planes&trains

Yes, they woke me up and I was taken aback as well as i didn't realize it was necessary. And I agree that NH seemed to recline more. At least it felt that way to me.

drewguy

The value in PP seems primarily a result of the declining value of E/E+, which get narrower on each plane modification. Recent trip on 772 (IAD-CDG). Seat is more comfortable than a E seat, but mainly because of shoulder room. Recline isn't that much better.

Really disappointed in the meal service - the food was better and more generous than in E, but in both instances they were out of my preferred choice (I was in row 22) by the time they got to me (dinner and breakfast). No prioritization of meals for elites (i.e., the 7-8 non-revs seated in front of me got their choice). With only 24 seats this seems like a substantial risk that UA can't predict how many of each meal to load - not sure why they can't do better than running out of the breakfast omelette (when other choice is cereal) - load 24 omelettes!

Aussienarelle

Were they really non-revs? If so, I would be writing in to complain about lack of prioritization of meals for GS/1K as that is a stated benefit.

In addition I thought in E (realize this is PP but principal is the same), they started from the back for breakfast to ensure when there are two meal services pax get their first choice at least once.

Write in. It may only get you an apology but hopefully UA looks at the issue and corrects it going forward.

WineCountryUA

On the 772, PP recline is 6" vs 4" for E+ and 3" for E-

drewguy

Well, you can look at that as "only 2 inches more" or "50% more". I took the former.

drewguy

Almost certainly non-revs - there was a long standby/upgrade list with a lot of the same names, and most cleared into PP seats.

Brucemcdou

Maybe I'm not understanding FlyerTalk jargon (I'm still sort of new around here...) but to me "non-revs" refers to airline employees and their family and friends flying for free. Couldn't those people on the standby/upgrade list just as easily be paid E passengers who had submitted for an upgrade using miles or certificates? And the fact they have the same last names would just indicate to me that it's families travelling together.

Aussienarelle

You are right for the upgrade list.

Generally STBY lists are non-revs but not always as I have been on a STBY list and the upgrade list when something happened to my original flight (but rare).

findark

It's very rare for a revenue passenger to be on both lists (you cannot standby with a waitlisted upgrade) and if they are, they will be at or near the top of the upgrade list, rather than at the bottom like NRSA.

A Little Cow

I had a very positive experience with premium plus and am a bit confused as to the negativity of many here. The seat was very comfortable, plenty of legroom for the 6 foot+ person and enough space to work. The tray-table was noticeably wider than economy, having enough space to put a computer and drinks/snacks.

I generally don't bother with the seat-back entertainment (usually just do stuff on my computer) but the screen was so noticeably large I was enticed to watch a few movies on the trip. Food was comparable to domestic first, so pleasant enough when washed down with enough wine

I have another 4 segments of premium plus scheduled for the rest of the year (TATL and TPAC) and, while not looking forward to them, I have zero dread. Come next calendar year I'll probably be a bit less eager to book them though since the 1.5x PQM multiplier was a nice motivator. I would say overall it was a nicer experience than Aeroflot "Comfort Class," and fairly close to ANA premium eco (I did miss the nice drinks/dessert on ANA though...)

cova

Flew IAD-FRA and back over the past 2 weeks. Both originally the old 772 configuration, but the return changed to the new Polaris with PE two days before.

Was in the first bulkhead row of E+ behind business. i was good with the E+ seat with only two seats together for that row.

Return I was put in PE automatically, was again in first row of PE just behind Polaris. Good seat, although I did not find the leg rests to be useful as it would have put my legs at the bulk head. Better without it.

Marginally better then the E+ seat in the old configuration - same leg room - just slightly wider seat. But the E+ old seat was based on the 3-3-3 coach seat width.

However, the new 3-4-3 in coach is just too tight. The aisles are two narrow - I would say a safety issue. Passengers looked extremely uncomfortable in the 3-4-3 configuration versus the 3-3-3 even in E+ 3-4-3 is just unacceptable, in my view.

Also first time I saw the new Polaris seat - my view - this is tight too. It is really still a 2-4-2 configuration with just the aisle seats shifted back and angled to create aisle access for the window and the center passengers. Better than the old 2-4-2 - but still tight. Having flown the AA 1-2-1 configuration many times - the AA arrangement is much better than Polaris.

ckidder331

flew Premium Plus from EWR-LAX yesterday
Thoughts:
1) Seat was ok (maybe a 6 out of 10). I found the width very nice and the cushion comfy for 5 hours. I did not like the fold out leg rest (I was in the bulkhead on a 787-10). Tough to get comfortable using it. ended up just having my feet on the wall or the floor most of the trip.
2) Can't imagine trying to sleep in one of these seats for an international flight. The leg rest was of no help so its basically a newer version of a domestic first class seat
3) The food was not great. I had the chicken which ended up being chicken with a lot of cheese and cream sauce and orzo. I did enjoy the fresh fruit. Drink service was pretty standard fro economy, having the FA's come by a couple times in the 5 hour flight. The FA did get annoyed everytime the people behind me rang the call button to request an alcoholic drink (because they are free).
4) Service was fine but unmemorable.
Overall it was a nice comfy way to fly 5 hours across the US. I bought a sandwich beforehand just in case the food wasn't great and was very happy I did.

Aussienarelle

I like Premium Economy for international flights - true PE. I like United's Premium Plus and fly in 20A or 20L for red eye flights. Lots of leg room but do find the screen in the armrest somewhat limiting so for day time flights choose rows 21 or 22 aisle in the middle section.

It is not Polaris lie flat, but is my version of international business class before lie flats at the right price.

I do not catch a plane for the food or alcohol so the fact these are not great in PP is not a deterrent for me.

vaguba

Any news on when united plans on rolling out this product to their chicago long haul flights?

MarkP24

As it's been raised upthread, I thought I would share my experience in PP. The hard product is great, akin to domestic F. The soft product was good as well with a PDB and friendly FA's. I do wish drinks weren't served in the blue cups, but still a classy experience, and worthy of being a separate cabin.