I’m writing this post from seat 23F on flight UA37 from LAX-SIN about 12 hours in, somewhere close to Guam. If anything, this flight is the litmus year since it’s the longest in the UA system and also on the 787 which everyone is complaining about.

So so far it’s ok. At 5”9 and 175lb I fit pretty comfortably in the seat, although with only about an inch either side to spare

I opted for an aisle seat this time, whereas I would normally go for a window. It’s great to have the flexibility to get up whenever I want, but the trade off is that sleep is quite a lot more difficult. I’ve managed to get about 6 hours of low quality sleep with the help of a trtl pillow, frequently interrupted by neighbour arm movement and people walking up and down the aisle. No doubt, it’s difficult to sleep in this seat. They could probably do something better with the headrest to give it some more support. I wouldn’t be in a hurry to try the 777-300 but if price and schedule works out or if a GPU fails to clear then I guess I will.

Once you add the pillow as lumbar support the seat is ok. It’s not comfortable, but it’s not too bad either. It’s going great for my neighbour who hasn’t moved since takeoff. Don’t worry, he is alive. The legroom is very good in E+, no complaints there.

The food was meh, but I brought some snacks as a backup. The portion size was small but adequate. Dessert was caramel ice cream. Yum!

I brought my own IFE on my iPad. If anyone hasn’t seen scam city before I highly recommend it. The Prague and Bangkok episodes were both great!

the best part of my experience so far is the one that not too many have mentioned. The price! I’m going to Singapore and Tokyo from Calgary for us$450! Think about that for a minute. I’m paying the same to go to Singapore and Tokyo that other Calgarians pay to visit Toronto, or sometimes Grande Prairie or Fort McMurray.

From time to time I’ll pay the extra to buy up to W when a GPU is certain to clear or when the lottery is in my favour. Tonight my girlfriend bought up to J for $1000 (so did many others, very few upgrades cleared tonight despite 7 available at T-24). She just came back to visit me in “loser class” as she is calling it. Neither of us regret our choice, we both got what we paid for.

US$450 to Singapore is amazing, but hardly a unique deal. The market responds to price first and service quality second. And having crammed seating is unfortunately the #1 way for a carrier to be able to offer low priced tickets.

To those complaining on this thread, believe me I understand your points. My last 10 or so long haul flights have been in Polaris, hobo first class or AC PE. It’s hard to go back to “loser class” and I also wish long haul Y was better on United.

But given the loads on many of these “uncomfortable” flights it seems to me that you are in the minority, and your market segment is also served on United already through discounted J tickets, last minute buyup opportunities and in some cases clearable GPU’s.

Really good thread guys. Looking forward to more fun discussion! I’ll post back on Tuesday with my comparison to ANA