Short hair Francis

Finally Out Across the Pacific, 6 Hours 47 Minutes to Honolulu on this daytime crossing.


Now where are the video screen??? United reconfigures these new planes without built-in entertainment system, and went for streaming instead.
OKAY! Streaming AVOD might sound good in theory what if it doesn’t work? Then what do you do?
BYOB, Booze for some, Books for others.
And on top of that, put in some powerports in idiots! What device will last 6 hrs on their own unless someone is bringing extra battery..

So for today, United really loves me on the Gummy fare,
We now provide no video, no audio, no Channel 9, no in-seat power, no nothing for a 6 hrs 50 Minute flight.
What a shitshow of an airline!?!
I’m thinking my lucky stars I brought a book along for the ride.

UA 200 Breakfast

To Begin
Fresh Seasonal Fruit with flavored yogurt

Banana muffins and breakfast breads with butter and fruit preserves

Main Course
Scrambled Eggs with Shrimp and Chives
Rosti potatoes, chicken apple sausage and grilled tomato

Breakfast Brochette
Italian sausage, Canadian bacon, pineapple, tomato and zucchini with pork and vegetable fried rice

Chicken Crepes with Béchamel Sauce
Ham, broccoli and grilled tomato

Oatmeal with Dried Cranberries and Brown Sugar
Fresh banana


Hot Towel to Start


Starter Drinks


Bread Basket


Starter Tray


Starter, Fresh Seasonal Fruit Plate with Flavored Yogurt


Breads


Main Course, Breakfast Brochette
Italian Sausage, Canadian bacon, pineapple, tomato and zucchini with pork and vegetable fried rice


What is the expectation for a United flight when comes to food, have zero expectation and you won’t be disappointed.
Brochette wasn’t overall bad, but the rice portion was somewhat small.

About Time, Halfway to Hawaii Contest


Time to Add Up My Calculations, here goes nothing!

Not going to fully explain how I came up with that figure but if it can be somewhat self-explanatory, and no I’ve never taken course in flight dispatch

Hey, I guess I put the new Common Core Math method to wonderful use.
2:43pm Honolulu time is my guess.

With nothing to do, I proceed to take a nap after the super early wake-up for the flight and 2 1/4 hours later, a cookie was served

Mid Flight Snack


With the Classic Paperbag? Are Plates too expensive to cater now?

And after some reading, a pre-arrival meal was served 2 hours from Honolulu and the captain also updated Week 11 scores from the NFL.
Seahawks won 41-20 over the Viking in Percy Harvin’s first game as a Seahawks, nice ^

UA 200 Snack/Brunch
Melted Swiss Cheese Roast Beef Sandwich
Fruit appetizer, Cole Slaw with Raisin and sweet treat

Snack/Brunch Tray


Cole Slaw with Raisin


Fruit Bowl


Melted Swiss Cheese Roast Beef Sandwich


The Roast Beef Sandwich was passable but the chicken bacon wrap on HKG-GUM is better. And United’s Fixation with the fruit bowl remains, uh.

After all the trays were cleared up, the Purser announced the Winner of the “Halfway to Hawaii” Game and miraculousely 3 people got the correct time.

It was in fact 2:43pm Honolulu time, as I was the 1/3 sitted up front. I got the first chance to pick the straw to decide the winner.

Hurray I win, and I wasn’t going to Hawaii. LOL



Part 2 Continues Below

Short hair Francis

Around 5:35pm, we flew past Kauai and started our descent into Honolulu





And finally at Oahu


And on ground at 5:55pm



Finally at the gate 6:02pm, 2/3 thirds of a Transpac completed, let’s keep on hopping!

Next Part
Part 3 – If that was the 90s, then this is the 80s, United Airlines Business Class HNL – IAH

offerendum

Oh, it wasn`t sarcastic. I really think it looks interesting.

trust77

Hafa Adai Short Hair Francis! I've been following your reports for a long time and didn't realize you passed through my home town! I hope you enjoyed your stay. Please visit again when your busy flying schedule permits.

