United Starting nonstop flight SFO-SIN - June 2016

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Jan 29, 2016, 8:52 pm

#151

channa

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Quote:

Originally Posted by minnyfly

Another groundbreaking 787 route announcement, and another thread about the "narrow" seats without mentioning the increased pitch (for most comparisons), higher pressure/humidity, huge windows (less claustrophobic feeling too), Sky Interior, and less noisy cabin.

You also forgot the short CO BF seats and the clunky controls they chose to put on them.

I was very surprised on my last 787 ride, because it was on TG, and they use the same seat manufacturer as the CO BF seat, so I wasn't looking forward to it. But it turns out, they didn't cheap out in the same manner as CO did.

The TG seat is longer, the seat controls were graphical and intuitive, and the IFE remote was a much nicer touchscreen (smartphone-like) interface.

It seems with a few improvements, the BF cabin can be much improved. But I doubt it's on UA radar to do anything about it, since these planes are relatively new.

Jan 29, 2016, 8:56 pm

#152

drewguy

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Quote:

Originally Posted by milypan

Most of our complaints aren't that it's 16 hours per se. It's 16 hours combined with the cramped 3-3-3 787 experience. I don't even like the 788 E+ experience on a 4 hour SFO-IAH flight. Most of the 10+ hour UA flights I've taken in the past few years have been in 3-3-3 777 cabins, which obviously are much roomier than the same seating configuration in a 787. Of course, the future 3-4-3 777 cabins will "solve" the dilemma of "how do I avoid the 787 on long-haul flights?"

+1 to all of this - right now you can get to SIN on a 777 various ways. Not so much after this.

Jan 29, 2016, 9:11 pm

#153

uastarflyer

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United Starting nonstop flight SFO-SIN - June 2016

Switched my return SIN-NRT-SFO to the nonstop earlier today. Agent surprised it was in the system despite not being approved. Then went on and on about how awesome it is having such a large plane for the route. Never mind I gave up a 777--747 itinerary in trade.

Jan 29, 2016, 11:10 pm

#154

EWRforever

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The non-stop is just great news ... but so sad that SIN-NRT is going away. Please reschedule SIN-HKG-EWR so that it connects all year round. I like flying UA, but arriving from SIN at 8:45pm via SFO instead of 1:45pm via HKG will make me fly through Europe instead ...

Jan 29, 2016, 11:52 pm

#155

1kBill

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Quote:

Originally Posted by channa

Continuing off topic, I just got off UA 33 NRT-LAX on the 789 and the business seat controls are much more logical than those on the pmCO 777's or 757's; I find the latter two to be completely counter-intuitive.

Jan 30, 2016, 12:46 am

#156

uastarflyer

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Quote:

Originally Posted by EWRforever

EWR is why HKG-sin gets in after 1am instead of 11:50pm like in the PMUA days.

Jan 30, 2016, 1:37 am

#157

UA_Flyer

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I am IAD based and do fly between SIN and East Coast often in BF or GF.

I am happy for this direct route, but not sure I am keen to fly domestic F for six hours to SFO to catch the SIN flight.

I would still prefer IAD-NRT-SIN (I guess I will be on NH to SIN). Alternatively IAD-PEK-SIN (second leg on SQ)

Nevertheless, it is a great news to start a direct SIN service, and I will make sure to fly SFO-SIN if I have business travels involving these two cities.

Jan 30, 2016, 7:32 am

#158

JVPhoto

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Quote:

Originally Posted by 1kBill

You have 16 hours to figure out the seat controls, I'm rooting for you!

Jan 30, 2016, 8:22 am

#159

username

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Quote:

Originally Posted by EWR764

Flight attendants tend to like them because they are very productive in terms of pay vis-a-vis time away from base. Certain deep South America trips on the sCO side also have similar schedules. You'll see the most senior sCO f/as build lines with back-to-back-to-back trips of this nature.

Keep in mind that FAR 117 mandates longer rest periods for pilots coming off longhaul/overnight operations, at least compared to FAs.

