United Business Class San Francisco to China (SFO-PEK, PVG-SFO)
Jun 28, 2009, 3:57 pm
#16
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: SFO
Programs: UA 1K
Posts: 4,449
Shanghai-SFO non-stop
If you fly from Shanghai to SFO, United is now the only non-stop airline. I believe Air China also used to do this route, but they've discontinued it. You have to connect through Beijing with Air China. I cannot stand connecting flights, so for me, this was the best: a non-stop United flight with free upgrade to business. No complaints from me here.
UA 858,B747-400
Depart: PVG 12:25 PM
Arrive: SFO 8:14 AM
Same Day Arrival. 11hour flight
Seats 15A,B, Upper Deck
They board just like they do in the states and less like they do in FRA (where it is kind of a free for all and you pray they board business & first class before economy). They have the nice red-carpet lane for GS, 1K, Business & first class, and they board just like domestic United flights. They boarded right on time, no delays at all.
The load was fairly light. Business class upper deck was about 1/2 full. The waiting area did not seem packed full of people like you normally see when waiting for a 747 to load.
We got upstairs to 15A and B. I love these two seats because I can get out from the window to go to the restroom without a problem. I flew in 15A once before going LHR-SFO, and it was just great. The recline is phenomenal, and sometimes I feel like I should not recline all the way since I will be into the next person's space. But it was fine.
They all addressed us by our names and were very helpful during the flight. The warm nuts on united are not as warm as they should be, for some reason. They are lukewarm at best. I think they take them out earlier than they're supposed to. But I've had this problem on a few United flights recently, including the United P.S. flights to JFK.
The entree I ordered (Chicken thigh with Shanghai noodles) was too salty. For some reason, I was thinking that since we were leaving China, the catering would probably make the Chinese dish better than the Western dishes. I was wrong. Mrs. SFFlyer's cod & fried rice was delicious, but my chicken and Shanghai noodles was not. It was a salt bomb with too much sauce. The dessert, however, was really nice. Finally got something besides Eli's tiramisu. It was a chocolate cake that tasted like Ho-ho's with creme anglaise sauce. It was quite delicious, I must say. The service was very good.
The flight had turbulence, but not too bad. The captain was smart and he only kept he seatbelt sign on only when he felt we were going to be in danger. He didn't just keep it on for the constant little bumps that we experienced over the pacific. Our pre-arrival snack was the fruit plate with chinese-brand yogurt. I don't eat Yogurt, but we also had chinese tropical fruit. We'd seen this in all the hotels, and it was fun to see it on the plane, also. A very delicious fruitplate.
All in all, this was a great trip. United and air china are the only two airlines that fly SFO-Beijing non-stop, and United is the only airline to fly PVG-SFO non-stop. I hate connecting flights to my destination, so I take non-stops whenever I can. I think United was great. Yes, its catering is not as nice as some other international business classes, and yes, their seats may be old, but it was great for me, especially since I paid a little more than an economy fare to fly business class with my free upgrade. My other option was to sit in economy on air china, which would have been quite unpleasant. All things considered, my United flights were great, and I really enjoyed the whole experience.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/3282838...659686/detail/
UA 858,B747-400
Depart: PVG 12:25 PM
Arrive: SFO 8:14 AM
Same Day Arrival. 11hour flight
Seats 15A,B, Upper Deck
They board just like they do in the states and less like they do in FRA (where it is kind of a free for all and you pray they board business & first class before economy). They have the nice red-carpet lane for GS, 1K, Business & first class, and they board just like domestic United flights. They boarded right on time, no delays at all.
The load was fairly light. Business class upper deck was about 1/2 full. The waiting area did not seem packed full of people like you normally see when waiting for a 747 to load.
We got upstairs to 15A and B. I love these two seats because I can get out from the window to go to the restroom without a problem. I flew in 15A once before going LHR-SFO, and it was just great. The recline is phenomenal, and sometimes I feel like I should not recline all the way since I will be into the next person's space. But it was fine.
