texasacqmonkey

I'm planning a honeymoon from US to SE Asia next spring and hoping to get input on which aircraft and itinerary is the best option for getting to Singapore. I'll be flying United, and my options are as follows:

Global First on 777 from ORD to SIN (3-hr stop in NRT, same aircraft)
or
Business First on 787 from DEN to NRT
Global First on 777 from NRT to SIN

I guess I'm wondering how B-First on the 787 compares to Global-First on the 777. Prices and flight times are similar enough that they do not weigh into my decision.

Thanks for your advice, opinions, thoughts.

LondonElite

UA GF is an ok First class service. It's no SQ or CX, but it gets the job done. The seat is fine, but the airline is very casual and not really in the first class category. In most cases, and certainly in this one, however, I would stick with a full F itinerary. If you had asked SQ business vs UA GF, I'd probably have gone the former.

Welcome to FT texasacqmonkey!

Oh, and congratulations!

dvs7310

Have to agree with LondonElite, just go GF all the way. The cabin is small with a lot more privacy. Take a pair of seats in the center section and you're plenty close enough to converse. Service is a far cry from an Asian carrier but I've had some great cabin crew who did their best with what they have to work with.

If you're going NRT-SIN in F then you're paying for F anyway, no reason to take C on the long haul.

invisible

I would avoid UA at all costs.

travelinmanS

+1

If you're paying for F class do yourself a favor and take a decent airline. Cathay, Korean, JAL, ANA, and Asiana all offer 1 stop service from ORD to Singapore. Not sure if they all offer F class on this routing but even business on Cathay or Asiana is better then F on UA.

Ocn Vw 1K

texasacqmonkey, welcome to FlyerTalk!

As this is focused on travel on United, I'll move this to the United forum for more discussion. Ocn Vw 1K, Moderator, TravelBuzz and United.

dsgtc0408

For a honeymoon (btw congrats!) I'd take note of the additional privacy in the 777 GF seats; there's just not that many of them (8) and they're larger with more space. I've also had the general sense (but can't prove it) that this cabin doesn't often fly completely full. One other point is that on the 777, passengers board through the business class cabin, thus even before takeoff there's going to be privacy.

On the other hand, in the 787 there seem to be a lot of BF seats (18) in their respective parts of the cabin (ie lots of people) and these seats are not as spacious not just in terms of the seat but the close by storage cubbies. Then again, the BF seats are paired so you'll be seated next to your better half, rather than having to reach across an aisle in the 777 GF.

I'd agree with the earlier poster who said that if you're paying for GF, then you should be getting GF especially for the overwater transpac (ORD-NRT) sector.

Two side thoughts. If you're paying for GF, be sure to check out the International First Class lounges. I assume there is one in ORD, know there's one in the NRT UC but think you can enter the First Class ANA lounge in NRT (not sure about that, you should check). Also, the NRT base crew have some really great people - some variation of course but most of the ones I've flown with are really tremendous.

zrs70

Do GF and check daily for NH flights!

bob_the_d

if it's a honeymoon, are there two of you traveling together? then BF might not actually be a bad idea on UA, since the seating is 2-2-2 and you could travel together next to each other. wasn't clear to me if you're traveling by yourself or with your SO.

DENviaLAX

Along with the other points mentioned, if I can connect onto the same aircraft that I just got off of, to me that is always preferable. The chances of missing the connecting flight are next to zero in such cases, especially internationally. Where as if the 787 gets delayed out of DEN, missing the connection does become a possibility. With a honeymoon, eliminating that potential stress and headache would factor in heavily for me as well.

unclpaully

for the seat alone it's a no-brainer - 777 over the 787. I may in the minority but I would say the same even if both were in J.

jpc83

GF all the way.

texasacqmonkey

Thanks for everybody's insight and recommendations.

I know United isn't always the most popular, but for a few reasons, that's the only airline I'm considering for the trip. I sounds like the 777 GF is a pretty big favorite, and the same aircraft connection is certainly an added perk.

I will be flying with my future-wife, so being close enough to converse is important, but sounds like that's doable in the center section?

Thanks again.

sammybk

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; Android 4.4.2; HTC One Build/KOT49H) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/35.0.1916.141 Mobile Safari/537.36)

Be careful, just because the flight number is the same does not mean to the same exact plane will be used!

moler

It's actually easier for a couple to have a chat across the aisle (A/C or H/K), where you are angled towards each other, instead of between two middle seats angled away from each other. Have a nice trip!