I notice significant difference in attitude and service quality between NRT-US and TPE-SFO. Do you think it is attributed to a "self-selection" process of the FAs or more of a NRT-base vs. SFO-base thing? For SIN, better get people who can compete with SQ - at least service quality-wise

Jan 30, 2016, 8:54 am

#160

exerda

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Quote:

Originally Posted by UA_Flyer

I am happy for this direct route, but not sure I am keen to fly domestic F for six hours to SFO to catch the SIN flight.

Maybe we'll start seeing a widebody again in the evening to SFO. There are the morning 752s, but who wants to sit in the Centurion lounge in SFO all day long, as nice as it is?

Quote:

Originally Posted by SGDCGuy

I've mentioned redemption difficulties already, and will UA now count the NH portion of the fare for GS purposes, when it wasn't clear that they did in the past?

Do they count any of the other JVs? I don't see that happening unless there's precedent for it. Heck, we've been told in the past UA was "working on" allowing GPUs on the NH JVs, but that's gone nowhere in the nearly two years since UA pulled out of NRT-BKK.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SGDCGuy

Finally, I agree that the SFO-SIN arrival in SIN is better for catching connecting flights -- if SQ is willing to play ball.

This--I want to use it as a BKK option (still 2-stops for me, unfortunately; my only 1-stop is via NRT, and I will never take that NH codeshare again).

Jan 30, 2016, 10:41 am

#161

channa

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Quote:

Originally Posted by exerda

Maybe we'll start seeing a widebody again in the evening to SFO. There are the morning 752s, but who wants to sit in the Centurion lounge in SFO all day long, as nice as it is?

Isn't there a 5:30 PM or so IAD-SFO on a 777 in the schedule?

Jan 30, 2016, 11:24 am

#162

halls120

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Quote:

Originally Posted by channa

Isn't there a 5:30 PM or so IAD-SFO on a 777 in the schedule?

Not at the moment. It was on the schedule last year for a few months. Right now we get SFO-IAD on a 777 early in the morning, but no WB return.

Jan 30, 2016, 1:07 pm

#163

sbm12

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Quote:

Originally Posted by channa

the seat controls were graphical and intuitive, and the IFE remote was a much nicer touchscreen (smartphone-like) interface.

Just like this one on UA's 787-9s??

Because those planes do have the newer, second screen remote with the touchscreen interface.

Jan 30, 2016, 4:22 pm

#164

Boraxo

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Quote:

Originally Posted by SGDCGuy

Yes, consider me one of the IAD folks not too happy with this. I was in the middle of trying to book redemption for a family trip to Singapore with a stopover in Tokyo for a few days. Now that has gotten very complicated.

****

Thus, I'm happy for y'all on the West Coast who got a better option, but IAD folks (e.g., government, government-related and the Discovery Channel (DC global headquarters is in DC, Asia headquarters is in Singapore, so countless sightings of the Pawn Stars guys, Food Channel people, etc.) just took a hit. Hopefully we'll get some operational adjustments, but we are going to see some higher fares on IAD-NRT-SIN from the UA/NH JV, and we can see SQ preparing to more than wet its beak.

sorry but family trips are not the target demographic, in case you missed the preceding 4 pages. this is ideal for the west coast tech companies, entertainment industry and bankers that don't want to waste time transiting Japan. And others like my industry where regional HQ is in SIN.

I lived in DC for 10 years and as much as I love Japan (as in - I'd love to live there) I would take a stopover in the USA anytime. This is true for all my international flights. Not because of the mediocre lounges or airports. But simply because every time you have a change of planes there is always the possibility of cancelled or delayed connection due to weather, mechanical, etc. If you are in a major hub in USA then you will have dozens of options to re-book and likely airport hotels where you can camp out if needed. Even alternative airports like OAK/SFO/SJC or IAD/DCA/BWI. If you are overseas it is a much more difficult situation nor do you want to spend hours on the phone trying to rebook.