Flight 651 from Los Angeles arrived at JFK this afternoon six minutes ahead of schedule and became the first reconfigured p.s. Boeing 757s to take to the skies. For the fleet followers, it’s ship number 5996 (N596UA) and will be operating as flight 535 back to LAX this evening at 5:53 p.m. If you’re unfamiliar, p.s. service refers to the “enhanced” international style flights operating from New York’s JFK Airport to both Los Angeles and San Francisco.

United posted a couple of new photos on their United Hub page, including the first I’ve seen of the economy cabin showing the forward portion of Economy Plus.

Economy Plus on the New P.S. 757

The BusinessFirst cabin uses the same pre-merger Continental lie-flat seats found on some existing 757s (and other aircraft).

BusinessFirst Seats on the New P.S. 757

In total, the new layout sports 28 BusinessFirst, 48 Economy Plus and 66 regular economy seats. And Economy Plus on this bird is reportedly real E+ with 36 inches of pitch as opposed to the 34 inches on the “old” p.s. birds.

While the seat map is an indication of the likely version of p.s. bird you’ll be flying, last minute aircraft swaps can happen. As such, it will be a virtual crapshoot in the coming months until the fleet is fully completed by the end of the year.

I previously blogged about how United will handle discontinuing selling first class. In summary:

• All p.s. flights will operate as 2-cabin regardless of actual configuration starting on Jun. 6. By the summer, we expect to have already reconfigured several B757 aircraft. However, in order to minimize the impact of unexpected substitutions, we will only sell p.s. flights as 2-cabin.
• Wondering about who gets to sit in those first three rows in the previous United First cabin? We’re reserving these seats for customers who had previously booked in United First, as well as Premier members who are already confirmed in United Business. Specifically, Global Services, Premier 1K, Premier Platinum and Premier Gold members can select one of these seats at any time if available, and Premier Silver members will have access to them at check-in. Note that during the transition, these seats will be branded as United Business, rather than United First. Nearer to the end of the reconfiguration process, we’ll start marketing the premium cabin on all aircraft as United BusinessFirst.

Not living in Los Angeles anymore and with my gradual slowdown of United flying, I probably won’t be on a p.s. flight anytime soon. I will, however, miss the dance floor ahead of row 9 on the current p.s. birds. And I honestly want a pair of those leather business class seats for my home!

Related posts:

United Airlines Announces JFK Premium Service Reconfiguration Update

Flight Review: United Airlines Flight 534 LAX-JFK p.s. Business Class

A Quick LAX-JFK-LAX Mileage Run

If you haven’t already read about fellow blogger Matthew getting kicked off a United Airlines flight, I encourage you to do so.

The short version of his story is that he took a picture of his BusinessFirst seating area (the IFE monitor), a flight attendant advised he couldn’t take any pictures of the cabin and a bit later while still at the gate, he attempted to explain why he was doing so. The flight attendant allegedly didn’t want to hear an explanation and before the flight left, a Global Services representative pulled him off the flight mentioning, “the captain is not comfortable with you on this flight.”

There’s a lot more to his story and his post has created a lively discussion in the comments. But I want to focus on the policy itself. In his post, Matthew offers a picture of the onboard photo and video policy listed in the Hemispheres magazine. It reads:

The use of still and video cameras, film or digital, including any cellular or other devices that have this capability, is permitted only for recording personal events. Photography or audio or video recording of other customers without their express prior consent is strictly prohibited. Also, unauthorized photography or audio or video recording of airline personnel, aircraft equipment or procedures is always prohibited. Any photography (video or still) or voice or audio recording or transmission while on any United Airlines aircraft is strictly prohibited, except to the extent specifically permitted by United Airlines.

I certainly understand not capturing crew or other passengers without their consent, but other parts of the policy seem open to interpretation. What does United consider a “personal event?”  For me, capturing a picture of the seat I’m about to sit in qualifies. And the meals I eat in premium cabins and report about on this blog are certainly personal events.

I understand why some photos would cause alarm (exit doors, galley equipment and some flight deck pics), but I just don’t see an issue with those specifically related to a passenger’s in-flight experience.

