Last year I flew between Boston and London four times, and I just back from another trip this year on the same route. The flights last year were all on United using their nonstop route and flying in Polaris business class. They discontinued that flight last fall, so for this recent flight I went the same route on Delta. Counter intuitively, since getting lifetime gold status on United, I’ve been able to choose other airlines when the routing or pricing made better sense for me. So, what follows is a review of Polaris vs. Delta One based on identical routing (and almost identical cost).
At Logan Airport: United departs from Terminal B, whereas Delta international flights leave from Terminal E. Parking is a pain in the ass for terminal B as the Defender is too tall for the garage, so you have to park in the central garage which is a long walk away or the economy garage which requires a bus. Terminal E is connected directly to the central garage. Security at Logan is similar between terminals, but they close the precheck lane in terminal B at 7pm. The United lounge is a standard domestic lounge, but the Delta lounge is terminal is new and huge. Overall Delta wins this round.
Onboard: United was flying 767-300ER on the route with the new staggered Polaris seats. I prefer odd numbers that are closer to the window and provide better privacy, although they are a little more awkward to get in and out of, especially when you are nursing a new ceramic hip joint. Delta flew an older A330 last week with the older herringbone layout Delta One seats. Google tells me that they sometimes use the same 767-300ERs on the route, but I did not fly them. I did fly Premium economy on a Delta 767 to Paris last summer and I expected to get the newer delta one suites on this trip.
So – as actually flown, United Polaris wins this hands-down. The older Delta One seats are the same as the ones Air New Zealand and Virgin were using almost 20 years ago and time has moved on. They feel very last generation and the overall onboard experience seems tired and ready for a refresh. Service and food were similar, but it was hard to sleep on the Delta flight as the seats were more cramped and less private. On the way back, I watched some movies and United’s AV setup is much better, as are the between meals snack selections.
United definitely wins in terms of onboard experience.
At Heathrow Airport: I always find Heathrow annoying. United flies into the new(ish) Terminal 2. The arrivals lounge is small but is very new, clean, and welcoming. Connections to car rentals and the tube station are directly below the terminal. Security is rude and shitty, but it is everywhere at Heathrow. There’s a Hilton Garden Inn directly next to the Terminal 2 garage. The United departures lounge is a long walk from checkin and security in the satellite concourse. It’s pretty nice and the food there is decent. I’ve spent way too many hours in this lounge and it does the job.
Delta flies into Terminal 3 at Heathrow – it is objectively worse than terminal 3 in every possible way. It is old, low ceilinged, dirty, tired, and generally unpleasant to be in. The arrivals lounge is a Virgin lounge which is older and not as nice. There are better food choices, though, so the arrivals lounge experience is a tie. Delta’s departure lounge is also the Virgin lounge and is smaller than the United lounge but pretty nice. Ordering food to your table is a nice touch.
Overall, probably a tie with both United and Delta suffering from Heathrow’s overall grunginess and rudeness.
Overall Rating: Personally, I mostly pay the premium for onboard experience and United wins this hands down. The rest of the factors are about even, but the Polaris seats on the 767 are way better than the Delta One seats on the A330. However, if Delta start flying updated A330s or 767s with the latest seats, I would definitely give them another try because the direct flight out of Boston is much better than having to connect through Newark or Dulles. Hopefully United starts flying to Manchester again – which would be even better and I’d consider connecting through EWR or IAD for that.
