The whole point of Ted is to NOT have First Class - so they can cram in 4 seats. Given Ted is flying in high load factor markets, the 4th F/A is far cheaper than the revenue of those extra 6 seats.
Here's a list of the cutbacks I've noticed on Ted:
- No First Class
- No full cans of soda, even on the Denver to Florida flights
- No full beverage service on LAX-LAS, just lemonade and water (mainline had full drink service, even with only 3 F/As)
- No movies
- Different audio (I like normal UA audio better)
- No closet space, so crew bags and video equipment are stored in the overheads, meaning there is limited space for carryons.
But at least they kept E+, and they also have more frequency and seats in the markets they are serving (swapped out more 737s and regular 320s than 757s) - so overall I'm actually glad we have Ted.