warrenw

This is spot on and what I look for in a premium experience, anything else is just an added bonus.

I mainly fly international, so sleeping so I can be ready to go (usually short trips only) is really important to me. Anything else is just extra, such as the amenity kit or if I have aisle access or not. While I don't like the UA coffins on the 777, I'll take that over economy any time (and the 3 class 777's they use for Asia are usually priced cheaper anyways)
I pay for all my own tickets as well, and UA is *usually* the cheapest except in certain situations. As a result do I expect food and seat to be the same quality as Korean Air, Etihad, or ANA? No. ~$2.2K for roundtrip in P from Asia-->West Coast-->Asia is a GOOD DEAL.
Yes, IRROPS. They do a wonderful job and I've even gone from biz on the 747 to OZ in F on the A380 thanks to the awesome 1K1Call folks. I've even been put on non-alliance carriers (KAL) before in IRROPS situations. I will say that the IRROPS help for 1K, especially in a premium cabin, is significantly different than IRROPS help for a general member in economy.

Now - do I enjoy more private/comfortable seats, better food, and a waiting on hand and foot FA attitude? You bet. But value for money is also important.

drvannostren

I've had an admittedly small sample size.

YVR-ORD early AM flight. I was asleep from the time I sat down basically. I woke up when everyone was basically done eating. I asked for my meal, she said there wasn't one...meanwhile (I'm in row 1) I saw another FA picking through what I presume was MY meal. Literally saw her peeling the saran wrap off stuff and eating the hot eggs. Service wasn't good, food wasn't available.

ORD-GRU in First, I was quite satisfied. The food was pretty good, service was friendly, had almost the entire cabin to myself (on the way down there was 2 of us, on the way back, 4) which was nice because the contrast was a jam packed J class with all those middle seats full. My biggest complaint is that UA calls that international first, but it was basically Air Canada business class.

IAH-BOG 757 business 2x2 lie flat (or angle, who knows, I can't really tell the diff) I was happy with the seat, it's a relatively short flight, but they upgauge around Christmas. I specifically booked THIS flight because I wanted the flat bed. Seat was fine. Food was almost inedible. Cold when I got it, sent it back, when I got it back it was barely any better. TV would load something, start playing and die after like 5 minutes. I emailed in and I think I got 5,000 miles out of it...total crap. ESPECIALLY when you consider I wasn't a UAMP guy. I had a membership with 0 miles in it and my BP had my AC info on it, but they credited it to my non-relevant UA account...thanks guys. Those miles expired because I didn't have any other ones to use with them.

At this point...I will pay for UA J only if the price is really good. I find their Y product so close to the J, I'm really just paying for a little more space.

RichardInSF

I just flew UA J from SFO-Japan (NRT) and got the new Polaris seat on the 777 for the second time. The seat is a material improvement over the old J ad admittedly this is most important. The food is definitely worse than the old J. No salad dressing or bread choice, main portion sizes are smaller than they used to be, and as a Platinum Premier (75k) level I get my first food choice way less often than before. Flight attendants are the same as before: variable quality skewed towards bad.

Elite treatment, particularly during irregular operation, is pretty much non-existent for anyone not GS and it seems that half the plane is in group 1.

For me, United has to be the cheapest to be even considered and on most of my international flights out of SFO that has not been the case. I am flying Virgin or BA in J almost exclusively to Europe as I can generally find a cheaper way on them. United still wins some Asia.

For domestic US, of course, premium in only worth it on those few flights with flat bed seats. Otherwise it's a waste.

Artpen100

I agree with everything zombietooth said.

Domestic first is not important to have. International business class is, but the seat is the most important thing by far.

I would disagree with other posters that miles to upgrade is not worth it. The copay may be $1100 RT, but if J is otherwise $6000, that is a good deal. GPUs require you book in a higher economy fare class that usually seems to be to be about the same as regular economy plus copay.

Animals and babies can be found on any given flight, though the US carriers are a bit more tolerant and worse. In J, they don't bother me. Take good earplugs.

FlyfromDenver

All marketing and no follow through. Domestic - new seat announced something like two years ago and I have seen it once. Food is mediocre and getting worse. I don't pay for First unless it's part of a miles and copay international upgrade and half the time I don't even get the domestic upgrade.

International- Polaris hype and again, not much seen. One lounge that's way too small and many 777s that are still 2-4-2. Inconsistent service and overall underwhelming.

BeeeJay

This post summarized my sentiments exactly.

I will always pay for the $129 upgrades on my regular Chicago-New York flight and feel like I'm getting value when the meal (not a picky eater), drinks, and additional miles and status are added to the equation.

