Best Ways to Book United Airlines Polaris Business Class with Points and Miles

While most U.S.-based travelers have flown on United Airlines, many have never had the opportunity to experience United’s Polaris business-class product. Tickets in United Polaris business class often cost thousands of dollars, putting them out of many travelers’ budgets. However, by booking United Polaris seats with points or miles, you can keep out-of-pocket costs low and still get to experience all that United Polaris class has to offer.

When traveling in United Polaris business class, you’ll be seated in a comfortable cushioned chair that converts into a lie-flat bed, ensuring that you’ll arrive at your destination well rested.

Your seat will be equipped with privacy doors as well as a large 19-inch 4K OLED entertainment monitor when flying in United Polaris’s upcoming suites and a larger 27-inch 4K OLED entertainment monitor when flying in United Polaris Studio. You’ll also have access to complimentary food and drinks at United Polaris lounges before your flight as well as delicious in-flight dining options.

For these reasons, United was ranked the 17th-best business-class airline in the world, according to a 2024 Skytrax ranking.

So, let’s take a look at the best ways to book United Polaris business-class tickets with points and miles. Additionally, we’ll also briefly cover the amenities and experience that you can expect in United Polaris business class.

What to Expect In United Polaris Business Class

United Polaris business-class seats are available on most long-haul United international routes as well as certain domestic routes. Additionally, by the end of 2025, certain Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft will feature United’s new Polaris Studio product, with the first passenger routes planned for early 2026.

The following table includes all of the aircraft types in the United fleet that offer United Polaris business class, the number of Polaris business class seats on each aircraft type and the seat configuration in Polaris business class as well as the length and width of Polaris business-class seats on each aircraft type:

As mentioned above, certain Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft will be equipped with United’s newest Polaris Studio product, which will be the best business-class product in the United fleet.

These seats will be located at the front of the aircraft and will have about 25% more space than standard Polaris seats. They’ll include a 27-inch 4K OLED entertainment monitor, the largest TV on any U.S. airline. Plus, passengers flying in Polaris Studio will also receive an exclusive amuse-bouche of Ossetra caviar with creme fraiche and a glass of Laurent-Perrier Cuvée Rosé. Polaris Studio passengers will also receive enhanced amenities like a bigger amenity kit with more products and Meridian noise-canceling headphones.

While United Polaris Studio seats will undoubtedly be the airline’s best business-class product, regular United Polaris seats still provide a high level of luxury.

All Polaris business-class seats recline into a lie-flat bed, and all passengers are provided with a Saks Fifth Avenue sleep set that includes a comfortable blanket (made from recycled plastic), a duvet and a cooling gel pillow. If your flight is longer than 14 hours, you’ll typically receive a set of pajamas, and if you want to increase your comfort even more, you can request mattress cushions for your seat from the in-flight crew.

As you can see from the seat configurations in the table above, all United Polaris seats have direct aisle access (with the exception of window seats on Boeing 757-200 aircraft). All Polaris seats are also equipped with storage space for your personal items as well as personal charging ports for your devices. Plus, for in-flight entertainment, each new Polaris seat has its own 19-inch 4K OLED touchscreen television, which includes access to movies, TV shows, music, podcasts and more.

All passengers in United Polaris business class receive an amenity kit designed by Therabody that includes eye serum, facial spray, hand cream, a facial wipe, lip balm, ear plugs, an eye mask, tissues and a pen. All of this will be given to you in a stylish cross-body bag.

In terms of in-flight dining, Polaris passengers are able to choose an entrée from the United Polaris exclusive menu, which features dishes from around the globe, such as braised beef short rib, seared turbot fish fillet, Moroccan vegetable pastilla, chicken and fennel flan croquette, and more. You also receive a salad as well as your choice of a dessert. Before your arrival, you’re served another small snack. Plus, if you get hungry at any point during the flight, you can request a snack from one of the flight attendants.

All passengers flying in United Polaris business class are entitled to two free checked bags and receive Premier Access, which includes a priority check-in line, priority baggage handling, exclusive security lanes (as select airports) and priority boarding.

Of course, United Polaris passengers also have complimentary access to United Polaris lounges, which include amenities like shower facilities, daybeds, complimentary buffets and beverages, and more. You can find United Polaris lounges at the following airports:

• Chicago-O’Hare (ORD)
• Houston-Intercontinental (IAH)
• Los Angeles (LAX)
• Newark (EWR)
• San Francisco (SFO)
• Washington-Dulles (IAD)

It’s worth noting that the United Polaris lounge at Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD) was ranked as the best business-class lounge in North America in 2024, according to Skytrax.

If you aren’t flying out of one of the aforementioned airports, you can access United Club lounges, which are located in many airports across the United States. Because United is a Star Alliance member, you also can access Star Alliance partner lounges with a United Polaris ticket.

To see if there’s a Star Alliance partner lounge at a specific airport, you can use the Lounge Finder tool in the My10x web application.

Avianca LifeMiles

You can often find United Polaris business-class award space at excellent rates through the Avianca LifeMiles program because this program prices partner awards using region-based fixed award charts. This means that you can find partner awards that offer outsized value per mile, including United Polaris awards.

