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Hemispheres Ends 32-Year Run: How to Get the Final Print Issue for Free

The airline recently announced the magazine will cease publication and become a digital-only platform

by Lauren Smith

September 10, 2024

Photo: Courtesy of United

United is discontinuing Hemispheres, its inflight magazine, but travelers nostalgic for the heyday of print media in the seatback pocket have an opportunity to nab the final issue for free. Below, a look at how we got here, and how you can get your copy.

Why is United Pulling Hemispheres?

With our time on airplanes now occupied by in-flight entertainment (IFE) systems and internet-connected personal devices, fewer people are reaching into seatback pockets for distraction. But the pandemic and queasiness about the coronavirus on the glossy pages of inflight magazines may have also contributed to their demise in the U.S.

Delta and Southwest culled their magazines during the early days of the pandemic, and American Airlines yanked its long-running American Way in 2021.

SkyMall, the repository of bizarre and wonderful products that entertained so many on long flights, disappeared from planes even earlier, in 2015, after the company went bankrupt.

United’s Hemispheres held on, tempting travelers with reports from far-flung destinations and keeping them updated on new routes. The airline even mailed the magazine to elite members during the height of the pandemic. It returned to seatbacks in June 2021, with frequent flyers looking to its pages for the recurring “Three Perfect Days” cover feature, which outlined jam-packed itineraries for cities around the world. On a short flight with a sleeping baby and a dwindling phone charge last Christmas, I was relieved to find an edition of Hemispheres on my seat and devoured a feature about Costa Rica, a place now on my bucket list.

The magazine was also practical, providing menus for in-flight food and terminal maps for key airports to smooth travelers’ connections.

The Legacy of Hemispheres

Now, 32 years after its launch, the print version of Hemispheres is retiring. The September issue, featuring a three-day jaunt to United’s hometown of Chicago and a retrospective of the magazine’s history, will be its last.

Looking on the bright side, United said ending the magazine’s print edition will reduce carbon emissions, workload, and cost. The magazine accounted for around 13,000 metric tons of scope 1 CO₂ emissions last year.

But if you’re feeling misty-eyed about the death of print media, at least in the skies, don’t despair. United is giving 50,000 copies of the final issue of Hemispheres to MileagePlus members for free.

To claim your own, head to a promotional page on United’s MileagePlus website and log in with your frequent flyer credentials. When you click “RSVP Now,” you’ll enter a digital queue to receive a copy. At press time, 10,000 copies have already been claimed, leaving 40,000 available.

Hemispheres Goes Digital

United has announced Hemispheres will live on as a digital publication, with the platform already online at united.com/hemispheres.

“A digital Hemispheres allows us to make the magazine even better—we can reach a wider audience across all of United’s channels, throughout their journey, rather than only on board and offer more personalized content and tell richer stories,” the airline said in a statement.

Accessed for free with on-board Wi-Fi or through IFE systems, the new Hemispheres will provide tailored content about travelers’ destinations, including video and other “exciting new formats.”

The digital magazine will also be more accessible, offering screen reading, enlarged text, and translations into eight languages, the airline says.

A digital Hemispheres also aligns with the launch of the airline’s Kinective Media, a media network that “uses insights from travel behaviors to connect customers to personalized, real-time advertising, content, experiences and offers from leading brands.”

The articles you read in the digital Hemispheres could allow relevant advertisers to hone in on customers, much as they do on the internet, and pitch relevant content to travelers on United channels, such as its mobile app and in-flight entertainment system. The airline says its passengers “will receive additional value through more personalized and real-time offers.”

What if you’re just looking for the menus and guides to in-flight entertainment once printed in the physical edition of Hemispheres? They’ll be printed separately and tucked into the seatback pocket with the safety card.