They all addressed us by our names and were very helpful during the flight. The warm nuts on united are not as warm as they should be, for some reason. They are lukewarm at best. I think they take them out earlier than they're supposed to. But I've had this problem on a few United flights recently, including the United P.S. flights to JFK.
The entree I ordered (Chicken thigh with Shanghai noodles) was too salty. For some reason, I was thinking that since we were leaving China, the catering would probably make the Chinese dish better than the Western dishes. I was wrong. Mrs. SFFlyer's cod & fried rice was delicious, but my chicken and Shanghai noodles was not. It was a salt bomb with too much sauce. The dessert, however, was really nice. Finally got something besides Eli's tiramisu. It was a chocolate cake that tasted like Ho-ho's with creme anglaise sauce. It was quite delicious, I must say. The service was very good.
The flight had turbulence, but not too bad. The captain was smart and he only kept he seatbelt sign on only when he felt we were going to be in danger. He didn't just keep it on for the constant little bumps that we experienced over the pacific. Our pre-arrival snack was the fruit plate with chinese-brand yogurt. I don't eat Yogurt, but we also had chinese tropical fruit. We'd seen this in all the hotels, and it was fun to see it on the plane, also. A very delicious fruitplate.
All in all, this was a great trip. United and air china are the only two airlines that fly SFO-Beijing non-stop, and United is the only airline to fly PVG-SFO non-stop. I hate connecting flights to my destination, so I take non-stops whenever I can. I think United was great. Yes, its catering is not as nice as some other international business classes, and yes, their seats may be old, but it was great for me, especially since I paid a little more than an economy fare to fly business class with my free upgrade. My other option was to sit in economy on air china, which would have been quite unpleasant. All things considered, my United flights were great, and I really enjoyed the whole experience.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/3282838...659686/detail/
Last edited by SFflyer123; Jun 28, 2009 at 4:10 pm
Jun 29, 2009, 1:14 am
#17
Suspended
Join Date: Apr 2009
Programs: AAdvantage Gold
Posts: 1,615
Actually, CA flights 985 and 986 used to originate in Beijing, stop in shanghai to take on passengers, let the domestic travellers off, and have the pax going to SFO get off to go through emigration and then get back on and vice versa. I used to fly this route alot. Part of the reason was at the time, Beijing's airport was the biggest dump I've ever seen. Its immigration facilities were barely existent and at the time, shanghai was china's main port of entry too. I think at the turn of the century, when beijing's airport was massively upgraded, flight 985 and 986 flipped the order of the Chinese cities around (originate in shanghai, stop in Beijing). Fortunately, the dump of a terminal I remember from beijing's airport is no longer around. In its place stands the world's largest airport terminal today.
It was somewhat inconvenient back in the 90's, we had to overfly Beijing, land in shanghai, everyone got off, they handed us a card in the jetway if we were continuing to Beijing, went through immigration, went through some special door, and went right back to the plane back to our same seat. It then became a domestic flight in china on a giant 747 from shanghai to Beijing. They didn't really have a choice as for the routing back then.
What was interesting was on the return Beijing-shanghai-sfo trip, we stop in shanghai, as we leave the jetway, two gate agents just hand out passes to everyone who is going to sfo without bothering to check if the passenger is really ticketed to sfo or is a terminating domestic pax (keep in mind the Beijing-shanghai leg is a domestic flight). And the passes don't show names or any personal info on them. Domestic pax leave through the gate door, continuing pax go down a hallway, no one bothers to check if you're in the right line, it was all chill. How nice the days prior to 9/11 were...
And the service was pretty good too! Those Chinese fa's sure know how to keep the main cabin pax happy! I'd say their service in coach was far better than UA's domestic first class today, though that's prolly not saying much.
