May 31, 2017, 10:05 am
Last edit by: blueman2
Cross Country Comfort: Introducing United Airlines' New Transcontinental Service
Premium transcontinental service EWR to/from SFOLAX and BOS to/from SFO (Boston service starting 1 July 2017)
Complimentary hot meal and beverage service for customers seated in Economy Plus.
Also adding United Club access before flight and after arrival, just like ps
Premium transcontinental service EWR to/from SFOLAX and BOS to/from SFO (Boston service starting 1 July 2017)
- Flat-bed seats with custom-designed duvet & pillow provided by Saks Fifth Avenue
- New amenity kits featuring Soho House & Co's Cowshed Spa products
- Featured cocktail, Moscow Mule
- Hot towel service offered after take-off & prior to landing
- Seasonally refreshed menus
- Dining will be topped off with items from United Polaris' dessert menu.
- Before arrival, snacks such as Boulder Canyon potato chips & Madik’s almonds will be served.
- Note: These routes are not CPU eligible (with need to use RPU/GPU/Miles+copay)
Complimentary hot meal and beverage service for customers seated in Economy Plus.
Also adding United Club access before flight and after arrival, just like ps
Cross Country Comfort: Introducing United Airlines’ New Transcontinental Service
May 31, 2017, 10:34 am
#31
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Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Los Angeles / Basel
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First off, I think it's about time that this change happened ^ and I do like the fact that E+ will get free food and booze ^ but I also remember when PS started and that all pax in Y* received a free meal** but that went the way of the Dodo so I hope say a year/2 years from now, it's still around
*granted it was all E+ back then
**albeit a snack box with a sandwich
*granted it was all E+ back then
**albeit a snack box with a sandwich
May 31, 2017, 10:38 am
#32
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Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Bay Area
Programs: DL SM, UA MP.
Posts: 12,729
Pretty strange to make E+ a different class, and a little disconcerting. Makes me wonder if they're going to start doing something different on international too - treating it as a separate class while leaving the hard product the same.
A lot of people get E+ at check-in by virtue of the fact that E- is full and they don't have a seat assignment. Now those lucky few will get a free meal out of it?
A lot of people get E+ at check-in by virtue of the fact that E- is full and they don't have a seat assignment. Now those lucky few will get a free meal out of it?
Is it still the same rules for complimentary E+, elites of Gold and above get it automatically on these flights?
Or are these flights a special exemption, since they eliminated any CPUs?
May 31, 2017, 10:40 am
#33
Moderator: United Airlines
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: SFO
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Posts: 66,850
There was no change in E+ access for previous PS routes which had no CPU eligibility (same for long haul international).
May 31, 2017, 10:43 am
#34
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: SFO
Programs: BART Platinum, AA Plat Pro
Posts: 1,158
Does Delta have an equivalent to Platinum, and if so, how is that handled?
For me, the #1 perk of UA Platinum is E+ for my entire party. I use it regularly for family travel, so it would suck if they devalue that benefit.
For me, the #1 perk of UA Platinum is E+ for my entire party. I use it regularly for family travel, so it would suck if they devalue that benefit.
The strongest argument in favor of UA retaining easier access to E+ than DL does for C+ is that UA's ratio of E+ to E- seats is higher than DL's (or pretty much any other US airline).* Thus we might expect "looser" access on UA than other carriers. I would nevertheless expect some kind of tightening in the future...at least get rid of 8 companions if nothing else.
* I should note that's actually not true, however, for the specific aircraft in question here. The UA 752 PS has 42 E+ seats, while the DL 75S has 44 C+ seats.
Last edited by milypan; May 31, 2017 at 10:55 am Reason: Update seating info
May 31, 2017, 10:44 am
#35
Join Date: Dec 2014
Programs: UA Silver, Alaska Gold
Posts: 46
What will be interesting to see is:
1) If UA does decide to follow Delta in making E+ (C+) a separate class of service
2) How this will play out given UA (in general) has far more E+ seats per plane. My thought is that this plays into Kirby's recent statement - i.e. remove E+ seating and add more E-
1) If UA does decide to follow Delta in making E+ (C+) a separate class of service
2) How this will play out given UA (in general) has far more E+ seats per plane. My thought is that this plays into Kirby's recent statement - i.e. remove E+ seating and add more E-
May 31, 2017, 10:46 am
#36
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Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 286
Boston. Great!
