Fantastic trip on UA 787's

[Simsy85]

Just dropping a quick line to give a report on my recent trip to the LOTF.

Flew SYD to LAX on United - on the new Dreamliners, in Y. Why you ask? $800 return to NYC.

One word to describe it - Amazing! (bet you didn't expect that!)

Cannot sing their praises enough. great trip - comfy and for what we paid, unsurpassed.

 

[Scarlett]

You're right, that is a bit unexpected. Having spent a fair bit of time on UA 747, 777 and 787s flying TPAC in the last few years, amazing and UA were not words I would have expected to see together.

Can you elaborate? Excellent crew, seat, timings or just the value for money?

 

[dajop]

i had a great flight from PVG to LAX back in 2015 on a UA 787 , also in economy. I had three seats to myself and it was fantastic!

 

[Simsy85]

You're right, that is a bit unexpected. Having spent a fair bit of time on UA 747, 777 and 787s flying TPAC in the last few years, amazing and UA were not words I would have expected to see together.

Can you elaborate? Excellent crew, seat, timings or just the value for money?

Absolutely. The staff were amazing, they could not do enough to take care of us. The flight was only about half full, but even on the way back (which was oversold by 7 and we tried to stick our hand up to say we'd be offloaded) they were great. They were engaging and helpful with everything we needed.

It was a rough flight with the seat belt signs on for about 7 hours, but I can hardly blame that on the crew! Every airline, regardless if you were in F with QF or Y with Air China would have that issue.

I saw absolutely amazing based on the price we paid ($800 pp SYD - EWR) and the service we received.

Big thumbs up.

 

[Quickstatus]

It was a rough flight with the seat belt signs on for about 7 hours, but I can hardly blame that on the crew! Every airline, regardless if you were in F with QF or Y with Air China would have that issue.


Big thumbs up.

I thought the 787 had some amazing turbulence mitigation system. Ah, must be just hype!!

 

[Simsy85]

May very well, but it was pretty rough - like I said, that's not the airlines fault and full probs to United

 

[Mattg]

Wow, nice to know that United has started to pick up its act a little bit! Honestly, I wouldn't have really considered flying them in Y.

I wonder if they're consistently that good nowadays, or if you were just lucky?

 

[dajop]

Wow, nice to know that United has started to pick up its act a little bit! Honestly, I wouldn't have really considered flying them in Y.

I wonder if they're consistently that good nowadays, or if you were just lucky?

IIRC, most 787 are still operated by legacy Continental crew (unless that has changed in last year or so) .... so maybe that helps with consistency and quality?

 

[suze2000]

I flew the Dreamliner in "Business First" last year SFO-SYD and the service was outstanding (as you'd expect).

 

[JMEL]

A few days late to the party, but just wanted to chime in with another good word for UA. Being a loyal *A flyer who travels to/within the USA, I have to rely on them a fair bit. Have really noticed a significant improvement in recent times.

One of my most memorable flights with them last year was actually a 6hr transcontinental (EWR-SFO) in Y. Nice refurbished plane with full seatback inflight entertainment, friendly and quick crew. Upon landing, the crew warmed up a bunch of the delicious large choc chip cookies which are normally only served in J/F, laid them out on a counter next to the exit and offered them to all disembarking passengers. Wonderful service!

Only letdown was the tired, ageing UA domestic lounge at EWR, but I think they're currently working on systemwide lounge renovations. In contrast, the SFO domestic lounge was all shiny and new, with full bar service.

Aiming to try their 787 TPAC service soon, so I'm glad to hear good things about it!

 

[vantage03]

I have to say, I have bagged United for as long as I can remember as being a "dreadful" and "hateful" airline... but they are doing amazing things turning that airline around.
In the last couple of months I've been to the brand new United Club at LAX twice, both times it was great. I've had excellent service on short haul United Express services too.
The biggest surprise for me though was the amazing new United Polaris lounge at ORD. I was there in transit before my LH F flight to Frankfurt, the lounge was incredible. The staff were so proud of their new lounge, and their jobs, and trying so hard. As good as the staff I've come across in any of the world's best International First lounges, if not better than some. It was just so lovely to be surrounded by people so happy to be there.
Good on United, it's given me the confidence to try their new Polaris product long-haul.

 

[htg123]

I just flew on united business from LAX to Mel on the Dreamliner. I cannot describe just how surprisingly good it was. They've really upped their game, so much so, that all things being equal, I wouldn't necessarily favor Qantas over them

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I just flew on united business from LAX to Mel on the Dreamliner. I cannot describe just how surprisingly good it was. They've really upped their game, so much so, that all things being equal, I wouldn't necessarily favor Qantas over them

This is their new 'Polaris' service. Will be even better when the seats match the soft product.

 

[RTWtraveler]

Chiming in to mention that my first UA flight from SYD-LAX-SMF with return tomorrow, was better than expected in J. It was my first experience with the 787 and was impressed with the aircraft, but not with the 2-2-2 seating. The bulkhead seat guy needed to climb over me, next time sit in the middle seats. Bonus was 70k points each way, not the normal 175K. I bought a lot of points at the 100% rate last year, mainly to use in Asia in F class.

 

[RooFlyer]

Could you do a Trip Report on that RTWtraveler? Am doing LAX-MEL on the 787 in a few weeks

 

[RTWtraveler]

I am Elite with Air NZ and am very happy with their long-haul 777 J-class seating and service. I needed to make an unexpected, emergency trip. As it is the Easter school holidays prices were not favourable for a next day, cheap seat, for giggles I looked at United, expecting to see 175K one way in J, there were plenty of Saver award seats available for the next day departure at 70K to my destination in business. Having heard the raves about the 787 I was looking forward to the experience. The seat was comfortable, monitor was a good size, better than ANZ, so easier on the eyes. The pad for the bed was thiner than ANZ, but helped. Being pressurised at a lower altitude, the air was more moist and I think the filtration system was better. Service was good, friendly and about the same age as ANZ...no complaints. Food, no comparison to the quality of ANZ. I chose ice ream for desert and it was serviced in a small plastic container with a small plastic spoon attached under the lid. On ANZ it would have been two large scoops in a bowl with normal spoon. The snack selection was better than ANZ, for waMy only complaint is the is the isle seat on the bulk head pair of seats, the window person needs to crawl over the person in the isle seat at night

 

[Simsy85]

So i'm heading off again on UA839 next month. Hoping to see it's a repeat of the same excellent service.

SYD-LAX-IAH-VER. Conference. VER-IAH-LAX-SYD all for $1.8k

Will be interesting to see what it's like...