UA J DL J JQ "business class" LA and HNL

[bam71]

First trip report so please be gentle.

We hadn't seen much on UA J ex Au to US so thought I'd share.

We go away on Oct or Nov for around 3 weeks, the last few years have been Europe, there's a few little villages in the south of France we are fond of ( last year was QF J using AA then SQ J home using LM , year before was GA J SYD CGK AMS for around 4K each. Prior to that escapes me.

Due to time constraints this year we decided to only take 2 weeks off, so thought that LA and HNL would be in order, as we haven't been in a few years, and we prefer to stock up on clothes there to last us 18 months instead of the dreadful shopping experiences that I hate so much here. ( No haters please, I'm a gay bloke that hates shopping!!!)

As luck would have it UA had 2 seats available on the weekend we wanted to leave using LM so we snapped that up. Filled in the rest with DL Lax to Hnl, ( instant upgrade fare - around AUD700.00 each one way), and then JQ HNL SYD in their J for around $AUD1200.00 each. We live in Brisvegas so went VA BNE J SYD J BNE. There's enough on here about VA J product so won't do into that.

A few years back when LA was tempting us, we checked out UA J on youtube and recoiled in horror. It seemed that the seats on the 777 were really just economy seats that lay flat. 2 x 4 x 2. But with the premise of getting them FOC so to speak on Lifemiles for this trip, we threw our lot in and thought "what the hell - we always make things fun anyway" ( A nine hour delay in Nice airport one year , and an unscheduled overnight tech stop in DXB on another trip in the middle of Ramadan, where they could not accommodate us in a hotel, has been our lot - amongst other disasters)

Anyway, UA J. First impressions were as expected service wise, we've flown US carriers before numerous times so knew what to expect there. It was the long haul hard product we were concerned about. The other half ( referred to hereon as MC) did his research and we realised the seats were probably not as narrow as the youtube videos had showed. We are fans of QF and VA J ( I know I know they're different service signatures, but we enjoy those differences) and both of us love SQ J, MC also likes EY and EK J, I've not done EY yet, but didn't mind EK.

So, to the seat. Naturally we had pre seated on for the 2 on the side. 9AB. It was certainly narrower than QF, EK etc, but we were pleasantly surprised.



Couple of pics of water, champagne ( in glass!) and the stock standard North American "warm nuts" service. I'd show a pic of the legroom but the file is apparently too large, but you can get the gist of it anyway.



Menu's were handed out....



The trout was good, and we both ordered the lamb ( a tad overdone but nice none the less) pics to come......

 

[RB]

Looking forward to reading the rest. Had mates go to US on UA J last year on LM & they were happy enough. Looks like a row of back facing seats in the background- only had this on BA onces & thought it was OK.

 

[bam71]

Correct RB, they are forward and rear facing. We chose forward facing for us.

 

[bam71]

The wine selection was good. As expected, Napa Valley and French selections. We asked the CSM who was pouring what the difference was between two of the reds, but she told us " I don't know - I don't drink".

After a few hours of dinner, cheese, ice cream, and red, we did our usual half a stillnox and slept in the arms of Mother United.

 

[bam71]

Woke up a few hours out of LAX. Around 90 mins prior to arrival they served breakfast. Menu and pic below.



The eggs seemed to be fried, then smothered with Hollandaise. Now, I make my own hollandaise so am a bit finicky there, but this was quite acceptable. Not the lemony tang that I prefer, but good none the less.

 

[Cruiser Elite]

Well done bam - TR with pics means big tick and elephant stamp - keep them coming my friend.

 

[bam71]

Now - as I said before and many would know. United do this 2 x 4 x 2 business on their 777's ex Australia. The seats are forward and rear facing. Across the aisle from us there was naturally a set of four, and facing our direction.

We called it the "four horseman of the apocalypse" seats.

When we checked in there were a couple of seats dotted here and there that were still unallocated, all in middle of these rows of four. After United did their upgrades for the 1K members etc, it was a full J cabin. The four pax seated together all cosy did not know each other ( cannot verify but none of them spoke to each other, hence our theory they did not know each other) I think I would rather have a pencil stuck in my eye, than be travelling alone in one of these middle seats with no aisle access/climbing over a stranger in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. Well maybe a tad dramatic, but you get the idea.

The misery below.......



If we take my nephews ( aged 8 and 10) to Disneyland or something like that, these would be perfect to keep them locked in, so it wold have a purpose for us there, but otherwise...??? MC commented that BA also do 2 x 4 x 2 seating, but as we know they are forward and rear, head to toe etc. This was just NASTY!!'

 

[opusman]

Something horrible seems to have happened to your face!! :shock:

 

[bam71]

Would we use UA again? Absolutely. With lead in prices to LA at $5100.0 plus tax, or they also have lead in prices to HNL traveling SYD LAX HNL LAX SYD for $4900.00 plus tax. ( Stopover's in LAX or SFO are $100.00 extra). Overall it was a solid J product. No flair or too many bells and whistles, but food and wine selection was good, IFE was large enough, and service was friendly. A solid low cost J product for trans pac, with the added benefit this time of using LMiles to secure.

 

[TomVexille]

I'd still rather have the middle of those four than any of the seats down the back

 

[Denali]

Something horrible seems to have happened to your face!! :shock:

Dementors from Harry Potter?

I always love a TR with pics so many thanks! Don't know about having to make eye contact with the people in the middle seats facing you. Awkward.

 

[boomy]

Thanks for the TR bam71.
The food on UA looks quite good but the seat arrangement is terrible, what were they thinking?! I guess it's good enough if you fly on cheap miles but I would never pay full price for that.

 

[Cruiser Elite]

But surely the seat layout on 787 is not that is it?