I wasn’t supposed to be on this United Flight to London but I woke up to an early morning text saying “sorry your flight to London is canceled, contact us if you want to reschedule” and I jumped out of bed quickly awake and freaking out as I was set to leave for London in a few hours to make my way to Newark Airport for my flight. I had a one-day travel buffer to board my NCL Prima cruise in Southampton so of course, I wanted them to reschedule my flight, what a silly thing to say when giving folks a jolt of stress at sunrise. British Airways forgot to finish the message with “and we rebooked you on United later tonight”. Seeing the text, I called the BA UK customer service line because the US center wouldn’t open for a few hours (we won’t talk about the international call charges of $50 on my mobile for that one call). Talking with the BA rep, he said “oh we rebooked you on United leaving at 11pm and sent you an email about the new details”. An email? I didn’t see an email from British Airways beyond the “sorry your flight is canceled if you want to rebook let us know” which mirrored the early morning text. Then I saw an email from an odd sender (surprised it didn’t go to spam) which was from an online travel agency as it seems BA went to the marketplace to book my flights as United isn’t a One World alliance member to code share the flights. United flies the last flight, scheduled for 11 p.m., out of Newark to London. I had booked a cash ticket in Club World (business class) for the BA flight and was a bronze member so wasn’t sure if any of that played in my favor to get that same day United flight. Early heart attack avoided as I downloaded the United app and insert my booking reference to see my flight to London there. The start to my vacation was definitely full of stress but upside was I had a flight to London and would experience United Polaris for the first time.
I left my house at 3pm for the drive to 30th Street Station to board Amtrak to Newark Airport. I fly to London out of Newark more often now given the ridiculous prices from PHL. I would arrive at the airport before 6pm, check my bag and use the priority security lane before making my way to the Newark Polaris Lounge where I would be camping out until close at 10:30 pm. That’s a lot of people watching over 5 hours trying not to fall asleep or get bored before my 11pm flight.
United Polaris Lounge at Newark Airport
My only flights from Newark have been British Airways and that terminal isn’t quite as nice as the United terminal is as I wandered the large expanse of the terminal and saw two United lounge options. Flying in Polaris allowed me to access the dedicated Newark Polaris Lounge which was bright and inviting upon entry. I was met with a large bar area and upon further inspection saw the dining room behind the bar. The lounge is then split into two sides with a variety of tables, chairs and lounge options. It’s a massive space compared to the British Airways Newark lounge I was used to.
The lounge offers Quiet Suites, located beyond the shower suites, that were closed during my visit. There are mixed reviews online as the quiet suites are not private nor do they have a flatbed option for sleep. After a few hours in the lounge, a lounge chair with a curtain and Saks accessories would have been fine for me but I’ll need to try in the future.
As for the food on offer, a variety options were offered – sandwiches, hot buffet bar, snacks throughout (cookies, candy bar jars of sweets and desserts) as well as the sit-down restaurant available behind the bar that was popular during my visit. I didn’t see anything on the menu that I was keen to try there so I made a small plate from the buffet. At the back of the lounge was a refreshment DIY bar along with snacks.
I chose to sit at a leather cube chair with table and easy charging options near the quieter back DIY bar. The lounge volume ebbed and flowed with the flights to the West Coast being popular after 6pm. As we got to 9pm, the lounge seemed empty despite the crowd that was disbursed in the various areas.
By 10pm, a group congregated around the United agent desk to chat as a group as we sat in the sofas and deep chairs. We also compared delays to see who was in a worse position. To be honest, we all were in the same place, anxious to get going and marred by delays, delays and more delays. The bright side was no cancellations. We did ask the United agent, “what if we get canceled, who can help us get hotel rooms and rebooked if you aren’t here?” – she replied “you’ll all be fine, no need to worry”. I wasn’t so sure and kept my Hotel Tonight options as Plan B if needed. My 11 p.m. flight had been delayed multiple times in the lounge, on the board and in my app. All agreed I wasn’t leaving on time.
Late Night at Newark Airport United Terminal
At 10:30 p.m. the announcement was made that we all had to leave the United Polaris Lounge and go wait at our gates in the terminal as the lounge was closing. It was my first time in this terminal at Newark and due to delayed flights, the terminal was littered with people trying to stay awake in chairs or sitting on the floor charging devices.
I approached my gate at the end of the terminal, I saw many folks also fidgeting with the delay and comparing notes “The gate says the new flight time is x, my app is saying y and the flight crew sitting over there said z”. I spent the next two hours between walking the terminal to keep awake and talking with staff that said their kiosk or bar stays open until the last flight departs which was ours to London. I felt bad for those folks, who like me were really ready to get going and tired of waiting. I wasn’t able to stay at the gate too long due to the loud music from the bar on a loop (after many loops it was annoying to me). The terminal is large enough to walk in circles down the corridor to the bathrooms and around and through the airport shop selling water and books. I more than exceeded my daily steps in the two hours walking the terminal to stay awake.
