All good things must come to an end, but I was particularly excited to spend this flight sleeping.  My 72 hours in Melilla and Madrid had been draining, and nothing sounded better than a Polaris seat and Saks Fifth Avenue bedding!  After a somewhat exciting trip to the Brussels The Loft lounge, it was time to go home.  Fortunately I was flying on United Polaris Brussels to Washington Dulles, and crossing my fingers for a comfortable and restful ride.

I had the exact same seat, and potentially the exact same plane—more on that soon—as my outbound flight.  The flight back was actually a bit more pleasant than the one outbound, which was more a reflection of better service than anything else.  It also helped that the business cabin was probably only 30% full.  Almost the entire middle area was open and many window seats were as well. 

As a reminder, for internal “house” reviews, we score on the same 1-3 scale we use elsewhere. A 3 indicates that a given category exceeded reviewer expectations, a 2 indicates it met expectations, and a 1 failed to meet expectations. We evaluate the categories we believe are most relevant to the flight, hotel, or lounge experience.

Details

Flight Number: UA951

Flight Date: 4/15/19

To/From: BRU to IAD

Carrier: United

Class of Service: Polaris Business

Duration: 7:20

Aircraft: 777-200

Seat: 9A

Seat – 3/3

My seat was again 9A.  Perhaps I should have picked another for reviewing, but I went with comfort.  Again, there was some dirt and crumbs in the same areas—forensically comparing pictures, I’m not sure if it’s the same seat or not… but it might have been!  Worth noting is the plane was late coming in from ORD, and they turned it very fast, which impacted the cleaning.  I found the previous occupant’s eye mask in the cubby under the TV.  I guess I could have found much worse!

IFE – 3/3

As before, the United IFE had a strong content selection and the screen itself was crisp and responsive.  Unlike my last trip, the Airshow was not confused and was correctly functioning on this flight.  

Drink – 2/3

The drinks were the same as usual – United is solid, but unremarkable with their drink program.  Pre-flight drinks were served more promptly this time – again, water, juice and champagne.  I went with an enjoyable chardonnay for the trip, plus port and amaretto with dessert. 

Food – 2/3

The food on this leg was again unremarkable, solidly in the “good for airplane food, acceptable for food food” category.  The appetizer and salad were fine.  I went with the mushroom stuffed chicken for my entrée again.  The chicken itself was quite good, and the polenta, while not looking great, was pretty tasty.  The vegetables were extremely overcooked but fine.  The sweets for dessert were good but not great (odd with catering form Brussels), but the cheese selection was better than the outbound.

For pre-arrival meal, I went with the chicken and gnocchi pasta.  It was again good enough for plane food and easy to eat, but nothing exciting.  The salad was pretty bland again, and I’m not sure who thinks arming passengers trapped in a metal tube with raw onion breath is a good idea.  That should be on the “not on planes” list like broccoli.   

Overall, nothing was gross or inedible, but there are far better meals to be had in the sky.  

Service – 3/3

For a second flight I was lucky with service and having a great crew.  The crew was helpful and friendly, with several crew members standing out for their positive and friendly attitude.  I was again pleasantly surprised and wondering if I’m on a hot streak or there’s broader change underway at United.

Other Characteristics

The lavatories were again fine and in decent shape for most of the flight (2/3).  I did not purchase WiFi for this leg (Not reviewed).  Bedding was superb as always (3/3).  I was exhausted from my whirlwind trip – and a 3:30 AM wakeup call in Madrid plus the Smurf theme song at 6 AM on my “special” Smurf-branded Brussels Airlines plane.  I slept in total comfort for four and a half hours of the flight with the mattress pad+duvet bedding combo plus the pillows.  Nothing beats exhaustion plus a great seat and bedding.

Bottom Line United Polaris Brussels to Dulles – 2.5/3

This was another solid “2.5” on the Premium Travel Insider scale—this United Polaris Brussels to Dulles flight delivered. True Polaris seats plus the United Saks bedding is incredibly comfortable.  Acceptable food and drink plus great service made this a very nice return flight from my mileage run.  I’m assuming the incredible GPU availability both ways was due to it being low tourism season for Brussels, so this was a win all around.