US Domestic First Class: Is this as good as it gets?

[Mattg]

I recently flew United Airlines "First Class" from EWR to YYZ. (This is technically an international flight, but for all intents and purposes it is treated the same as a domestic flight by United.) The flight departed around lunch time and the flight time was 1 hour and 40 minutes, making it around the same length as Sydney-Melbourne.

To say I was underwhelmed with the service would be an understatement. This is not my first time flying around North America, so I had low expectations. Even they were not met.

There was no greeting, either during boarding or during the service. Eventually the surly flight attendant came to my seat and half-heartedly uttered "beverage?"

No meals were served. Instead, the flight attendant handed around a basket containing chips, pretzels and oreos. There was no "would you like a snack, sir"... in fact, the flight attendant didn't say anything during the service. She just placed the basket in front of me and stared. I didn't see her smile once.

This was my “meal”:



My seat on the Embraer E175 was sufficiently wide but the legroom wasn't great for First class. I'd hate to think what the legroom in Economy was like. There was no in-flight entertainment.



Considering First class passengers don't even receive lounge access when flying within North America, the experience left me wondering what the point of US domestic First Class is. Is this as good as it gets, or am I missing something?

We sure do have it good in Australia!

 

[opusman]

Try business class intra-Europe for an even greater shock!

We are spoiled by QF domestic J.

 

[Mattg]

Try business class intra-Europe for an even greater shock!

Oh, I have! The hard product is pretty much the same as Economy, that is true. But in my experience the soft product - service and catering - have at least been very good*. And at least you get lounge access with Euro-Business.


*Except on British Airways.

 

[trooper]

What is the cost compared to SYD-MEL? I only ever used to buy First in the US for the Status Credits it "paid"....but the wider seat etc was welcome...and on the longer flights the food was fine.... More comfortable than Euro Business that's for sure...although yes, the Embraers are perhaps a bit more cramped... Isn't it largely an unpaid upgrade cabin any way? I always thought that was the reason it was pretty basic....

 

[serfty]

You were lucky to get the snack basket.

Generally legacy USA carriers won't serve a meal on flights less than 2:45.

The best service is on the transcontinental flights for key markets (such as JFK-LAX) but you generally pay much more for it.

 

[cdp88]

Mattg- I had a similar experience on a 2 hour flight from LGA-ORD last year flying comfort plus (premium economy) on Delta. I bought this ticket for the status credits which at 30 velocity status credits for about $200 AUD fare was reasonable value.

The only difference between first and premium economy in terms of service was that first got a wider choice of beverages. Otherwise we all picked from the same snack basket. I am glad I didn’t pay the extra $100+ for first. I was happy with premium economy for price, comfort and status credits. I do like the E175 plane though as there are only 2 seats either side of aisle in main cabin.

I found the service on Delta to be fine. I had lounge access due to Velocity Gold status (although it did take them some convincing at the lounge that I was entitled to enter!)

But with Delta a 3+ hour flight in first will get a meal service so it becomes much better value when you factor in status credits, eg flight from IAH-LGA is $500AUD for first with 60 status credits.

 

[RooFlyer]

the experience left me wondering what the point of US domestic First Class is. Is this as good as it gets, or am I missing something?

No point at all, except for transcon.

Business class on Air Canada in a Embraer is quite OK as a general comment, and very good in a North American context! That said, I tended to do LAX-YYC and the length of the flight may have brought about better service and cabin.

 

[offshore171]

Try business class intra-Europe for an even greater shock!

But at least they don’t have the gall to call it First Class.

 

[boomy]

Flew SFO-OGG on 737 earlier this year (scored F op-up as UA Plat) and found the overall product better than Euro-business and on par with QF on 737 medium haul routes.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Try business class intra-Europe for an even greater shock!

We are spoiled by QF domestic J.

Euro-Business gets far superior catering than QF J (at least for AF, LX, LH). Seating is economy, but what do Aussie domestic carriers really offer? About three inches extra legroom.

And QFd J, for the price, can't compare to just about all intra-Asia flights of similar length/price (CX/KA serve a full three course meal on HKG-TPE flights of just over an hour). $2000 return SYD-MEL in J and you might get a toasted sarnie for about $1. Trans-Tasman, if we include that in regional/domestic, slightly upgraded but doesn't compare to the same sectors in Asia.

 

[RooFlyer]

Euro-Business gets far superior catering than QF J (at least for AF, LX, LH). Seating is economy, but what do Aussie domestic carriers really offer? About three inches extra legroom.

And QFd J, for the price, can't compare to just about all intra-Asia flights of similar length/price (CX/KA serve a full three course meal on HKG-TPE flights of just over an hour). $2000 return SYD-MEL in J and you might get a toasted sarnie for about $1. Trans-Tasman, if we include that in regional/domestic, slightly upgraded but doesn't compare to the same sectors in Asia.

