This. If I were the type to buy F, the seat is the whole deal. If I want fancy food, I'll go to a $100 a plate restaurant on the ground that will blow your posted menu out of the water.

I could eat at said restaurant x30 and still come out ahead for the difference in price between international F and international C.

You are not 35,000 feet in the air.

Stick with the Tube x30 - it is a win-win, unless you need to be in BKK or SIN for a meeting. That menu is exactly what was served, back in the day.

At 35,000 feet your options are limited. And remember UA is "the friendly skies".

I could also eat at KFC, Wendy's and Burger King for $5 for a "value" meal.

Apples - oranges.

I'll be in 2B if you which to compare the difference. Are you kidding me?

Plus, a number of the superior overseas first class products out there today feature caviar and premium alcohols, although no caviar on UA.

Yes, you're not likely to have prime rib cut at your table as was the case on some carriers in the old days, but I think it's safe to say that the best overseas FC soft products out there have food selections that are at least equivalent to what was served in the old days.

It might have been this configuration with 18 'Sleeper' seats in First:

http://frequentlyflying.boardingarea...cific-service/

I remember Pan Am ushering in seats which stretched out across three windows in First, but don't recall off-hand when those were introduced.

And now a bit of nostalgia: http://youtu.be/vw916DiwXl0

Given the choice, I'd rather have the better seats than the better food.
HOWEVER, why not have both?

Its not like the cost is so great relative to the price of the space on the plan. And of course, other airlines do have fantastic F&B.

Of course, which is why I avoid UA GF and fly CX, NH, SQ, TG, EK, LH, etc.

Actually that is from the 70s or early 80s --

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/ar...-40-years.html

Lufthansa's current FC menu has similar offerings, though far more inventive.

You are correct, my bad.

However, since Aerowesty was able to unearth the actual seat map from the UA 747 of the time, we can see that there was no comparison in the FC cabin layout of the time and today's lie-flat seats.

Never flew UA international F at the time. But did fly F overseas on AC, CP, BA, CX and QF back in the 70s and 80s.* Yes, the seats left much to be desired, but the inflight service and meal services were like French service in a good restaurant with roast beef or lamb racks carved at your seat! Veggies spooned out and gravy poured from a Sunday's best porcelain "boat". Ah, those were the days...and we dressed for the occasion too!


* The 90s saw the introduction of business class on international flights and a slight differentiation in seats between F and C. F seats had leg rests that pulled out (but not controlled pneumatically) and thus more pitch, C took over the F seats from the earlier decades, and fancy names like Connaissuer, UA's C.

Reduced F seats from 18 to 14.

That said, the former UA sleeper seats had about 62 inch pitch and you could side sleep in a Z position they were so wide.

They didn't go flat on the back but the leg rest went horizontal so they were more comfortable than the J class ski slopes.

Today is definitely an upgrade -- however, the UA GF product today is one of the poorest F products on the market -- both hard and soft.

:rolleyes: Of course your options are limited at 35,000. My point is who pays thousands extra just to eat a meal in the air that would cost maybe $50 on the ground?

In the air, I just want something edible and decent. If I want fine dining, I go to a fine dining restaurant, not an airline.

...except that the meals at $100 restaurants are way better than the menu posted above (and goes without saying, way better than anything I could get on modern F products). So it would be like going to KFC but spending $500 for a bucket of chicken.

The only reason to splash out for First is the seat. The rest is just to make you feel special.

Fare information, in 2014 dollars please.....;)

What was the aircraft? 744?

Thanks for the post--very interesting!

i didn't know sUA had a bento box. not being sarcastic, being out of the west side of manhattan, EWR-NRT was just always easier for me. i do remember the bento box for dinner on the sCO 772, which was actually pretty decent with the sake they served in BF. i haven't flown that route in a couple years though, i wonder if that's still there.