It was somewhat inconvenient back in the 90's, we had to overfly Beijing, land in shanghai, everyone got off, they handed us a card in the jetway if we were continuing to Beijing, went through immigration, went through some special door, and went right back to the plane back to our same seat. It then became a domestic flight in china on a giant 747 from shanghai to Beijing. They didn't really have a choice as for the routing back then.
What was interesting was on the return Beijing-shanghai-sfo trip, we stop in shanghai, as we leave the jetway, two gate agents just hand out passes to everyone who is going to sfo without bothering to check if the passenger is really ticketed to sfo or is a terminating domestic pax (keep in mind the Beijing-shanghai leg is a domestic flight). And the passes don't show names or any personal info on them. Domestic pax leave through the gate door, continuing pax go down a hallway, no one bothers to check if you're in the right line, it was all chill. How nice the days prior to 9/11 were...
And the service was pretty good too! Those Chinese fa's sure know how to keep the main cabin pax happy! I'd say their service in coach was far better than UA's domestic first class today, though that's prolly not saying much.
Jul 3, 2009, 3:27 am
#18
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Seattle, Seoul, temporarily Shanghai
Programs: UA, AA, KE, OZ Hyatt Platinum, Int Ambassador,
Posts: 215
Totally off the topic but speaking of Before 9/11, I concur it was indeed the best of times. In SeaTac, you could go all the way to the gate to wave someone off. There was minimum to almost no security and everyone could hang out at the gates.
I remember me and my best friend went to airport just to hang out and watch the plans go by. We were young of course but old enough to drive there and park. Main terminal had one of the best cocos ever.
I remember me and my best friend went to airport just to hang out and watch the plans go by. We were young of course but old enough to drive there and park. Main terminal had one of the best cocos ever.
Jul 13, 2009, 7:53 pm
#19
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Kirkland, WA
Programs: AS 75K,UA Gold 1.6MM, Hilton Dia, Marriott LT Plat, Hyatt Glb, Natl Exec, Hertz 5*
Posts: 3,657
We wanted to try the new shanghai maglev train, which gets you from the city to the airport in 7 minutes at 430km/hr!
Here is a 50 second video of the journey at 430km/hr! Watch how we just fly by the the cars on the freeway as if they were only going at 20mph!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAye7KTuuDk
Here is a 50 second video of the journey at 430km/hr! Watch how we just fly by the the cars on the freeway as if they were only going at 20mph!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAye7KTuuDk
You are paying for the thrill ride, its far cheaper to take the bus
(if you can fight your way on for a seat 
)
Jul 14, 2009, 10:45 pm
#21
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: SFO
Programs: UA 1K
Posts: 4,449
Thanks!
Yeah, I saw the schedule, and during rush hour, it is at 430km/h, but at other times, it's only 300km/h. I am not sure wh y that is; it's not like there is traffic on the maglev line, I don't hink. Maybe it's to conserve energy.
YMMV... I took it and was jipped... for some reason we were capped at 300 km/hr and it was as bumpy as a subway so I am not sure we got off the wheels! Can I get a refund??
You are paying for the thrill ride, its far cheaper to take the bus (if you can fight your way on for a seat )
You are paying for the thrill ride, its far cheaper to take the bus
(if you can fight your way on for a seat )
Jul 16, 2009, 2:35 pm
#23
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: SJC
Programs: AS MVP
Posts: 2,117
It only runs at 430km/h for runs before 5pm. After 5pm, it only runs at 300km/h.
Jul 16, 2009, 4:31 pm
#24
Used to be 'g_leyser'
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Brandon Johnson International Airport (expect delays)
Programs: AA PlatPro, HH Gold, Bonvoy Gold, IHG Plat, Reno Air MEGA Platinum
Posts: 10,037
Not just at SEA, you used to be able to do that at any domestic airport.
Jul 28, 2009, 10:28 am
#25
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: China
Programs: UA,DL,CZ
Posts: 860