I still remember my J breakfast on LH 2 hrs FRA-OSL. Cereal, with fresh raspberries, blueberries and red currants on top, a mini bottle of fresh milk, then the usual croissant, jam, butter, scrambled egg and snags etc. Never had a better breakfast in the air.

J meals from HBA to MEL or SYD have always seemed a generous anomaly (although I haven't done it for about a year). Two choices of hot meals, served well and a real meal, not a snack.

 

[Daver6]

You're paying a lot of money for priority boarding on those flights. Probably the biggest benefit of F really in the US.

 

[Mattg]

What is the cost compared to SYD-MEL? I only ever used to buy First in the US for the Status Credits it "paid"....but the wider seat etc was welcome...and on the longer flights the food was fine.... More comfortable than Euro Business that's for sure...although yes, the Embraers are perhaps a bit more cramped... Isn't it largely an unpaid upgrade cabin any way? I always thought that was the reason it was pretty basic....

In fairness, the "first class" fare on this flight is only around USD220. That said, I booked this as part of a AMS-YYZ trip in Y (I got op-ups on both flights).

From what I could tell, only 1 passenger on my flight actually paid for first class. I think the other 5 were upgrades. Which possibly goes some way to explaining why the airline doesn't feel the need to provide a great service. (It could also be that most people don't pay the full fare because the service is poor.)

You're paying a lot of money for priority boarding on those flights. Probably the biggest benefit of F really in the US.

Yep. Boarding for one of my US domestic flights last week took 45 minutes because there were way more bags than space in the overhead lockers. Anyone in boarding group 4 or beyond had no hope...

 

[Mattg]

Well I took 2 more United flights in domestic "first class" on this trip; SFO-IAH and IAH-CVG.

The service from SFO to IAH on a 737-900 (a 4 hour flight) was closer to that described by boomy above. The lead flight attendant was a German lady who was lovely, and the meal was actually decent.

The IAH-CVG leg was on a CRJ700 which was similar to the Embraer but the row 1 legroom was OK. Service was average, but I did get a (cold) meal.

I actually paid for those flights as I needed the PQMs. Had I not been doing a status run I definitely would not bother, but at least these flights were an improvement on the first one!

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Be content to know it *can* actually be worse. Boarding my 90 minute flight in the USA a few weeks ago the captain advised there's be rough weather and the crew *may* be able to offer a limited beverage service in the second half of the flight. At the 45 minute mark there was a slight sway in the cabin, about the same movement as you get on a local train. Immediate announcement by the crew that 'due to the severe weather there'll be no service this flight'. The conditions were, to borrow from our neighbours in South Easy Asia... as smooth as silk. 20 minutes before landing the captain advised of our descent. The crew announced they'd be coming through the cabin to collect any 'trash' 'if we are able to in these conditions'.

Given then captain announced the reduced beverage service - which is a really strange thing for a captain to say... why would he/she care if the crew delivered a full or reduced service? - I suspect the whole 'no service' was cooked up by the cabin crew before departure, telling the captain they'd only do a limited offering.

Now that flight was AUD754 in F and $400+ in coach. Pretty poor effort.

 

[p--and--t]

Had two flights in "First Class" on AA in US in the last fortnight, Dallas to Rapid City and Salt Lake City to LAX, both around the 2 hour mark.

For the points/money we received:

• Priority boarding
• A larger, well padded seat, with slightly more leg room
• Reserved overhead bin space
• One cold drink
• A very small bag of chips or doritos from a basket thrust at you with no comment
• Extremely perfunctory "service" from the FA

At Dallas we had access to the lounge due to Qantas club membership, otherwise would have been ineligible.

There are no lounges at Salt Lake City.

Both very smooth flights, but the seat belt sign was inexplicably on for more than half the flight.

If I had to PAY for the flights DEFINITELY not worth it.

 

[serfty]

If I had to PAY for the flights DEFINITELY not worth it.

That's the way it generally is for USA domestic premium travel.

It can be "worth is" as SC earn on such flights often better per $ than on QF.

As for the snack - that's it for most short flights (under 2¾ hours) - I generally take two items and have occasionally asked for more later. Same for drinks - proactive is often how you need to be to get more than one cold drink.

 

[Daver6]

My experience on a really short sector (DFW - AUS) in F saw people being offered multiple rounds of drinks and snacks.

 

[Forg]

My experience on a really short sector (DFW - AUS)

This obviously had nought to do with the conversation at hand ... but what do you mean by this?

*edit*
Sorry, just got it - Austin, not Australia!

 

[DC3]

Euro-Business gets far superior catering than QF J (at least for AF, LX, LH) ......

Yes, well we aren’t counting the BA dried, curling sandwich dished up to me as J lunch LHR-FCO.