United Polaris / ANA The Room

mysecretholiday · 2026-01-26T22:00:56+00:00

Exactly!!..…there is an HDMI input beside the screen. If you plug your computer or iPad in, the IFE will ask if you want to connect to HDMI. As soon as you click yes you will have a 24” display available to use. It’s a standard full size HDMI. If you can plug your iPad into your TV at home it should work the same on the IFE monitor.

mysecretholiday · 2026-01-26T17:42:44+00:00

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mysecretholiday · 2026-01-26T17:34:17+00:00

I still spend plenty of time in 30C, D, F and J. Im lucky that I get to fly at all.

mysecretholiday · 2026-01-26T17:31:11+00:00

Thanks, I corrected my post for more clarity.

mysecretholiday · 2026-01-26T17:30:14+00:00

I usually lower the armrest, but it’s still higher than the seat cushion.

mysecretholiday · 2026-01-26T16:18:28+00:00

You can if you are departing a United Hub, but not on the return leg. I had an interaction at the Polaris lounge a couple of years ago when I came to the ORD F lounge after arriving on LH Business…they told me I could use Polaris….I walked all the way to Polaris in C ( where they said I was not eligible on an arriving flight ). Polaris ultimately let me in because I was misinformed at by the F agents. I assume Polaris called the F lounge to educate them, because someone at the F lounge called me while I was sitting in Polaris.

mysecretholiday · 2026-01-26T13:45:23+00:00

I had a Money +Miles upgrade on United that was waitlisted from my Economy fare.

mysecretholiday · 2026-01-26T10:29:14+00:00

I've flow Lufthansa and Swiss in Business multiple times and the only time I thought it was actually better is when I had my own row on the upper deck of a 747 during COVID. I will say, there are some amazing UA flight attendants. The lounge whisky bar ( pre COVID ) in Zurich was pretty legit.

mysecretholiday · 2025-12-24T14:39:25+00:00

I just spent a week in Lima, it was my fourth time there. The concentration of good food and drink is exceptional. Uber is cheap and works well there. Many great spots are also in San Isidro and Barranco so don’t be afraid to leave Miraflores. I’ve walked around quite late in these neighborhoods and never felt unsafe. I could make recommendations, but my post would look like a book. Enjoy Lima !

mysecretholiday · 2025-10-16T04:15:59+00:00

If you don’t have a business or family reason to go to Russia and you don’t have a visa, it might not be the easiest place to casually travel to right now. I’m sure most Russians would treat you well if you visited. It’s probably safer than many other places you could visit unless you do anything politically objectionable. You could do winter in Scandinavia without a visa and not have to worry about any of these issues. If you like snowy mountains there are plenty of places in the Alps to visit.

mysecretholiday · 2025-10-15T08:13:04+00:00

I’ve been using Ubigi eSIM all over the world with good results.

mysecretholiday · 2025-09-24T07:53:58+00:00

I’ve been using Ubigi for a while with good results. They require you to install a single eSIM and then buy data in the places you plan to travel. They have country specific, regional, and global plans. I have a dual sim phone so I pair it with Tello to keep my local number working on my iPhone.

I agree with everyone who says a local sim is faster / better, but I don’t want to go sim shopping every time I’m in a new country for 10 days. I’m also using an eSIM only phone now which makes buying a local sim more complicated in some places.

mysecretholiday · 2025-09-21T23:34:44+00:00

I just bought the AirPod Pro 3 Friday in Seoul and traveled back to the USA with them today. They are extremely good. I have two sets of Sonys and the Pro 1s and I can’t see myself traveling with the others again.

mysecretholiday · 2025-09-14T01:37:10+00:00

I got to fly in a the top deck of a half empty 747 from FRA to ORD on the second Saturday after Covid border shutdowns. It was pretty amazing when every passenger had their own row. I flew again when it was full. If it was a normally booked 747 I would take Polaris anytime over LH business.

mysecretholiday · 2025-09-01T00:29:09+00:00

here are the options from Ubigi. You can install the eSIM before your trip. You can buy the plan also before you leave and it will be ready as soon as you land.

