UA 769: ORD-SFO, 777v5 review

Online link to photos: https://goo.gl/photos/WxdZGcttmMdXiEQ47

First class is the standard configuration and economy is the new 3-4-3 config. It was a full flight but the boarding process didn’t seem longer than normal. When viewing the 3-4-3 seating it does look tighter but while seated it didn’t feel any more cramped than normal; I was in 20C, E+. Even with the full flight there didn’t seem to be any issues with overhead storage. Blankets and pillows were provided in economy. Bulkhead seats A-B-C and J-K-L had lots of legroom as expected but were very cold with a lot of people congregating in the area. Bulkhead D-E-F-G had good legroom. I would avoid 37 A-B and K-L; they looked very claustrophobic.

Seats in economy are the new style and I’m not a fan. The material was neutral; it didn’t feel cheap but didn’t feel especially comfortable. The slight sliding forward as you leaned the headrest back was fine. The biggest flaw is that I could feel every movement into the seat pocket behind me, right in my backside. The seat is very thin and I found that uncomfortable.

This design has one great feature and one that is possibly the worst design ever. The great feature is the clip to hold tablets and phone in the headrest; a simple idea that works well. However, whoever decided to put the FA call button flush on the armrest needs to be sentenced to ride this config for the rest of their life. As mentioned by dordal and fly2lansi above there are literally chimes going off every few seconds for the first part of the flight. The FAs made a couple of announcements about it and it slowed down but never stopped. It quickly went from amusing to annoying and I’ve got to think it’s also a safety issue if someone really did need a FA quickly. Both FAs I chatted with said the exact same thing; “No one asked us.” One mentioned that this was on issue on the DC-10s. I’m betting this gets some type of change (and the sooner the better).