Bits: Hilton changes update, my thoughts on the new United Polaris seat

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News in brief:

Hilton Honors ‘points and money’ update

We covered the forthcoming changes to the Hilton Honors programme in this article. A few people asked me what the exact implementation day will be.

I got a note from Hilton yesterday confirming that the changes will roll out overnight on 28th February. This means that the new ‘points and money’ rates should be available for booking from 1st March.

If you were thinking of booking a ‘points and money’ rate at the current pricing, I would book it before 28th February. It may be more or less expensive on 1st March, but if you book before that date you give yourself the option of cancelling and rebooking later if it goes in your favour.

Polaris

My view on the new United Polaris business class seat

I nipped out of the Loyalty 2017 conference yesterday lunchtime to attend the UK press launch of the new United Polaris business class seat.

In truth, there is very little you can tell about an airline seat from a 2-seat mock-up on a conference floor. What I can say is:

Polaris2

the 1-2-1 layout, with your legs under the seat in front when the seat is in bed mode, looks good

that said, I don’t see Qatar Airways or Etihad quaking in their boots. By the standards of the old United business class seat, however, it is a real step forward.

whilst I couldn’t measure it up, the footprint of the seat did not seem hugely different to the footprint of the British Airways Club World seat. It is bigger, but not massively, yet United manages to give every passenger direct aisle access as well as a huge amount of personal storage space. The trade-off is the requirement to have your legs under the seat in front.

You can’t see clearly from the photos above how the seat layout works. Similar to Emirates, Finnair etc, one seat is next to the window whilst the seat behind has the seat on the aisle. In the centre aisle, one block has the two seats directly adjacent with the storage area on the aisle whilst the row behind has storage in the middle and the seat itself on the aisle. It is a clever use of space.

United is putting a lot behind this new seat. It is opening new Polaris-branded lounges for passengers flying the new aircraft, the bedding seemed high-end (Saks 5th Avenue-branded) and the toiletry bag was from Soho House-owned Cowshed Spa. I didn’t recognise the champagne brand they are serving but it was perfectly acceptable.

This seat will take some time to roll out across the fleet. I would imagine that Heathrow will see it on all services sooner rather than later, but don’t rush to book a United flight anytime soon expecting to get it. It will eventually put a bit more pressure on BA’s lucrative transatlantic routes.

Category

Hilton Honors, United Airlines and MileagePlus

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.

Andrew says:

23 Feb23 February 06:49

What about a points only Hilton booking- should we make that pre 28th Feb, or is that not going to become more expensive after this date??

Thanks
- Anon says:
  
  23 Feb23 February 07:02
  
  Shouldn’t be more expensive in the short term.
  
  Will be interesting how P&M rates change, given its free to cancel, I’ve locked in a couple of great value P&M bookings already..
  - Genghis says:
    
    23 Feb23 February 07:03
    
    I’ll be reassessing my P&M bookings on 1 March 🙂
- Alan says:
  
  23 Feb23 February 09:04
  
  The top redemption amount isn’t go to increase for now, but they haven’t said how long that guarantee will last for. They’ve also deleted the website that use to show those rates. Work making points+cash bookings now then reassessing when new system launches – for cheap off-peak stays you may be able to rebook for less, for more expensive ones you’ll have locked in a bargain!
  - John says:
    
    23 Feb23 February 11:29
    
    http://pointsandmoney.hilton.com/
    
    http://travelisfree.com/2016/08/05/map-of-hilton-hhonors-hotels/ (as of August 2016)
    - Alan says:
      
      23 Feb23 February 17:51
      
      Thanks, glad they’ve posted something, although the old hhonorspointssearchtool.com was handy in that it showed seasonal pricing too.
Graeme says:

23 Feb23 February 08:33

Any chance that the ‘combine your points’ feature might come in at the same time?
- Rob says:
  
  23 Feb23 February 09:20
  
  No, don’t think so
Alan says:

23 Feb23 February 08:43

I’m not a fan of the ‘foot cubby’ approach, although hopefully their approach leaves a bit more space. The Swiss one is appallingly small – sitting in the window seat in business I couldn’t turn on my side when lying flat as there wasn’t enough room to move my feet! In fairness to CW it is totally unrestricted in that regard and I’ve found I sleep very well in it.
Gavin says:

23 Feb23 February 08:44

Would take the T2 lounges and Polaris seat over Galleries and Club World seat if heading to the states all other things being equal I think
- Rob says:
  
  23 Feb23 February 09:19
  
  Agreed
  - JP says:
    
    25 Feb25 February 18:01
    
    I’d take the old United seats over club world too. If you stick to a Dreamliner, the front 2 seats have bigger foot cubbies and the middle pair (D&E) guarantee aisle access. Love the ice cream sundae with everything on and a freshly baked cookie too.
Oh! Matron! says:

23 Feb23 February 08:47

You had me at Cowshed. Their stuff is really good and it’s what Virgin used to use in their Lounge at Heathrow. Still use it now…
Aviator says:

23 Feb23 February 12:18

Am I correct in assuming I can fully cancel points only booking after 1st March, without forfeiting any HH Points?
- Anon says:
  
  23 Feb23 February 13:11
  
  Yes
- Rob says:
  
  23 Feb23 February 17:29
  
  Yes