Our path from O’Hare to San Francisco.

The day started bright and early, like 3 AM early. I was on-call and in the hospital the night before so a quick shower in the call room and I was on the empty roads heading to O’Hare airport.

Despite the early hour, terminal 1 was fairly busy at 4:30 AM.

After clearing security I headed over to the Polaris lounge. I read that it didn’t open until 7 AM but I figured it was worth a try.

It didn’t open until 7:45 AM actually so off to the terminal C United Club I went.

The offerings in the United Club were pretty standard, a choice of cereals,…

breakfast breads, and…

fruit and yogurt.

After a few snacks and a bathroom break, it was time to head on over to gate C-21 where N57862, a 2001 built Boeing 757-300 was waiting. Initially delivered to ATA, N57862 joined the Continental fleet in 2010.

Flying in First Class meant boarding with group 1 and at 5:35 AM boarding started.

I was hoping to get one of the 9 refurbished 757-300’s with the new First Class seats but alas the day before departure N57862 was subbed for N57868, the 757-300 with the new First Class that was originally going to be used for our flight. Either way, I was in my happy place, so I was still happy!

Safety is always first so of course, I quickly reviewed the safety card.

Now if you are observant, you will notice that it was pitch black when we boarded and now as we waited for takeoff, the sun was completely up. Despite pushing off of the gate two minutes ahead of schedule we sat in the penalty box watching plane after plane take off while the cockpit crew attempted to manually transmit the flight plan since the electronic transmission wasn’t working. As we sat there for almost an hour I saw my Polaris lounge time at SFO slowly evaporating.

Finally at 7:36 AM (exactly 90 minutes after we pushed off of the gate), our Rolls Royce engines came to life and with a dull thud, we were finally airborne. Love the look of that condensation flowing over the wings!

As we reached our cruising altitude of 34,000 feet, beautiful cumulonimbus clouds punctuated the beautiful blue skies.

Soon breakfast orders were taken and…

hot towels were distributed.

Choices were a vegetarian breakfast calzone or chia oatmeal. I opted for the former which was okay at best. The calzone came with a fruit bowl, yogurt and a selection from the bread basket. As always my perpetual diet went out of the window and I went for a cinnamon roll.

If you are going to eradicate all other forms of entertainment, you have to make sure that the wifi, streaming entertainment and power outlets work well. Today, United was zero for three.

The flight attendants made multiple attempts to fix or reset with minimal success.

So, I decided to catch a few ZZZ’s and woke up as we crossed the Utah-Nevada border where I spied…

these glorious views!

I guess the wifi, movies, and sitcoms are just mindless distractions and if all else fails the best show is unfolding right outside of the window anyway.

Soon the pitch of the engines changed and we began our descent over northern California. I am a man of many phobias and one of my phobias is crossing bridges. I absolutely hate them! Crossing this long bridge (San Francisco-Oakland bridge I think) brought back horrible memories of the long drive from Miami to Key West.

Soon we crossed the threshold and with a firm smack, we were in San Francisco. With less than an hour until my scheduled departure to Beijing, I knew that my Polaris lounge time was probably squashed!

Flight 888 path from San Francisco to Beijing.

Unfortunately, our late arrival into San Francisco meant that I literally was only able to take a quick walk through the Polaris lounge before heading over to gate G100 where…

N2341U, a 2017 built Boeing 777-300 was waiting to whisk me across the Pacific to Beijing.

Face to face with 175 tons of flying goodness. Boarding started right on time at 10AM and soon…

I was in the blue mood lighting of United’s Polaris cabin and…

seat 3A, my home for the next 12 hours. A full sized pillow, a smaller cooling gel pillow, a blanket, and a duvet were waiting on the seat.

I enjoyed the blue mood lighting as boarding continued, it definitely gives the Polaris cabin a signature feel.

Each Polaris seat has a large TV screen with a small storage area underneath. The storage space is nice but it would be even better if it was large enough to fit a laptop and had a lip or door to prevent things from sliding out during takeoff.

Being an aircraft devoted mainly to international flying, there are naturally a multitude of language options and the variety of movies and sitcoms was more than enough to keep you occupied on a longhaul flight.

Menus were distributed as well as boarding continued.

There were four entree options for lunch, I opted for the beef short rib.

I understand maximizing the bottom line but I think there is a fine line between maximizing profits and penny pinching on your premium product. Polaris would have a bit more of a premium feel if every passenger was given or at least offered a mattress cushion and a pair of pajamas. Best believe I got one of each!

Lunch orders were taken while pre-departure beverages were offered. I went for good ole H2O, gotta stay hydrated on long flights.

