Shocker077

Christmas vacation is over and New Years has passed. It's time for the GF and I to make our way back to our current home of South Korea (which may be over MUCH sooner than I thought). This trip started 3 weeks ago and and this is the final leg, which if flown before the new year would have put me at Silver. Now I know that to most of you that's not a big feat but It would have been nice to achieve some level with one of these airlines. My problem is I was based out of LAS prior to moving so most of my travel was split between UA and DL with the occasional Alaska thrown in. So I flew plenty of miles all together last year, just not enough with a single carrier. Needless to say I am determined to achieve a status this year, although I'm not sure if I want it to be on UA, but starting off with 6,000 miles makes it tempting.

We arrived at the airport at 4:15am for our first leg of the flight to LAX leaving at 6:00.

Having barely NOT achieved silver for last year, we were forced to wait in this line to check our bags instead of going into the line that was EMPTY. So we waited 50 minutes and finally checked our bags before making it to security. Luckily security was dead so we were able to pass through within 5 minutes which was a good thing because by the time we had made it to the gate they were already on boarding group 5.

The flight took off at 6:23am, 23 minutes passed scheduled but arrived at 7:04am, 12 minutes early. Being such a short flight a drink service was the only thing offered. Once we landed we made our way to our next plane which was scheduled to depart at 8:18am.

We had taken a 757-200 from LAS to LAX and were switching to an A320 for LAX to SFO. Unfortunately both flights shared the same flight number so I will only be granted 1 segment for this flight, Something I think is B.S. on the part of UA.

We arrive at the gate once again while it is being boarded, this time only at group 4 however. We take our seats on this plane that has the new "thin" seats. They look nice from the front but provide no comfort and from the back look as cheap as can be. Luckily this was a short flight that departed 11 minutes late at 8:29. At this point we are praying it makes it to SFO in time because its scheduled landing time is 9:58 am and our flight to ICN has a board time of 10:00 with a departure of 10:50.

Once again however we land early at 9:22. PHEW! I know my GF wishes we had missed our flight from SFO to ICN but I knew what a headache it would cause.

The night before when we checked in I told my GF that we should change seats so that my view of the overhead TV's wouldn't be obstructed if they were playing something interesting. She was hesitant at first but finally we changed to the only other 2 seats available that didn't require any form of an upgrade...43A and 43B. I had flown in 48K on the previous trip and couldn't be any less comfortable.

We arrive at the gate and much to my surprise (the GF could care less) the plane we are about to take across the ocean is the 747 with the Star Alliance Livery.

We boarded the plane on schedule and found our way to our seats. WOW! What a move we made! These seats must have had the same spacing as economy comfort! Ok now I know it is nothing compared to business class or first by any means but for us common folks this kind of thing makes our day! I'm sorry I didn't take a picture of the seating area, I was planning on it at the end but by that time my camera had died. The area however only had 1 window which at the beginning I was disappointed at but after a few minutes I actually rather enjoyed it.

The angle at which I took this picture at is with the seat perfectly straight if that gives you any idea as to how much room this area had. The fact that the window was slightly forward of the seating area gave the feeling of being in a limo. Needless to say I was instantly happy and so was the GF when we found out we had the whole row to ourselves!

We sat in the plane for 30+ minutes wondering why we weren't pushing back from the gate. Finally I got an email on my phone saying we were delayed another 10 minutes. Mind you at this point nobody on the plane has said anything. Another 5 minutes and another email and another delay. Finally after sitting in the plane for 45 minutes the captain come on to say that they were missing the pilot who was delayed because of a flight coming from the east coast and that it will be about another 15 minutes. No drink service, nothing, a 3rd email that I didn't even bother looking at.

We finally took off at 12:19pm, 1 hour and 20 minutes late, just sitting on the plane. The funny thing is usually I would be angry but I was so ecstatic by these seats that I really didn't care. I mean I could not only sit comfortably, but I could also slide my legs under the seat and relax even more! I'm 6'3" so without buying an upgrade things like this are a luxury for me.

About an hour into the flight and I'm caught up watching a movie I've never heard of before "Runner Runner" which actually was pretty entertaining. Lunch service comes by and the options are General Chow's chicken with vegetable fried rice, or a vegetable curry. Which did I opt for?

Guess you'll have to wait and see. The salad with the Honey Dijon dressing was actually really good. I could have had 3 or 4 more of these. The little roll with butter was amazingly good as well. Both of these items I would easily enjoy off the ground. As the drink cart came across I asked for red wine, there's something about red wine on airplanes that puts me to sleep easily.

"Yes sir, the red wine is $7.99, did you still want to pay for it?"
"I thought beer and wine were complementary on international flights?"
"Yes sir, unfortunately that is no longer the case after the 1st of the year"

WOW! How much money does this actually save you UA? Better yet how much money do you make off of this? I know you made $15.98 off of me because I bought 2! In all fairness however, the wine did come with a free glass of water.


As you can see I opted for the General Chow's chicken, which if General Chow was alive (whoever he was) would demand that his name be removed from this dish. The chicken was tiny as the majority of the pieces were soggy breading. There was not enough sauce to cover all the pieces and the vegetable fried rice was bland. But I ate it all as I knew it would be a while until I was able to eat again. Most importantly I enjoyed my wine which put me to sleep for 2 hours.

4.5 hours into the flight we were offered a "snack" which consisted of a tiny turkey and cheese sandwich and a small serving of gelato. Oh and a mustard packet!

