UNITED TO LONDON?
 

In the past, I've flown to England on Virgin-Atlantic and British Airways. I'm flying United Business from New York to London in July. Has anyone recent experience with this flight? Would appreciate comments on food, service, etc. Thanks.

Before commenting, what class of service have you flown VS and BA?

Call United and ask for seat pitch. not all planes have been modified. if you get one with 55" pitch, its great, as far as space and comfort of seat. food and video, so so. The unmodified planes are 48" and no power ports.

United can tell you the pitch on the actual aircraft for the day of your flight.

...also, United has expedited customs and security check for business class passengers at LHR.

Thank you, Eastbay 1K and jr2000. I have flown economy class on Virgin Atlantic and British Airways and paid cash. I thought Virgin Atlantic was excellent and British Airways was ok for the money. This time, I decided to go whole hog and spend 80,000 United miles for Business Class. I hope I won't regret it....

Are you going out of JFK or EWR? If out of JFK, is it a 777 or the 767-300?

Hello, rfrost - I'm flying from JFK and the plane is a 767.

Hello again, jr2009 - I called United and they said the seats are 20.2" wide and the pitch is 40". Horrors! Is that possible?

Ok, on the 767-300 you will have the extended pitch and quite a bit of recline (guaranteed - all that fleet has been reconfigured). You will also have in-seat personal video (9 basic channels), but the system isn't going to be what VS has. You will find the inflight service anything from poor to indifferent to excellent. The RCC at JFK is acceptable (though not excellent). You are "entitled" to drink coupons for the lounge as a C class pax. If you don't receive them when showing the agent your boarding pass upon entry, simply ask "can I please have a drink coupon?" You will find the inflight food probably "acceptable" - I haven't eaten any JFK catering for european flights in quite some time, however. You are also entitled to use the Arrivals lounge at LHR. Make sure you get a voucher for this when you check in at JFK. Have a great trip.

Thank you, Eastbay1k! Doesn't sound too bad at all.

And, as indicated above, you can fast track through UK immigration on arrival. Your bags will get priority tags and be lifted from the carrousel by the LHR porters--look for them on the floor between your carrousel and the next one if when you get there they've started unloading. At LHR for the return flight, you can go thru fast track emigration and security and use the LHR Red Carpet Club--don't need drink coupons there, as all the liquids are complementary. That's the good news. The bad news is that the snacks are pretty bad. (Lots of nuts, though, if you like them.) Priority-tagged bags at JFK off international flights have generally, but not always, been coming out first. Have a great trip and let us know how you like it.

Next time, find a 777. C+++ is a delight.

Hello, rfrost and thank you! I would have just stood there and watched the baggage carousel going 'round and 'round.

Hello, Eastbay1K - Thanks for the reassurance. But what is a C Class Pax? Is a Mileage Plus ticket holder a C Class Pax?

Hello, slawecki -

Thanks, but it's too late now....

C class is generic booking code for Business on many airlines. Your actual code will be XC for award business. The XC ticket gets you all the rights and privileges of a paid C ticket (as opposed to an upgrade from Y (economy).

Thanks again, Eastbay1K.

[This message has been edited by rapariga (edited 05-18-2002).]

Is it too late?

If you used miles to get this ticket you can change the dates/times for no charge.