All 777-222 are not equal. You’ll want to check the seatmaps, though that is no guarantee if there is a plane swap.

But yes, the recent schedule has LAX downgraded to mostly 757 and 777. One of the 777s is a Polaris, the rest HD. If you want to guarantee Polaris, there is a single 78X that remains.

UA guarantees it as much as anything can be guaranteed. Means they will pay you a compensation when they can't have a lie-flat aircraft on that route.

Nope. Several recent reports of no comp for no lie flat.

If true, then that might warrant a DOT complaint if I was sold something they clearly advertise but didn't fulfill

https://www.united.com/ual/en/us/fly...-services.html

We’re flying on UA2097 9:40pm SFO-EWR in Mid November in J. Should we expect a full meal dinner or just a snack?

1. Flight shows snack, but UA.com shows a "hot meal on all flights 800 miles or greater"
UA.com North American Dining

2. I flew this same flight back in August 2022 and it listed a snack but had a full dinner. Granted it was a 9:00pm departure then.

Yes, a meal will be available.

Good news bad news, my wife got upgraded on yesterday's SFO-EWR to PS and enjoyed the UC access even though she is no longer a member. However, the bad news was the flight was cancelled ("mechanical") and had to fly another carrier to get to NYC AM (AA into JFK). Of course money and soon to expire PPs refunded. FWIW, she purchased business on AA and said she preferred the AA hard product on this route to UA's PS. I can't comment as I have not flown AA into JFK for years now from SFO.

plenty of reports receiving comp. UA advertises this, they would get into some significant issues if they don't provide compensation.

Shame she wasn’t able to get booked on AA via UA and still get ORC. And she could have still credited her AA flight.

And she isn’t the only to have a preference for the AA A321T business seats versus UA Polaris. I also think the food as well as the lounge access (LAX/JFK sides) are better than UC access. Last but not least you can use showers with AA before/after since, AC (SFO), FL (LAX), and Greenwich (JFK) have showers.

Also, on a couple of LAX flights Premium Economy is offered for sale, which can be an issue in case of a change to a non-Polaris bird.

UA was offering her less desirable flight time on their equipment of course. She booked the AA flilght on her own as she needed to get to NYC ASAP. AA's A321T looked nice on the images I have seen of it. Isn't that a 3 class flight with a F section as well?

United would not oblige even if asked, let alone offering proactively, especially on the premium transcon route.

Yep. Have done AA F cross country a few times on miles. Excellent experience both on the ground and in the air. I really enjoy the nap room at the AA AC at SFO.

Yes, they also have a F cabin. 1-1 configuration, slightly better food and access to better lounges (JFK Chelsea, LAX FFD when it was open).

Is there any difference between economy and economy plus? The United website says http://www.united.com/ual/en/us/fly/...-services.html
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But aren’t non-alcoholic drinks and some small snacks already free in economy? I remember pre-COVID there was a brief period of time that alcoholic drinks and hot meals were free for economy plus.

So what kind of compensation occurs when that happens? I normally fly Delta but booked a Premium Economy EWR-SFO seat on United which seems more comfortable than Comfort+ on a Delta 757 (Delta downgraded that route to all 757s while JFK-LAX is all 767s). Is it possible that if the aircraft is swapped I might end up in regular economy and not even Economy Plus?