I just read your GUM-HNL report and am sad to report that the meal services have changed drastically. There are no more menus; the purser simply recites the three choices to you. No more cookies. And the pre arrival snack is much more simpler than a sandwich. What a decline! On another note, the streaming entertainment is very reliable (still not charging ports as of this month), and most of the Hawaii Configured 777s are equipped with workable and very reliable wifi connectivity (priced at about $16.99 for the entire flight b/w GUM & HNL).

Looking forward to reading the rest of your report and Si Yu'os Ma'ase for sharing.


eta - I couldn't agree more with your comments about those grey dividers in our airport! When the airport was finished in 1997, this was pre 9/11 when arriving and departing passengers could comingle in the secure area; it was a pleasant experience at that time. Then 9/11 came and the requirement to separate arriving passengers from departing passengers and the GUM airport was SOL. So the dividers have been there since the regulations went into place. The good news is that as part of an airport renovation plan, a separate arrival passageway will be built above the existing airport to allow passengers to transit from the gate through to the U.S. Customs area which will then allow those awful dividers to be removed permanently.

CHOPCHOP767

Ohhh Guam, 'where America starts her morning...'

I didn't realize that GUM had such a sizable UC. Actually looks pretty decent, if only for the pseudo-musubis. Last time I was there and flew back to NRT, it was on a Delta 757 which seemed more comfortable than the UA 777 you flew on. I loved the old seats on UA's 777s, but wow, I guess the Guam reps complaints to the DOT seem a little more justified given UA's virtual monopoly on service to and from the island and it's sorry state. Those fares aren't cheap either, IIRC. Ditto re mediocrity for Hyatt. Looks really dated, but then again, so was the Marriott in Tumon. Guam is a great place to visit. Thanks for the memories!

FlyerBeek

Great trip report so far, Short hair Francis. I really enjoyed the photos from Guam, they brought back many memories from past trips. Thanks for posting.

Your post made me chuckle. The gym shirt I used today was purchased on Wake Island, and it says "Wake Island, where America really starts her day."

-FlyerBeek

Short hair Francis

Oops, sorry offerendum

And a Hafa adai to you too trust77.
God I wish the Gummy bear was still existing because that is a good motivation to go to Guam.
Less so now since options getting there isn't great.

Wow and as if United catering couldn't get worse, well maybe wait til you see HNL-IAH.
That was prison grade food.
Still, it shows lack of competition brings crap service and even worse pricing
At least the Streaming works, if your device still runs after flying past Midway due to lack of battery.

Grey dividers are just something else.
I heard about that explanation, still confusing as to why US would allow int'l inbound pax to intermingle with departing pax without any check.


The club is a good size, Rectangular set-up that is about a widebody gate long.

UA 772s, not a great way to fly 14 hours Transpac.
The Hyatt had renovated the rooms, the regency club and the lobby when I was there.
Wouldn't be too surprising if they fixed up the hallways by now.


Thank you FlyerBeek, multiple trips to Guam and even Wake?
Did you served in the Navy or something?
I apologize if I misquote the wrong armed forces


Should be able to get another part up in a day or two, but will mostly slow to a crawl once I'm on the road for Christmas

Short hair Francis

Part 3 – If that was the 90s, then this is the 80s, United Airlines Business Class HNL – IAH


Firstly, I don’t mind “through” flights, they can be helpful in the case was saving a segment when you have tickets that run against the 16 segment limit.
Things like CX HKG – YVR – JFK comes to mind.
What I don’t like is this so called “Through” flight with change of gauge of equipment, it is a completely hoax as it is a full out connection which US airlines really seem to take a liking.


Nov 17, 2013 – Sunday
UA 200 HNL – IAH 7:50pm – 7:20am(+1) [Nov 18] (772/J)

After getting on the wiki-wiki shuttle and driven over to the US custom entry point.
CBP was already closed and a corridor was taped up for us to walk through.
The Customs also looked dead too, 1 agent to collect the usual Blue form and we were dumped back to the Honolulu landside.

Honolulu International Airport


Very empty departure hall, guess there is a lull between East Coast and West Coast Red-eyes


Security and another massage, was kinda slow but hey it’s Hawaii, so take East Coast speed and add a 10 sec delay…

I decide to visit the JAL lounge instead of the United lounge

Honolulu Japan Airlines Sakura Lounge








It had a main seating area with a service bar and a food section to the side




*Food was very minimal, in fact the Soup was all gone…

In retrospect, I should’ve went to the United Club.

