I flew an eight-segment mileage run last month that included a roundtrip from Boston to Tokyo via San Francisco. And due to an unadvertised promotional first class fare (about $3,000) out of select U.S. origins to Tokyo (or Beijing), I was able to fly in comfort and nabbed my favorite seat onboard any United aircraft – 2K on a Boeing 747-400.

My Boeing 747-400, N174UA

My flight into San Francisco from Boston arrived just about on schedule, leaving me with enough time for a quick visit to the Global First lounge to catch up on emails. At the check-in desk when I was welcomed as “Mr. Booth,” the person next to me asked, “Darren Booth?” Turns out he reads my blog – what a small world. It was nice to meet you, Sean!

I headed to the gate ahead of boarding time to… well… be a “gate louse” and position myself near the front of the Premier Access lane. Why? Because those darn 747s have such limited overhead space in first class that I didn’t want to stow my bags in business class, which often happens. I was about the 10^th person on and I settled into my seat (and yes, got my coveted overhead bin space). Oh, and for those unfamiliar with United, there’s absolutely no priority given to Global First passengers over business class (or many elites).

Seat 2K

View Forward at Seat 2K

The menu, pillows and blanket were awaiting me at my seat, and the amenity kit and slippers were already stowed in the side console compartment. Pre-departure beverage service was slow as the lead flight attendant in Global First spent an inordinate amount of time gabbing with a couple of passengers. And I noted some friction between the lead and purser, which I wrote about in my “The Reality Check That Is United Airlines Global First Class” post.

Newspapers were offered and positioned on the console across from my seat. We pushed nearly on-time and were airborne within about 15 minutes.

View

The lead noticed my camera and said, “You’d better get your pictures in quick before we take the left turn toward Japan!” I chuckled and said “Thanks,” but little did she know my main intent was to capture the meals. Hot towels, warmed nuts and beverages started the lunch service. Check out the turbulence in that water glass.

Warmed Nuts and Water

Here’s the menu:

And the separate wine & bar service list:

Meal service began shortly after the seat belt sign came off with linens, silverware and bread presented first.

Table Setup

The warm appetizer and sushi were served nearly in tandem. I did quite like the beef empanada and pastry, but didn’t touch the sushi as I’m not a fan.

Sushi

Beef Empanada and Veggie & Mushroom Pastry

Besides a warm vs. cold appetizer, the only other noticeable difference from Global First to BusinessFirst meals is the addition of a soup course. It was only lukewarm and required a bit of salt to make it tastier.

Shrimp and Roasted Corn Chowder

A rather basic salad followed and I went with the Parmesan-pepper dressing.

Salad

For my main course, I chose the Tenderloin of Beef. It was very tender and delicious, the latter likely due to the Delmonico’s steak sauce. I have had decent green beans in-flight before, but these were rubbery and tasteless. And the potatoes cooled off very quickly and were equally bland. More salt.

Tenderloin of Beef

By this point, I was ready for a nap having been awake since very early Boston time to catch the 6:00 a.m. flight. And so I skipped the cheese and ice cream sundae. Here’s the remainder of the menu:

There was absolutely no mention of the “new” turn-down service for Global First passengers where flight attendants will lower your seat into bed mode and spread the sleeping cushion over the seat. And on the return flight with the same crew, the lead was very vocal how she felt about it saying, “What are we a hotel?!”

The crew spruced up the lavatory as best they could.

Lavatory Amenities

A cart was setup near the galley with the assorted sandwiches and nibbles from the “mid-flight snack” menu appearing above. They looked identical to what’s offered in BusinessFirst and not particularly appealing.

About 1.5 hours before arrival, breakfast was served although it was 2:00 p.m. local time in Tokyo. Other airlines flying this timeslot will serve a more time-appropriate meal. I went with the herbed scrambled eggs, ham, turkey sausage and potato gratin… err… tater tots.

Breakfast at 2 p.m.

While each flight attendant was friendly in their own way, there was certainly nothing exceptional about their service. It was just a typical United flight and I suppose worth what I paid. I can’t imagine anyone wanting to pay full-fare for United’s Global First.

Related posts:

The Reality That Is United Airlines Global First Class

United Global First Amenity Kit Review

Lounge Review: ANA Suite Lounge Tokyo Narita

I’m Off on a Weeklong Mileage Run

I’ll post my full flight review in the coming days, but I feel compelled to dedicate a post on the less than international first class service I received and observed in United Global First last week.

