I noticed on the UAL web site that they offer "Premium First Class" on Transcontinental Flights from JFK to LAX. I make a weekly commute from BOS to LAX. I'm wondering if it might be worth it to make a connection at JFK. My BOS-LAX flights are always two class flights and I'm at about a 50% upgrade percentage (Premier Exec). Does anybody have experience with "Premium First Class" on these flights? Is it worth it?

Well, regardless of your status, it's very unlikely that you'd be able to upgrade from Y to F on those flights. They're three class planes, and United only allows upgrades from Y to C or C to F these days. ("No double upgrades.") So, you could buy a C class ticket and upgrade it, but you'd probably be paying almost as much as you would for full fare first. The transcontinental F service is nice, though; you get about as much room as you do in international F.

Of course, there's always a possibility that you might get upgraded to F due to agent error or overbooking. This has only happened to be once, though, and I'm often on three class domestic flights.

-Adam

The LAX-JFK and also SFO-JFK are three class flights designed to compete for a certain demographic that frequently flies from those city pairs and pays for a premium first class service. Can you guess who some of these people are?

My UA source says they have no problem selling FC on these routes and that they are also very profitable routes. I think most of the majors run three class on these routes; I know AA does with it's Flagship service.

If you did not mind the extra connection, IMHO even C class is nicer than F on the two class flights.

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[This message has been edited by hsilbiger (edited 04-28-2000).]

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[This message has been edited by hsilbiger (edited 04-28-2000).]

Well, C class is nicer than normal C class. You get mixed nuts and the meal is upgraded. You also get champagne before departure. The C class seats are also nicer than domestic F.

Whether it's worth it to take the commuter to JFK and have to worry about connections is up to you. You do get the extra 500 miles each way.

Here is a brief rundown of the three class system:

Economy= Mileage Plus and Premier members sit here

Business= PremExec and 1ks sit here, plus people dumb enough to pay for business class and not upgrade

Premium First Class= Reserved for movie stars and United employees

Make that movie stars, UA employees and Stimpy.

I always (without fail) upgrade from C to F when traveling between LAX and JFK. I also drive to JFK from New Jersey rather than take a narrowbody from Newark. To me, it's worth it to be in a decent 1st class seat for 5 or more hours.

I would love to have some of your expense accounts or budgets

But alas, I fly Domestic Y and upgrade to C... there is also 3 class service between LAX-IAD....

I have upgraded to F in these routes and it's great.

That said, I wouldn't do it too often for fear someone would see me and think (rightly enough) that my company was being extravagant in its expending its capital on flying first class

Edit: movie stars, UA employees, Stimpy, and me!

Actually, I won't make an extra connection to JFK from Boston just to get the extra premium service (more segments means more chances for delays).

But I'll occasionally combine a LAX and a NYC trip so I can fly between the two. If your aircraft is a 763, you'll be in an int'l aircraft, which means electronic F seats (same as the current non-suite 744 seats), and biz has all the bells and whistles.

There is a similar thread about AA's premium service ("3-Class Flagship Service") on the AA board. First posted by onedog, I believe.

BB

If you can get into F, it's much, much better on the 767's than on a narrow body-- better seats, a lot more pitch and recline, better food and personal videos. (They generally won't let you use the "international" first class lounges, though, unless you're on a fullfare F ticket.) I generally prefer C on the 767's to F on a narrow body, too, because
it doesn't feel as cramped for the 5-6 hours
you're on the plane, but the service can be downright inattentive, depending on the crew, and they claim not to have enough space to to stock enough meals to give everyone their choice, so you might not get what you want if you're not a 1K. There are more C seats on a 767 than F ones on a 757 or 320, so you might have a better chance of upgrading from a Y fare. The 767-300's are infinitely superior to the 767-200's, and for one of them it might be worth it to go out of your way, but I've only seen them on the JFK-SFO route, and not JFK-LAX, but I haven't flown that route in a couple of months.

According to the April UA online timetable...

JFK-LAX:All flights operated by 762s

LAX-JFK:All flights operated by 762s

JFK-SFO:All flights operated by 762s except:
UA 7 2:45p-5:47p

SFO-JFK:All flights operated by 762s except:
UA 844 11:30a-7:53p

I had the pleasure of taking a first class reward trip to Melbourne at the end of January, starting off at JFK.

Flew the premium service to LAX and it was an absolute pleasure - ok seats are not the best F seats in the sky but all said and done the service was superb.

And you get the choice of movies for the in-seat video player. Food was far in excess of what I had come to expect from United, in some ways better than on the onward flight to Melbourne and had the sundae. It was actually on a par with Continental's service to EWR from LAX and I found that to be excellent.

I was also offered the box of Godiva chocolates to take away with me - who says being 1K has no perks.

Interestingly, I flew back from LAX in F to IAD on a 747-400 that had come in from the Pacific - service was again first rate, and there were fresh cookies. If only all F flights were like this.

I cannot comment on what its like to be in C on these flights as I have not tried it yet, although if my final segment for later in the year doesnt clear, I'll let you know!