked beans. There’s also some pastries and oatmeal. The food is decent but there’s not a lot of variety in the mornings.
It’s funny, in every Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge I’ve visited in the mornings, none of them have pancakes or even maple syrup. You’d think that it being Canadian and it being branded as the Maple Leaf Lounge, that that would be an option. But I’ve never seen it!
The coffee machine has a selection of different options of Lavazza Gold coffee, which is nice.
If you go right, you’ll find the large seating area near the windows providing views of the ramp. You’ll also find an elevated seating area with couches behind some glass walls. This is where I sat for my visit because there was nobody else up there.
There’s also an Air Canada 787 model, and a giant pinecone in the lounge.
Just down the way from the large seating area by the windows is the suites that have daybeds. These are first come, first served, and were all filled when I was there.
If you went the other way there were two smaller “living room” areas with more private seating.
I loved this lounge, and I mean, I LOVED IT. The lounge was so quiet and relaxing. They even played relaxing soft jazz throughout the lounge to make it feel like a relaxing experience. It reminded me of what an airport lounge is originally purposed for: relaxation before your flight. And I honestly can’t remember the last time I was in an airport lounge that felt truly relaxing.
The United Club at LHR
I’ve reviewed the United Club at LHR before in extensive detail, so I won’t go into too much detail again here. I will just highlight my experiences today. You can view the extensive review here.
I left the Air Canada Lounge a bit early thinking that my boarding time was at 11:00, when really, it was 11:15. So, while I was walking, I realized I still had some time. So why not do a quick pop into the United Club?
But today, was different. It was special. I walked in and scanned my boarding pass. At which point the agent said, “Welcome in Mr. Shivpilot14! As a 1K member, you are welcome to use either side of the club.” I was like, “what do you mean?” Because I had never been invited to the other side of the club before in the many times that I’ve been here.
She explained that the other side of the club was what used to be the GlobalFirst Lounge, and now they reserve that space exclusively for Global Services and 1Ks. She said, “the buffet selection is smaller, and the bar is self service and you can walk back and forth between the two if you’d like, but it is much quieter and less busy!”
I was jumping at the opportunity to explore the old Global First Lounge.
When you step into the lounge, it looks just like any other United Club in terms of most of the décor.
There’s a small “living room” style area.
If you keep walking in, you’ll find the old decor from the Global First Lounge such as the clock, and the wine bottle display.
There’s the main seating area by the windows, which has better views of the ramp in my opinion than the regular united club because the bar and tables get in the way.
There’s a small buffet with a few options as well as a self service bar and drink station.
The lounge also has bathrooms which are all private, all gender bathrooms.
Boarding, the Cabin, and Seat
I didn’t spend a lot of time in the United Club as I just decided to pop in there for a quick few minutes before boarding. My gate today was B49, which is no more than a 5 minute walk from the United Club, despite the United app maps feature saying it was 21 minutes…
When I arrived at the gate, there was a security check as is standard for flights departing for the US. The agent asked to see my boarding pass and passport, and then asked me some security questions like if I packed my bags myself, if I purchased anything, if I was approached by anyone who asked to carry anything on… etc.
After clearing me through, she told me to join a particular line which was for 1Ks waiting to pre board.
Boarding for the 12:05 p.m. departure began at 11:15 a.m. I boarded with the other 1Ks.
Heathrow Terminal 2’s B gates have automated boarding lanes, and United does a great job at utilizing these lanes for queuing. Each lane has its own queue, and you’re either in the right queue or you’re not. It makes the whole boarding process so much more efficient to have everyone in the correct queue for boarding.
We boarded through door L2, where I was greeted by a friendly male flight attendant. I turned right towards the second cabin.
The Polaris cabin on the 777-200ER has 50 total seats arranged in a 1-2-1 configuration. The forward cabin contains 8 rows, totaling 32 seats. The second cabin is smaller, with 4 full rows (rows 9-12) of 16 seats, with row 15 consisting of 2 seats, for a total of 18 seats in the second cabin.
I found my seat, 10A, a window seat in the bulkhead on the left side of the aircraft.
At the seat, I found my bedding, with the gel pillow and the day blanket, as well as the duvet, and the amenity kit.
