Move Over Emirates: United Serving $200 Per Bottle Wine In Polaris Business Class

In recent times, we’ve seen US airlines greatly improving their business class soft product, as they increasingly compete for premium travelers by focusing on the little touches.

Just on the champagne front, we’ve seen all of the “big three” US carriers launch exciting collaborations — American is partnering with Bollinger, Delta is partnering with Taittinger, and United is partnering with Laurent-Perrier. However, beyond champagne, it seems that one airline is investing more in its wine selection than others, and deserves some credit…

United serving $200 per bottle red wine in Polaris?!?

United publishes its inflight menus and drink lists on the flight status page of the app, so you can see what the airline is currently serving. Find Flights For Me (which does a great job sharing award availability, and is worth following) flags something that I’d consider to be pretty incredible.

United is currently serving The Mascot Cabernet Sauvignon 2019 in Polaris business class on select routes. For example, you’ll see it on today’s flight from Washington (IAD) to Tokyo (HND).

This retails for $180+ per bottle, so by the time you pay sales tax, we’re talking about over $200 per bottle. And this is the retail cost, and not what you’d pay in a restaurant or bar (where you’d expect to pay somewhere around 2-3x the retail price).

This is without a doubt the most expensive wine I’ve ever seen a US airline serve in business class. For that matter, this is more in line with the wine I’d expect in Emirates first class, rather than business class on any airline (Emirates is in a league of its own when it comes to its wine investment).

Let me of course add the caveat that quality and price aren’t always the same, but you can expect that on average, a $200 wine will be more well regarded than a $20 wine, especially when you’re not being given a check when you’re poured a glass (like on a plane). 😉

United is taking the lead with wine, but what about food?

Obviously not all Polaris business class wines are as expensive as this one. However, anecdotally I’d say that at this point, United’s wine program is much better than what you’ll find at American or Delta (despite Delta’s premium claim, the airline has often been among the least competitive with wine).

Airlines pay nowhere close to retail cost for these kinds of wines, but still, an airline isn’t getting $200 per bottle wine for free, so it does represent a significant investment.

What I find so unusual about United’s approach to Polaris business class is that catering continues to be pretty weak. While the airline has indicated it will invest more in this area, it doesn’t look like meaningful improvements have been made, especially compared to what catering was like back when Polaris was launched, nearly a decade ago.

Bottom line

United is currently serving a $200 per bottle wine in Polaris business class on select flights, which is pretty remarkable. While that’s not anywhere close to the average cost of United wine, there’s no denying that the airline does a good job in this area, at least compared to its two biggest rivals.

I’ve never heard of any airline serving a wine in business class at that price point, even outside the United States.

To those who are frequent Polaris business class flyers, what’s your impression of the carrier’s evolving wine program?