Is United First worth $xxx upgrade fee?
 

Hi,

I am considering upgrading my family to United First (class) for a trip from San Francisco to Orlando on an Airbus 320 in May. Does anyone have any advice if its worth the extra money? Any advice on the row to choose?

Thank you!

Depends how much money. $99? Sure $999? Nope

Row 2.

Thanks mduell. Can I ask why? I don't normally fly first class so I am new to this.
Thank you.

It's worth very little. It's domestic F which means a wider seat (4 across instead of 6) with slightly more legroom - 38 inches of pitch vs. 31 in economy or 34 in economy plus. No footrest. There may be food but it will be nothing special.

Row 1 on this aircraft is awful, especially A/B, because you are jammed against the bulkhead. Rows 7 and 21 in economy plus are nearly equivalent to F on this aircraft.

Nobody on FT can answer these "is it worth it" questions. We have no idea what OP's circumstances are. If flying F means that he will default on his mortgage and be foreclosed, I would say not worth it. If whatever the UG cost is what he drops on a bar tab on a Friday evening, it's worth it.

To some, the comfortable seat makes the F experience worth it. I don't think that there's anybody who seriously suggests that the dollar value of the meal and booze on a TCON is worth much of anything.

If OP and family do not have particularly long legs, Row 1 may be "worth it" compared to having seat backs intrude on personal space in rows 2 and beyond. A personal choice based on individual circumstances.

Not on the 319/320. 1A/B on those aircraft objectively suck and will be avoided by anyone who is familiar with them. Note also that there is no recline into row 7 due to the hard bulkhead separating F from Y.

btw, are you saying no one should offer an opinion in response to OP's query? He asked, we offer our opinions. That's how FT works ;) So cut the lectures!

I booked a flight from IAH-LAS for Super Bowl weekend.

Regular economy were pricing out at $438-471 depending on when I checked. Add the cost to buy into E+ and I'm looking at another $70 probably.

I happened to check first class fares and I was able to snag a "P" fare for $680.

Sold!

It also depends on the flight. Returned from CUN on my honeymoon up front. Flight attendants treated us no differently than if we were in coach. Two families with five children traveling together also up front. Kicked my seat back and were a nuisance most of the flight. Parents did nothing...and I love kids, but enough was enough. On the flight down, flight attendants went above and beyond to make everyone feel special. Great experience. The flights were like night and day...I guess you just never know.

Kacee, You might want to re-read my post. I just offered my opinion, which just happened to contrast with yours. I was not lecturing anyone. Please chill.

Welcome to Flyertalk! ^
If you choose to upgrade (it is up to you to choose if the value for the money is worth it), you will as others have mentioned get a bigger seat with more leg room. Also you have more shoulder room, which is important to me. This means that unlike in economy, there is space between seats.

Flying in first class, you have priority boarding (for all the published benefits of first class, check out the appropriate section of the united web site at) http://www.united.com/web/en-US/cont...ght/first.aspx

Once on the plane, you should be offered a pre-departure drink of choice. Once in the air, there should be a round of drinks followed be a meal service, depending on the time of day. For information on what type of meal you might get, you could check out the meal discussion page in this forum: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...ess-class.html

On the A320, try to get seats in row 2. Row 1 has limited leg room and row 3 may have less recline, plus if the A320 gets switched with an A319, row 3 doesn't exist on the 319 and you might end up back in coach.

Some people would never consider paying for an upgrade, but for others, it is worth it. Really depends on your priorities!

Let us know what you decide, and even better, report back after flying to let us know what you thought of the flight and services! :-)

I had the option of taking LH C ORD-FRA or UA GF ORD-FRA. I went with UA and GF, but after reading this thread I'm not sure I made the right decision. I'm praying F award space opens up on LH.

UAL intl F is a way better seat than the old LH C seats, and is still superior to the newer LH lie flat C. First class is first class after all! I don't have any problem in UAL F, it's a wonderfully comfy wide lie flat suite. Mattress pad is really nice.

The service in UAGF sounds atrocious.

It's just highly variable - and the food doesn't seem to rise above "mediocre" anymore