I am a Star Alliance Gold member, based in Canada. I often fly business class on AC, and I have flown international business class on LH (both pre and post flat beds), SQ, OS.

I am considering planning to fly on international business class on US from PHI to IST via MUC next month (codeshared on LH between Germany and Turkey). How would one rate international business class on US Air, in terms of seating (pitch, seat width etc), service, quality of food etc - compared to international business class on other Star Alliance carriers?

PS-The US Air planes destined to fly abroad, have 2 cabin (not 3 cabin) planes?

You will be greatly disappointed. US got rid of F about 5 years ago. If flying on the A330, row 1 which was the F cabin is still there but assigned only for full fare J passengers or top elite members. The rest of J is fine but avoid row 2 since they have less legroom than the rest. On the 767 the seats are old (manual control) but adequately comfortable.

Catering is a disgrace and it is the weakest feature of the inflight experience. You are looking at a 3 course dinner on transatlantic flights that resemble more like economy meals on a world class carrier using chinaware and glassware. Personally I think J on US should be revamped as Premium Economy. It is disgraceful to charge full fare for this product.

You will be greatly disappointed. US got rid of F about 5 years ago. If flying on the A330, row 1 which was the F cabin is still there but assigned only for full fare J passengers or top elite members. The rest of J is fine but avoid row 2 since they have less legroom than the rest. On the 767 the seats are old (manual control) but adequately comfortable.

Catering is a disgrace and it is the weakest feature of the inflight experience. You are looking at a 3 course dinner on transatlantic flights that resemble more like economy meals on a world class carrier using chinaware and glassware. Personally I think J on US should be revamped as Premium Economy. It is disgraceful to charge full fare for this product.

Ok - while the food is certainly not BA-quality I've found the vast majority of my appetizers and entrees to be quite enjoayble and far better than anything I have EVER received in economy.

The desert plate is small with a little sweet, crackers, chesse and fruit but the entire meal is certainly filling. Wine selection has decreased in quality but it's drinkable and far better than domestic First or international coach.

The A330 seats are great. Do avoid 2 or 6. The AVOD system is tremendous and with 4 FAs for 41 seats, service is usually quite attentive. The aircraft has a espresso machine. Snacking station between meals. The only real downside to the catering to me is a lousy European arrival breakfast. The pizza/salad combo on the return is quite good usually.

So yea, not the best food but certainly closer to BA Business than Coach.

On a scale of 1-10, I'd pretty much have to say 1. Maybe 2, if the IFE is working properly and the FAs are nice.

Someone stated this in another thread, and it really is true - US Biz is like LH's old Biz class with better IFE but worse food.

If you can get the new LH to MUC you'd be better off.

On a scale of 1-10, I'd pretty much have to say 1. Maybe 2, if the IFE is working properly and the FAs are nice.

That seems even a slam for US. Let's all be honest and call it a 4/10. In grade school terms, that's about a C-. That seems about right to me.

If you have any selection of which flights you might take, be certain to choose one operated by the A330. It is hands down the far better plane in terms of pax comfort. The IFE is much more enhanced and the total experience is just far nicer.

In my experience, while the f/as are generally nice and attentive, I have to say I get incredibly annoyed at the chit-chat in the galley and too much noise from their gatherings in the galley in the middle of Envoy. In fact, I've even had to ask (on several occasions) for them to kindy quiet down so that we might get a little sleep. That, to me, is hugely disappointing.

You will be greatly disappointed. US got rid of F about 5 years ago. If flying on the A330, row 1 which was the F cabin is still there but assigned only for full fare J passengers or top elite members. The rest of J is fine but avoid row 2 since they have less legroom than the rest. On the 767 the seats are old (manual control) but adequately comfortable.

Catering is a disgrace and it is the weakest feature of the inflight experience. You are looking at a 3 course dinner on transatlantic flights that resemble more like economy meals on a world class carrier using chinaware and glassware. Personally I think J on US should be revamped as Premium Economy. It is disgraceful to charge full fare for this product.

