samjnz

This almost exactly describes the situation I had on the same route (SFO-AKL) a couple of months back!

I guess the more "prestigious" or novel the route, the worse the onboard experience

laxmillenial

Not sure what your second statement means aka what are 'novel' routes. It might just be a particular FA, so I encourage the OP to write-in. I've flown the new 77W to TYO, TPE, and HKG and have all had great experiences. The FA's seemed to really enjoy talking about the 'new' product and their thoughts and UA management in general. I always ask for their perspective and provide mine (as an outsider).

Kacee

Which of those do you think SFO-AKL is? I would say neither.

UA long-haul has always been russian roulette for service quality due to the seniority-based assignments. Figure about a 5-10% chance you get genuinely poor service. They type of service OP reported here is more like 1/1000.

wpcoe

I've not seen/experienced that, but I did read someplace that the crew are each allotted a gel pillow for their rest break (i.e. The airplane is stocked with the number of pillows equal to the crew count + passenger allocation). I wouldn't be surprised if they were all boarded in a central place (the J cabin) and it was up to them to move their pillows to the crew rest area. The optics of retrieving the pillows after passengers are on board is not optimal, though...

Meola10

StuckinITH

It's a known fact that the airplane is not stocked with the number of pillows equal to the crew + passenger count. On one flight to Asia (16 hours flight), my wife went to the galley just after lunch to request a gel pillow. The last one was given to the person who had requested it just before my wife. That person had also gone to the galley and was still standing there waiting for the FA to come back with her gel pillow. To apologize for the lack of the gel pillow, the FA gave my wife 2 pajamas. My wife said that was not needed but the FA insisted that she take it. I guess it was recovery mode. I was on the same flight (no gel pillow for me either) and can tell you that very few passengers had gel pillows. Since then, we request the gel pillows at time of boarding to guarantee that we each get one.

Meola10

StuckinITH

It does not help that it's "generally" accurate if it was not accurate in our flight. Let's see, on the 772 we usually take, there are 8 Polaris First and 40 Polaris Business + whatever number of crew. There were not 48 gel pillows + the number allocated to the crew. Looking that in that flight in Polaris Business there were at most 10 passengers with a gel pillow (I did not look into the Polaris First cabin), if their count was accurate, the FAs should have found gel pillows for us. And, unfortunately, that flight was when the other small pillow had been "enhanced" from Polaris.

samjnz

Novel from a bidding perspective. I'd imagine all the Senior FAs would snap up all the new long block time routes (I mean, they must get tired of rest days in London, etc all the time)

wpcoe

Correct! Passenger allocation does not equal passenger count in this case.

A F/A friend of mine said that before the introduction of Polaris they were advised that the extra amenities (pillows, mattress pads) were going to be boarded at 60% of passenger count. I don't know if they've adjusted that (up *or* down) but I doubt they boosted it to 100%.

eng3

Agree, that must be annoying. I do find some FA's have memory issues, not sure why they can't write things down. I also often have trouble getting someone's attention during the dark parts of the flight and I usually sit in a bulkhead right next to the galley. I have the same issue in domestic F. I get a drink with my meal. If I am not proactive or havent finished my drink by the time they come get my tray, then I've pretty much lost my chance to get a refill. Towards the end of the flight, the FA will come by and I'll hand them my glass asking for a refill, but either they ignore me or they don't hear me and assume I am handing them my glass to take away for cleanup. I always choose a window seat so I don't want to bug the person next to me just to walk up and get a drink. When I force it, I can see some frustration in their face like "why does he want a refill this late in the flight, why didnt he ask earlier".

The 77W polaris seats are nice because you can get out easily and walk up to the galley to request what you want.

Just curious, why were you unable to adjust the vent yourself? Was it broken, too tight?
The sundae isnt really anything the FA has much control over.

eng3

It is quite annoying that if you want a pillow you have to time your request early enough so they don't run out. I seem to commonly choose my seat directly across from where they store the pillows so I keep an eye on the inventory but I shouldn't have to.

doubleflier

Currently booked LAX - SIN in late summer.

Happy with the seat (thanks for feedback!), but need help with meals and a flight time change issue.

being an AC flyer, I realize I won’t get first choice of meals on UA, but would like to avoid Pasta.

Is there any intel on the Asian Veg, or other special meals on the LAX/SFO-SIN flights? Are they good, or should I just roll the dice on what the 3-4 options that are normally available?

also, I realize crews/experiences can vary, but is there any feedback on crews out of LAX vs. SFO?

I had an itinerary change and am trying to decide if I accept it YVR-LAX-SIN, oR change it to YVR-SFO-SIN.

Currently have a 2 hr l/o in LAX, or would end up with a 1:30-ish L/O if I change to SFO....

fezzington

Passenger allocation is still 60% for gel pillows. Mattress pads are down to 40%. Asia flights are 100% slipper provisioned, all others are at 60%. These are all supposed to be boarded at the departure station

PJs are provisioned at 60% for the round trip on 12+ hour flights. Like the (100% provisioned) amenity kits, they are boarded on the ex-US flight. If the outbound uses them all or misplaces them, the return may not have the correct provisioning.

WineCountryUA

These may help

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unit...solidated.html

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unit...-business.html