Inside United's New Polaris and Premium-Cabin Amenity Kits

June 08, 2017

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3 min read

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Good news for United premium cabin flyers — new amenity kits are coming your way. To celebrate its partnership with Saks Fifth Avenue, United is launching redesigned amenity kits for passengers flying internationally in Polaris First and Business Class as well as premium transcontinental flights.

Polaris passengers are in for a treat with these new structured Saks bags that resemble a slightly larger sunglass case. Both first and business-class passengers will get similar bags, which comes in two colors — black and white, but with slightly different contents (more on that below).

Both kits contain a signature padded eye mask for improved sleep at 35,000 feet, a calming pillow mist and skincare products from Soho House & Co’s Cowshed Spa, cozy yet fashionable socks, plus many other wellness items such as a toothbrush, toothpaste, tissues and earplugs.

In addition to the business-class offerings, first-class passengers also get a bottle of mouthwash, a larger tube of toothpaste, a lens cleaner and a tube of Bullocks Soothing Moisturizer. Nothing too different from what's being currently offered onboard.

By comparison, here are the previous Polaris amenity kits:

The Polaris first amenity kit (left) vs. business class (right). — Previous Polaris first amenity kit (left) vs. business class (right).

On transcontinental routes between Newark (EWR) and Los Angeles (LAX) and San Francisco (SFO), as well as Boston (BOS) to SFO, passengers in the business-class cabin will instead get a goodie-filled Saks Fifth Avenue cloth pouch.

The pouch contains an eye mask, earplugs, toothpaste, toothbrush, lip balm and a pack of hand sanitizer.

Business-class amenity kit for passengers flying transcontinental.

While the contents haven't changed much, it's nice to see United shaking things up on the amenity kit front, continuing its collaboration with Saks Fifth Avenue, which also provides the much-raved-about bedding that's offered in first and business class. United's planning a soft rollout for the new kits — do expect to see these onboard within the next few weeks as they're progressively introduced across the fleet.

The Polaris rebrand, while it hasn't been a total game changer, has definitely improved the inflight experience for premium travelers. We definitely do recommend booking yourself on United's 777-300ER (77W) to experience their newest lie-flat seats, as TPG Editor-In-Chief Zach Honig did from Hong Kong (HKG) to San Francisco (SFO).