First, the disclaimer: I'm a 1K on UA this year and a piddly nobody on EK. And I've been lucky enough to fly my last few international flights in UA C (thank you SWUs!), whereas I just came off an SFO-DXB flight in EK Y.

Still, though, the vast majority of my flights over the last 10 years have been in UA domestic and international Y, so I think I can make a fair comparison

EK WINS:
- Better service. More FAs than United Y, it seems, and -- unsurprisingly -- a bit less harried.
- In flight entertainment... by many, many miles. Wow, quite a selection of movies and TV shows and on a large, wide screen! Though please get a usability expert to give your ICE the once-over, okay? I had a bit trouble navigating through it, and my goodness, the two new'ish flyers to my left were simply baffled :-(.
- Amenities kit, even in Y. Nice touch!
- Food. I'd say it even came close to UA C, and definitely far surpasses UA Y. I mean, heck, we even got real cutlery, not plastic!

UA WINS:
- SPACE! Oh my dog, did I feel like a sardine in my EK SFO-DXB flight, and I'm just under 5'7" and 158 pounds, not a huge guy by any means. UA Y -- at least in E+ -- feels much, much roomier.
- Buy-ups: EK told me I'd have to pay the actual difference between my Y fare and their J fare. Or about $4K for the one-way trip. HA! HA HA HA HA! I would have felt bad about even charging my company $1K for the upgrade, but would have jumped at the opportunity nonetheless. But $10K+ total rt in J... I hate to start a war here, but how on earth do people justify this unless they're brokering million dollar deals right upon arrival...? In contrast, I've quite often been offered $500-$1000 international flight buy-ups w/ UA.

* * *

So will I fly UA or EK next time for my SFO-HYD/BLR trips? Likely UA. Yeah, I'll miss the IFE for sure, but I can bring my own entertainment (hello laptop with spare battery!) and even my own tasty food. But I can't bring my own space.

So, EK... if you offered Premium Economy with 30-50% more space, I'd consider paying 30-50% more for my ticket. Heck, I was ready to jump at your J product for a 100% premium (~$4K return vs. ~$2K), but alas, I didn't meet the minimum 7-day advance for that fare.

And if I could just get out of my window seat without waking up two other people, I'd be delighted. Is that so much to ask for?!

My perspective... I've been a 1K on UA for many years now, but choose EK over UA unless there's an EQM consideration involved. It helps that I have "friends" in EK who automatically upgrade my itineraries from Y or J to F (so, similar to buying UA Y and upgrading using an SWU).

Once they introduce the new F cabins on this route, I might consider opting to fly UA to DXB, rather than having to fly it.

Sadly, I don't think EK is ever going to introduce a premium Y cabin. They seem to be very happy with what I'll call Laborer Class, Business Class and Upgraded Business Class cabins.

Very true for the first class seats not at all for the suits.

Yes, I quite agree.

As a UA 1Ker myself, EK Wins hands down anyday - sure their seating's cramped
1. Incredible Ground Staff Service in Dubai
2. Their lounges are oustanding well comparably with UAs at least - I didn't say SQ or CX
3. Their phone support has been very decent and the staff are far better groomed - both inflight and on-land
4. EK really has spoilt me in the past - whereas UA its touch and go ..
5. Wins hands down for culinary and drink selections on board


So I guess not having an E++ in Y yet having everything else going for it over the past few decades aint' that bad at all..

Please dont get me wrong I love UA and their mileage program and recognition mechanism toward their loyal members but thats about it.

UA's onboard service .. is outdated and obsolete period even in their Premium Cabins - just so you know you should check what SQ or LH charges for F or J.

As a long term 1K'er (and a relative newbie to EK), I have an alternative point of view.

As far as I am concerned, Mileage Plus continues to rate as the leading program out there. Its easy to see why. Generous RDM's (ie 100% if you are GS/1K/1P), SWU's, a clearly outlined upgrade policy, status levels that accommodate the full spectrum (ie General Member all the way thru to Global Services).

The comparison between UA and EK I think depends on where you are located. Because I'm based in SIN and fly to Australia regularly, then EK gets my business. I'll use UA to fly to the US (because of my loyalty to the program), but the upgrade lottery using SWU's is getting harder to digest.

Onboard EK wins hands down. Easy to see why. New equipment with state of the art IFE, staff who havent been thru the trauma of the US airline industry etc. Yes, E+ is better on UA - but if had to travel long-haul with EK, I'd be shooting for a exit row seat anyway (or sitting in J).

EK lounges are excellent. Great wines, french champagne, good food, showers, free wireless etc. All at no charge. All (except for Dubai) not overly crowded. UA's lounges on the other hand are a zoo.

In 10+ years and in excess of 1M million miles with UA, I have perhaps received 2 op-ups.