Now if they could only add the East Coast's busiest airport!
Ya know, JFK...
Now if they could only add the East Coast's busiest airport!
Ya know, JFK...
May 31, 2017, 10:47 am
#37
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Washington, DC
Programs: United Premier 1K 1MM; AA Plat Pro; Hyatt Globalist; Marriott Platinum; Avis President's Club
Posts: 2,529
It's official. BOS - SFO is now part of the premium transcon market.
Surprisingly, United is adding free HOT meals to EconomyPlus on all premium transcon flights.
More details on my blog, but full press release pasted below:
Surprisingly, United is adding free HOT meals to EconomyPlus on all premium transcon flights.
More details on my blog, but full press release pasted below:
May 31, 2017, 10:50 am
#38
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: DEN
Programs: UA 1K (MM), DL, AA, AS, HHonors, SPG, Kimpton, Hyatt, IC PC, Marriott Titanium (LT PLT), Hertz PC
Posts: 7,231
Only one companion to E+ would be very painful. It is a benefit I use often to fly with our family of 4. I wouldn't mind if they reduced it from the current 10, or whatever it is, for 1Ks to something more family-sized (i.e. maybe 4-5 companions). I would guess that most people wouldn't require more than that anyway?
May 31, 2017, 10:53 am
#39
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: ROC/NYC/MSP/LAX/HKG/SIN
Posts: 3,212
Matching DL, not bad. That gives a reason for any elites on E+ to have the hot food plus the free food item+drink. That's the way to appreciate the elites and people who pay for the E+. Pretty well done.
May 31, 2017, 11:04 am
#40
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: SFO
Programs: BART Platinum, AA Plat Pro
Posts: 1,158
For example, the UA A320 has 42 E+, while the DL A320 has 18 C+ plus 12 exit seats. So the greater than 2:1 ratio for UA is effectively more like 1.4:1. The UA 739 has 39, 42, or 51 E+ seats, while the DL 739 has 21 C+ plus 8 exit seats, or 29 total, and the DL A321 has 29 C+ seats plus 6 exit seats, or 35 total.
Bottom line: UA does have more extra legroom seats than DL on most aircraft, but the ratio between the two isn't as high as you'd think at first glance.
May 31, 2017, 11:07 am
#41
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Interesting UA didn't follow AA's lead of allowing premium transcon passengers into the higher-level lounge (FL for AA, Polaris for UA).
May 31, 2017, 11:09 am
#42
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: SFO
Programs: BART Platinum, AA Plat Pro
Posts: 1,158
Only one companion to E+ would be very painful. It is a benefit I use often to fly with our family of 4. I wouldn't mind if they reduced it from the current 10, or whatever it is, for 1Ks to something more family-sized (i.e. maybe 4-5 companions). I would guess that most people wouldn't require more than that anyway?
May 31, 2017, 11:22 am
#43
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: SF Bay Area
Programs: UA 1K, Hyatt Globalist, Virtuoso Travel Agent, Commercial Pilot
Posts: 2,117
Sweet. We're in paid F for BOS->SFO on July 4th. It was already a lie-flat seat, but it'll be nice to try out the new service.
May 31, 2017, 11:37 am
#44
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: ORD
Programs: UA GS
Posts: 659
Just got an email about this. The branding for this new service is very strange. In the email they are very inconsistent with at least 4 different ways of naming this service...What is it actually called?
- Expanded Transcontinental Service?
- next generation of transcontinental service?
- cross-country comfort?
- coast-to-coast flights?
- Expanded Transcontinental Service?
- next generation of transcontinental service?
- cross-country comfort?
- coast-to-coast flights?
May 31, 2017, 11:37 am
#45
Join Date: Jun 2011
Posts: 141
Doesn't Delta and AA offer the entire economy cabin a free cold meal on these flights? United isn't going to offer even a cold option for regular economy?