Oh my goodness, I should be asleep, in fact, I’ve been awake for 36 hours now. I am currently aboard United’s 787 on UA61 in “Premium Plus”
Food is decent?
Despite airplane food having a bad wrap, United seems to do well. We were given the same meals as a business class which included chicken and potato with a side of salad. I’ve heard bad things about UA’s food but on this occasion, they impressed me
Service is intresting
Maybe it’s just me not being used to the american culture but the cabin crew seemed friendly while also being judgy and sometimes rude. However they are attentive and when the guy in front of me went pale in the face, they offered to upgrade him to business
Flying over the Pacific is an experience
Forget the smooth flying conditions you might get on a Los Vagas to San Fransisco hop. The Pacific is one different type of beast. Turbulance is prominent here, espeically with the jetstreams off the coast of Australia. As I write this, we are venturing into the northern Pacific region and while turbulance exists here, it’s nothing compared to what I experienced down south. If you’re flying over the Pacific, pack some sick bags, you’ll need them. The captain has had the seatbelt sign on for 75% of the flight so far
The seats are what you’d find on a domestic first/business class product
Premium Plus isn’t Polaris. Not even close. While you might get some of the same perks, the lack of the lie flat seat is the big drawback. These seats, while nice and adequate are exactly what you’d find when doing 1hr domestic hops in business class (or “first” for Americas). There are a few added touches however. The screen is 13inch’s, which you probaly wouldn’t get domesticly, nor would you get a widebody. Swings and roundabouts
So as I attempt to get through the final 6 hours of this one, I hope you got something out of this
Man, please sleep… Nice to see that you were in Melbourne, I think I watched your takeoff from Operations Rd earlier today. Thanks for the great review, interesting to hear about the cabin crew. Turbulence over the Pacific is second-to-none, feels like you’re in a washing machine sometimes. The only thing I have experienced that comes close was flying through the heart of a thunderstorm on a BAE 146. I still remember my many MEL-LAX on the 747… I had one flight where the seatbelt sign did not turn off once. I was seated in the second-last row in economy, and the tray table was shaking so much that everything just fell off it. Have a safe flight!
Me with deep exposure to both cultures, I often think back and forth about this. It really depends on luck to a some extent, I think. To be honest I used to loath taking United on the Sydney to US route back in their 747-400 days (being behind on entertainment technology didn’t help). Then once I had a really fantastic flight crew experience, but that was followed by another indifferent to negative one. I’ve also had a bit of mix on Qantas, but it’s a different feel for sure.
My first Dreamliner flight ever was when United swapped out the Sydney/Melbourne to US route 747’s with shiny brand new 787’s. That aircraft upgrade was heaven! One of my best flights ever, seeing the beauty of that aircraft for the first time!
I love the 747, but on United its age was definitely getting in the way of pleasant travel. I guess I would say a nice new aircraft makes up for some crew variability.