It’s no secret that United is remarkably inconsistent when it comes to in-flight service and I think it’s most evident when flying internationally. Last year, I had a terrific experience in United BusinessFirst from Los Angeles to Sydney with attentive and professional flight attendants who were sincere in their desire to provide exceptional service. My return from Sydney was the exact opposite with indifferent, stoic flight attendants who seemed to treat service as a chore.

I was optimistic for my San Francisco-Tokyo Narita-San Francisco flights in Global First knowing that in the past, flights to/from Japan were a particular quality control focus. While the crew I had (the same on both flights) wasn’t stoic or indifferent, the service they provided wasn’t what you’d expect for international first class. I know, I know… not really a shocker for a U.S. airline when compared to foreign carriers. But here are a few unique observations from my flights.

On the ground, the reaction by two Global First passengers arriving in the gate room in Tokyo and being told to queue in the already huge 75+ passenger Group 1 boarding lane was priceless. They were visibly shocked there wasn’t priority given over business class (or even coach passengers with elite status).

Onboard, the dislike between the purser and lead flight attendant serving Global First was palpable, something unprofessional to visibly allow and express in view of the cabin.

When a passenger couldn’t immediately find storage space for his carry-on (a problem on the 747-400), a flight attendant who wasn’t working in First told him he’d have to put it in business class and to “write to the company to complain” without offering assistance. Fortunately, the purser was more proactive and found space for him in first class.

In many cases, the menu, amenity kit and slippers are presented to you after you’re seated in first class. On both of my flights, the menus were nicely displayed on the console, though the amenity kits and slippers were stored away in the seat compartments. Not a huge deal, but there’s just something about the presentation of them personally that adds a touch of class.

United introduced turndown service in Global First? Absolutely no mention of it was made on the outbound. And on the return, I overhead the lead flight attendant say, “What are we… a hotel?!” when telling another passenger about it after he found the seat cover in his compartment. She even went on to say that flight attendants love to take them to their crew bunks for use. Sigh.

Now I should mention that the flight attendants were each friendly in their own way (particularly when I reappeared on their return flight the next day), but service elements and overall cabin management on my flights certainly weren’t worth what a normally priced Global First ticket would run.

I was hoping for a stellar experience, but I drew the short stick on these United flights. I know there are flight attendants at United who pride themselves on delivering exceptional service. It’s just a shame that the amount who don’t or won’t step up will prevent United from ever being on par with their global counterparts.

Related posts:

I’m Off on a Weeklong Mileage Run… In Style!

Amenity Kit Review: United Airlines Global First

Flight Review: United Airlines BusinessFirst Los Angeles to Sydney

Flight Review: United Boeing 787 Dreamliner Inaugural

It was a stunning day in Sydney today. I’m fighting jet lag, but did manage to upload the video of my takeoff from Sydney today onboard United Airlines flight 840 to Los Angeles (yes… yes… I know… my electronic device was on and it shouldn’t have been). I was supposed to be on yesterday’s flight, actually, but it cancelled, so had another 24-hours in Australia courtesy of United’s mechanical.

For the avgeeks, this is N174UA and I was seated in 6K. Enjoy!

As I’ll be flying a United 747 this week to Australia, I looked back at all the seating configurations United had over the years and bring you one from 1998 for this installment of Vintage Airline Seat Maps. It’s not that vintage, I know, but it was a unique layout given the amount of premium cabin real estate.

Seating a total of 301 passengers in a 36/123/142 format, this aircraft frequently flew the Chicago to Narita nonstop route. I was working for United at the time and non-revved my little heart out in first class as the front cabin rarely filled to capacity. Business was almost always full through a combination of revenue passengers and op-ups for coach oversales.

The lack of a galley across from door one made row five incredibly spacious – even the C/D seats, though it doesn’t appear as such on the map. I’d definitely opt for the exit row upstairs in business class and probably be keen on 44C in coach, or a window in one of the two-seaters in rows 57 through 59.

Where would you sit?

