Col Ronson

Reduction in seating is a must. During off-peak months the LFs on those 747s are so pathetic. The 777 uses less fuel and holds more cargo than the 747 too, better for UA. Better for coach passengers with AVOD and powerports for their electronics. Wider seats in coach too on the 777 vs the 747.

Btw, NZ with 10 abreast Y on a 777 is a miserable experience, and with the stop in AKL is not better than UA in any regard. What are you getting better? Both coach products use the Panasonic IFE system. Are you getting better food on NZ? that's hardly something i use to judge airlines.

34" legroom is better than 31" legroom and makes up for the slightly better food on QF/NZ/DL Then again, i dont book airlines based on food. Star Alliance benefits tops, and you don't get UA miles on NZ's discount fares in Y. Also i've flown VA, and their food offerings are pathetic as well and their coach seats are not too comfortable.

Now if you're talking about premium cabin, then yes there is no comparison. NZ and QF and heck even DL tops UA's premium offerings. Yes it will suck because a lot of us will have a lower chance of upgrade, but the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.

For most of us that are US-based; UA is the best option. DL is a second-best option. QF is an alright third option; but even QF's discount fares don't get you 100% miles/points on AA. NZ is only an option for me if im flying paid business.

flyerbjorn

This is a really interesting discussion. I'm SYD based and one of the few at the office who flies UA intentionally. Pretty much all my (non-FT) colleagues prefer NZ and VA, for Y, premium Y or C.

Given how hard upgrades are on UA these days, my new plan is to:
1) Fly UA C if I'm buying business and there is a sale. Sales are on most of the time, especially for midweek Pacific flights.
2) Fly NZ Y otherwise.

roder

I have a co-worker currently on Jan-22 UA839 SYD-MEL, which is currently about 2 hours delayed on a mechanical. Flightaware has it listed as Taxiing; so I am curious to see if/when it actually takes off.

She was originally on the Cancelled Jan-19 LAX-SYD-MEL; not a good showing for United's 747s on this trip.

roder

Quick update; she has been rebooked on QF SYD-MEL and is in the process of claiming bags and transferring. Not sure if this was done for all passengers or just her.

EDIT: Flight cancelled; all passengers offloaded and rebooked

debracey

Dang.

UA can't catch a break on this route this year, in 2013 the cancellation rate was about 1 of 28 flights / week (~4% chance of a cancellation). This year seems to be running nearly 2x that...

-- Dan

BarefootBandit

I'm sitting in the Koruclub, both the SFO and LAX bound 747's are at their respective gates, it'll be interesting to see if 840 is only 22 minutes late departing as stated the flight tracker app thingy...

Z...

QBK

Sheesh. I'm actually surprised every time I check my flight and it's still "on time".

FWIW, if you count the MEL tags (e.g. today's cnx was SYD-MEL) I think it's 42 flights a week. Not sure if it makes sense to lump those hops in the same bucket with the SYD TPACs, though...

ua1flyer

I'm in the club as well. Did you see that they towed one of the planes away a few minutes ago?

BarefootBandit

Staring at it now... trying to work out what they are doing with it... Which flight you on?

Z...

IainC

Thank you for this helpful analysis! Being a UA tragic I have not ventured to try other carriers to the US from SYD. All my flying is on this route either US or Europe, 6 or more times a year. Last year I was 100% for upgrades to BF with UA and absolutely certain this would not have been possible on any other airline - thanks UA. However, I am also certain with the conversion to 777s on this route my upgrade success is going to be severely reduced. So I was looking at other carriers but your post gives me reason to believe that I will still be better off sticking with UA even though I will not be flying as frequently (if at all ) in the pointy end and will have to pay for my red wine and JD.

debracey

Yeah, was reading fast and thought the TPAC got the axe. It appears only the tag got axed (so far ) So I guess the rate is a little better than 4%, which in the grand scheme of things isn't all that bad.

Wonder if UA will move up the 777 changeover if the things don't smooth out over the next few weeks. Ultimately it might be a wash though, the 747s aren't going away and presumably their dispatch reliability isn't going to improve all that much in ORD.

QBK

...aaaaaaand KABOOM!

870 hasn't cancelled officially yet, but afaict everybody is getting rebooked to LAX. And aircraft #8499 just got towed away again.

Thanks to BarefootBandit and ua1flyer for the heads-up -- I made it to the head of the rebooking line and managed to stay on the UD. 840 was only half-full in J, but 870 was 47/52, so I suspect there are some unhappy J pax right now...

EDIT: captain of 870 just came on in the gate area to announce "a little maintenance problem" and issue a very nice and humble apology. Nice touch. Don't think I've ever heard that happen before.

EDIT #2: SFO aircraft towed back in. Also, I now realize Row 10 is not actually on the UD.

And now 870 is officially MX.

flyerbjorn

Some passengers must have been rebooked for tomorrow.

SYD-SFO is zeroed out in both C and F.
SYD-LAX is zeroed out in C, with 2 seats available in F.

ozflier

I accept some of your comments on UA's E+ gap between economy seats vs non Premium E on QF and NZ.

However, the economy QF food offering including the open all hours snackbar and third main course option go far beyond United's offerings.

Similarly the QF entertainment options is just so much better - hundreds even thousands of choices.

The advantage of Qantas in particular is direct service to the USA other than just from SYD eg BNE and MEL.( though they do not fly to SFO)

I have not travelled on NZ in the last 2 years except for trans Tasman services and I cannot speak more highly of their great attitude and soft product. I assume they have not deteriorated since then.


My point is that pax have a choice and, in the past , mine has been UNited even though it meant paying for a domestic conx to get to SYD.

I am seeing credit card holders sharing priority that I as a 1K used to enjoy, systemwide shortages of upgrade and J award space plus, regular cancellations of the services from SYD on 870 and 840 and vv.

Who knows if things will improve with the 777s - certainly upgrades and award seats will be much harder but I wonder if ageing 747s are the only cause of the monthly or even more often cancellations .

Maybe the issue is that all a/c go mechanical and in most UA outposts the are alternatives ( other flights on UA rom same port / easy conx to another base ( eg in Asia ) to join another UA service but that is not the case at SYD.

Finally, my sympathy to flyers who have been caught out by the latest cancellation -its happened twice to me in the last 2 years and I know the hassles you are going thru.

best wishes

Col Ronson

Oh i agree, i would love to be on a QF A380; i'm sure its a million years more comfortable than the pathetic 747s UA currently flies. The snackbar is also a nice plus as well; but i've found ringing the call button UA FAs will bring u whatever drinks you want, although the snack offerings are meager. Best i've ever gotten is some pretzels. However, this is only a recent improvement on QF's services. My last flight on QF was on the non-refurbished 747s in 2007, and they were not better than UA especially with the lack of legroom. I hear the new cabins bring them close to on par with the A380s, but id love for extra legroom. It really makes a difference and i dont wanna pay $800 more for premium economy.

I would love nothing more than to fly QF just for the convenient connections to other Australian cities, but the QF points redemptions for my AAdvantage account are miserable. I've never had a UA cancellation yet (fingers crossed) but i always keep the Premier Desk on speed-dial just in case. Its a long ways from T7 to TBIT to jump on QF108.