The way that airline cabins are named all seems rather silly to me. After all, what years ago was First, Business, and Economy has now become Business, Premium Economy, and Economy. It’s not all that different. But as premium continues to grow in popularity, the airlines are looking for that next premium opportunity, and that means the return of a more exclusive First Class-style offering. Last week American rolled out its newest premium-heavy B787-9 configuration, and this week United announced its plans for what it is calling the United Elevated interior. What both of these have in common is that the front row of each cabin is more of a First Class-style experience but not quite First Class in name.
Yes, there have been several global airlines that have long had a premium First Class offering, but this is part of a different trend. This follows JetBlue, Lufthansa, and others who have found that the geometry of the aircraft cabin means that the airlines can use some dead space in the very first row to create an improved and more exclusive experience.
Really, this trend goes back to when Etihad installed the Residence on its A380s. I was a huge fan of that plan since it used previously-dead space on the sides of the stairs on the upper deck. They weren’t going to be able to add extra seats in that area, but they sure could make some of those seats worth paying a lot more money for.
This has now stretched into other premium cabins. This image from JetBlue of what it calls its Mint Studio on the A321LR shows what I mean:
If there was a seat in front of that row, it would cut into the front left area here. But since there isn’t a seat there, this is just extra space which can be used for a guest seat and more room.
On the surface, both American and United are doing something similar with their B787-9s. For American, it’s a new sub-fleet that is meant to rectify the mistake of putting too few premium seats on its B787s originally. For United, this is about trying to create a sub-fleet to serve the most premium markets — Singapore is first from San Francisco, and London will follow in the not-too-distant future — while also setting up for an eventual replacement of those “high-J” B767s with a ton of Polaris seating.
As the airline prepares to phase out First Class, American has been somewhat less clear about its plans for these front seats. When it first announced its new aircraft interior over a year ago, it said that the front row would be the Flagship Suite Preferred seat on both the new B787-9s and the soon-to-be retrofitted B777-300ERs.
This would include more space and storage, of course, but also some onboard goodies that match what Flagship First passengers get today on the few flights that still have it:
- a Nest Bedding pajamas and mattress pad
- a throw blanket
- a memory foam lumbar pillow
- an exclusive amenity kit
Now that the airline has taken delivery, however, it didn’t mention the Preferred seat in the recent press release. I’m told that seat still exists as planned as do the amenities, but it is also not being sold at a premium today. So if you’re flying on American on this airplane, take row 1. But in the future, I have to assume the airline will try to get some extra money for this.
United, for its part, has grander plans where it is really thinking differently about the entire experience, including how it uses that extra space. It is a much more premium experience throughout the trip.
It apparently likes JetBlue’s nomenclature, and it is calling this Polaris Studio. Beyond extra space and storage, it will include:
- access to Global Reception check-in areas usually reserved for Global Services
- preferred boarding alongside Global Services customers
- car-to-plane tarmac transfer service on a connection
- a guest seat/ottoman
- a 27″ screen (bigger than the 19″ in regular Polaris)
- additional main course choices than regular Polaris plus an Ossetra caviar amuse-bouche served with Champagne Laurent-Perrier Cuvée Rosé
- a post-dessert snack box delivered to the seat with a variety of treats
- exclusive hoodie-pajamas and slippers
- new noise-canceling headphones
- new amenity kits with luxury skincare offerings
- a plush velvet throw pillow
- Sakes Fifth Avenue duvet, day blanket, large pillow, and cooling gel pillow
- United-branded playing cards
Is it weird that I’m most excited about the playing cards? Yeah, I know. But I love that touch. To me it’s a nostalgic symbol that also displays just how much thought and effort has gone into this.
This sure sounds like First Class, doesn’t it? At least, the United version of it does. So what’s the difference? Why is it not just First Class?
Well, it is the same seat as regular Polaris, for one. But the biggest difference is that you can’t buy this as if it is a separate class of service. With United, you would buy a Polaris business class ticket and then just pay the extra fee to assign the fancy seat up front. It’s like paying for Economy Plus. On American, as mentioned, it’s not clear what’s happening because right now there is no extra cost.
To me, they are really blurring the lines here. Having a different meal service at United means that even flight attendants have to treat these seats differently in their service provision. So really, this is First Class but just under a different name. And how much more will it cost? We don’t know yet, but we’ll have to wait until it goes on sale.
