First Class Experience -- Worth It?
 

I flew United 0198 SFO-IAD yesterday (which was a Boeing 767-300). Given that it was the red eye, I decided to upgrade to F with miles and was seated in 1F (after being moved from 11H).

This is the first time I've flown in first class.

While the seat itself was slightly more comfortable and I have absolutely no complaints about the service or the flight, I find myself questioning whether it was worth 15,000 RDMs.

Is a 767-300 a good representation of domestic first in terms of general comfort? Honestly, I think I may have slept better with the extra leg room I had in 11H as opposed to the limited leg room (because of the bulkhead) in 1F.

Haven't done the 767 in domestic F, but I believe you picked the bird with the single worst F experience in the fleet...narrowest seats I believe. So maybe not totally representative.

Without a doubt, Row 1 on a 2-class 767-300 is the _worst_ domestic first seat in the mainline fleet. In terms of seat comfort and leg room, pretty much any first class seat is going to be superior to it.

When upgrading, the best opportunities are on 3-class planes upgrading to Business class. Both the old and new business class seats are amazing compared to domestic first. Additionally both the Airbus twins and the 757 have slightly nicer domestic first seats.

When I have to work the next day and am taking the red-eye, I always consider F to be far better than Y and definitely worth the mileage upgrade. I can get a window seat, put in my ear-plugs and eye shades and off to sleepy land I go. Given that UA gives pillows and big blankets, I think this makes UA F a better deal than CO for it's red-eyes (no pillows and you can fight for the blanket). When food and entertainment are not an issue, comfort triumphs over all.

I don't think I would use miles for the 2-class 767 but would certainly use e-500s.

I would say it is the typical domestic first class experience on UA, but it's not the best domestic first class experience. I have no qualms with using 15k miles for a Y to C upgrade on the p.s. SFO-JFK routes or on 3-class planes (much harder to find, though). I occasionally make an exception for red-eyes where I want a good nap before the next day.

Honestly I am 6 '4 and am way more comfortable sitting in row 16 in a 752 or the first row in E+ on both Airbus'. The only great thing with first is the free booze... I always fly out of DEN and the dinner seems to be ravioli every time!

As others have already noted, you were in the worst plane and the worst row for domestic F. I was in 1D on an SFO-IAD red-eye once and while I was very happy to have the u/g, I was desperately missing the legroom of the non-bulkhead seats. There's a reason that you & I landed row 1: we both cleared upgrades at the last minute and *no one* picks those seats ahead of time so they're always the last to go.

I think the only F seats that were worse than the 767 2-class were the 737 F seats (which fortunately are no longer in service). As for the rest of the fleet, I think most people (myself included) really like the Airbus F seats for comfort on the two-class planes (wide-bodies included) and of course if you can snag a Y=>C upgrade on one of the three class wide-bodies you're in good shape. Bulkhead F seats are not good on *any* of the planes (save for the international C sleepers which don't really count).

So in conclusion, I think that you definitely experienced the *worst* that domestic F has to offer (excluding Regional jets of course). Was it worth the 15K?...that's what I spent on my red-eye mentioned above and even with the reduced legroom I still was more than happy to fork it over to stay out of Y on a 4+ hour flight. @:-)

Agree with others that you had one of the poorer FC seats in the united system.

Another variable in your question is the worth of 15,000 RDMs, that can be very subjective depending on the number of RDMs one might have. those RDMs are probably more precious if one has 100K RDM versus if you have 500K or 1,000K RDMs. Or another way, if you are earning 15K RDMs each month, which is not uncommon for an 1K, 15K RDMs does not have a high value.

In my opinion, upgrading a red eye is never worth it unless its free, the only thing F is good for is eating and drinking

Agreed. ;)

All good to know, thanks for the valuable points. I'll be the on lookout for three-class aircraft from now on. :)

You wouldn't use e500's? I would certainly rather be in a more comfortable seat to sleep in. Exit rows will get you more legroom in E+ but the seat itself isn't as wide or as comfortable.

15,000 miles for me to sit in domestic F on a transcon? Forget it. Never happens. I just don't think it's worth it, when those miles can be saved for an international C or F award, which I consider to be very worth it.

15,000 miles for me to sneakily upgrade my wife when she travels alone, just for the hell of it? Almost every time. Makes her happy, makes me happy knowing she's happy, and I don't have to keep hearing about how I get to travel in F "all the time" with my e500s while she's always in Y. (Miles upgrades will cease with the cash co-pay, though. She's happy for me to spend my miles, but she will complain if I spend even a penny on upgrades.)

First row of E+ A320? Not row 12? (row 11 on unconverted Ex-TED). :confused:

BTW, the new F in refurb TED is very nice...