I happen to have been stopped by two Federal Air Marshals upon deplaning a flight at JFK after a passenger alerted the crew I was taking pictures and video. They were incredibly polite and professional, and after explaining my intent, showing what I captured and providing a business card, they were satisfied and let me keep my images. I’m sorry Matthew didn’t get the same courtesy of a proper investigation.

Is United’s policy warranted? Yes, but I think proper discretion on the part of both passengers and crew members is essential.

Related posts:

My ‘Run-In’ With Two Federal Air Marshals

Thrown Off a United Airlines Flight for Taking Pictures

My travel goals on United have changed this year due to several factors, including a move to a more expensive cost per mile (CPM) originating airport and the increasing likelihood that all U.S. airlines will add some type of elite status revenue requirement to their frequent flier programs.

My goal on United this year is to simply hit million-miler status and forgo my annual obsession with achieving Premier 1K status. With what I just booked today, I’m only about 4,100 miles away and I’m certain I’ll hit it mid-year.

And as I’m getting older and my time at home is more important to me, I’m looking to do it in the most comfortable and efficient manner. Often, that means spending more, as I did on my recent first class trip from Boston to Tokyo.

Also, I don’t want to waste all of my Global Premier Upgrades (GPUs) on domestic travel this year, so I searched today for the best deal on another international trip where upgradable coach-to-business seats were available at the time of booking. United, if you don’t know, requires the purchase of at least a W-fare to upgrade most international flights and I thought I’d share some of that research.

Keep in mind the fares below are exclusively for a specific time period (April 10-17), and there are often many other factors which affect the disparity between the cheapest coach ticket and upgradable fare. But I still think it’s a fascinating reveal of sorts, showing how widely the differences can vary.

Cheapest vs. Upgradable United Airfares

What stood out to me was the rather insignificant fare differential on the San Francisco to Sydney flights. Last year I paid nearly $900 more for a roundtrip W-fare to upgrade my LAX to Sydney ticket in July, a fairly off-peak time-frame for U.S. to Australia travel. Los Angeles came in at a difference of $574, but still a bargain over what I ended up paying.

And one of United’s easiest routes to redeem a GPU on (San Francisco to Seoul) ended up being the highest fare differential in the markets I checked.

I was also a bit surprised that the ultra long-haul Hong Kong flights from Chicago and Newark didn’t have a greater disparity, but then again… buying only a W-fare on those routes would do little to beget an upgrade.

I found a route that worked for me and I’ll happily rack up upwards of 13,000 butt-in-seat miles to add to my lifetime status in BusinessFirst comfort, paying a $350 premium for the W-fare. I’ll have a full report on my return.

What’s the most you’ve paid over the cheapest coach ticket? Did you get the upgrade?

Related posts:

Analysis of United’s Lowest Coach vs. Upgradable Fares Using a Systemwide Upgrade

Looking Back at 2012 and What’s In Store for 2013

Flight Review: United Airlines Global First Class, San Francisco to Tokyo

Flight Review: United Airlines BusinessFirst, Los Angeles to Sydney

• Probably the most reported airline news story today is about a man who allegedly smacked a crying child on a Delta Air Lines flight adding a racial slur as he did so. Abhorrent behavior on the “adult’s” part, and his employer reportedly took swift action in firing him. “Buh-bye.”
• United Airlines modified some checked baggage allowances and fees without notice recently. The adept folks at Australian Business Traveller first spotted the change, which includes reducing the free allowance of 70-pound bags for international business class (BusinessFirst) passengers from three to two. Also new for international BusinessFirst fliers is a $200 rate for the third (and beyond) bag. First class passengers traveling within the U.S. also have their free allowance cut from three to two. Status matters, however, as Premier Golds and above (and any Star Alliance Golds) still receive three 70-pound bags free domestically and internationally.
• Iberia has taken delivery of its first Airbus A330-300 aircraft sporting the new “Business Plus” business class. At the same time, however, Iberia had plans to cancel more than 400 flights this week amid worker strikes.

Iberia Business Plus

• If you wanted to live in a penthouse suite, I suppose Ritz-Carlton is the way to go. And Ritz-Carlton is offering Lake Tahoe suites for sale at $1.25 million each. I think I’ll pass for now.

