UA_Flyer

I have not flown UA International Economy class since becoming GS over a decade ago.

It looks like the streak is going to end later this week as my flight has already been sold out in J and my upgrade will not clear.

Does UA still provide a small pillow and blanket on each Y seat?

Are the IFE still free in Y? What’s IFE like on the 787?

How is the Y seat in the 787?

Is food still edible?

any tips how to make my 14+ hours of Y flying comfortable?

mduell

A small pillow and a piece of gauze are provided.

Depends on what part of the IFE&C and aircraft type. Seatback movies, when available, are free, except on 737s. Streaming movies, when available, are free. Wifi, when available, is paid on all aircraft.

Seatback screens running a ~5 year old Panasonic product.

Tight, particularly for the typical stage length.

Not much different than 10 years ago.

Drugs.

sunil

A bit off topic but I just finished three economy trips with my family involving delta and United. Two domestic to Hawaii and Chicago and the other to Singapore. Just so happened that one way was on United the return on Delta.

Everyone agreed that hands down service, soft/hard product experience was better on Delta. United was actually more punctual but overall experience was poor. Food was terrible, poor entertainment choices, annoying they still use Adobe Flash for streaming making it impossible to use on modern browsers. Universal hatred of slimline seats on United and their new bathrooms are smaller than ever.

The only reason why anyone might choose United is because of network or Mileage Plus . SkyPeso's is quite awful but MP is catching up fast

mahasamatman

In fact, they may even be the same...

grapegrower

Regular flyer SYD to EWR and back usually via SFO in Y which is around a 24 hour door to door trip for us.
We usually arrive in reasonable condition.
Find the 787 fairly comfortable on the international leg in comparison to the 777 (but still miss the 747).
The seat is supposed to be tighter but I haven't noticed that. Am 185cm and 110kg. We always book aisle seats in the middle.
No complaints about IFE or food but do take my own snacks just in case.
I find a lot of the discomfort can be 'in the head' and some mental preparation is a good way to go.
After all it's only 14 hours, not a life sentence.

cricketer

Some leftovers really keep well :-)

I really don't like reading about GS stuck in Y. Almost always, when I go to book flights, I see PN space available while R/RN = 0 for the most part. This usually fills me with hope as a 1K... so much for that!

mduell

Both carriers have so much product variation this could easily have been reversed if you happened to be on different equipment.

david_oz

I actually disagree with the majority. I think UA economy is better than it has ever been. in the bad old days 10 years ago the seat was awful, the food was inedible, the IFE wasn’t even seat back in most cases. It was just a horrible experience which kept me on AC more often than not. UA is still running some of these types of products, most notably 767 TATL but most are phased out.

Nowadays its much better. The food, seat and IFE are all better and I think on par or better than many other Y options. Certainly better than AC, and probably on par with NH. The service is still below average. free E+ is the winner for me which makes a 10+ hour flight bearable in Y. The slimline seats are a bit narrow but not uncomfortable. Although I haven’t tried the super slim 777-300 so I’ll reserve judgment on that.

I think some people here are a little spoiled. The truth is you’ll be fine, it’s not so bad.

uastarflyer

GoSh4rks

E+ in United's 787 is more comfortable than ANA's 787 Y.

EmailKid

As noted, free progams via seatback monitor, same programs as in Biz, and believe all planes have streaming video now as well as long as you have a current UA app on your device. You can watch previews without it, but not the shows or movies

It's a coach seat, not quite as comfy as old 767, and some find it provides little personal space unless seat next to you is empty.

Some folks bring their own food - if you like food, you may consider that, but it's mostly edible.

I medicate with adult beverages, though have had flights where it was hard to get FA's attention. As GS, you should have plenty of drink chits, and beer and wine are free. And I assume the First drink is on us and a free snack box for 1K/GS applies to longhaul as well (if they have snack boxes on longhaul).

atsiang

I've flown 11 economy round trips from SFO to SYD since 2013 with the 7 roundtrips being on the 787. Sorry to disagree with others but the economy food is absolutely dreadful. I've flown economy on CX and SQ, and the food on UA is nowhere near the likes of CX and SQ. So bring your own food. As for surviving the flight on UA in economy, best to get Economy Plus. Economy is much much too tight.

lhrsfo

UA today is generally worse than it was 10 years ago .The food is on a part, the service is probably worse, the IFE is generally better (no more communal screens) but mostly the seats are significantly worse. The only plane that's still good is the unrefurbished 3-class 767. The 3-class 777 is ok but has lost 1" of E+ legroom and harder seats. All the new airplanes are awful.

mr8

Free beer and wine in economy international (I think this was gone for a few years?). I believe GS/1Ks also get free hard liquors and anything from the snack menu when flying in the back.

IFE is pretty much the same as first/business just a smaller screen. You also get 1 USB port/screen and share 2 power outlets between 3 seats.

garkster

Not to dispute others, but the PVOD movie selection on 787s is light-years better than the crap offered on 737/A320/319 streaming domestically. i used to fly 787s regularly SFO/IAH and find new movies I actually was interested in watching - now that they're back to 737s (and occasional A320) it's the streaming which has nothing worth watching, sort of like Cinemax.