By the time 12:30 am came around and the gate said “boarding soon”, I wondered if I fell asleep at the gate if anyone would find me and put me on the plane. It’s funny how adrenaline works when traveling – at home I would have been asleep by 11 pm and here I was still standing after midnight.
United Polaris Business Class Flight from Newark to London Heathrow (UA EWR-LHR)
When I boarded the flight, I saw my window business class seat and was thrilled to fall into it as it was nearly 1 a.m. My original flight was 9 p.m. and I left my house at 3 p.m. so I was shattered at this point, surprised I was still able to stand upright. The Polaris class included a colorful blue blanket and a thick duvet from Saks that would actually be warm enough for me to layer and get a little bit of sleep (not enough to satisfy my Oura ring). On BA, I usually fly with at least two duvet/blankets so the Saks pillow and blanket combo were definitely much better on United Polaris.
United Polaris business class provides an amenity bag for each passenger. For this flight, we received a red bag amenity kit in partnership with Wrexham Football Club in Wales made famous by the FX Series “Welcome to Wrexham”
The purser, Andre, walked through the cabin to welcome passengers and apologize for the delay. He was very kind as I told him my adventures prior to boarding. I’ve not flown with United Airlines in many years and never in business class so Polaris was my first experience and he was a highlight of my travel day gone awry. He shared the Polaris dining menu but it was 1 a.m. so I passed on food hoping I could manage a bit of sleep, something that eludes me on most overnight flights. The menu offered a few interesting options I would have liked to experience so maybe I’ll get the opportunity for a proper do-over to experience Polaris in its full offering.
The Polaris business class seat was comfortable enough but did not have a suite door or other privacy option that other carriers now offer. I did have a window with a view of the wing that I could enjoy in the morning as we approached Heathrow.
When it was time for breakfast, I ordered enough to satisfy my blood sugar as my special meal request on British Airways was not in my United same day booking. When my tray was delivered there was a handwritten apology note from the flight attendant. This special touch really was something to put points up in the United column as a potential option in the future for flights to London. For the time I was in the lounge and onboard United, I will say that Polaris was a nice experience to consider United to London in the future.
United Terminal 2 at Heathrow
It’s been a while since I landed at The Queen’s Terminal (Heathrow Terminal 2). United would arrive at Heathrow at 12:10 p.m. at Terminal 2. As I started walking, vague memories of endless walking to come flooded my brain from other landings here. I was shedding clothing layers as I wandered – it would take nearly an hour to walk from the arrival gate to the train platform (through immigration, baggage carousel and then a quick outside fresh air walk to the elevators down to the corridors). I was very spoiled with the T5 BA experience as I mumbled to myself along the long slog from Terminal 2 to Terminal 3 for the Elizabeth Line with little sleep. I would have happily paid for my luggage (and me) to be moved from Terminal 2, to the outside elevators down to the corridor of tunnels to transit options. When I arrived at the platform and saw the Elizabeth line approach, I realized the adventure was just about to start as I was in London on my way to start my summer holiday which would include a cruise to Norway/Iceland followed by time in Sicily.
For those wondering “why not pour yourself into a black cab or uber and sleep the hour into the city vs dealing with the train”? The cost for the train is under 20GBP vs. 80-120 GBP for the cab and both take about the same time.
When my travel days go awry, it’s usually spectacular fails, however, this one didn’t make me cry or fall down until I got to the hotel. Thankfully, the delayed flight helped me arrive at the Hilton Bankside hotel with my room ready for early check-in. I got to the room, showered and hit “vacation mode” before going to forage for a late lunch at Borough Market to put the long travel day in the rearview. I was hopeful this would be a one-off disruption on my vacation (spoiler alert: it wasn’t…. more to come)
Follow Up – British Airways Canceled My EWR-LHR Flight Same Day and Booked me on United Polaris to London
British Airways canceled my flight with less than 24 hours’ notice and rebooked me same day so I wasn’t be able to file for delayed flight compensation. However, because the United flight was late, that triggered the compensation obligation and I filed my claim on the BA website. It took a few months to sort out the reimbursement (520 GBP) and also get my Avios and tier credits for the BA flight. Credit to British Airways customer service for automatically rebooking my flight and not downgrading me, processing my reimbursement and Avios points/tier credits. I know BA get a lot of negative press, much warranted to be honest but, in this case, they pulled out the win. Next time, please finish the text message beyond “your flight has been canceled.”