Related posts:

United Airlines Boeing 747-SP

Cathay Pacific Boeing 747-200

Pan Am Boeing 747-100

American Airlines Boeing 747-SP

In other airline industry news this week…

• American Airlines CEO Tom Horton issued a letter to employees this week outlining a redesign of the carrier’s management structure that will more than certainly involve layoffs. Several executives left at the end of 2011, and this letter points to additional tough decisions that will be made in the coming months. Separately, the Allied Pilots Association issued a letter to American’s passengers through a print ad in the USA Today (and likely other newspapers). It thanks American’s customers and also speaks to American’s management: “Along with financial reforms, American Airlines’ restructuring must also include a commitment by those who manage our company to cultivate a better corporate culture – a culture that values the crucial competitive edge that a fully engaged workforce provides.” It will be an interesting year to follow the changes and issues at American.
• Alaska Airlines sent an email to passengers this week saying they will discontinue providing “prayer cards” on meal trays. The company started the practice in the 1970s to differentiate the service, but now feel ending it is, “the right thing to do in order to respect the diverse religious beliefs and cultural attitudes of all our customers and employees.” I agree and think religion has no place in airline service or marketing.
• United Airlines broke ground this week on a $1 billion redevelopment project at Houston’s Intercontinental Airport. It’s a three-phase project first beginning with a $160 million redo of Terminal B’s south concourse dedicated to regional jet operations. The project will span seven to 10 years and include the redevelopment of Terminal B’s lobby and baggage claim areas, a new international-capable north concourse and other infrastructure enhancements.
• All Nippon Airlines (ANA) flew its first long-haul service with the Boeing 787 this week from Tokyo Haneda airport to Frankfurt. The cabin features 46 lie-flat business class seats and 112 standard seats in economy. ANA now has five 787s in operation, with the long-haul version currently operating three times weekly HND-FRA. 787 service on that route will become daily from February 1, 2012.
• JetBlue and Hawaiian Airlines entered a partnership this week streamlining passenger ticketing when the two carriers are involved on one reservation. They will soon also enter into a codesharing agreement, as well as offer reciprocal benefits in each other’s frequent flyer program. Once Hawaiian begins it’s HNL-JFK service on June 5^th this year, it will use JetBlue’s Terminal 5.
• Lufthansa’s 747-8 Intercontinental aircraft will (finally) offer lie-flat seats in business class and feature “warmer colors giving it a living room feel.” The carrier plans to retrofit the rest of its international fleet within the next four years to include lie-flat seats in business and full details will be forthcoming in March. First Class on the 747-8s will be located in the nose of the aircraft vs. upstairs as now seen on their 747-400 fleet.
• It seems there’s at least one airline story each week that features a passenger behaving badly. This week, a Continental Airlines flight was diverted due to some moron lighting up a cigarette in the cabin. The flight was from Houston to Ontario and he must’ve lit up pretty soon after becoming airborne because the flight landed in San Antonio where he was arrested by the FBI. When I smoked, I always used nicotine patches when flying uber long-haul flights to Australia and gum for shorter domestic hops. Hopefully he will in the future now, too.

She’s three feet long and weighs about 15 pounds:

I’m definitely on a Cathay Pacific kick right now having just finished my complete trip report, so I’ve selected a Cathay Boeing 747-400 for this installment of Vintage Airline Seat Maps. This particular configuration was flying the skies in 1988 and I have to once again give special thanks to reader Will who graciously sent me several of the carrier’s seating layouts from the 1980s.

It seated a total of 363 passengers split up between First Class, Marco Polo Business Class and Economy Class. First Class extended beyond just the nose and occupied more than half of the space between doors one and two. United Airlines used to have a version that went fully back to door two and I thoroughly enjoyed flying on 747s with this type of layout. It felt like the entire plane was an exclusive privately operated luxury jet with an incredible amount of room to move about.

30 seats were found up front in the typical 2-seater configuration for First Class during that time period. Still much preferring to sit in the nose for its uniquely shaped aestheticism, you’d find me either in row two or three. Smoking seats, by the way, are the ones with a yellowish hue. That orange square behind the port-side lavatory is labeled as a “bar unit” according to the legend.

Most frequent flyers today prefer the upper deck for its feel of isolation from the rest of the plane and its normally personalized service, but given the volume of Business Class seats crammed into the upstairs section in the 1980s, you’d find me downstairs probably around rows 26 or 27. The mini-cabin at rows 20 and 21 might be unpleasant due to the proximity of both the First Class and Business Class galleys, not to mention being in the smoking section. Oh, and those “x” marks in front of rows one, 10, 20, 23, 31 and 57 denote bassinet positions for which I’d definitely steer clear of.

In coach, I generally book an aisle seat in the center 4-seater section on a 747 since those seats have a greater likelihood of the seat next to it being unoccupied. Here I’d go for rows 38 or 39 as last-minute standby seats are generally assigned front-to-back, so my unoccupied seat strategy has a better chance of coming through. I might consider rows 58 and 59 for the same reason. Also, I always pick the ‘G’ seats since the computer algorithm also automatically assigns last minute seats left to right.

Where would you sit?

Upper deck

Main deck