Related posts:

Notable Airline, Hotel and Travel News: February 15, 2013

Notable Airline, Hotel and Travel News: February 14, 2013

Notable Airline, Hotel and Travel News: February 12, 2013

Congratulations to commenter #29, who was drawn by the trusty random number generator – you’ve just won a United Airlines Global First and BusinessFirst amenity kit.

Lucky Number 29

Winning Comment

Congrats Ralph! I’m emailing you now to get your address. Thanks everyone for your interest… I’ll sift through by bins to find more duplicates I can give away in the future.

Related posts:

United Airlines Global First and BusinessFirst Amenity Kit Giveaway

United Airlines Global First Amenity Kit Review

United Airlines BusinessFirst Amenity Kit Review

Two of my readers reached out to me recently and graciously donated amenity kits that I didn’t have in my collection (thanks Felicia and Jason!), and I’d like to give away a couple of my duplicates to one of my interested readers.

[Edited: Thanks to everyone who entered... I drew the winner as planned on Sunday.]

Specifically, I’m giving away both a United Global First and BusinessFirst kit to one person who might like them. Here’s my review of the first class kit, as well as the business class offering.

United Airlines Global First Amenity Kit

United Airlines BusinessFirst Amenity Kit

The current Global First amenity kit is the best United has offered in the past decade (at least) and the BusinessFirst kit is definitely a step up from the last pre-merger United version. Continental’s BusinessFirst, however, was quite nice.

If you’re interested, simply leave a comment below (one per person) and I’ll use a trusty random number generator to pick a winner on Sunday, February 10 at 12:00 p.m. PST. Don’t worry if your comment gets held for moderation… I’ll be sure to approve them all by the time of the drawing. And please use a valid email address in the comment form (it doesn’t get published), as that’s how I’ll get in touch with the winner.

Good luck! [Edited: COMMENTS ARE NOW CLOSED (sorry I can't turn them off). I've been getting a slew of new comments today, but the drawing was yesterday.]

Related posts:

Amenity Kit Reviews

United Airlines Global First Amenity Kit Review

United Airlines BusinessFirst Amenity Kit Review

Ranking the Top Amenity Kits I’ve Reviewed (as of 06/18/2012)

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

One week ago yesterday, I flew on United’s inaugural Boeing 787 Dreamliner flight from Houston to Chicago.

United Dreamliner Inaugural: Introduction

United Dreamliner Inaugural: Pre-Departure Festivities

United Dreamliner Inaugural: UA Flight 1116 IAH to ORD

United Dreamliner Inaugural: Chicago Arrival Celebration

United Dreamliner Inaugural: UA Flight 1510 ORD to IAH

United Dreamliner Inaugural: UA Flight 1209 IAH to LAX

The excitement following the pre-departure festivities at gate E5 in Houston culminated with very crowded boarding lanes for flight 1116 bound for Chicago.

I was among the first dozen or so to make it onboard and each passenger was greeted at their seat with a “Proud to fly the 787 Dreamliner” folder. It contained an inaugural flight certificate, 787 infographic card and an invitation to share pics and video with United’s social media team.

I was seated in 4A for this historic inaugural and my seatmate was to originally be Bruce (NonRevAdventure.com), but he fell victim to a mysterious and non-self-initiated seat change. I was very curious to find out who the “seat poacher” ended up being.

I settled in as boarding continued, lightened my electronic window shade that took quite a long time (all were darkened upon boarding) and snapped a couple of pics.

The flight attendants did an amazing job ushering everyone onboard and directing them to the appropriate aisle to walk down. Virtually everyone was taking pictures or video as they boarded. It would be a while before the seat poacher appeared, but he eventually did.

Mr. Hxxxxxx sat down in 4B and didn’t seem all that enthusiastic about the occasion. Hmm. He kept to himself as I was busy investigating my surroundings and occasionally standing up to snap additional photos and chat with people I knew. He was, however, gracious enough to honor my request for a picture of me in 4A.

