mduell

Fixed bassinets 6AB, 6KL

riteshshah

Thanks for the quick reply. So anyone with firsthand experience of the actual bassinets in BF. It is it, as it is pictured in the photo in my original post (http://www.gettyimages.co.nz/detail/...hoto/157244373 bassinet that is recessed into the bulkhead?

PV_Premier

we are booked on LAX-SYD on 787-900 in September '16. currently we are in 6D/E. should we move? cabin is still wide open of course.

harryhood

Not unless 1D/E are open and you want to be there. 1/6 D/E are the best seats on the plane unless you REALLY want to look out the window.

RobOnLI

I just flew on my first UA 787 (the 789 from MEL-LAX) and have to say I ABSOLUTELY HATED the seat and some of the aircraft.

I flew BusinessFirst. After my WLG-SYD flight was cancelled I had to call UA and have them rebook me WLG-MEL-LAX-xxx. That took about 20 minutes in itself which should have taken about 30 seconds.

Board the flight in MEL and I have 4A assigned. I asked for a window and got a window. As I was slightly rushed in WLG trying to get rebooked I had no time to look up what a good seat was until I got to MEL. I thought I would be OK in 4A without the extra window. That part wound up not bothering me all that much because a couple of hours into the flight it goes dark for the rest of the 14 hour flight to LAX.

What did bother me?
1. The footwell is, by far, the smallest, narrowest and most cramped in the entire BF fleet UA flies. I will *never* fly that seat again and I assume all window seats use the same footwell? 4B had a much wider footwell. The footwell alone meant I couldn't sleep because my feet couldn't even fit sideways.
2. The announcements on the plane were the automated variety and INCREDIBLY loud to the point that things on the airplane were vibrating/shaking when the seatbelt sign came on and the automated system says, "The seatbelt sign has been turned on. Please return to your seats and fasten your seatbelts." The worst part is it came on no fewer than 8 different times during the flight so each time the stupid automated warning came on it woke everyone up.
3. My mouth and nose dried up less than an hour into the flight. I've flown 787s on AI and AC this year and didn't have this problem. I have to say this was the "driest" flight I have had in years - way worse than a 767. I think humidity can be controlled by the pilots or FAs? If so it was turned way down.
4. The seats are angled towards the windows but the screens are not. The window seat is off center from the screen so your neck is slightly craned.
5. The entertainment system is fabulous but the user interface is absolute crap. Three times during the flight I tapped "pause" on the screen to answer a question by the flight attendant. All 3 times when I hit "play" it reversed the movie at least 20 minutes, sometimes as much as an hour. I then had to fast forward back to the point in the movie I was at.
5b. The remote for the entertainment system is the worst I've ever seen. It's not responsive and more importantly UA has removed the physical buttons for volume control. WHY!?!? The only buttons that would be super useful are volume. Instead you either fumble your way through the menu on the remote or you tap three buttons on the screen to get a stupid, large volume screen in the center of what you're watching and it won't go away until you click "OK". Stupid honestly. They could have made a small GUI on the right-hand side that you can tap up/down on and it goes away automatically after a second. This can be fixed through software.

#1 is potentially solved by taking a different seat but I have no clue which ones have which size footwells. According to the first post in this thread there are three different varieties.

#2 is solved by not using the automated announcements. This reminds me of the 777 fleet. They have the ability to use the automated announcements and most were used years ago. Now almost none of them use the automated announcements and FAs prefer to do a quick "seatbelts please" at a normal volume. UA, please do this with your 787 fleet.

I will never fly a UA 787 again if I can avoid it. I'll stick to the 777s as much as possible.

I'm done complaining now The FAs were not great but the plane noise (engine, wind, etc.) was decently quiet of course - as you would expect in a 787. The rest of it ruined the entire experience for me.

-RM

Kacee

Okay, just took 6E for LAX-NRT. This will be my first flight on the 789.

harryhood

I am no great defender of the United flying experience, but I don't think your experience is going to be representative. You are right, #1 is solved by seat assignment. #2 is common across the sCO long haul planes. Annoying and unbelieveably loud, for sure. #3 has never been my experience. Of course I live in Denver where it is really dry so I am used to it. #4 has never bothered me much, but YMMV. #5 is a valid complaint, the touch screen on the 789 remotes really seems to be either way too sensitive or not nearly sensitive enough -- and sometimes all at the same time. I think this is for gee-whiz and for ease of cleaning (I shudder to think the kinds of accumulated germs in all the push-button handsets....). #5b seems like an issue specific to your seat as I have never had that issue.

kirkwoodj

In a few months all Oz flights will be on 787s, no more GF.

Kacee

This is spot on. Just flew 6E and can confirm it's an outstanding seat. The footwell is huge. Seat length is great - it's gotta be at least 6-8" longer than in the 764 or ps aircraft and is longer as well than the BF seats on the 744 UD. And while you can't tell from the seatmap, these seats are well removed from the lavs and the galley.

Everyone who was involved in designing that remote should be fired. Seriously. The biggest problem I had is the've put a touch screen right where your elbow goes, so everyone you bump it, you activate the darn thing. One of the poorest bits of design I've seen in some time.

Row 6 was actually very loud, about the same as a narrowbody or UD of the 744. I transferred at NRT onto the TG380, sitting upstairs in approximately the same place (overwing) and it was way quieter. You don't even need a noise cancel function on the 380. Airbus is clearly doing something better than Boeing when it comes to noise insulation.

Exterous

Aside from getting out of a window seat is there any other reason? Currently in 1A&B but 6D&E are available

Thanks!

kirkwoodj

Don't forget that 1D/E don't have overhead storage bins as that space is the crew rest area.

Kacee

There are no shades on the windows and they don't go completely dark.

bluemocha

Looks like we'll be flying this UAL 787-9. From some pics I looked at(not conclusive due to the angle of some pics) on the web, looks like 19L,K and 20L,K have windows and not misaligned. Is this right?

Thanks guys!

Exterous

Thanks!

ab_initio

Last minute booking MEL-LAX in 5A and 5B - we didn't have much of a choice but in general I would not recommend sitting in this row. As most people know the two separate FA crews work 1-4 and 5-8 so at times you are in no man's land especially if the crews don't work well together (we had a mixed crew from UA and Continental). Lav traffic can be significant.

Overall, service and food were mediocre - maybe just because we're used to VS UC but I can't see us ever repeating this with UA.