Check In and Security
I arrived at IAD well before my departure time. I work close to IAD airport and had a slow working day today so I decided to head to the airport early and have a free lunch in the Polaris Lounge!
United has a few options for check in, head to the back of the check in area at IAD if you’re in Polaris in order to get access to the 1K/Polaris check in area.
IAD is generally busiest in the mornings and in the late afternoons, due to the large banks of early morning departures and evening flights. In the mid day, it’s quieter. So, security took only a few minutes.
Once through security, I took the train to the C gates.
The Lounge: The IAD Polaris Lounge
Flying in United’s Polaris Business class entitles you to access the United Polaris Lounge on departure and connecting airports along your eligible same day itinerary.
The Polaris Lounge at IAD is located near gate C17.
I’ve reviewed this lounge before in detail when it was first thing in the morning and I was the only one in the lounge, and nothing has really changed, you can review that here: https://flight-report.com/en/report/66522/united-ua2440-washington-iad-chicago-ord/
For today, I will just highlight my experience in the lounge such as dining, drink offerings.
My first stop was the Dining Room, which is where you can get a sit down meal. The menus are posted outside of the dining room. A printed menu is given to you when you sit down.
I was given my choice of still or sparkling water to start. I ordered a Hendrick’s and Tonic to drink.
For my meal, I decided to try the Arancini as my starter and the Rigatoni as my main.
As is typical of the dining room at IAD, the staff isn’t super proactive in giving good service. I’ve had much better service at every other Polaris lounge and this is just a swing and a miss every single time. Which is sad because I’m IAD based.
I say this because they don’t come around to check on you and aren’t super friendly.
The Arancini was really good the sauce was flavorful and it was crispy.
The rigatoni was okay… the sauce was spicier, which added a nice flavor but the pasta was overdone.
When I was finished in the dining room, I decided to grab a drink at the bar and sit near the window for the rest of my visit.
While I was waiting for my flight, I saw my aircraft being moved to a remote stand. The flight arrived in at 1:30 from Geneva, and I’m guessing they had to free up some gate space.
After a while, I decided that since I had so much time, I’d grab a shower in the shower suites.
It was extremely hot in the Polaris Lounge today. So much so that other people were even saying how hot it was. This was made even worse as the lounge filled up and more and more people started coming in.
I even, at one point just got a glass filled with ice. I then wrapped the ice cubes in a napkin and gently dabbed myself with it to keep myself cool.
At around 5:30, the lounge got about half empty. This is because most of the evening bank of transatlantic departures board before 5:30 pm.
Boarding, the Cabin, and Seat:
Boarding was set to begin at 6:30 pm out of gate C27, which was about a 5 minute walk from the Polaris lounge. Any gate in the C/D concourse is probably about a maximum 15 minute walk from the Polaris Lounge. I wouldn’t leave the Polaris Lounge too much early. The C/D concourse at IAD is depressing and honestly the Polaris Lounge is the nicest part of the entire concourse.
We boarded right on time at 6:30 pm. Boarding started with preboarding. I preboarded with the other 1Ks. Normally, Polaris passengers board in group 1.
We boarded through door L1, as the 767-300 only has one boarding door.
I made my way across the galley and into the second aisle where the L seats are located, and entered the Polaris cabin.
This 767-300 is arranged in a “Low J” configuration. There are 10 rows of Polaris seats arranged in a 1-1-1 configuration, for a total of 30 seats.
My seat for tonight’s flight was 1L. A window seat on the right side of the aircraft.
On the seat, I found my bedding, with the gel pillow and the day blanket on top of the other regular pillow as well as the duvet-style blanket. The amenity kit and menu were also on the seat itself.
The seat controls are located in the right 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, lumbar support, and recline with a lot of different combinations.
There is a faux marble countertop on the right side where you can set things on top of.
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, as well as the headset. 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. Unlike this aircraft’s brother, the 767-400, this seat features two individual air vents, as opposed to just one.
Additionally, seat 1L features two windows.
In front of you is the IFE screen. United has a large IFE screen that’s actually at your eye level (I’m looking at you Delta 767-300!) United’s IFE system is excellent with a lot of options.
Pre-Departure
Within 5 seconds of taking my seat, a flight attendant came by with a pre-departure offering of sparkling wine or water. I went with water today. Even though I’d had a drink in the Polaris Lounge, I hadn’t had too many. I just wasn’t in the mood for Sparkling wine.
