Task Force DL

Hi Folks,

Thanks for all of the helpful comments. I'll stick with UA for this trip in GF. I agree that LH would be better but it would require an extra connection to AMS and that is not worth it.

I flew in EK F on the A380 earlier this year - Now *THAT* puts all other F products to shame. UA is a total joke in comparison in every aspect.

TFD

In2ishn

I've never flown TPAC in F 747 (3 class)

What do I have to look forward to?

Thanks for any info!

Ari

If you have never flow 3-cabin F, it should be an amazing experience. If you have flown 3-cabin F before, it should be unremarkable.

UA's 3-cabin F is decent, but not on par with foreign-flag carriers, of course. Try to sit in row 1 or 2 on the 747. UA's hard product in F leaves little to complain about.

rankourabu

On par with some foreign-flag carriers business class... but even thats debatable

UnitedF1RST

The seat/bed will be very spacious and comfortable. The entertainment system is also really good. The food will either be pretty good or icky. Same goes for the service.

Madone59

Look forward to a great trip, on a good ol' legacy UA 747 route.

There are a few photos of UA 747 F in this trip report by tommyleo http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-...j-2x-lh-j.html

Enjoy!

Plane-is-home

If you have decent size carry on, or even a bag you want close by, please note that there are NO overhead bins at row 1 on or 2

UnitedFlyGuy

Flew SFO-KIX (777) and NRT-ORD (747) earlier this year, both in GlobalFirst. Certainly not much compared to foreign airlines but a good product nontheless.

matrixwalker2012

i've flown enough intl F, time for something even better, catch a ride on the flight deck

A buddy of mine has his own plane, he offered to let me hitch a ride with him next time he heads up to NYC...

UA GlobalFirst is pretty sweet, I got to ride it again this past summer. Opted for the express meal service as I've already experienced the service before and didn't want to spend 60 minutes eating. The thing I like about premium cabins is just the space you get. Both cabins get you plenty of personal space. GF affords you extra privacy, but BF is just fine. If the cabins were cars, Coach is some clunker that breaks every time you use it, BusinessFirst is a nice high end Lexus, and GlobalFirst is a Mercedes Benz.

Downgraded to BusinessFirst on the way back to give it a try (and the novelty of flying backwards). Seat was pretty sweet, menu looked almost exactly like the one in first. Fell asleep after wheels up and slept through the meal service.

highflier1979

I fly GF several times a year, either award or UG from C. Last month, I had a family emergency in Europe and personally had to buy a tix with 36-hour notice. Comparing all C and F prices on various routing, the almost-best deal (within $1100) was F SFO-FRA on LH, connecting to my destination, home F on LX ZUR-SFO.

I love the IFL in SFO...from there, downhill all the way. UA GF is not bad if you know nothing else, or what I would call good for a 2nd rate airline, but I SMH every step of the service on LH and LX when thinking what UA would have offered.

Even LH and LX are not the best in the skies....and if nothing else is available, then I will fly UA GF....but they get a C in every category except the seat.

jazzhou

Flew GF TPE-NRT-SFO late October, not bad as many have attested. The flat-bed pod seat is spacious and comfortable with plenty of storage space, more seatside storage space at the window seats. Food is OK, not much different from Business. Its hard product is nothing to be complained. The service is more attentive and private.

I upgraded to GF with miles + co-pay from Business. It's worth it once in a while. I miss the caviar, vodka, soup from the older First Class days.

SKRan

try NH, seriously. Even CA would beat UA.

tuolumne

had the chance to ride the new ca 773 in F - certainly a great way to fly..just think the moral boost to UA FA's were the company to install private suites up front...

Under the new regime, UA is going to be the world's largest 2 class airline.

mgs 1k

Has anyone compared the menus from Business and First?

The food choices out of GRU are exactly the same, the only difference if that you can have Samon on first.

Wonder if that is also the same for other markets.

MarkedMan

The difference these days is in the slightly more elaborate variety of pre-main service: the appetizers are (sometimes) hot and served alone first, then you get a small soup (the old soup offering in CO BF) then you get a plated salad.

Your main will be plated on a real plate, while not in C on sUA. Same selections, same cheese and ice cream courses.

The quality of mains can vary, but it can vary on most airlines in my experience. Where you usually see a huge gap in service with other airlines is in the pre-mains service. On two flights in GF the last two weeks, one did the appetizer run with a cart (which is the way it's intended to be), but they will run through, give you a couple of pieces of something or other (as you can see in some of the pics) and never come back. As you can tell on LH it is a vastly more elaborate affair, with very much a "would you like us to fill you up to death" attitude. Both the quality and the availability of the food in this stage of the meal smack UA down big time. On my other flight, the FA ran the cabin like Usain Bolt dropping a mini plate at each seat with one each of the two appetizers, and that was that. No cart, no question, just take it or leave it. Pretty surreal.

Soup's been downsized, too, although honestly when you got a big bowl of the soup I would sometimes end up so full by the time the mains were done with I ended up skipping dessert.

In any event, the menus are pretty similar now, but in content and in the overall quantity of food. I had two very good mains on my flight, and came away agreeing with what was said up thread, that if you could polish the service and make some smart improvements to the pre-main part of the service you'd be back to a reasonably competitive service. The improvements are not likely to be cheap, though, if you wanted to make this part of the meal of LH quality.