The seat itself is your standard Continental BusinessFirst seat, which I find infinitely more comfortable and spacious than pre-merger United’s lie-flat offering. As boarding continued, people were a flurry around the cabin mingling and sharing their enthusiasm.

It was an exciting start to a memorable flight. We pushed back on-time amongst a throng of United employees watching from the tarmac. Here’s the video showing our departure, including the takeoff and champagne (or cider) toast by Jeff Smisek once we were in-flight.

Once the seat belt sign came off (and even before), many people were filing up and down the aisles filming the momentous occasion. Television crews and other media outlets were occupying Jeff Smisek’s time post-toast. Meanwhile, I took a closer look at the seat and my surroundings, including the fan-like overhead air nozzles.

Prior to breakfast being served in BusinessFirst, I headed to the nearby lavatory just forward of door two. It’s an incredibly spacious handicap-accessible lav with an inward opening door that took me by surprise. The touchless flush and sink features were fantastic. Now, if Boeing could just come up with a mechanism to avoid having to lift the seat/lid…

Back at my seat, Mr. Hxxxxxx sat there unenthusiastically as he had from the beginning watching the IFE. My curiosity was peaked as to who he was exactly and I was fascinated that he kept such a stoic and thoughtless presence about himself. Oh well. Not everyone is an aviation enthusiast.

Breakfast arrived and I was incredibly unimpressed. I thought United always served a choice of an omelet or cereal dish, but maybe that’s just on my constant mid-con or greater mileage flying. This was a ham muffin with egg, as well as fruit, yogurt and either a croissant or cinnamon roll. Ehh.

After eating, I was rarely in my seat. Everyone (except 4B) was milling about, chatting away, taking pictures and simply standing in the aisles sharing their excitement. It was a fantastic experience and it came to an end far too quickly.

Before I knew it, we were descending for our approach into Chicago. Settling back into my seat, I brought my video camera out again and… (sorry FAA)… filmed the approach. You’ll see that in the next installment.

The in-flight crew on this inaugural were simply fantastic. They were consummate professionals in handling the occasion while at the same time equally enthralled by the experience. Kudos to them!

Much more is to follow, including my overall impression (pluses and minuses) of the 787.

Up next: Chicago Arrival Celebration

Related posts:

United Airlines Boeing 787 Dreamliner Inaugural: Introduction

United Airlines Boeing 787 Dreamliner Inaugural: Pre-Departure Festivities

United 787 Inaugural Takeoff Video

[Edited 10/19/12: A Media Relations representative responded to me (via my CNBC request) that the inaugural IAH-ORD flight is still on for November 4!]

Rumors are floating around that United is experiencing technical issues with the sole Boeing 787 Dreamliner currently in its possession. And delivery of United’s second 787 may be slipping.

Flyertalk member “colpuck” posted:

I heard a rumor that the 787 is having unspecified ‘problems’ and that EIS on (the) 4^th is optimistic. Also in that vein, Boeing’s delivery of 787 #2 is slipping.

Colpuck later posts:

I heard a little more. If there’s going to be a delay, it will be announced next week.

This would be a huge blow to those of us who purchased non-refundable tickets just to ride on one of the many planned flights slated to begin on November 4. I have two separate reservations. One roundtrip paid with cash and the other as an award. Fortunately, I could cancel the award without penalty if the flights do indeed get scrubbed. And while I could cancel my cash ticket, I don’t want to get dinged the $150 fee, not to mention I have non-refundable hotel reservations in Houston. That ticket would just turn into one very expensive mileage/mattress run.

It was a calculated risk to book the first scheduled trip, I understand that. And several of my Twitter followers mentioned that they didn’t book flights on 11/4 for just this reason. But it would still be enormously unfortunate.

For what it’s worth, I also heard from another source that members of the flight team leading the FAA flight testing say that they disagree with the rumors. This, too, is unconfirmed of course.

If the rumors are true, I’m hoping the issues are ironed out in the little more than two weeks we have to go. Otherwise, for those of us still in Houston on the 4th, we’ll just have to get together for a meet-up DO.

Related posts:

United’s 787 Dreamliner Availability is LIVE!