United allows you to preorder your meal beginning five days prior to departure and ending at 24 hours prior to departure. I went with the Spicy Chicken, which is never had before. I took a picture of the food part of the menu for the purposes of this review. It was printed in both English and Dutch. The drinks menu and other parts of the menu are identical to my Polaris flight that I took two weeks ago from LAX-LHR. For a look at that menu, I’d suggest checking out that review here: https://flight-report.com/en/report/72030/united-ua923-los-angeles-lax-london-lhr/
At 6:52, a flight attendant, who introduced herself as Tracy, came by to confirm meal orders. I opted for express dining since this flight was only just over 7 hours, and I wanted to maximize my sleep. The odd thing was that she told me that they don’t do dessert with express dining, which is not true. I know it’s not true. She told me that if I wanted dessert, I had to wait for the dessert cart to come out. Because I’ve done it with so many flights before, but whatever- I chose not to make a big deal out of it. If, after I finished eating, I decided I wanted to have dessert, then I’ll have it. If not, and I was too tired, then I wouldn’t.
It’s just strange because if I was going to wait for the dessert cart to come out- then what’s the point of express dining? It makes no sense.
At 7:02, our female captain came on to welcome us onboard and announced a flight time of 7 hours and 31 minutes.
I noticed that the light overhead reading light above my seat wasn’t working, and neither was the reading light at my seat.
Departure and Climb Out
We started our pushback at 7:16, about 3 minutes ahead of schedule. This is also when the safety video began to play.
At 7:30, we were taking off on runway 30.
At 7:35, we reached 10,000 feet and were well on our way to Amsterdam.
Cruise
At 7:48, we reached 31,000 feet and a weird thing happened. Both of my reading lights just came on out of nowhere!
Additionally, the first officer came on to make an announcement, but you couldn’t hear him at all, so I had no idea what he was saying.
The lights then came on in the cabin. Which I’ve noticed doesn’t happen during meal time on other aircraft types, including the 767-400. But on the 767-300, I’ve noticed that they do this.
At 7:49, hot towels were distributed. The flight attendant actually asked, “Would you like a hot towel?” Instead of just handing it to you, as is usually done.
2 minutes later, a tablecloth was brought out.
At 7:56, my meal was brought out. A minute later, the drink cart came by and I went with the Chardonnay considering who good it was last week.
The burrata starter was good, and my meal was served with two pieces of bread- one of which was garlic bread, which United does right.
The Spicy Chicken for the main course was also very good. The Thai spices made it extremely flavorful, and the chicken was cooked perfectly, the noodles do make it a bit messy though- just a fair warning.
I ate the salad dry. It’s served with a red wine vinegar as the dressing, which I’m not a fan of. It’s just like dumping, well red wine vinegar, on some veggies…
At 8:05, we hit some rough air and the captain told the flight attendants to take their jump seats.
At 8:12, the flight attendants were back in action. A flight attendant came and cleared my tray.
At 8:27, Tracy came and automatically refilled my wine and brought me some water! Such proactivity!
At this point, I wasn’t too tired, so I decided just to sit back and enjoy my wine and wait for the dessert cart.
At 8:47, Tracy came by to ask me if I wanted another Chardonnay. I declined.
At 9:00, the dessert cart came around. I went with the ice cream sundae.
United’s Polaris seat is comfortable enough for sleeping. And United’s bedding is really good.
Sleeping on this flight in particular was difficult just due to circumstances. We hit a lot of rough air and had some pretty bad turbulence. This meant that the fasten seatbelt sign kept coming on and off, and on the long haul aircraft in United’s fleet there’s an automated announcement that says “Please fasten your seatbelts” every time the seatbelt sign comes on. Then, the captain had to come on a few times to ask the flight attendants to take their jump seats. In total, I probably slept for two hours on and off. I don’t blame the flight deck crew for this. The weather systems and winds have been really bad lately (just read the past 5-6 flight reports I’ve had), and safety is always the number one priority in this industry.
I woke up at 6:35 am local time in Amsterdam, about an hour and a half before landing. The lights in the cabin were on and as soon as I woke up, a flight attendant came by to say “Good morning! Joining us for breakfast?” When I said yes, he presented me with the options which were either “Creamy scrambled eggs’ or a “brioche French toast.”
I went with the eggs and a coffee with some cream.
The eggs were not that great. I wouldn’t describe them as “creamy” as the menu did. And they were a bit rubbery. There was zero flavor. I much preferred the kale egg pastry I’d had last week.
Once I finished my breakfast, I decided to pay a quick visit to the lavatory in order to brush my teeth and such. The lavatory had surprisingly been refreshed and cleaned mid flight. I was surprised, given all the turbulence, that the crew had time for this.
Descent and Arrival
At 7:28, the first officer came on to announce that we would be beginning our descent into Amsterdam and would be touching down in 32 minutes, and that we’d be parking at gate G9, which meant, looking at a map, that I had a hike to my next gate with Aer Lingus.
There was quite a low cloud layer in Amsterdam today.
We touched down on runway 36C at 8:04 am.
We parked at gate G73 at 8:09 for an arrival that was only 4 minutes past schedule. This wasn’t an actual gate, it was actually a remote stand. We had to deplane via airstairs and take a bus to the Terminal.