Accuse me if you will of misplaced loyalty, but Envoy is streets ahead of any transatlantic "premium economy" cabin I've ever seen on an American airline, which have a few extra inches of legroom (compared to the 70 inches plus on US in Envoy) and precious little else. Granted, European/Asian companies are ususally better. You are not comparing like with like. Yours is not helpful advice. Furthermore, to compare Envoy Class to premium economy on transatlantic routes is, in my humble opinion, absurd. US Airways is a domestic US carrier which has a transatlantic service comparable, and in many cases superior to, other US-based airlines. To describe the meal service as a 'disgrace' is unacceptable. I've flown over ten times to ther US in Envoy and the meal is usually excellent, and not remotely resembling an Economy meal tray! I recently flew Continental from Europe to the US and it was woeful, in a very old 757 with OK food and drop down 1970's type TV screens; compared to US Airways Envoy in a hi-tech Airbus with superior seats and on-demand IFE (even in coach). Also, if travelling in Envoy, you can purchase an upgrade to a flat bed if you wish.

US Airways is not, and does not pretend to be, a 'world class carrier' in terms of long-haul flights. Nor would DL, CO etc on their transatlantic runs. Transatlantic is not long-haul like Qantas, Air New Zealand, Thai etc. It's not helpful to berate US for not having worldwide long-haul standards when they don't fly worldwide long-haul and are not competing with those airlines.

That seems even a slam for US. Let's all be honest and call it a 4/10. In grade school terms, that's about a C-. That seems about right to me.

If you have any selection of which flights you might take, be certain to choose one operated by the A330. It is hands down the far better plane in terms of pax comfort. The IFE is much more enhanced and the total experience is just far nicer.

In my experience, while the f/as are generally nice and attentive, I have to say I get incredibly annoyed at the chit-chat in the galley and too much noise from their gatherings in the galley in the middle of Envoy. In fact, I've even had to ask (on several occasions) for them to kindy quiet down so that we might get a little sleep. That, to me, is hugely disappointing.


The OP indicated he plans to travel via MUC which would mean he will be on a US 767.

A better question, if you would give US a 4, who is worse? I only give US a 1 in comparison to other airlines. If you give US a 4, which airline would you give a 3 or a 2? IB is the only one I can think of, but other than that, I believe every carrier that US routinely competes with on transatlantic segments has a superior product.

The OP indicated he plans to travel via MUC which would mean he will be on a US 767.

A better question, if you would give US a 4, who is worse?

I wasn't ranking, I was grading. Students are graded by total performance generally and not given a rank grade. I always made high Bs and As in school, but so did scads of other students. My making an A didn't mean that other students had to, then, get Bs, Cs, Ds, and Fs.

I stand by my statement of 4/10. That doesn't mean that there are a host of other carriers offering a substantially lower quality product than US. But, I would assign Envoy on a 767 a 3/10 and on the A330 a 5/10. Thus, my average assignment of 4/10. I think to get less than that, an airline would really need to be suffering in most areas of operations. I don't see Envoy as a miserable experience. On the whole, it's rather comfortable and somewhat enjoyable. It could be vastly improved --- heck, I'd love to see it return to what it was when initially launched. Now that deserved at least an 8/10.

So yea, not the best food but certainly closer to BA Business than Coach.

Huh? :confused: With all due respect, the fact that you can even remotely compare BA CW with US Envoy is a joke. The service, catering, and seats alone on BA make it a incredibly superior product. Comparing BA CW to Envoy is not even a comparison

Ian

US Airways is a domestic US carrier which has a transatlantic service comparable, and in many cases superior to, other US-based airlines


Well, again, I must say I respectfully disagree. I believe it to be the worst transatlantic business class around, period. I've flown CO, AA, UA, and DL biz seats across the Atlantic and they all blow away Envoy.

On a semi-related sidenote, when I was booking award business travel this week for the Thanksgiving weekend the CP agent I spoke to couldn't understand why I didn't want an envoy option rather than another *A I was seeking. She was equally perplexed when I confirmed a LH routing in C at the expense of another connection. I simply told her the other star alliance carriers offer a superior business class product, and when I'm redeeming miles I'd rather get my money's worth.

Ian

. US Airways is a domestic US carrier which has a transatlantic service comparable, and in many cases superior to, other US-based airlines. To describe the meal service as a 'disgrace' is unacceptable. I've flown over ten times to ther US in Envoy and the meal is usually excellent, and not remotely resembling an Economy meal tray! I recently flew Continental from Europe to the US and it was woeful, in a very old 757 with OK food and drop down 1970's type TV screens; compared to US Airways Envoy in a hi-tech Airbus with superior seats and on-demand IFE (even in coach). Also, if travelling in Envoy, you can purchase an upgrade to a flat bed if you wish.