My Strategy For Booking a BusinessFirst 787 Seat

Video Tour Inside United’s First 787

It has been a few years since I’ve been back for a visit to Australia and given my relative work flexibility nowadays, this year ended up being a perfect time to spend another couple of weeks down under. Also, with my flexibility, I was able to book flights on United for which confirmable upgrade space using Systemwide Upgrades, now Global Premier Upgrades, were available.

After spending a bit of time in the Terminal 7 United Club at LAX, I headed down to gate 77 a bit early as the flight was zeroed out in availability and there might have been a chance for a VDB. It didn’t turn out that way, which was fine, but I would have likely jumped on it given my flexibility.

Boarding started as scheduled and after the concierge/GS agent boarded the first class passengers she walked to the gate from the International First Lounge, I was among the first few to board. I reserved forward-facing seat 14K on the upper deck.

After getting situated, I headed up to the flight deck for a chat with the pilots, as well as a quick trip to the lavatory.

While in the lav, I overheard the gate agent mention to the captain that the flight was weight restricted, there were 30 revenue standbys in the gate “biting at the bit” to get onboard the nearly full flight, and he offered up the option to offload some bags to accommodate a few passengers. I don’t know how many passengers were able to make it on, but there was one cart of huge bags they indeed pulled off that didn’t make the flight.

I settled back into my seat and we took a delay while they processed the passengers and removed the bags, which I could see from my window.

Flight attendants brought around the menu and amenity kit, as well as offered pre-departure beverages. By 11:30pm PDT, we were “wheels up” and service began with hot towel service (the bigger Continental-style ones), warmed nuts and drink service off the aisle cart.

I always appreciate how quickly United gets the meal service going on the late flights to Australia. To begin:

The non-descript “chilled appetizer” was a salmon-wrapped piece of some type of fish I couldn’t identify and I neglected to ask the flight attendant what exactly it was. I went with the buttermilk ranch dressing on my rather common, but tasty salad. Croutons were added separately from a dish from the cart.

United recently upgraded the business class menus to offer four main courses instead of three.

I went with the grilled pork chop, which ended up being huge and delicious – a marked improvement from my last international business class meal on United.

While I normally skip the cheese and dessert courses to sleep, I went ahead with them since there’s just sooo much time to sleep on the 14.5 hour flight.

Shortly after having my tray removed, a flight attendant brought bottled water prior to me reclining back into lie-flat mode to get some sleep.

I previously mentioned how I preferred the Continental lie-flat seats on my Dublin flight review, and my impression was reinforced on this flight. The reason? Being 6’1”, I use the entire seat space when sleeping and have to rest my head on the pillow lying over the very hard headrest. It’s fine when simply relaxing in the seat in an upright mode, but damn is that headrest stiff as a board and uncomfortable on the neck when in lie-flat position.

I only ended up getting about 4 hours of sleep total, unfortunately, and tossed and turned for a while before getting up to grab a snack. The offerings:

In addition to the sandwiches and fruit, chips and nuts were also available. When I asked for a coffee at the back galley, the flight attendant said she’d prepare it and bring it to my seat.

I watched a couple of new movies and then scanned the TV programs, which didn’t seem to be any different than the offerings on-hand since April, sadly. Still, there’s enough entertainment to keep anyone busy for such a long flight.

Breakfast began about 2 hours outside of Sydney and I went with the scrambled egg dish. It was very similar to any domestic first class offering, but satisfying enough.

Now, a note about the service. The two main flight attendants serving business class upstairs were the best I’ve experienced on United. While not quite as perfectionistic as those I’ve encountered on other international airlines, they consistently smiled, had a professional disposition, weren’t rushed and accommodated every request with pleasure. By United’s standards, they were excellent and I have since sent a note to the 1K email giving them compliments. Well done, United!

We touched down about 7:00am and I’ve never seen the immigration lines so long in all the times I’ve arrived in Sydney. Fortunately, United provides business (and first) class passengers with the express lane passes and I made it from aircraft door to the customs exit within 20 minutes max.

I simply love Australia and I’m excited to get to spend a couple of weeks here. This coming week, I get to experience Virgin Australia’s business class service from Sydney to Perth, as well as review a couple of new hotels. Stay tuned for those posts in the coming days.