m.y

UA does not promise Polaris seating or whatever you want to call it in their advertisement or when you book the ticket. https://www.united.com/ual/en/us/fly...-services.html. In fact, when you book on the website, Business/First shows Extra Spacious Seat only.

Lie flat seat with 6 ft of sleeping surface? Check
On demand entertainment with 15 inch screen? Check
Bedding from Saks Fifth Ave? Check
Noise canceling headphone? Check
Premium amenity kit? Check

Sometimes you may get a better product than what is advertised, sometimes you get the same product. UA also does not charge more for seats with the new product vs the older products. Should UA be penalized for trying to offer a better product at the same price? It's how airlines operate, they cannot guarantee specific aircraft per route by having spare planes on standby just in case something happens. Would you rather they cancel the flight vs offering the baseline product that was advertised?

nomad420

UA flies no 737's on that route. But if they did I would avoid taking it if the price was the same.

IAH-OIL-TRASH

“You’re So Vain” - Carly Simon (w/ Mick Jagger on backing vocal).

MysteryTour

I am personally back on the guard for buying a ticket where there is a chance for a swap on 777s to the 777HD.

This review perfectly sums up my opinion of those first/business class seats: https://thepointsguy.com/reviews/uni...usiness-class/

Quoting the summary: "If you can, avoid this aircraft in business class. The hard product is so outdated compared to the other fully flat business-class products United (and other domestic carriers) fly."

WineCountryUA

Perhaps true for a single flyer, but many here have disagreed with that assessment, especially if not a single passenger flyer. Hence UA's tendency to use on Hawaii routes.

Sykes

The IPTE configuration is still the most comfortable business class bed I've ever slept in. While I have a slight preference for the new Polaris because of the enhanced privacy, it doesn't hurt my feelings at all to end up in IPTE.

halls120

That's funny. The last time I looked at SFO-EWR (before the PW 777's were back in the mix), I distinctly recall seeing a premium attached to the nonstops that featured lie-flats. I should have saved a screen shot.

jsloan

UA does not use aircraft type in its fares.

However, it is not uncommon for nonstop flights to carry a premium due to inventory restrictions. Also, UA does sometimes issue fares that either require or forbid nonstop travel. They also forbid connecting via an EWR-SFO/LAX flight on most premium cabin fares, so you can't route, e.g., DCA-EWR-LAX on a WAS-LAX P fare.

In markets where there are a mix of scheduled recliners and lie-flats, occasionally the lie-flats will command a premium -- but, again, it's due to inventory, either because people preferentially select the lie-flats or because UA knows that they will and zeroes out the discount buckets.

All of that is true, but none of it means that UA charges more based on the aircraft type, because they do not.

Lux Flyer

I believe they do offer compensation if this happens (as someone else indicated up thread). Even if they don't necessarily give compensation, they do allow you to change your flight to any different timed one on the same route with a lay flat that has availability +/- 7 days from original scheduled date of departure.

halls120

Back before the PW 777's returned to service, I was looking at nonstop only SFO-EWR flights for September 2022, and I distinctly remember seeing a first class fare difference between flights on aircraft with lie flats and those without lie-flats. I understand that this difference could have been based on other factors, but it sure looked like UA was charging a premium for a better seat. Which, by the way, I'd expect them to.

Lesson learned, however - next time I see this, I'll take a screen shot.

bsb7140

Only lie-flat business seats are offered on the route - be it 757,767, 777, or 787... so not sure what you were looking at. There is no SFO-EWR service without lie-flats.

halls120

Never mind.

HNLbasedFlyer

Id love to see some evidence on fare filings for that. At least on Hawaii routes the fares are exactly the same.

colpuck

UA could by restricting available fare inventory based on individual flights. Probably for Hawaii as it is a leisure market they don't really bother.

HNLbasedFlyer

Id love to see some proof of that