Hi Everyone,

I think I will post my mother's own flight experience with United First this past Monday. (Since I gave her the upgrade from C class..., I asked her opinions on this flight).

The check-in was quick and efficient. She has to walk to 68B for her flight... The international first class lounge was nice but nothing special...

There were two flight attendants working on first class (I believe CX has three F/As). My mother said that there was an occasional third helper... The food was pretty bad. She could not even cut her steak, and the steak decided to ditch her. She just gave up and the F/A did not do much... She ate a couple rolls. She had the cheese, which was below standard but had a very nice port wine. During meal time, the F/A was slow to refill her champagne class and decided to quit serving Dom Perignon after they were done with one bottle??? The F/A was not so keen in refilling her glasses during meal, and there was a lack of walkaround during the flight. She did not sleep a bit but enjoyed the entertainment system offered by United. She had a chat with her seatmate and they were both surprised at the level of service on United First. It is simply unacceptable.

She flew United First a couple times before and the standard was decling quite rapidly. The verdict was that she did not like United First and thought United could do better. When she flew its 747SP back in 1990, they got caviar, nice champagne, and a whole prime rib sliced in front of you.

Any comments...

Carfield

Agree it's declining but note that UA is not alone here and that US carriers are leading the pack down!

UA seems to be holding their own in the areas of entertainment systems and probably seat confort taking the new changes into account.
Where they serverly lack is in catering:
beverage/food selection & quality.
In comparasion to LH and SR first I flew recently they are worlds apart.

Yet, UA still offers the opportunity to upgrade from business to first or fly on a first class award. I consider this superior to the 2-class only cabins of DL, CO, US, or NW "first" with business class catering.

There is NO comparison between United First in the past (circa 1990) and United First today. I recently flew a Lufthansa flight in the upper First Class deck and it reminded me of the fabulous days of Pan Am's international First Class, even before they had personalized screens, and you had to put the "sleeper" part of your seat up manually because there was no electronic mechanism to engage it for you. I've also flown Singapore First Class recently and was sort of sad...since I HAVE to fly UA for most flights I take and can't enjoy the true FC experience that Singapore offers. JAL First is also leaps and bounds beyond anything I've ever experienced on United.

Still, unless there is some other reason to fly another carrier, I'm virtually stuck with UAL if I want the courtesy upgrades.

But the TRUE test is this: if you could pick any carrier you wanted for a trans-oceanic flight, considering service, seats, entertainment, cabin availablilty, First Class Lounge, etc...would it EVER be United?

The answer is simple: UAL better keep dishing out those miles for frequent flyers! Or they should AT LEAST try to offer comparative service on their own international and domestic flights.

I had a FA announce that the FA's were on board for passenger safety only and the rest (meals, drinks, etc.) were secondary. I was rather surprised at this announcement. On the upside the service was some of the best I have ever had on a United flight. I was in first on an upgrade on a 757 DEN-BOS.

I tried UA Int'l for the first time this year and found the (hot) food very poor in quality. The chilled food and the appetizers were fine. The service was good though, however. For example, when Danielle left a pencil bag on the plane, the concierge (also named Danielle) in Taipei (who was not on the plane so have never seen us) managed to find us before the customs. Although for 10k more (120k UA F from North America to Asia, 130K UA miles for Singapore F), next time I will redeem for Singapore.

On a recent SFO-TPE trip in international First, I was very disappointed in UA's First product.

The flight attendants were actually very helpful and friendly, but the food service was very business class... Menu selections were very average - no trolley service, no caviar, or all the other niceties that for example BA or LH or CX or SQ offer.

Not to mention the fact that the seats are really, really outdated. I realise that UA is working on converting their F-class seats to the 'sky suites', but - do it faster!!! All the competition already offers the completely flat seats, and plenty of space, and decent inflight kits (UA's F kit is pretty much the same as the C class kit and that one is substandard... Take an example at the BA kit - full of aromatherapy and other upscale items). And how about the inflight 'pajamas' that BA, Thai and many others offer?

If I have the option - it won't be UA...

Agreed agreed agreed. I think the F meal (now) is a lot worse than the C meals were when UA began lots of intl service. I think the ground support for the F product is great now, but in the air, the meal (and often the crew) is marginal. It seems the modus operandi is to get you drunk, serve you courses in rapid succession, and hope you pass out quickly. This is not all the time, but seems to be more and more. Same with the C product, except sometimes you don't even get wine timed with the meal properly. It would take a marginal amount of additional expense to make the product a whole lot better.

As far as domestic, I think the long haul F domestic has been far superior than the international product for a few years now.

[This message has been edited by Eastbay1K (edited 12-03-1999).]