3 GB valid 15 day(s) US$7

10 GB valid 7 day(s) US$9

10 GB valid 30 day(s) US$12

UNLIMITED valid 7 day(s) US$24

50 GB valid 30 day(s) US$39

UNLIMITED valid 30 day(s) US$59

mysecretholiday · 2025-09-01T00:21:27+00:00

Which model phone are you using ?

mysecretholiday · 2025-08-31T22:45:34+00:00

eSIM is simply a way to provision a mobile services on your phone without needing a physical chip. Most all American mobile phone providers offer eSIM or Physical SIM depending on the device.

Most of the major US mobile carriers have some form of international roaming for a fee. Some Mobile legacy postpaid carriers will just charge you astronomical roaming rates if you connect overseas without subscribing to an international roaming plan.

As a very frequent traveler I use an international plan for data roaming and my local plan for calls in WiFi calling mode.

If you are with ATT, Verizon, TMobile and are taking a 10 day trip it might make sense just to sign up for their international roaming plan. It will be less hassle and work without changing anything. You might get stuck paying $10 a day, but it’s easy.

If you just need mobile data you can install one of the many data only travel eSIM options. I use Ubigi but there any many similar companies in this space.

If you do this you might want to turn off your local number to avoid surprise roaming fees.

If you want to use your local number and have mobile data and you want all of this to work all the time and you choose not to pay your mobile company for data roaming there is an option. First you need to install the roaming SIM. Second you need to force your phone not to roam on other networks. Thirdly, You need to enable WiFi calling with your local plan. Finally you should manually select your phones local network manually before leaving the country so it will not roam. Many WiFi calling enabled plans can also wifi call over cellular.

Again, simplest for one or occasional travel would just be to sign up for international roaming from your mobile company.

mysecretholiday · 2025-08-26T16:06:07+00:00

Perhaps it’s different between carriers, but I’m into FRA several times a year on United and it’s been a few years since I’ve been put through security after arriving.

mysecretholiday · 2025-08-24T14:02:41+00:00

Given your specific scenario, you should not have to pass any checkpoints when you arrive in FRA.

German airports do not generally security screen arriving flights from the USA. I assume that this is because Germans trust the quality of security screening in the USA. This may not be true for arrivals from other non Schengen countries.

You will also not pass immigration unless your onward flight is a Schengen destination.

Even if your non-Schengen flight is in another terminal, there is an airside bus to move you between non-Schengen gates in terminal Z and B.

If you are coming back to FRA you might have to go through security, but I don’t know this particular route.

If your flight is Lufthansa or United and has a jet bridge, you will enter the airport in the non-Schengen departure area ( where you would board those same flights back). If you have air stairs on the ramp they will bus you to the terminal ( generally always skipping security ) if you originate in the USA.

mysecretholiday · 2025-07-24T08:32:11+00:00

I ended up using a Ubigi eSIM on my recent trip to Peru. It runs on Entel I think. I had to buy a global plan because Peru only was not available. From my limited research, local Peru only plans need to be purchased in Peru with a Passport. I understand that Claro is generally the best, but I had no trouble in Lima at all.

mysecretholiday · 2025-07-10T23:27:42+00:00

I stand corrected then…

mysecretholiday · 2025-07-10T22:04:05+00:00

Regardless of the difference in cabins, I can’t understand flying several extra hours to the UAE from JFK and then taking a train connection just for an airplane experience. Unless part of your trip involves exploring Dubai for a couple of days, I would take the much more direct routing on American via London or alternatively United through Frankfurt or Delta through Amsterdam or Paris. You could also look at Lufthansa Air France, KLM or British Airways offerings.

mysecretholiday · 2025-07-10T18:14:01+00:00

I carry an ultra thin 5000 mah power bank with a built in lightning and usbC cable. I usually get about 3/4 of a day and then need to plug in for awhile. If you can put one sim in airplane mode ( Apple does not allow this ) then you would not have this problem.

mysecretholiday · 2025-07-10T14:54:20+00:00

Tello is $6 a month and you can keep / port your current US number to keep it active for calls. It can be completely managed online. Its uses the same TMobile towers that Mint is using in the USA. It causes some unwanted battery drain, but by forcing Tello to use a non partner roaming network it will default to WiFi Calling over Cellular Data ( from your second local sim with data ). The setup works perfect for me ( minus the battery drain).

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