My proof of life pic. Yup, I was chilling in the blue glow of Polaris looking forward to my first genuine Polaris experience.

The new Polaris seats definitely have more storage space than United’s old eight across Business Class product, but I feel like there were ways to design a bit more storage space into the seats. The main in-seat storage space is this cabinet where the headphones and amenity kit was located. I also used it to store the small bottle of Dasani that was also waiting at my seat.

Slippers were waiting for each passenger in the footwell which also provided another storage location.

Each seat has a hook to hang your coat or jackets.

Here you can see the relatively small size of the storage cabinet when empty.

These table side lamps provided more ambiance than light.

This reading light also provided a source of illumination if needed when the cabin was dark.

Power is available in the form of a USB port as well as a standard electrical plug.

The seat controls are a little unique in that a roller wheel is used to convert the seat into a bed.

The tray table is located under the TV screen and it is deployed by giving it a little push which prompts it to pop out.

Before departure, I made a quick visit to the lavatory which I felt was a bit spartan for a premium product though it had all the basics.

We pushed off of gate G100 two minutes after the scheduled time of departure and slowly inched past a few fellow United aircraft waiting in the penalty box.

The Boeing 787-8 headed to Osaka that was next to us at gate G102 was hot on our tail during our slow roll to the threshold of the active runway…

which we reached after a ten-minute taxi. Being close to the nose of the airplane, you get some pretty nice views including this almost dead on view of the runway as we lined up for take-off.

Our GE engines came to life at about 11 AM pushing our sluggish and heavy Boeing 777-300 down the runway. The Osaka bound 787 was next up.

Notice the change in the wing contour as we climb over SFO, the beautiful aerodynamics of flight and lift!

After only a couple of minutes, we were crossing the Pacific coastline officially starting our long trans-Pacific journey to mainland China.

Our routing today took us north across the Pacific coastline up to the tip of Alaska across the Pacific to the tip eastern Russia and finally over northeastern China and into Beijing.

The newer United flight maps have more views and information pages. It definitely gets thumbs up from Dr. I!

Soon after take-off, the lunch service started with the laying of the linens.

First up was warmed, mixed nuts with a choice of beverages. I’m pretty predictable so a Coke and a water it was.

Hey ma look, whole cashews!

Next up was the starter, which consisted of seared tuna, a kale salad, and selections from the bread basket. I’ve never been a huge fan seafood that is basically raw but the tuna wasn’t actually too bad.

I like the consistent branding from the tablecloth to the napkins to the dishware to the salt and pepper shakers.

I selected the beef short rib for my main and I have to say, it was actually pretty darn good. It was cooked just right and the flavor was good even at 35,000 feet! The mashed potatoes were also good but the lima beans I could have done without. All in all, a pretty solid dish though.

The dessert cart followed and there was no way I could pass on the signature sundae, this time dressed with caramel sauce and walnuts. In addition to the sundae, petite desserts were offered including small cherry pie, cheesecake, and turtle cake. Cheese and crackers were also on offer but I passed on them.

After lunch, I paid another visit to the lavatory which was already in desperate need of some attention. There is no way a bathroom should look like this in any cabin much less a premium cabin and at the beginning of a flight no less. I’m sad to say that the tissue that was on the floor in this lav at the start of the flight remained throughout, clearly the crew never visited the bathroom or they visited and left it in this condition.

This sadly was another lavatory in the Polaris cabin. Same problem, it remained messy and unattended throughout the flight. This lack of attention to detail in the soft product was a real black eye to the Polaris hard product.

After returning from the bathroom I requested a pair of pajamas and a mattress cushion and converted my seat into a flatbed. The mattress cushion is a nice touch but it would have been a nicer touch if the crew member actually made up the bed instead of just shoving the items at me. Again, the Polaris hard product was undermined by the level of service and the soft product. Anywho, I enjoyed three movies (yes, three movies) and a solid five hours of sleep before…

the breakfast service started. Breakfast consisted of an omelet with a southwestern sauce, chicken sausage, breakfast potatoes, a fruit plate, yogurt and selections from the breakfast bread basket. Airplane breakfasts are always pretty mediocre and I just don’t understand the concept of always serving breakfast as the second meal despite it being 11 PM at the point of origin and 2 PM at the destination.

About 20 minutes ahead of our scheduled time of arrival, we were crossing the threshold at Beijing’s Capital airport on a sunny afternoon “28 hours after departure” having crossed the international date line.

Definitely in Beijing, Air China tails abound.

A nice Star Alliance lineup with tails from United, ANA and Air China.