To conclude my trip to Morocco and Paris, I flew back to California from Paris to San Francisco in United Airlines Polaris Business Class on a 777-200 on a morning departure out of Roissy Airport.

United Airlines 777-200 Polaris Business Class Review (CDG-SFO)

I paid 80,000 MileagePlus miles for this ticket, which I booked a day before departure. United now credits award flights on United metal toward your elite status total at a rate of one cent per point, so I earned $800 toward status re-qualification on this ticket.

I arrived at CDG Airport at 6:20 am and a check-in agent was able to confirm me on an earlier flight from San Francisco to Los Angeles (I had booked a 4.5 hour connection because that was the only award space available at the time).

After visiting the very nice Star Alliance Lounge, I was among the last to board my flight at 8:45 am…boarding had begun early. The Terminal 1 gate area at CDG is very nice…comfortable with power outlets and all kinds of concessionaires…and even a grand piano!

United Airlines 984
Paris (CDG) – San Francisco (SFO)
Saturday, July 27
Depart: 9:15 AM
Arrive: 11:45 AM
Duration: 11 hr, 30 min
Distance: 5,583 miles
Aircraft: Boeing 777-200
Seat: 5L (Business Class)

Onboard, I was offered a wipe at the boarding door and walked through the galley and turned left to find my seat.

Seat

I’ve reviewed this seat many times before and it has not changed. The United 777-200 cabin has 50 seats spread over two cabins in a 1-2-1 configuration. The seats are based on the Safran Optima platform and are 20 inches wide and convert into a lie-flat bed that is 78 inches long. All seats have a universal A/C outlet and two USB-A sockets.

I prefer odd-numbered A or L seats because they are “true” window seats (the seat is closer to the window and the side table on the aisle side) and scored 5L at booking.

The seat was stacked high with pillows and blankets…United does bedding very well (the bedding has evolved slightly since my flight, but you can still expect a large pillow, cooling gel pillow, day blanket, and duvet).

After breakfast, I tried to sleep…and was able to sleep for 5.5 hours, which is pretty good for a daytime flight. The air vents and excellent bedding helped. The ex-Continental United 777-200s do not have air vents, so I was thankful that this aircraft did.

Food + Drink

Breakfast was served after takeoff and a lighter lunch before landing. Menus were placed on each seat.

Breakfast

First came a warm towel, then a choice of beverage and mixed nuts (which were not warmed), yes even on a breakfast flight.

Everyone received the same starters: a fresh fruit salad with mango, pineapple, kiwi and raspberries
and overnight oats with honey, sultanas, and fresh berries. For my main course, I chose the egg and tomato soufflé with pork sausage, sautéed spinach, baked potatoes, and red pepper sauce.

Everything was served on one tray with a croissant that looked like it had been run over by a truck (the meal should have been served in two courses, but flight attendants were in a rush to get the service done and rest).

The main course was a miss…the eggs tasted artificial, the potatoes were fried in an unsavory oil, and the sausage was extremely greasy…I should have ordered pancakes or waffles, but did not ask for a second meal.

Oddly, there are no ice cream sundaes on breakfast flights, but there was cake or cheese available. I had a red berry clafoutis, which was pleasant.

After my nap, I noticed a self-serve snack area had been set up in the galley, with cheese and potato chips.

I had a black coffee.

Pre-Arrival Meal

90 minutes before landing, a pre-arrival lunch was served, a choice between a Wellington burger or spiced tomato rigatoni pasta. I had the pasta, which is so hard to mess up on an airplane, and found it quite acceptable (good pesto sauce). It was served with a side salad and a cookie.

I’d prefer to see a light breakfast after takeoff and then a full dinner service before landing, but maybe that’s just me.

IFE + Wi-Fi

Despite having an older Panasonic system, the Wi-Fi worked well and I used a T-Mobile pass to save $21.99 on the connection. United has a flat $8/flight pricing in the USA, but rates can vary on international flights. I can’t wait for Starlink to come…

When I woke up from my nap, I began binge-watching The Regime, an American political satire miniseries from HBO starring Kate Winslet. Oh, how fast a republic can crumble…

United’s IFE library features a great selection of movies and TV shows with a handful of games and a limited audio selection. Noise-cancelling headphones are offered and there is wirless connectivity to your own headsets on these aircraft.

It was a wet day outside in both Paris and San Francisco.

Amenities

United offers pajamas on flights longer than 12 hours, so this flight did not qualify. Slippers were available on request and Therabody amenity kits were placed at each seat (I didn’t even open mine…I just hate to waste it for a picture. I’ve included a picture of the contents from another flight).

Lavatory

Business class on the United 777-200 features three lavatories: one in the front of the cabin (shared by the flight crew) and two between the two business class cabins. The lavatories feature Therabody skin products and while I only used the lavatory once toward the beginning of the flight, it was clean.

Service

This was the flight with the service issue I wrote about here.

That’s a rather inflammatory topic and so I’ll just leave it there and say that the service was not great on this flight, but thankfully was an outlier when looking back at all my United flights over the last year.

> Read More: United Airlines Flight Attendant Reaches Under Tray Table, Brushes Against My Crotch…

CONCLUSION

After landing in a very overcast San Francisco (slightly late…there was a lot of headwind), I stopped by the Polaris Lounge for a coffee, then boarded my flight down to Los Angeles, arriving home in time for dinner.

Look, I found this flight was objectively bad because of the poor service onboard…but I already beat that horse dead and so I wanted to focus on the rest of the flight in this post. The 777-200 is an aging aircraft, but it’s not a bad way to cross the Atlantic Ocean.

If United can weed out bad flight attendants like the one who served my side of the cabin and just invest a little more in the food, it could really offer a compelling product, even on an older aircraft like this one. There’s no excuse for bad service like this…I hope the flight attendant in question has been counseled…