dkc192

The 737s AS is running on the transcons don't even have the VX deep recliner seats; they have standard domestic F seats, similar to UA's 737 seats albeit with a few extra inches of pitch.

IAH-OIL-TRASH

Sure. What exactly in the CoC has UA not done? Why are you wasting your time here instead of suing UA for “fraud” ?

Dpetryszyn

I flew LAX to EWR yesterday on a 737 on the 1:15pm departure.

The flight was about 60% full and most middle seats were not assigned. GA was good about explaining the back to front boarding method and the mask requirement. Everyone at the gate had a mask on and most* kept on throughout the flight. As soon as you entered the plane they handed you an individual wrapped Purell wipe.

There was one drink service after take off. Only canned soda and juice plus 8 ounce water bottles. When I asked for wine, the response was "we arent serving alcohol to promote social distancing".

Crew then came by with choice of oreo thins or stroopwafels and it was the last we saw them on the 5 hour flight.

Overall I felt safe and as protected as possible. I just wish the cost cutting wasn't so blatant and UA didnt try disguise the lack of food or booze as a safety mechanism.

I also visited the LAX UC club. I was there for about 1 hour and saw 5 people come and go. Wrapped pretzels, goldfish and cheese as food options. Full well bar with 1 bartender as drink options. It was nice to finally take advantage of the outdoor seating area as I have only previously been during inclement weather.

I've havent been home since March 10th and it was nice to finally be done with the anxiety associated with flying back to NJ.

OpenSky

Well this is nice to know. Point also : I noticed UA removed the 737s from the schedule in July.

I hope you didn't pay for a business class fare for that flight. ( well I do, for this route, New York - LA, it normally runs around 800-2000 each way. These days around 700, so a round trip would be around 1400-2000 ). At those service levels, it had better been an upgrade ( free, I hope with instruments)

Since UA discontinued the JFK ps flights, I have largely moved to AA ( and One World ) for some of my flying. I started to look at UA because AA is only flies 3 times a day now, and I wanted better timings. After reading your experience I am kind of glad I didn't.

The AA transcons are still serving food except, no glass ware. The lounges are closed. Early on, the Admirals club closed, and everyone was sent to the flagship lounge. On board, the usual amenities were available, the snack basket, cookie baked on board prior to arrival. Duvet and pillows etc. There is a usual crew of LA based FA's that work this route, and I recognize most of them. F was full of non revs, I was in J which was about 30% full. I would say the whole plane was probably 50% occupied, with F full of clearly American Airlines employees commuting or traveling for free. AA operates 3 cabins on this route. Flat bed seats.

UA can't expect people to pay business fares for that kind of crap, just saying. Not being a troll here, I was 1K for years, just disappointed with what UA is offering, yet charging a business fare. Anyway, buyer beware I suppose…for now.

I hope the wifi worked at least, for me that would have been a non starter….

Kmxu

The schedule has not been finalized at this time. It is the old schedule that you noted.
Keep safe.

EWR764

Emphasis mine, and kindly excuse my bitterness directed toward the situation overall, not you! But, this is the new "for security reasons..." from the post-9/11 era.

The more we learn about the virus, the more clear it becomes that surface transmission is essentially a non-issue, and certainly a greater concern for various other forms of contagion that predated and will no doubt outlast COVID-19. We can rest easy with the knowledge that the budget for any of the things that made flying United even a little bit pleasant or enjoyable has now been redeployed into "cleanliness theater."

dkc192

Here's hoping that if/when that happens, UA will deploy aircraft with larger J cabins on most/all PS flights, e.g. 763 or some variant of 787. With 16 J seats, they would have the lowest premium, lie-flat capacity per flight by far: AA has 10F/20J on its 321Ts, DL has 30+J on its 767s (it also runs 16J 752s on some JFK-SFO flights, though SFO is not a hub for them), and B6 has 20J on its Mint 321s.

EWR764

Already there are 787s and 763s to go with 752s in the EWR-LAX/SFO schedule. It's notable that all flights (from June 4) will be back to flat beds in J, albeit at lower frequency than before.

UAL4life

Until they restore service standards, I doubt they will get many premium customers on these aircraft which will make this short lived IMHO.

EWR764

I strongly doubt that. Even in the best of times, inflight service isn't a primary driver of domestic premium traffic. With (mostly) competitive equilibrium on the premium transcons, elevated soft product was table stakes, but who knows what the expectation will be coming out of the COVID-19 crisis. I am certain, however, that hard product (seat) will be an essential competitive element.

The other thing, worth noting, is that the premium corporate/business customer isn't flying right now. I am not aware of any major companies with United corporate accounts that have substantially revised their no-travel policies.

dmurphynj

Right on all accounts. I can tell you - that the only thing I give a crud about when flying transcon is the seat. Don't even care if they feed me at all - plenty of great options in the SFO & LAX terminals, and on the EWR side, I can just eat at home. But that lieflat seat is the difference between waking up refreshed and feeling like I got hit by a Mack truck.

That said - I'm still not airborne, and don't realistically expect those reins to come off till 2021. I'm incredibly lucky as a salesperson; I really only service one (large) account and have multi-decade relationships with many of my customers. So even if they don't see my ugly mug for the better part of a year... maybe they'll actually buy more from us?

PsiFighter37

My firm (large multinational) has basically told us not to expect any work-related travel for the rest of the calendar year. I think having the flatbeds on TCONs are nice / to be expected, but I doubt UA will be filling them up with last-minute J fares.

atword

Not all companies will be restricting travel. While Zoom etc have helped to fill the gap, certain meetings are so much better in person. My next trip is in early July and I'm not worried about it. I hope some CPUs clear and I can at least get a snack.

LASUA1K

I also work for a pretty large company, and we have been told, we can start driving in July, but no meals with customers or co workers. We also have been told, no airplane travel, probably until September at the earliest. Zoom just doesn't cut it for me, as seeing people in the same room is what I need. But at this point, we are requiring masks and gloves, so face to face meetings are not ideal.

callmedtop

Any news on BOS-SFO route? It's scheduled for an A319 in June but back to 757's in July, but assuming that the July schedule is not actually indicative of anything.