United 787-10 or 787-9
 

I'm scheduling a first class flight to SFO that connects in either EWR on the 787 -10 or ORD on the 787-9. Connecting in EWR would add about an hour to my total trip time. Is it worth it to fly on the premium transcontinental flight on the dash ten instead of the 9 from ORD?

Moderator, plz move this post to the UA forum.

Easy - if you have to connect either way, fly through EWR. The new Polaris seating on the 78J is much better than the old BF seat on the 789.

The down side to connecting in EWR is that most concessions are still shut down.

I thought the 789's had the same seats at the 10s?

It depends on which 789 you get.

See below for the two versions of 789:
https://www.united.com/ual/en/us/fly...t/787-900.html

See below for the 781 map:
https://www.united.com/ual/en/us/fly...ft/787-10.html

Will the seat map definitely indicate which version I'll be on? The ORD flight's seat map shows a 1-2-1 configuration.

Yes, the seat map will match the actual aircraft. However, in advance of 3 days prior to the flight, it's not a really reliable indicator of which aircraft will be assigned -- i.e. they might swap to the 2-2-2.

Won't show for sure until a few days before, and even then could still change as departure time gets closer.

I disagree. The 789 2x2x2 config is much more spacious than the 77W's 1x2x1. And while I haven't flown the 1x2x1 config on the 789/781, it can only be worse, as the 787 is a much narrower aircraft.

The 2x2x2 configuration gets a knock because only 2/3 of the seats have aisle access, but (a) that's still the majority of the seats, and (b) how important is it on a mid-con anyway?

I don't see any advantage to flying further in a less-roomy config.

I would go through ORD on the 789 and take my chances on the seat type. I prefer the Polaris seat over the old CO 2-2-2 seats quite a bit, but avoiding EWR and shortening the trip by an hour would be more important to me.

ETA ... not sure when you are flying, but schedule and equipment swaps happen frequently, so if it’s more than a few weeks away I would anticipate something changing between booking and the time you travel.

Getting back to the OP original question -- the difference between domestic F to ORD vs premium transcontinental to EWR. Importance of the difference will depend.

The hard product discussion has already been discussed.

If flying during the COVID limited inflight service, the meal offering upfront on the premium transcontinental will be a hot meal vs "snack box" for the domestic F to ORD

There may be some bedding differences if sleeping is desired but this varies -- but the provided bedding premium transcontinental may be better or the same offered on the ORD flight (bedding provision to ORD may ve the same or less as the domestic F standard is less but many times the widebodies still have the same).

As others have said, all the 781's have the new Polaris products. Only some of the 789's have the new seats. Plus you'll get a real hot meal on the EWR flight. I had to endure a 788 followed by the high density 777 in J a few days ago all the way out to HNL and GUM. All we got were one choice of snack box. Not even all choices were available. That will be your choice if you go through ORD. Delays through EWR are even less likely too as there are just not many flights going there anymore, so less ATC restrictions.

EWR no doubt IMHO - the equipment is better, the likelihood of a decent meal onboard is higher, and with the frequency of delays at ORD the EWR option might not add much time to your trip at all.

EWR for sure a meal and a better seat. ( and a newer plane)