UA2 SIN-SFO 787-9 Polaris Business to San Francisco, Baseball and Yo-Yo Ma in Chicago

[yflyer]

Cabin F&B service began very quickly after the seatbelt signs went off...



Tables were laid with blue table cloths...



I asked for a glass of Champagne (Today's selection was Lanson...)



...which came with a dish of warm mixed nuts and a glass of water...



...I sipped the Champagne as I enjoyed the view out the window...

[yflyer]

Bathrooms in the front of the J cabin, done in black and white...



No flowers in the bathroom that I could recall seeing, but you did have shea/cocoa butter hand cream, refreshing mist, and Murchison Garment Groom fabric freshener and stain remover...

[yflyer]

The inflight map was 2D only ()...

[yflyer]

IFE on this flight was on a large, clear touchscreen. Movies, TV and audio were available. Picture and audio quality were both great.



As the screen was quite far from the seat, I did find that I used the handheld controller more than the actual touchscreen.

Audio selections were available in various genres, but there were comparatively few choices. There were playlists only - no CD on demand selections.



Maybe United felt that these days pax would have their own music on their phones/tablets.

By contrast, the movie and TV selections were very good, if not quite as comprehensive as SQ's Krisworld.

The movie selection included both new releases and older favourites...



TV selections





TV selections included box sets...



...which included selections like "The Man in the High Castle"...



...and an entire category called "Guilty Pleasures"...



IFE aside, the United inflight magazine, Hemispheres, also made for great reading...

[yflyer]

Cabin service began with a hot towel...



Rather than a thick curtain used by many other airlines, the curtain separating J and Y cabins was a clear see-through affair...



I examined the amenity kit, which came in a tin...



Socks, toothbrush and toothpaste. Lip balm, hand moisturiser and refreshing towelette from Cowshed. Apart from the usual items, the packet of facial tissues and ball point pen were a nice touch...



The eye shades were an unusual (And quite comfortable...) design...



Very attractive pyjamas were handed out...



Many pax actually took the trouble to change into these for the flight...this almost became the J class uniform onboard...

Bedroom slippers...



From these amenities, as well as the onboard bedding, it was clear that giving pax a good night's sleep was a priority for United's Polaris business class revamp.

[yflyer]

15 hour flight time today...



Take-off from Runway 20C...



...with the GEnx engines at full take-off power sounding very, very quiet from seat 1L...



Great views of the Singapore coastline upon departure...



Marina Bay Sands, Marina Barrage and Sports Hub all visible out the right side windows...



...before a slow left turn, setting a north-easterly course across the Pacific...

[yflyer]

There was a new Spiderman-themed Safety video...





...which, like the previous UA safety video, also included a cameo from United CEO Oscar Munoz...



Apparently United has a part in the new movie, Spiderman: Far from Home...

[yflyer]

I browsed the menu for the flight...

Separate card for drinks...





The menu...





On this flight, lunch would be served, with 4 choices of main available...



as well as breakfast prior to arrival, and snacks in between...



One thing I learned was that upon boarding UA Business, it was important to read the menu right away and make up your mind very quickly what you wanted to eat...

Not long after boarding, the cabin crew came around and asked for my 1st and 2nd choice of entree for lunch...at that point I didn't know the drill, and needed more time, so they went on to the other pax (Who were all ready with their choices!) before coming back to me later...

[yflyer]

The cabin crew were friendly, and welcomed me onboard, addressing me by name throughout the flight...

I was offered a pre-departure beverage...either juice, sparkling wine (A French Blanc de blanc -- proper champagne would be available after take-off...) or a mimosa, which was Orange juice mixed with the sparkling wine...



I opted for a Mimosa...

[yflyer]

The tray table folded out of the side of the seat...





This was a large and sturdy tray table...



The tray table didn't swivel, though, so there was no way to leave your seat unless you stowed it.

Electronically controlled windows...





What I found interesting was that I had two windows for my seat, and each had a control, but any one control would dim or brighten both windows together.



Being able to brighten/darken both windows together was convenient, but the trade-off was that it would not be possible to have one window bright and the other dim...

[yflyer]

The seat wasn't particularly wide, but it was very long.

Adjustable headrest...



My first row bulkhead seat, 1L, had a noticeably larger cubby hole than the regular J seats...



There was a narrow shelf above the cubby hole which was perfect to store a tablet or notebook computer...



Magazine slot and screen controller by the side of the seat...



Intuitive and easy to use seat controls (Located in a spot almost impossible to bump by accident...)...



Storage shelf by the side, with and headphone storage...



A/C and USB power available. The headphone socket took a standard 3.5mm miniplug (additional socket used to power noise-cancelling headphones)...

Noise-cancelling headphones...



Reading light...

[yflyer]

There was an impressive set of bedding, from Saks Fifth Avenue, at each seat...



This comprised a large soft white pillow, as well as a smaller memory foam pillow in light blue...



There was a light woven blanket...



...as well as a thicker, rolled up duvet, all of which could be purchased at the United online shop...



And if all that wasn't enough, there was also a limited number of Saks mattress toppers available in case anyone needed an even softer sleeping surface...

[yflyer]

I headed to the gate...

There was a dedicated boarding lane for "Premier Access", which included Star Gold pax...



At the gate, Boeing Dreamliner 787-9 rego N35953, a 4 and a half year old aircraft...



Boarding by groups, although Group 1 wasn't actually first to board...they asked Global Services (Their topmost tier) and Premier 1K to board first, before Group 1.



I boarded with Group 1...



The Business Class Cabin, in 2-2-2 layout...



While all J seats were forward facing, they were slightly offset to an angle...



...with each seat extending into a cubby hole in front for additional foot space...

[yflyer]

After polishing off the mee siam, I headed across to the SATS Premier Lounge...



Although the decor in the Premier Lounge was less luxurious and stylish than the SQ lounge, I found that I preferred the ambience in this lounge, which was much brighter, with windows and natural light.



The F&B area...



The featured local dish in this lounge was Laksa...



I was too full from my mee siam to contemplate breakfast number 2, but I did ask a gentleman next to me if I could snap a picture of his laksa, and he was happy to oblige...



Like the SilverKris Lounge, the Premier Lounge also had shower facilities...



So which lounge to choose?

I would say both the SilverKris Lounge and the SATS Premier Lounge were decent, but unexceptional. Both would have been fine for a quick coffee and breakfast before a morning flight. But to paraphrase Marie Kondo, did either of these lounges spark joy? For me, not really...

Personally, the decision on which lounge to visit would boil down to whether I felt like mee siam or laksa for breakfast...

[yflyer]

As Star Gold travelling in United Business, I was entitled to use either the SATS Premier Lounge or the SIA SilverKris Lounge...

Which lounge to visit? I had visited both these lounges in the past, and to be brutally honest, I found both these lounges to be ok, but nothing special...

On that morning, I decided to revisit both of them to do a back-to-back comparison...

First the SQ SilverKris Lounge...



The seating area was comfortable enough, and not too crowded, but this was a completely windowless space, and my preference was still a lounge with airside views...



The dining area was fairly busy, with many pax enjoying breakfast before their flight...



Apart from the usual selection of Asian/International F&B, there was a live station where a pair of cheerful and very friendly staff were serving up bowls of delicious mee siam...



I could not resist a bowl...



Mmmm....very good...