ORD-DEN 3-class: Stupid decision?
 

I just purchased a C class ticket :eek: ORD-DEN-ORD for July 30-August 2 on 3-cabin AC both ways. Outbound is a triple 7 and inbound is a 763. I cashed in 30k miles to upgrade both ways. I know that there is no soft product differentiation, but I have actually never been on an int'l flight and I wanted a taste of the F suites. This was a steep price to pay for a teenager with a summer job, but I want to see how good int'l F seats are. My experience will determine whether my family and I pay for Y and upgrade to C or pay for C and u/g to F when we go to europe next summer. That, of course, will not be at my expense. Am I crazy to go out of my way for a 777 suite and an old-school 763 seat for a 3 hour flight? Maybe, but I'm not going out of my way to undo what I've already gotten myself into. At this point, any advice on what seat to choose in the largely empty cabins would be appreciated. I'm currently in 3J outbound on the 777 and 2A inbound on the 763. This was decided based on SeatGuru, but I want to hear from people who fly these planes in F on a regular basis. If I should change my seats, please let me know. I'm traveling alone, and I'm looking for a quiet flight. Hopefully, I won't regret my very unusual and perhaps unwise decision.

Yep, both of those are very good seats, in my opinion.

No comment on your decision to pay for C and upgrade on such a short domestic flight though.:D

Enjoy your trip, if it's your first time I hope you'll be impressed!

The seat difference between a C seat on a 777 versus a 767 C seat is that the 767's C seat is an inch or inch and one-half smaller in width. In F, the 777 has sleeper suites, but the 767 has only a few aircraft that have been fitted with the new F sleeper suites, so it is unlikely you will have a 767 sleeper suite, and it is not worth the money as the retrofitted aircraft are flown on international routes.

If I were in your position, I would simply buy a coach ticket and then upgrade from Y to C on three class aircraft with e500 Mile upgrades as this is the most efficient use of them. If you are set on buying a C class ticket, then have your seats downgraded and then request an upgrade with e500 mile upgrades from C to F. If you do not have any in your account, Premier and higher flyers may purchase a set of 4 e500 mile upgrades for $250, or non Premiers may buy 4 e500Mile upgrades for $400.

Of course, if you do choose to do it the way you currently plan, it will really suck if they have a last minute aircraft substitution and it all turns out to be for naught.

Not to rain on your parade, or anything.

+1

How much more would it have been to purchase a C class ticket to SFO or LAX instead of DEN?

That's barely a 2 hour (not a 3 hour) flight and I personally would not have spent 30K to upgrade a flight that short...those are e-500 type flights...although I have always wondered who actually sits in those F seats on such short flights other than connecting international F customers...buy a cheapo coach ticket, upgrade with 2 e-500's and enjoy...you'll have more miles and money leftover when it's all said and done :) Also, if you get a 747 from DEN-ORD as I did last January, the upper deck is all C :D

I have to second (or third) this opinion. Definitely go for the e500s. Save your miles for something else more worthwhile! :)

the 763 seats in F are so so, 777 much much nicer. but you may get lucky and have a retrofitted 763 with the new seats. its sort of random now, and that is a shuttle flight, so you may get lucky...

and folks, he is a GM, he does not have e500s.... :)

i hope you have a good flight... I remember my first time in F, when I was about 9 or 10 and got put up front with my sister (who was 5 or 6) on new years eve on a transcon... It was a UA dc-10

But GMs can pay for e500s which I suspect would be MUCH cheaper than a C class ticket and 30K miles :D

I didn't want an int'l C seat because they are so similar to the domestic F seats, which I don't care for. I would take them over Y on a transatlantic flight, but the purpose of doing what I did is to test the int'l F seats, which I have had NO experience with. Thank you lucky9876coins for telling me what I wanted to know.

I prepared for an equipment change by upgrading both ways, so there is little chance of my not sitting in 3 cabin F at all on this trip. Hopefully if there is a downgrade, it will be on the 767 leg so I can at least experience the F suite on the 777.

What do people think the chances are of UA giving back my miles if the equipment is downgraded and I have to sit in domestic F seats? It makes sense to me, since the C fare is about the same as a domestic F fare on the narrowbody flights, but who knows what UA would think.

No, they're not.

Ask anybody who has flown to the US in C and then connected to a domestic flight in F. I still remember flying SYD-SFO in C, boarding my SFO-ORD flight in F and thinking "wow, this sucks."

Anyway, I would definitely downgrade your return flight on the 767. The return on your 15,000 miles in upgrading from old 767 C to old 767 F on an 888-mile flight is among the worst in the system.

Moreover, if the purpose of your journey is to "test out the international F seats," your experience in old 767 F is becoming meaningless as more aircraft are upgraded.

Hopefully you didn't actually purchase a full CUA fare? :eek:

If you wanna spend that kind of money (and miles!), that's up to you. If I were in your situation and really wanted to ride in the F-suite, here's what I'd do:

Buy a one-way FUA ticket in a market that doesn't have C fares, say ORD-SNA. Route your trip ORD-SFO-SNA, and book the 777 from ORD to SFO; since you're on an F fare, you'll ride in the suite without having to upgrade. Then buy a cheap-o Y fare for your return. You'll get a longer flight in the suite, and you won't be wasting your money on the 767 on the return.

Better yet, find a fare that allows a connection in IAD and SFO so you can get a full transcon. ORD-MEX comes to mind, but there's no F fares in that market.

Try for 777's both ways if you can, the 763 is not nothing to write home about and for what you paid you should maximize your time in the suites.

And c'mon, spill it... what was your round trip fare? (cost and booking code) :p

ORD-DEN-ORD is heavy elite routing, OP has almost zero chances to get upgraded with e500 as OP is only a GM, remember e500 upgrade clear by status first, then fare, even a 2P with a T class fare has higher priority than OP.

VERY good advice, but I am also visiting a friend in Denver. That was why I didn't go for a longer 3-cabin flight like ORD-SFO. I may consider a downgrade on the 767 though.