The sandwich was dry even with the mustard. A nice package of mayonnaise would have made a world of difference. The gelato was absolutely delicious and a reminder to why I used to by Ciao Bella products when I lived in the states. I also opted to purchase another $7.99 wine which put me back to bed for another hour.

About an hour and a half before arrival a second lunch was offered (being that we took off at noon and arrived at 4pm the next day, we never say the sunset so by the rule of the aviation gods, there could be no dinner, but apparently breakfast). The options were chicken with fried noodles or an omelet with potatoes and sausage.


I opted for the chicken and a diet coke, for which I offered my credit card.
"Soda's and juices are still free sir"
"Oh maybe I should take advantage of that as they might not be next year, can I have a full can?"
"Sure, and I wouldn't be surprised if we started charging next year either. Would you like a free wine for the delay earlier?"

At this point I am caught off guard as in "Really?!?!?! Now you offer a free wine? but not when I was ordering them earlier?" Instead I replied with:

"Well, if you insist, I would love another wine but I don't want you getting fired over it".
We both chucked and my GF looked at me as if I was flirting with the flight attendant to get her phone number or something.

The Bread was delicious just like earlier. The cookie was great but I've been eating those for years. The Chicken was the same as earlier just in a different sauce. The highlight however was the mushrooms and water chestnuts in the fried noodles. I love mushrooms and water chestnuts. For some reason I am reminded of how much I love water chestnuts every-time I have them yet never make an effort to eat more of them.

My girlfriend opted for the omelet that came with bread and a cookie as well. I got her cookie but she enjoyed the bread. She ate the majority of her omelet and all of her potatoes but didn't touch the sausage patty as she said it didn't look appetizing.

Overall the flight was great. Our seats were great, the general IFE was somewhat entertaining this time. The food was above decent for the most part. The staff was great with the exception of not offering me a free wine earlier. This was a much different experience than 3 weeks ago when we flew ICN to SFO.

I really want to call UA and complain about the delay without anyone on the plane giving us any heads up for 45 minutes but I doubt that would do anything. Do any of you have any experience with UA customer service?

ROCruiser

They charged for wine on a long haul flight?! Wow! Thanks for the trip report!

roastpuff

And 7.99 for the wine in economy class? Ouch! That sucks!!!

farwest101

If you paid an extra $5, would they serve it in a real wine glass?

Wonder what the corkage fee is? BYOB.

Shocker077

In all fairness I have no problem paying 7.99 for a glass of wine, but this was more like grape juice. It was supposedly a Cab Sav but had no flavour and just last month it was free. Granted you had to beg and plead to get a 2nd or 3rd bottle if you could FIND a flight attendant to acknowledge you...it was still free.

Living in Korea it's hard to find good wine out here for a decent price so I actually had some wine in my checked baggage, I was about to try and go downstairs and try to dig it out

In all honesty though I would not mind buying a FULL size bottle of wine post security and paying a small corkage fee. As for a real wine glass...they wouldn't be caught dead letting one of those slip into economy, we could use it as a weapon!

dat4life

Looks like you haven't spent much time in the United forum of late. There is a 256 post thread on the discontinuation of free booze in economy on Trans Pacific flights. Of course, this comes on the heels of Delta adding free spirits in economy (in addition to the already free beer and wine) on all long haul international flights and American adding complimentary beer and wine in economy on long haul flights.

I know you said the food tasted bland, but it actually looks halfway decent and much better than I expected.

Thanks for the report!

zcat18

Many thanks for the report! I think Y reports are undervalued on FT, so it's good to see one.

Another piece of United trivia for you: United discontinued free booze in TPAC Y on 1/1/14 but had axed it from TATL flights awhile ago. Thus, for a period of time, you could have free wine and beer on your 5,658-mile SFO-ICN segment, but one would have to pay for beer and wine in Y on a 7,807-mile/15-hour EWR-BOM flight, since EWR-BOM has always been considered trans-Atlantic.

The more you know!

debracey

I'm not sure what shocks me the most about this post. According to your excellent report:

1. That the 747 got off the ground without some kind of MX delay. Those poor ol gals limp across the Pacific and take MX delays every other day. Maybe its only the Australian routes that are cursed.

2. You actually complimented the Y class IFE on a UA 747? I think that might be a first!

3. You were actually comfortable in a Y seat at over 6' tall! Those seats are tough for me at 5' 10".

4. Your girlfriend actually ate the questionable egg thing that is served for breakfast. Calling it an omelette is a stretch... (yeah I know that's what the FA says)

Only kidding of course, excellent report. Hope you enjoyed your trip

-- Dan

teriyaki

Thanks for the down to earth flight review of the transpac 747 on UA (what some FT'ers call "hell on earth".) I imagine this is what most of the flying public perceives.

I guess its not too terribly bad, but definitely pales in comparison to pretty much any other line that flies the pacific.

Shocker077

I actually enjoy the 747 but then again I've never known different. The last 3 trips across the pacific, all in the last 5 months, have been on a 747.

Now the question is to take the A330 home or the 777? I've never been on either, both times I was scheduled to be on an A330 it got swapped out last minute for a 767 which was comfortable but that was a flight only half the distance on Hawaiian which I hear has great economy seats. Any input on the A330 or the 777 home?

Bretteee

The meals on UNITED in Y are a "disgrace."

I avoid them like the PLAGUE.

I can't believe what they serve on a 12 hour flight to Asia.

And to top it off 31" legroom which is measly.

++++ $200 fee for excess baggage; the highest after SWISS at $240.

The only meals that are edible on UNITED are the sandwiches. They should just serve sandwiches.