Agreed as well here! I have only flown international First on a small amount of carriers, however UA would be at the bottom of my list based upon experience with other carriers. My best First class over-the-water fligts have been with SQ & SA with LH,QF and BA falling in the middle. Years ago I flew SA in First many times and I am still partial to their service whenever I get a chance. UA seems to mainly lack a real sense of what international pax are experiencing on other carriers, and keeps trying to sell that it is a better service than domestic First. Unfortunately, the MP program keeps me stuck with UA for now along with corporate discounting.

I am most disappointed by the lack of caviar. I've flown UA twice in FC transpacific and TG four times. The United service at its best it is close to TG (minus pajamas and crystal elephant gift). When the UA First cabin is staffed by jaded apathetic Americans it can be quite disappointing.

These UA reports are very discouraging. Can anyone suggest a better *A carrier, ORD-HKG,F? Can route ORD to west coast, SFO,

SEA.



Agree in general with comments but note that UA F quality is so erratic that it is difficult to generalize; C is usually OK but it is not, after all, F.



Want to recall something really special? PanAM F in the late 50's and 60's. Comparison with today: the Ritz and Motel 6.

And RT DFW-LHR F fare was $1,200 vs. $940 coach. But then, those were real dollars, not today's Monopoly script. And no FF programs; just class, courtesy, and superb service. Ah, dream on, old fellow; it wont be too long before you're flying Angelic Airlines with Nathan.

Ah yes, Pan Am. Pan Am in first even in the 80s was a wonderful experience. I still have some of their menus. I remember one time out of Paris they had a Gateau St. Honore for desert. Of course there was the filet sliced and finished on board. They also often had a great bouillabaisse with lobster. The appetizer trolley! The cheese trolley! The SPs had a galley as big as a kitchen. Dry sherry before the meal, if you wanted it. "Those were the days, my friend..."

Pan Am biz class was also quite good. You could actually get your meat rare if you wanted it that way. Don't ever order the "filet" in UA biz, unless you need to resole your shoes.

International first was quite good at UA in the early nineties, but it has gone down down considerably, inversely proportional to the fares. Up until about three months ago domestic firsat was very good coast to coast, but my last flights were cery disaapointing. I think they are trying to match the disappearnce of the salt and pepper shakers.

I've not experienced any of the competitors except LH, and they were worse. At least UA asks you for your drink choice and then brings it. If your glass is empty they ask if you want a refill. LH comes around with a cart. If you want a refill you have to go up and ask.

What I've rarely experienced is poor service. Were it not for the pleasant and helpful UA attendants I might have tried to change to another carrier. If that part of the service changes my loyalty might disappear.

nathan detroit--

if you have the time I would suggest ANA for an ORD-HKG run (and make sure it's not a codeshare operated by UA!). You'd have to connect in NRT and spend the night in an ANA hotel, but the hotel charge (and the last time I checked breakfast as well) is included with the airfare. Also, the ANA flight from ORD-NRT now includes PTVs for all cabins, and a business center and bar for first and biz. And while you won't get personal "suites" in first like UA's 777 SEA-NRT, the seats do recline 180 degrees.

I've found the service (if not the catering) very good on many domestic UA flights in first-- but on ANA and JAL, the level of service is matched and exceeded in all cabins, even economy.

[This message has been edited by dw (edited 12-04-1999).]

I have my own little UA first experiences and agree with you all... (Including how PAN AM was nicer...)

Since I am only a "3 yr premex" I suggest some of you 1K's out there to write to UA (if you haven't done so) with a copy of this tread, or something... LET THEM KNOW... ? might be pointless... get a response form letter,... but it doesnt hurt to try!!! (Hint to UAL : when will you upgrade your intl' 767 with new "F" specially South American Routes...)
Red

I am not an international flyer, thus I cannot contribute with respect to that--much of the discussion.

However, on domestic routes, mostly 757 on trips longer than 3 hours from the West Coast, I have been impressed (relatively) with domestic First.

In terms of meal quality/choices/dessert, I've been very pleased. Okay, the beef (filet?) is a little overcooooked. But UA is a hair better than CO in terms of amenities (dessert, esp.). And CO is quite good. I should underscore that where I've found UA to excell CO in First is in the more consistent level of service by the FAs. Always there to ask/offer/fill. Now CO has had some amazing service, but I find that 1/4 flights I get a bum flight attendent (warm nuts theory , esp out of CLE/HOU (never EWR) Have flown CO first 13 segments and UA 10 segments in First. Even on the redeye LAX-BOS, when I was awake and reading, the FA came back and forth repeatedly to check on me (often when most of the cabin sleeps, the FAs can lag...not on this flight).

My experience.

Jeff