TravelGal2779

Forgive me if I'm posting this in the wrong forum, but I'm curious if UA plans to upgrade their entire fleet so first class is reflected the same across the board. I flew EWR-MIA in December on a 757 and first class was fully equipped (also an older Continental plane) with individual screens, movie choices, more leg room, lie flat seats and pre-flight beverage service.

Last week I flew EWR-LAS on an Airbus 319 going and 320 coming home and first class was HORRIBLE (compared to the MIA flights). If anything, we paid for the little extra legroom there was and that was it. On the flight out, we were not offered a pre-flight beverage, the screens were shared throughout the entire aircraft, seats barely reclined and of course due to the plane layout, we had the pleasure of watching the entire plane board. On the flight out to LAS, the movie kept freezing, then it would only play in Spanish.

Given that these are my first two experiences on United, I am a bit taken aback that each route was so different. Again, I know the merger affected some things, so does anyone know if they are planning to upgrade those Airbus planes FC or if they will be revamping the ones already in existence?

PTahCha

The short answer is no.

Then again, 757 has the unique advantage of boarding from door 2, which you turn left to go to first class. It would be the same on PMUA aircraft. Conversely, you'll be watching the entire plane boarding if you were on PMCO 737 as well.

TravelGal2779

Wow, thanks. I definitely appreciated that idea of turning left and having those moments to decompress before takeoff (amongst other things I appreciated more on the 757). Guess next time we book, we need to be aware of the type of aircraft.

dmkorten

The 757 aircraft you flew from EWR to MIA was an internationally-equipped plane, which do also fly some domestic routes. The Airbus 319 and 320 are more typical domestic first class configurations. Basically, the latter is the "standard" for domestic first class and you will sometimes just get lucky to get an internationally-equipped plane on certain routes. You are really comparing apples and oranges with the two first class experiences and it has little to do with the merger or with fleet consistency. That said, there are differences in domestic first class across the fleet with respect to entertainment with some having DirectTV and others not.

kmmtcg

I find that the distinction is: CO metal vs. UA metal. I flew IAH-HNL in a CO 777 and it was great. Then, HNL to GUM on a UA 777 and it was a poor facsimile of the first flight. Eight hours across the Pacific and not even a footrest.

TEM3

We are flying DEN to OGG in January. Wondering how that 757 flight is on FC? Never flown that way out before, usually IAH to OGG on a 777.

GBadger

While this may be true for the two aircraft that you experienced during those two flights, it is a gross generalization to extrapolate that to UA-metal vs. CO metal.

I had the exact opposite experience with a CO 764 and a UA 763. It really is plane (not airline) dependent. Had your HNL-GUM segment been operated by one of the newly configured UA 777s, you wouldn't have felt the same way.

aacharya

Look at the plane type now, and see if you can find a DEN-OGG flight in the next few days on flight status to see if they align, and if so, what amenities it has.

staeiou

Yeah, this is what happens when you have a fleet made up of 25 different planes from 7 manufacturers -- 49 different configurations are listed on seatguru. It was a problem even before the merger, but we try to keep track of which planes have good configs and which don't. United gives good metadata in the flight status info, particularly plane numbers, so you can check your specific plane and see how it is configured.

There is a site dedicated to tracking United planes at: https://sites.google.com/site/unitedfleetsite/
And the thread at: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...t-updates.html

Although be thankful you're not like me and find yourself on United Express routes, where you're praying that you can get the mainline A319/320s instead of the regional jets. F in a CRJ-700 has practically no overhead storage, no video, power, or even audio, and 2 FAs for the entire plane. Oh, and the F "meal" for even the 3.5/4hr AUS/DFW-SFO flights are a smaller version of the snackboxes you buy in economy. Sadly, this looks to be the direction UA is headed in, using more express flights on regional jets for flights from hubs to non-hubs. Two RJs a day vs. one A320 a day is better for scheduling, I guess.

IAH-OIL-TRASH

The lie-flat seats are not typical of ANY airline's domestic first. In fact, your flight to LAS is more typical of a domestic first class seat on the majority of airlines on a majority of flights. Setting expectations on future first class flying domestically based on a rare lie-flat experience is folly.

TravelGal2779

Thanks. I checked the Fleet Update thread before I left and even did some research when I found out we would be on the Airbus 319/320 but it was so much worse than what I was expecting (and yes, please know this is coming from a pure convenience/luxury/amenity standpoint). The flights were incredibly smooth however which has always been my experience on Airbus 319/320-was just taken aback at the FC standard on them.

tuolumne

Your standards are out of whack. That's a typical US domestic first seat.

aacharya

To be fair, not anymore - all airlines, including UA, are upgrading their IFE. The overheads will soon go away for domestic (excluding Hawaii) flights, for one.

tuolumne

There are no current plans that I'm aware of to upgrade Airbus entertainment?

channa

They are?

DL is perfectly content flying many aircraft with no IFE but WiFi instead. I believe that's what most biz travellers would prefer anyway.