Photo Courtesy of SFO777
From one of his earlier trip
Blog Link - http://sfo777.com/report/our-week-grandkids

The United Club is on the upper level above Gate 9.

















More United Club pics at SFO777.com


Part 3 Continues Below

Short hair Francis

And around 6:40pm, I made my way over to Gate 6-7 which required about a 5-7 minutes in the outside humidity

Welcome to United Airlines, a New Kettle Experience.
If there was anything I never like about flying on United, the boarding area is almost always a complete gong-show



A different United Airlines Boeing 777-200

*Don’t you just love airline marketing, it is a direct flight with a change of equipment.
God they spin it better than politicians.

*3rd flight of the Trip, 9822 Miles Flown
United Airlines 200
Honolulu to Houston George Bush
Scheduled - 7:50pm – 7:20am(+1)[Nov 18], 7 hr 30 mins flight
Actual Departure – 7:47pm
On Time Arrival – 7:27am(+1)
Business Class, Seat 11H
Food – Dinner, Breakfast
Equipment – Boeing 777-200 (12F/49J/83Y+/114Y Old First/Version 3 “XC/XI” Config)



Boarding began at 7:05pm with Group #1, which basically meant First Class, Business Class, Global Service, 1ks + their families, pets, their plants.
Am I missing any other groups or species?
Seriously would some group separation kill this effing airline?

I hung back until most of Group 1 was boarded since the Group 1/2/3 lines were already all swallowed up when I got to the gate.

Luckily I was still able get a cabin shot

United Airlines Boeing 777-200 Old Business Class Cabin

*Ugh, geez as if the previous refreshed United looks bland enough, this is simply OLD!

United Airlines Boeing 777-200 Old Business Class Seat


*Very old Cloth material, I’m not asking to wash it but geez…
Felt like sitting on Grandma’s old couch and my granny had better couches in her days..

Old Bulkhead


Seat Recline control similar to the last flight


What era is this from, I’ve never seen a IFE control like this in my life


Tiny TV monitor

*The resolution of the TV was only good for the Flight Map.
Lots of glitches, blurred lines trying to play movies

I thought these were gone after 9/11???

*What happened to saving weight?

Pre-Departure Beverage of Water, OJ or Sparkling Wine


Door closed at 7:47pm, empty window seat next to me.
Hmm, That is empty business class seat even with Unlimited Domestic upgrades, WHAT, that’s possible!?!

Bye Bye Honolulu and taxing towards the Outer Runway




Airborne at 8:10pm Honolulu time for 7 Hours 3 Minutes flying time to Houston

*Flight Time not bad for a meal and sleep the night away

As SFO777 will say Showtime! Or in this case W T F?!?

The Choice was Eat or Not Eat.
No selection of Mains whatsoever.
1 Choice, that’s it. That doesn’t even happen in Economy most times
AA serves Hawaiian bread, an appetizer, salad and 3 main choices, I know I’m flying to Houston but still what a bunch of baloney.

Hot Towel to Start

*United does use better towel than most

Drinks and Hot Nuts


Tray Service


United’s Version of Shrimp Cocktail

*Scab Shrimp maybe, El Cheapo?


Part 3 Continues Below

Short hair Francis

Mixed Salad


Main Course, Beef Steak on Gravy with Mashed Potatoes and Vegetables

*Prison Grade beef? Not even my old High School served crap like this

Care to say if I wanted a Baseball Glove, I’ll go buy one?


Luckily the FA were pretty quick on this flight, I imagine they wanted to get us to sleep ASAP.

Soon the Dessert rolled around


Still not as elegent as the AA Sundae if you ask me.

*Glassware design look so 1980s…

Overall, 1 Hours 45 Minutes into the flight and service is done, time for zzz…



As my body still hasn’t decided what time zone I’m in, woke up 3 1/2 hours later


Very slowly lighting up outside



What’s for Breakfast, the Jeff McMuffin of course


United’s Orgy of Fruit Bowl


We need 2 Billion dollars of Cuts, that includes the cut of the meat


That said, AA does only serves scones for breakfast for HNL – DFW, but it is a shorter flight.

