spin88

I will simply note that SQ is on an A350 and UA is on a 777. That alone says go SQ. The A350 is a much, much, much superior aircraft. The only major difference is that on UA PE is a small sub-class, on SQ's A350ULR it is the ONLY economy class. It is 8x across, there is no regular economy.

SQ came out with a new seat for the A350ULR, which I have not sat in. It is a dirivative of its current seat (Zodiac) which is a decent seat. UA's seat is standard (same as DL and AA use). The SQ soft product will be much, much better.

jsloan

Based on....? And please don't quote seat width, as it's much less likely to be an issue in PE than in Y.

I've flown the A350 a couple of times -- admittedly, in J, not Y or PE -- and I was extremely unimpressed. I'll take a 787 or a current-generation 777 any day, all else being equal.

In this case, all else isn't equal. OP: nobody has flown UA PE service yet; the best you'll be able to do is to get a comparison of the seats themselves. If you just meant Economy Plus, I'd recommend SQ in a heartbeat. Otherwise, it's really going to come down to what you prefer. If you're comfortable being waited on, SQ service is great. If you'd prefer to be left alone unless you need something (and, admittedly, sometimes even then), you might prefer UA service.

The routing through SIN is about 1300 miles longer, which is a big difference. The last couple of hours of the EWR-SIN flight are going to drag. However, it can be difficult to find a good connection back through HKG from BKK; there's actually an entire board thread on the best way to proceed.

You might also consider transiting Tokyo; it's a little bit longer than the HKG transit, but still shorter than the SIN transit, and you should be able to secure PE all the way.

findark

Ironically, the 350s have extremely narrow seats in PE, much more so than other aircraft with PE (except for the occasional carrier that opted for 7-across).

uastarflyer

findark

Yeah.. as discussed in another thread, UA is hitting the low 1000s on TATL PE also. The price points are insane right now and I wonder how long they will last. The p.s. fare wars are still staggering along, so maybe it will be years.

TonyBurr

On UA it is HKG - BKK on CX in Economy
or UA EWR-NRT (UA in PE) and ANA NRT-BKK in Economy

On SQ

It is SQ EWR-SIN (PE) an d SQ SIN-BKK in Economy

findark

Definitely not that one!

Kacee

Have you looked at BR? That's a much better routing than SIN. And I would bet the service is better than UA. It's also a relatively easy *A upgrade to J.

You might also consider going outside alliance and flying CX which has the best flight options, with three daily from JFK and one from EWR, plus nearly hourly service HKG-BKK.

I do not like the timing of the UA flights, and it's very difficult to connect the return same day. As jsloan noted, the SIN routing is considerably longer.

prestonh

I'm a big fan of China air lines premium economy...very wide and comfy seat with excellent service. It would work well JFK-bkk

stmaus

1. Depends on price difference.
2. I second the suggestion of looking at China Airlines (Taiwan), as well as Eva. CI is an excellent products.

Repooc17

If you do end up on SQ21, there are several single seat arrangement in the back of the (PE) cabin - those seats would be my pick in PE on the world's longest nonstop flight (currently). I flew SQ22 earlier this year.

spin88

The A350 is (a) quieter, (b) higher pressure/humidity, (c) bigger windows, (d) nicer bathrooms that the Boeing crud. I'll take it over a 777 anyway. And I will say the same thing about the 787 (vs 777) just not in 9x Y. I place the A350 about even with the A380>787 (not in Y), then I see the 777/330/340 as being similar.

But interestingly I have not noticed a difference in width, but I took the A350 in PE on CX, and they have a slightly longer pitch. I've taken a range of PEs (on SAS, LH, BA, AF, CX) and not really noticed difference in width, mostly the extra length/bulkhead vs. 38" pitch is what I notice. I just was on LH's A380 with the bulkhead, very comfortable plane/seat, and no leg room issues

There are definitely some better PEs out there, but the comparison is UA's which is similar 38" pitch, and the seat will be of similar (probably the same actual) width. SQ seems to be using PE to soak up last minute Y fares from others, with less delta from Y.

I would agree that just staying on CX for the entire trip is a better option, better service, and agree that the Taiwanese carriers (especially EVA) offer competitive product and good connections to BKK.

Acastus

If you're going through HKG you might want to reconsider connections with Hong Kong Airlines. I booked a R/T to BKK three weeks ago on the UA website (016 stock), arrived in BKK on Saturday night. I was stunned to look at the reservation on my phone today and saw that the BKK-HKG sector had simply disappeared. Gone. Same thing on the website version. The receipt (thank heaven) still showed the connection. No notification from United at all.

I called Global Services and was told "oh yeh, non Star Alliance partners sometimes refuse to accept the reservation" and "we don't have a lot of control over non-Star Alliance partners so they may not have accepted the fare class you booked" to which I replied that this was United's problem, not mine, as I booked it through the UA website and it's their choice to offer this ticket to the customer.

Bottom line, after a HUACA and about 30 minutes of touch and go, I got the connection reinstated, but this was scary and I thought worth reporting.

Kacee

Additionally, I would hesitate to book with HX right now because they may go out of business. If ticketed through UA, you won't lose your money, but still.

jsloan

It has nothing to do with *A -- I had an NH flight fall off of my itinerary twice last year. I finally ended up on TG instead. In other words, this can happen with any airline. I recommend keeping an eye on your reservation and making sure that flight sticks.

Once you have a ticket, UA is obligated to get you where you're ticketed to go or to offer you a full refund. They will normally choose the former option, but they will sometimes choose the latter -- for example, if an airline is cancelling all service to a destination or something.