In only 12-months of admittedly hard travel with EK (ie 200K flight miles), with 90% on a Y fare, I have received 12+ op-ups. But this is more to do with flight load and route and the fact that because EK's freq flier system is only 2-tiered, if you're Gold, you will for the most part, be first in line for the upgrades. I've also made it a point of getting to know the local EK staff, which helps.

Bottom line, is that I need UA and EK in my life. No one is perfect (not even SQ) and if you set your expectations accordingly, travelling is less stressful.

You are aware though that every seat on EK has the same legroom as on UA E+. The big difference of course with the 777 is the extra seat on EK which makes things cramped.

This is how they maintain a good business class product. By not throwing away upgrades. If you can plan in advance and want a significantly cheaper option, buy your tickets out of India, it doesn't have as many million dollar brokers as the US
The thing is, no carrier that offers a premium economy with 40% more space (take BA, QF, Virgin etc) offers it at a 40% premium. They usually charge more like an 80% premium for it, and there's nothing else that's at a premium, except the extra space.

Come on, EK's First product is outstanding, far, far from being an upgraded business class.

I agree. I was thinking of the old, non-suite product, which I never found to be particularly great.

In that case, I completely agree! Even when EK reconfigured its 3-class A332s to provide more leg room in F, I still found the seats to be highly inadequate for international F class.

A lot of people seem to be comparing apples with oranges here . If I had an equal or greater chance of sitting in EK J as UA C, I'd undoubtedly fly EK! (ob question: are both J and C business class? If so, why the distinction?). But as noted, I don't. I have 1K status on UA, and peon status on EK, sadly.

This may be useful for you, but since I only need to travel to India (just *through* Dubai in this case), I don't see much of a need for excellent support from the DXB ground staff. Then again, if there are significant flight delays or cancellations into India, I guess this could come in handy. Even so, though... as someone with no status, they wouldn't exactly comp me a hotel room and such, would they? Politeness is nice, but it doesn't put food on the table or a bed under the head .

I don't have Ek lounge access. Can't even pay for it.

I definitely got very friendly and patient service when I called! Though I'm a bit miffed that I seemed to have been given bad info. I asked what the passenger load was in Economy and Business about 4 days prior to my flight and was told, oh, it's looking wide open, sir... plenty of space. Perhaps something crazy happened in the interim (the volcano happened way before), but it seems that literally EVERY seat in Y and J was taken. Bummer

I'm a bit of a spoiled brat when it comes to food. I get fed amazing gourmet food at work, three meals a day. I suppose that could groom me to need similar treatment on a plane, but I'll take more space over better food any time, and in fact I'd be happy to just sleep and subsist on a granola bar or two for a 15 hour flight (I've found I can almost 100% stave off jet lag by consuming substantially less food in the air, and timing it to destination mealtimes).

Excellent point. I'm near SFO. Now does my commentary make more sense?

I've been a lot more lucky in my ~1/2M miles with UA, particularly if you count painless and lucrative VDBs (which a couple of times have also included an upgrade to C!)

Really? No, I wasn't aware of that. For whatever reason, the seat pitch seemed smaller. Maybe I've just gotten exit rows on UA when in international Y and not really thought about it.

Ah, yeah, I sure noticed that. The fella to my left on my recent flight (on a 777) hadn't flown much, if at all, it seems... and didn't quite have the concept down of sharing the arm rest and horizontal space in general, making the crampedness all the more uncomfortable.

Wow, that's awesome advice, thank you! I have great colleagues in India that I am set to be visiting 2-3x per year, and I'm sure they'd be happy to reserve a heavily discounted business class flight for me.

Aw, bummer. Didn't know that, as I've never flown premium economy before. This strikes me as odd, but I guess it's just a mini version of business class pricing: businesses are willing to pay it, so airlines charge it. Meh

Anyway, thanks for all the comments! I do realize that I might be in a unique position, so my objections shouldn't be seen as invalidating your good points, but merely clarifying my own situation and gripes.

I can see you're getting very bored at DXB.

About the lounge - someone mentioned it was the Civil Aviation FLounge that was the Diner's Club Lounge, not the Biz one. Though, I find it hard to believe a lounge would be available for $15.

Status doesn't matter as much on non-US carriers as it does on US carriers for things that all passengers should receive regardless. And that's why these carriers actually retain non premium customers too. In case of delays etc, you would be well taken care of. I was once VDB for a flight, and they gave me pick up/ drop off, hotel room, meals etc for the 8 hour wait. Ok, the hotel sucked, but still.

And in the air, I'm honestly more concerned with AVOD. Economy is economy, and save for walking around the cabin, there's not much to do if you're traveling alone (and didn't think AVOD would stop working so didn't bring a book). I've never traveled on UA, but I'm sure you noticed a difference in service onboard.