A couple more notes on this new United Elevated interior beyond Polaris Studio…
- In addition to the 8 Studio seats, there will be 56 regular Polaris seats filling the first two cabins onboard. This is a big premium cabin.
- United is giving an odd twist here in that one cabin will be reverse herringbone (facing the window or in the middle section, the center) while the other cabin will be regular herringbone (facing the aisle). This is meant to give travelers a choice of more privacy (the former) or a better travel experience with others (the latter).
- There will also be 35 Premium Plus (premium economy) seats in 5 rows. These will now have little privacy dividers.
- After accounting for the 33 Economy Plus seats, that leaves a mere 90 regular coach seats.
Interested in more discussion about this? This will be the topic of this week’s The Air Show, out today at some point.
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30 comments on “First Class Makes a Comeback at American and United But Under a Different Name”
The jockeying for upgrades will be nightmarish …
I can already see the complaints of 1K customers who were “entitled” a free upgrade as United sold the the Polaris Studio cheaply in the app as a paid upgrade.
This is interesting. I was on a Delta A333 a few years ago in 1J and I noticed there was more room there than other business class seats. Not sure why the seats are configured that way, but I thought I would definitely book that again. I would assume the airlines have realized they can monetize that space and now we have this new concept. This seems like a much better way to segment the front end of the cabin (by adding things) versus the rumors we keep hearing about DL and others potentially taking things away. Nevertheless, the new polaris concept will still not get me to convert from delta.
Separately, EWR seems a bit better this morning – 35 minute taxi out/roughly on time.
There is a very simple reason why there is no more first class.
The bean counters for most business travelers won’t pay for “first class” air travel. It’s considered a luxury.
But “business class” makes it sound like a necessity, and a little bit of a perk for their people. Same price, same product, different name so we can approve it.
It really is that simple y’all.
Witch proves that even the elites can fall for their own marketing if it has an exclusive sounding name.
I’ve never understood this explantation, surely the cost matters more than what the class is named.
After out to BRU on UA’s 78- Polaris last week and back from FRA on its 77- Polaris last night, I’ll be running back to DL. Worst recent J experience: narrowest bed, no storage space (unless you count the breadbox the headphones and kit came in,) and no air vent on the 777. And that was after 3 hours of work changing the outbound from EWR to ORD.
I had the opposite experience; flew UA in Polaris from FRA to ORD this week on a 787-10, great product, 6+ hours of sleep – contrast that to an embarrassingly shoddy flight on a DL 333 LHR-DTW in J, where the food, seat, interior and service were all dire. It’s almost as if all these airlines can be as good or as bad as each other on any given day…
I received a marketing survey via email yesterday looking for people in SF to come to United at SFO and evaluate premium travel products. I hope I get picked.
Questions on the survey were similar to “how often do you fly long haul international, how often in premium cabins, how often do you use cash to upgrade, how often do you use points to upgrade”
One of the questions was close to “How much do you prefer United”. The choices were basically, I always choose United, Mostly, Somtimes, Never”. I chose Mostly.
Truth is, I like United, and I live in San Francisco, so for long haul its a no-brainer. I choose based on Schedule, Price and Airline, basically in that order. United lately has been the obvious choice that fits the requirements, both long haul and domestic. So I choose United.
Sounds nice for someone. I am at SFO this AM for a UA flight to BOS and the captain kindly came out to announce that we should all consider getting something here, because they changed catering at SFO yesterday and apparently all we have is water. No snack boxes, no buy on board, no soda… at least the doors are likely to stay on this 9Max today.
Okay so I have to give UA credit, somone from station management came down to announce they were sorry but it either cancel the flight or go with no catering at this point. Props for not leaving it to the poor gate agent to handle.
I would be floored if more than 5% of travelers actually paid for this out of pocket with their own money. As noted above, most, if not all of those pax write it off as a “business expense”, basically paid for by the peon workers, as well as people redeeming credit card or mileage “points”.
I would disagree. A lot of businesses are sole proprietorship and a lot of wealthy individuals paying for their own ticket.