For example, we found a United round-trip business-class award itinerary between Newark (EWR) and Rome (FCO) for 160,000 miles and about $114 in taxes and fees. This flight itinerary is operated using a Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, which includes United Polaris service.

If you were to book this same flight with cash through the United website, it would cost you about $3,619.

So, by booking this flight with Avianca LifeMiles instead of cash, you’d be getting a redemption value of about 2.2 cents per mile (taking into consideration the taxes and fees you’d have to pay for the award flight), which is decent.

Another major advantage of the Avianca LifeMiles program is that it’s a 1:1 transfer partner of several major U.S. credit card rewards programs, including American Express Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Capital One Rewards, Citi ThankYou Rewards and Wells Fargo Rewards. This makes it easy for most U.S. consumers to earn miles with the Avianca LifeMiles program.

A relatively large amount of United Polaris business-class space on transatlantic routes is available through the Avianca LifeMiles program. In general, Avianca LifeMiles offers the best rates for United Polaris transatlantic flights out of any frequent-flyer program that partners with a U.S credit card rewards program. So, before you book your United Polaris award through any other program, you should check if it’s available through Avianca LifeMiles first.

Air Canada Aeroplan

Another program through which you can find great rates on United Polaris award tickets is Air Canada Aeroplan. While this program recently started pricing partner award flights using a dynamic pricing model, you can still find high-value redemptions, particularly on premium-cabin awards.

Intercontinental United Polaris award availability is relatively difficult to find through the Aeroplan program. However, using third-party award search tools like AwardTool or Seats.aero, you should be able to find some high-value United Polaris awards on long-haul intercontinental routes.

For example, we found a round-trip United Polaris business-class itinerary between Newark (EWR) and Frankfurt, Germany (FRA), for 160,000 Aeroplan points plus 332 Canadian dollars (about $241) in taxes and fees.

If you were to book this same flight with cash through the United website, it would cost you about $3,875.

So, factoring in the taxes and fees you’d have to pay for the award flight, this redemption would give you a value of about 2.3 cents per point, which is good.

The Air Canada Aeroplan program is a 1:1 transfer partner of many major U.S. credit card rewards programs, including American Express Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Capital One Rewards and Chase Ultimate Rewards. This makes it relatively easy to earn Aeroplan points if you have a rewards credit card from one of the aforementioned issuers.

United MileagePlus

Of course, you can find United Polaris award availability through the United MileagePlus frequent-flyer program. The biggest advantage of the MileagePlus program is that it offers the greatest abundance of United Polaris award availability by far. Unfortunately, this program uses a dynamic pricing model for all award flights, which makes it difficult to find outsized value on United Polaris awards.

Here’s an example of a round-trip United Polaris award itinerary between San Francisco (SFO) and Seoul (ICN) for 306,600 miles and about $41 in taxes and fees through the United MilagePlus program.

If you were to book the same flights with cash through the United website, it would cost you about $5,381.

Considering the taxes and fees on the award flight, this redemption would give you a value of about 1.7 cents per mile, which is average.

So, as you can see, you can find a ton of United Polaris business-class award availability through the United MileagePlus program. Although you probably won’t get as much value per mile as you would through Avianca LifeMiles or Air Canada Aeroplan, you can still find decent value on these premium-cabin awards.

It’s also worth noting that the United MileagePlus program offers exclusive Saver award availability to United MileagePlus elite status members and United co-branded credit card holders. This perk can help you find even United Polaris business-class awards at Saver rates with greater ease and thus allow you to get better value for your United miles.

United MileagePlus is a 1:1 transfer partner of both Bilt Rewards and Chase Ultimate Rewards, which means that you can easily earn United miles if you have a rewards credit card from either of the aforementioned issuers. There are also several United MileagePlus co-branded credit cards that may be worth looking into if you’re a U.S.-based traveler that flies with United often.

The Bottom Line

United Polaris business-class tickets come with a variety of wonderful amenities both at the airport and during your flight. For one, you’ll have access to United Polaris lounges, United Club lounges and Star Alliance partner lounges before your departure and/or during your layover. While onboard the plane, you’ll enjoy a lie-flat seat, a large touchscreen 4K OLED entertainment monitor, complimentary gourmet dining options and beverages. Plus, every United Polaris passenger receives an amenity kit containing luxurious self-care products.

However, all of this luxury comes at a high cash price. Luckily, by booking United Polaris tickets with points and miles, you can keep your out-of-pocket costs low and still experience United’s premier business-class product.

Generally, you can find the typically good rates on United Polaris awards through either Avianca LifeMiles or Air Canada Aeroplan, both of which allow transfers from several major U.S. credit card rewards programs. However, United Polaris award space may take longer to find through these programs without using a third-party award search tool like AwardTool or Seats.aero.

If you can’t find the United Polaris award you’re looking for through either of those two programs, it’s worth checking United’s own MileagePlus program. While the rates for these awards aren’t as favorable through MileagePlus, there’s a ton of United Polaris award space available through this program.