US Airways is not, and does not pretend to be, a 'world class carrier' in terms of long-haul flights. Nor would DL, CO etc on their transatlantic runs. Transatlantic is not long-haul like Qantas, Air New Zealand, Thai etc. It's not helpful to berate US for not having worldwide long-haul standards when they don't fly worldwide long-haul and are not competing with those airlines.

But US competes with BA, VS, BD, Maxjet and the rest of the transatlantic carriers and has no problem charging the same price for a business class seat. In terms of value, would you buy a full fare ticket on US and receive less?

As for your experience on CO, I am truthfully shocked to learn that you would classify US's catering superior to them. A typical transatlantic meal service on CO BusinessFirst is 5 courses (appetizers from a cart with a choice of 2 items, substantial salad with choice of dressings, 4 main meal options, cheese course from a cart and dessert with made to order sundaes or fruit cobbler). This is further evidenced by CO's stellar ranking in Sytrax with a 5* score in that area. As for seats, I won't argue with the superiority of an A330 over a 757. However, if you had flown on a 777, then the comfort level would have been the same or better.

Compared to which American carrier is US transatlantic service superior to? Are you talking about J or Y? The only area where I can see some slight advantage is with the IFE in Y. By the way, isn't NW A330's AVOD too? As for J, I beg you to prove me wrong. I guess is a good thing that US has such loyal customers like yourself. I hope your relationship with them is handsomely reciprocated and fruitful.

I wasn't ranking, I was grading. Students are graded by total performance generally and not given a rank grade. I always made high Bs and As in school, but so did scads of other students. My making an A didn't mean that other students had to, then, get Bs, Cs, Ds, and Fs.

I stand by my statement of 4/10. That doesn't mean that there are a host of other carriers offering a substantially lower quality product than US. But, I would assign Envoy on a 767 a 3/10 and on the A330 a 5/10. Thus, my average assignment of 4/10. I think to get less than that, an airline would really need to be suffering in most areas of operations. I don't see Envoy as a miserable experience. On the whole, it's rather comfortable and somewhat enjoyable. It could be vastly improved --- heck, I'd love to see it return to what it was when initially launched. Now that deserved at least an 8/10.


Point taken. I suppose I was being a little harsh, but I had just gotten done viewing some recent Envoy meal pictures on airlinemeals.net and that pizza in a cardboard box (although it may be tasty) has got to go! :td: I suppose a grading of less than 3 would actually mean it is unpleasant, which Envoy is not. It's comfortable and enjoyable, but it definitely has room for improvement.

The OP indicated he plans to travel via MUC which would mean he will be on a US 767.

If flying in Sep, it will be an A330 - the only month of the year US swaps the 767 for the 330 to satisfy Oktoberfest loads.

How about this -

In ascending quality order, on some arbitrary scale of my own (based only on my own experiences with each of these)....

BA/UA Coach
(~31" pitch)

US Coach
(32-34" pitch)

UA E+
(38" pitch)

US Envoy
(seating and service superior to any coach)

UA J
(a better C/J product than US - better meal, real glass)

BA J
(a better C/J seat than UA)

Well, again, I must say I respectfully disagree. I believe it to be the worst transatlantic business class around, period.
Ian

What? You mean that you don't like the double strength paper napkins offered with Envoy meals nor the waxed paper placemat under the dishes? :D

I am a Star Alliance Gold member, based in Canada. I often fly business class on AC, and I have flown international business class on LH (both pre and post flat beds), SQ, OS.

I am considering planning to fly on international business class on US from PHI to IST via MUC next month (codeshared on LH between Germany and Turkey). How would one rate international business class on US Air, in terms of seating (pitch, seat width etc), service, quality of food etc - compared to international business class on other Star Alliance carriers?

PS-The US Air planes destined to fly abroad, have 2 cabin (not 3 cabin) planes?

Using the A - F scale (including + and -), I would rate US Airways' domestic first class as C-. Envoy Class is significantly better in terms of the seats and IFE, thus I would give Envoy a C in comparison to other airlines' international business class product. Of course, that's just my opinion.

P.S. All US Airways' mainline planes are 2-class, including those that fly the international routes.