United Premium Economy - Anybody tried it?

[NickN]

I just upgraded to Premium Economy with United for the SYD-LAX and LAX-IAD sectors. Being 6'4" I didn't want to risk the discomfort of a 31" pitch seat for so long.

Can anybody offer any feedback on the product? I understand seat width doesn't change but do they have laptop power in PE?

[Sarmad Al-Khozaie]

I have tried it before about 2 years ago and from memory it didn't have laptop power charge, that is for a window seats not sure about others.

[NickN]

It only cost $178 US to upgrade both my SYD-LAX and LAX-IAD flights to Premium Economy so I thought that sounded relatively inexpensive for the extra leg room. No laptop power isn't vital, just nice if they do have it.

[Sam Chui]

up to 5" inches leg room more than Y, makes a significant difference to Standard 31 " economy seat leg room. I would take it for $178.

[NickN]

Sam, I did and it was actually $109, the rest was for a PE upgrade on LA-Washington!

Very inexpensive IMO.

[danielc]

Back in September, I flew a UA 777 from SFO to HNL in Econ+ and then flew back to SFO on a UA 767 in regular economy. The extra 4" is quite noticeable and makes a big difference in comfort. I booked this trip using FF miles and paid $60 each way for the Econ+ upgrade. Unfortunately, I had to change my return date for the HNL to SFO segment, and although they didn't charge to change the award ticket, they cancelled my Econ+ upgrade when I changed the date. Should you have to alter your dates for any reason, you may want to confirm that they will still provide the Econ+ upgrade. I thought it was quite tacky for them to cancel something I had paid for, but don't get me started on United. I think you will find that your upgrade was money well spent as they are still offerring some relatively cheap fares to California and beyond, so the flights should be chocka.

[NickN]

Daniel, great feedback thanks!!!

I am looking forward to flying PE on the 777 flight to Washington, have never flown a triple before.

Funny you mentioned cheap fares and flights being chockers, it is a little less and 3 months before I go and I noticed on the seat selector on the United website that a good many seats have already been allocated so I assume numbers and bookings are strong. As for the comment about cheap flights beyond LA, I agree!

My entire fare to Charleston return was AU$1450 plus the PE upgrades of
US$178. Comparing this to Qantas, Delta and V Australia the others didn't seem to compete although Delta was not far behind.

It appears to be a great time to travel accross the Pacific and I am glad I am able to take advantage of the fares being so low. Hopefully in the future they won't escalate so much higher that it becomes unaffordable again.

[danielc]

Nick,
You're welcome for the feedback. One other point you may not be aware of. United domestic flights offer no free food other than nuts and soft drinks. Everything is Buy-on-board and they no longer accept cash so you must have a credit card. Lots of people these days are taking their own food on the plane, which is totally acceptable.

When I flew to HNL I got a great sandwich lunch at SFO and took that onto the plane. Coming back from HNL was a 7am departure so I didn't have time to get anything at the airport so I bought something on board. The flight attendant jokingly asked me didn't I know any better. He thought it quite amusing I bought something so I don't think they sell too much onboard food.

The 777 is a great plane, and United has theirs in 2-5-2 config...Getting a seat in the group of twos is my personal preference.

[NickN]

Daniel, I had a feeling there was no complimentary in-flight meal, so I will try and pick something up at LAX before boarding as it is quite a long flight.

I selected seat 21A from memory on the 777 I definately wanted a window seat in the group of two seating.

Do you have any advice on decent pre-paid SIM cards that can be purchased upon arrival?

I have a Blackberry, so I will get GSM service with any of the pre-paid carriers over there from what I understand, and their call rates are substantially cheaper than here, and roaming is just far too expensive.

[Joe Frampton]

Nick, reading through this thread, just be careful with your expectations... This product on United Airlines is called "Economy Plus" with "up to five inches of extra legroom near the front of the economy cabin." (quoting directly from the United website).

The United product involves legroom only, strictly speaking, where as "Premium Economy" on Qantas or V Australia, etc. involve actually different seats (from economy class), a private cabin area with dedicated service, different meal choices, large IFE screens, etc, etc.

That's why the difference was only $178 - although I agree with you (and speaking as a travel agent), still well worth it. United have great pricing to US destinations beyond LAX at the moment - very good value. Just remember when comparing to other carriers that they don't have IFE, etc. Apart from that, they still make a very good *loody Mary!

[NickN]

Joe, I understand QF and VA offer a better version of PE, for me it was primarily just a legroom issue, 17" seat width is fine.

Do United just have general screens throughout the cabin and everybody has to watch the same thing?

Personally I'm not fussed I have some good books and my iPod touch and a laptop for entertainment.

The complimentary drinks along the way will also help !

[NickN]

I'd say it's rare for the plane to go u/s in flight and land at Honolulu, according to the stats it has a good on-time performance rating.

[D Chan]

I don't buy the old "grannies" statement about the UA staff.

Out of all airlines flying into and out of Sydney from my observation UA has easily by far the highest average age for cabin crew. Some of them actually look like grannies AND not very well groomed.

As for Economy Plus upsell it used to be $151 AUD 2 yrs ago (to LAX or SFO).

[Mike W]

I was listening to the Airplanne Geeks Podcast and they had Heather Poole as a guest (who authors the blog Another Flight Attendant Writing. She also writes the Galley Gossip column on Gadling) and she explained that with the US Airlines, it's a seniority thing.

The longer the service, the more Senior you become and the more senior you are, the better the routes you choose for yourself which might explain why it is perceived UA has easily by far the highest average age for cabin crew on the Australian routes.

http://www.airplanegeeks.com/2009/11/10/episode-72-on-board-with-heather/

[NickN]

Mike, that sounds perfectly feasible that explanation.

The only issue can be, the more senior you get the less you believe you have to work, which does happen to those in senior roles in some companies.

Personally I couldn't care less who serves my meals etc I'm not flying UA to try and pick-up!

[Alex Lui]

I travelled to LA on United's PE class in January. I didn't find anything wrong with it. Just more leg room for a bit more in price. Nothing else different compared with Economy (which we used on the way back). I had a decent sleep both ways and yeah, I guess the only difference is leg room. We had a little more in PE, but in hindsight, we're not that big built so it didn't really make a difference for us.