The seat controls are located next to the left[ armrest, with a wheel that allows you to adjust between fully-flat bed mode, and the fully-upright taxi, takeoff, and landing mode. You can also adjust your footrest, your lumbar support, and your recline with a lot of different combinations.
The IFE Screen is large, and United has a lot of options to choose from.
There is a faux marble countertop on the left side where you can set things on top of, this is where the headsets and the printed menu were located.
Just above the countertop is the IFE remote control, the universal power outlet, a USB-A charging port, the headphone jack, and a small vanity closet where you can store a few things during the flight. In there was a water bottle for use during the flight. I find this spot perfect for storing my toiletries and chargers.
The seat is well padded, comfortable, and extremely private. You can’t see another passenger in the cabin unless you really start looking for them, and nobody else can see you. Which is what I love about the Polaris seats.
The seat does feature individual air vents, which is nice.
I typically prefer the odd numbered window seats instead of these, as they offer more privacy and better window views, but there weren’t any at the time of booking, so this was the best I could do. I had booked this flight at the last minute due to the weather situation in Washington. I wanted to get back as soon as possible. I was originally supposed to fly out the next day.
The seat does feel less private than the the window seats that are in the odd numbered seats. Especially during boarding. I felt like I made ye contact with half of the plane and I don’t know how many bags and jackets bushed against me in my personal space during boarding.
Pre-Departure
At 11:24, the flight attendant came around and in her English accent said “Can I offer you some water or bubbles sir?” I heard a lot of people saying, “No just regular water, not water with bubbles.” And I had a bit of a chuckle because they didn’t realize that “bubbles” meant sparkling wine. I went with the “bubbles” today.
I took a look at the menu for today’s flight, which is now a printed menu booklet, instead of the card which was offered before.
At 11:44, the flight attendant who would be taking care of me today came to introduce herself. She said, “Hello, Nr. Shivpilot14! Is everything good for you? Can I get you anything?” I said “everything’s great, thank you!” She said “Lovely, can I take your meal order for lunch today?” I went with the beef tenderloin and the “goat cheese cheesecake” as my starter. She then said, “Perfect! Thank you so much for your loyalty as a 1K member, and if you need anything at all, please don’t hesitate to let me know!”
This is not typical on United, even in Polaris for 1K customers. This level of friendliness is above and beyond the norm and what is expected by me. I typically don’t expect to be greeted by name and to be thanked for my loyalty. And even something as small as saying “please don’t hesitate to let me know if you need anything at all!” goes a long way.
At 12:06, I got a notification from the United app saying we were delayed by 15 minutes because it was taking longer than expected for them to load the Cargo.
At 12:14, I got a notification that we would be delayed another 5 minutes. But at that time, the flight attendants came on to say, “We are closing the boarding door and getting on our way.”
The Flight
At 12:17, the purser, Janet came on to welcome us onboard and announced our flight time of 8 hours and 5 minutes.
At that point, the safety video started to play. I’m not a fan of the new United Safety Video, I just think it’s kind of boring compared to the previous “Safety is Global” video. I get that they needed to make a new video, but they should make it more engaging, so that people are more likely to pay attention. This weird thing with a ball bearing rolling around is just weird and boring.
Instead of watching the safety video, I decided to check out the WiFi options. WiFi was available for $24.99 for the full flight. I didn’t pay that l, because I’m a T-Mobile customer, I receive 4 full flight passes for free each year, so I used one of those to stay connected today.
We pushed back at 12:26, and began our taxi to the runway. We sat for a bit waiting for our takeoff window. I was pleasantly surprised to see, on flight radar24, that a British Airways 787-10 had departed ahead us for Washington-Dulles, given what the weather situation was forecasting in Washington.
At 12:47, we were rolling down runway 27L for departure.
Heathrow has climb profiles where you climb for a bit, level off for a bit, then climb for a bit again, and so on, so it took some time for us to reach 10,000 feet, but we reached it at 12:57, about 10 minutes after departure.
At 1:02, a hot towel was distributed.
At 1;06, the tablecloth was brought out.