That’s been my experience as well. Small/medium biz owners that don’t have to listen to the “dreaded” travel manager (think someone who owns an HVAC company that does ~$10-50M annually in revenue) or wealthy baby boomers that are ready to throw down in retirement (my in-laws are exhibit A)
Lol. Be same meal as the rows behind them. Plus fewer flight attendants. Nothing really elevated but the price. Service standards a joke. Put more crew on-board for a better service.
What is really striking, but not surprising, is the difference between AA and UA’s announcements.
AA – which already has an aircraft – has no real plan yet. Some marginal benefits mentioned last year, maybe?
UA has a clearly thought out plan for these seats and it is real differentiation.
The end result is AA talking about how “premium” the entire aircraft is, while United can articulate the type of caviar and champagne they will serve (presumably) on day 1. And here we are talking about it although its <4% of the seats of the aircraft.
Leave it to American to find a way to NOT monetize extra space and benefits. Completely ridiculous and so very predictable.
Paying all that extra money for caviar? UGH!!!! Give me nachos, a Dr. Pepper, and a little extra leg room and I’m fine!
It almost seems as if all of the amenities being offered are becoming more important than safety. The amount of effort and commentary regarding “premium” service and amenities is exponentially greater than the amount of effort and commentary about the crash at DCA. Isn’t the main function of an airline to provide transportation? I understand that my question presents a bit of a false dichotomy, and that amenities do matter – especially when one is cooped up in a tube for long periods of time. I’m simply asking the rhetorical question about what’s really the most important thing to get from an airline: Is it a 27 inch TV – or getting where you’re going safely and on time?
Why can’t both be discussed? And why would safety be an issue to discuss in topic spefically titled that it was discussing business class seats?
There have been 10’s to 100’s of thousands of posts and articles regarding the DCA incident. This seat topic will be a whisper out of a pig’s backside in terms of coverage comparison.
What does this have to do with safety?
It’s been 24 years since the last crash of a US main line flight. Here are the number deaths by various causes during that time frame
Dog bites: 1,000
Bee stings: 1,500 to 2,000
Bear attacks: 25
Alligator attacks: 20
Auto accidents: 1,000,000
US mainline air carriers: 1
Come on.
Great post. Who else thought of the Simpsons episode with the bear patrol?
Enjoyed the Air Show on this. I think the term you and Brian were searching for is ‘Polaris Minus’
Thanks HB. I dunno, I’m pretty partial to Peasant Polaris myself…
This feels like the sort of thing that’ll get folks to buy up from Business if points, or their company, pays the base fare. At least United’s version. The split-heeringbone configuration is also interesting and at first blush sounds like more seat product complexity vs. The existing 1-2-1 Polaris config ..until you remember the existing one is alternating-row Tetris so the only added complexity is that Elevate does something different with bulkheads.
Cranky, you touched on this topic in your opening paragraph, but I also think it’s funny how the old quantity of cabin segmentation has slowly crept back to where it once was.
Is it fair to say that demand for everything from “traditional” international first class all the way down to economy has always existed? If so, this means that airlines (especially U.S. airlines) have been quite inefficient in the past few decades at maximizing revenue. For a very long time, it was just business, extra legroom economy, and economy. Now we have the three plus the traditional first class and premium economy, and that seems to be working a lot better.
The exclusion of the “old” business class seems like it was an especially bad move. There is obviously a gab between “new” business class and extra legroom economy. Looking back, it seems so silly that we are back to square one.
Nicolas – Well, not “always” but for decades yes. When Business was introduced as an in-between type of cabin it was more like an extra legroom economy. But then First and Business kept going upmarket while coach kept going downmarket. There was nothing in between, so the gap just kept growing. Now they’ve filled that gap back in, and it’s a big win.
Does anybody know how the density of the Polaris Studio / J+ seat compares to some of the tighter first class configurations (e.g., BA)? Of course it’s anybody’s guess how UA will price the product, but I would have thought positioning it as a “true” first class product would command a sufficient revenue premium, especially if it wouldn’t take too much more space on the LOPA.
I would love to see how airlines would respond to a law which required them to put a placard on each seat that indicated what that seat’s relative contribution to the carbon footprint of the aircraft was.
First class can never survive on American these days. First class requires flight attendants to routinely tend to passenger needs throughout the flight.
Flight attendants on American spend 99% of their time hiding from passengers.