Service is spotty, quality is questionable, but the space gives me what I need to relax and show up well rested.

KDS777

A - Never seen it yet......and as long as they don't go to the bathroom on the floor, or make a nuisance of themselves, I am fine with that.

B - Never seen it yet thank god. But if you sit in the last 1-2 rows of J, the noise from babies in Y can get "very" annoying.

C - It's an airplane, not a Michelin star restaurant. I normally don't eat in flight anyways, but the food is not "bad" when I have. I actually enjoy the breakfast omelet in J.

The renovated lounges are good, seating is comfortable, I sleep well in the flat beds (the Saks bedding "is" nice), and the in flight crews have always been fantastic.

Having said that, the Polaris roll out was totally botched IMHO. I've flown 6 international "Polaris" segments this year, as well as 8 domestic J segments. Now as I pay for these seats out of pocket, as it is personal leisure travel, I am sensitive to the product quality and service delivery. While it could certainly be improved, I am happy to date and will continue to fly on UA.

But, and it's a big but, UA apparently needs revenue, and if they increase fares any more than they are, I will change airlines.

StingWest

Good to hear about the seat, not so good as to the food - hope it's not a trend, as I'm flying on my first Polaris ride (new seats) in Feb.


I won't consider UA for international travel at any price until the Polaris seat is offered - I just "say No" to 8-across J dorm-room seating in the current UA configuration! BA and VS get my business - even though their seats are getting dated too (especially VS, but their soft product makes up for it)

Will Dearborn

Compared with economy cabin travel, very happy.

If I weren't playing with house $ though, I'd be flying someone else.

AugustusM

I think I've written in four times this year. Once for the internet not working, once for a broken seat and two others to commend a FA for a good job.

I'm not too worried.

LC757

I recently had 4 segments in business (two international Polaris, two in P.S.). One of the P.S. segments was on the Polaris hard product while neither of the actual Polaris international flights had that product.

The segment with the Polaris hard product has clearly highlighted how deficient 2-2-2 (and certainly the 2-4-2) business product is in comparison. The longer it takes UA to roll out the actual Polaris seats (along with the accompanying lounges), the less satisfied I see myself becoming.

airzim

I'm confused by your statements. BA is 8 across too, on 100% of their fleet--edit except the 787 (as opposed to United which is now only the sUA 777 fleet). The BA experience in business class is just, awful in nearly everyday. UA head to head is 99/100 better than BA in nearly every metric except lounges.

VS, meh. Not to be too judgmental, but I saw a VS crew at their layover hotel in LA (actually Orange County), not impressive.

StingWest

Actually, in London anyway, the UA First lounge is better than BA's

You're right, on some aircraft, notably the A380, BA is also 8 across in business. (I fly either the A380 or 787 on BA) The A380 however is miles ahead of the 777-200 used by United in their 8-across configuration. The upper deck window seat has tons of privacy when the partition is raised, and you also have the window cabinet for all of your stuff - no jumping up and down to get at your carry-on in the overhead. The toilets are nice and are enormous.

BA's front-back config takes a little getting used to, but it seems much easier to step over the end of someone's legs than over their whole body as on the 777.

I realise these things are subjective, and I'll try and keep an open mind when I try out the new Polaris seat soon.

PS: I can't speak to crew behavior during a layover, VS or otherwise

airzim

Fair enough. Although I did enjoy the Concorde Room on my last BA First flight.

The last time I flew BA J (2 years ago), I was upstairs at the exit door facing backwards on a 747. I found the seat pretty flimsy, especially the foot stool. Also quite narrow although it was easier to climb over the neighbor than a UA non aisle seat. The crew were typical of what I'd see on most US carriers, and the food was nothing spectacular.

As for VS, I was going to make a disparaging remark about their looks rather than their behavior, which honestly isn't fair, so I refrained. Needless to say, I once found VS young, hip, attractive, and exciting. After nearly 40 years in business, the luster has worn off. The seats aren't that special, the lounges aren't that unique, and the special amenities are gone (inflight massage and standup bar no longer staffed). They are just like everyone else.

As for the topic at hand. I've flown quite a few J classes recently, (SQ, LH, LX, CX, NH, EK). UA is pretty competitive, and not because they've risen to the level of other carriers (although there are improvements to the hard product), the other carriers have also lowered their offerings to more closely match UA.

Exleftseat

Off topic, But VS crews in Japan always behaved properly at their layover hotel. Of course their service terminated a while ago, but we miss them dearly.