At 1:09, the purser came on to announce that the light was not working in the forward lavatory for Polaris, and that they had to close the lavatory. Meaning that the two lavatories ahead of my cabin were the only ones that were operable. Meaning that there were only two lavatories for the 50 passengers in Polaris today. I’ll point out though, that the lavatories were kept relatively clean despite the large volume of passengers using them.
At 1:14, the captain came on to announce that we reached our cruising altitude of 32,000 feet and that we would be touching down about 10 minutes behind schedule.
At 1:25, the flight attendants came by with the drink cart to offer me something to drink.
I went with the French red wine. It was served with my choice of still or sparkling water and a ramekin of warm nuts.
At 1:42, my meal was brought out all on one tray. One thing I’ve never understood about United is why they serve everything at once without doing express dining on some flights, and not others?
I started with the “goat cheese cheesecake” and I just didn’t like the combination of flavors.
I then started eating the beef and within a few bites, I realized that something didn’t taste right. It tasted strange, and was really tough. And I looked at it and it was very much overcooked. It was full of fat, and was just not good. So, I rang the call bell and a flight attendant came immediately.
I said “I’m so sorry to do this, but this just doesn’t taste quite right to me. Is there another meal available?” She said “I’m so sorry about that! Let me check for you!” And took my plate.
She came back a few minutes later and said that the sweet and sour chili paneer was available. I said that would be fine. She brought it out a few minutes later. It was much better.
At 2:14, they came and cleared my tray and brought out the dessert carts I went with the ice cream sundae!
At 2:26, the flight attendant came by to ask if I wanted anything else, and when I said no, she said, “Oh come on! Another glass of wine?” I chuckled and said “That’s very kind, but no. Thank you so much!” The crew on this flight was great!
I fell asleep for about 90 minutes or so at some point and when I woke up, I decided to do the “call bell challenge.” It took a total of 3 seconds after ringing the bell for someone to come. It was lightning fast!
When she came she was so friendly and attentive, and asked what I needed. I asked for a Coke Zero, and she said “of course! Can I get you any snacks?” And I said “no, thank you!” Again, the proactivity of offering snacks is just excellent service, and truly above and beyond.
While she went to go and get that, another flight attendant came by and said, “Did you need something my love?” I told her that the other flight attendant was getting that for me. Wow, two people responding to my call bell within seconds! Amazing service.
At 1:01 pm local time in Washington, the flight attendant who brought me my Coke Zero came by to clear my glass and empty can. She asked me if she could get me anything else. I ordered a gin and tonic.
At 1:40, they came by and offered me another drink! I’ve noticed that my typical experience with United in Polaris is that you have to ask for things if you want them, but this crew was extremely proactive!
At 2:18, the lights came on in the cabin, and hot towels were distributed for the pre-arrival service.
At 2:23, a flight attendant came by and asked me what I wanted to eat. When I said I wanted the Wellington burger, I was told it was not available, and that a cheese and ham toastie was available instead. Which is kinda good, because I don’t like the Wellington burger. A moment later, it was served.
The toastie was quite good. I prefer it to the Wellington burger or the vegetarian chili. I wish they’d serve this on more flights!
Descent and Arrival
After I finished, my plate was cleared.
A few minutes later, a flight attendant came by to ask if I wanted another gin and tonic. I declined but it was a nice gesture.
At 2:54, the captain came on to announce that we were about 50 minutes out from touching down in Washington, and that if you need to use the lavatory, that you should do so within the next 5 minutes, before the fasten seatbelt sign comes on because we would have some rough air on the descent.
And they were right. At exactly 3:00, we began our descent, and the purser came on to say that service for the flight was concluded and asked the flight attendants in all chains to prepare the cabin for landing.
About 5 minutes later the flight attendants were asked to take their jump seats. And they were right, we had some rough air on the descent.
We touched down on runway 1R at 4:00 pm, and began our taxi into the gate.
We parked at gate C1 at at 4:07 pm, about 27 minutes behind schedule. I made my way off the aircraft and onto one of the famous IAD “moon buggies” where I got a nice view of the aircraft.
It took a long time for the bags to come. I waited at the carousel for over an hour. But, honestly, I didn’t mind it. It was very cold and it’s snowing hard here in Washington, so I appreciate the ground crew working as hard as they possibly can to get things done as quickly as possible in these severe weather conditions.