Finally in Texas


Good Morning, and it’s still Monday Nov 18th after flying about 18hrs or so



Over San Antonio, it’s been a long time since I’ve been there.



And finally descending into Houston at 6:50am Central time




Part 3 Continues Below

Short hair Francis

Houston, where am I???




Very foggy to start the day in Houston, and took around 15 Minutes to taxi to the E gates, another US Airport off the list ^

Can’t save the Tulip so better save this photo


Not sure when I’ll fly a Boeing 767-400, so rare for my patterns




We’re losing money and our over-entitled elites?!?
What’s the solution, the Dreamliner! ^
Don’t worry, the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner can save anything!

Ha Ha, maybe in Jeffy’s fantasy world maybe


Oh well, what can I make out of United Business or BusinessFirst.
Check-In – Best part of the experience perhaps? There was no waiting after all

Security – That also worked with something called priority.

Boarding – It’s not quite Social Darwinism of Shoulder Checking, but still, some separation of Elites in Economy vs. Business vs. First Class can't hurt

Cabin Ambiance- United, I don’t know how you make planes aged 10-20 yrs in a flash but you do.
You clearly need a new aircraft interior designer!

Seat - Crap but even with UDU, at least the seat next to me was empty.
Re-Leathering was smart move on the new Hawaii 772s but give me power!

Food – GUM – HNL Minimally Bareable, HNL - IAH Pack your own puke?!?
For Hawaii flights, I’ll stick with American

Entertainment – GUM – HNL, watch the ocean or debate your “Halfway to Hawaii” Answer for 7 hrs?!?, HNL – IAH at least there was something…
If you want people to stream, make sure it works and have some powerports!

Crew – Trying, but what do you think they can do with what managements gives them

Overall Impression – Ugh…
A previous SFO777 statement hit the spot, as long as foreign carriers are in business of Premium Travel, I have no desire to fly them.
This really brought back the horrors of flying US carriers from the 90-00s, combine with the ever-worsening foods of today. YIKES, Run for the hills
Then again, I was on a Gummy Bear and a Sour Gummy at that, so need to build in the discount of that into the Overall picture
Can’t imagine what my reaction might be if I actually pay full price for this thing

I’m sorry Jeff, but Dreamliner alone can’t save this product…

Next Part
Part 4 – And Kaboom, we’re in the era of Cost Cutting of 00’s, United Business IAH – CUN

jfkeze

What about guests of GS-level plants? would they also be part of Group 1?

LH4116

Jebus you have quite the backlog to clear Short Hair Francis! Once again a very enjoyable report. I must agree with you R.I.P Gummy Bear, and shame on this devil who decided to kill him. Though I guess if you had taken EVA Air to Guam, that would have caused the same issues?

Uninental surely looks underwhelming, and I didn't know they still had those old lay-z boy recliners left on the 777s, heck I was more shocked to see a PMUA 777 operating HNL-IAH considering it's an ex-Continental route. So surely they would offer the proper BusinessFirst. Btw how did you manage to access the JAL Lounge when you were flying on UA? Did it work by simply flashing your EXP or did you use any form of vouchers?

Oh well I may still be living in denial, but I still very much like United after my fantastic BusinessFirst flight with them in February. Don't think I want to spoil that romantic notion by flying the "real" United anytime soon, haha

Looking forward to the rest!

jfkeze

ShF was forced to take the sour gummy since there was no space on the sweeter bears, he probably was one of the few to eat the entire gummy from GUM and not just try some Japanese food at NRT hehe
Gummy bears were a classic, but sadly, they all went bad after a greedy Canadian ruined the batch at the candy store... aka DoT complaint after getting caught with an obvious cabotage route even if offered alternative solutions, so the provider of the Gummy bear closed it... at one point handing over Guam to the Philippines hehehe

LH4116

Well I guess the Gummy Bear would have died sooner or later, since AVLM fixed the miscoded cities in their latest award chart devaluation. R.I.P LifeMiles! But at least I'm glad I was able to enjoy the clandestine routings while they lasted.