After a brief visit to the ANA Suite Lounge at Tokyo Narita Airport last month, I headed over to the more spacious and serene United Global First Class lounge.

Entry to the lounge is via an elevator just inside the reception area to the United Club in Terminal 1. After an agent checked my boarding pass upon exiting the elevator, I situated myself alongside the windows.

Global First Lounge Seating

Global First Lounge Seating

The lounge hasn’t been updated in years, but aside from the well-worn leather chairs, I think it’s still a pretty comfortable lounge – except for the temperature. It always seems to be too warm and although electronic screens are lowered as the sun beats through the windows, it rarely cools down.

The buffet area doesn’t offer anything spectacular in terms of food with only marginally better nibbles than the club downstairs, including sushi and pork dim sum. All beverages are self-serve with chilled glasses available in the refrigerator.

Dining and Buffet Area

Buffet

Buffet and Beverages

A selection of newspapers and magazines are available in the hallway near the bathrooms, and around the corner are business center cubicles, massage chairs and Panasonic Note stations.

Hallway

Massage Chairs

Massage Chair

Panasonic Note Station

The shower rooms are also rather warm, but thankfully include multi-speed fans. Individual bottles of Plegaria shampoo, conditioner, body wash and lotion are provided. (Read more: United Airlines Global First Shower Room Amenities)

Shower Room Key

Shower Room

Shower Room

The main reason I like this lounge is because it rarely fills up and it remains very quiet. And when the runway parallel to the windows is in use, it affords pretty decent #avgeek views.

Departures Monitor

Singapore Airlines A380

The Global First lounge in San Francisco remains my favorite, followed by Los Angeles, Hong Kong (primarily for the food) and Tokyo. My best advice is to hit the ANA Suite Lounge for the food, then relax in the Global First lounge before heading to your United flight.

Related posts:

Lounge Review: ANA Suite Lounge Tokyo Narita Airport – Terminal 1, Satellite 4

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

United Airlines Global First Class Lounge Shower Room Amenities

The Reality Check That Is United Airlines Global First Class

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

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 visited United’s Global First Class lounges in Tokyo and San Francisco on my mileage run last week and I took advantage of the shower rooms offered in each in hopes of adding to my amenity kit collection.

Truth be told, I had freshly showered at my hotel in Tokyo before arriving at the airport, but I was keen to see if the former Murad kits had been swapped out for newer ones since my last visit in 2010. Sadly, there was no wrapped kit, but instead individual bottles of Plegaria shampoo, conditioner, body wash and lotion, along with a toothbrush, toothpaste and comb.

United Airlines Global First Shower Room Amenities in Tokyo

I did end up taking a shower (why not?!), but didn’t use the delicious smelling Plegaria products as I wanted to save them for my collection. And my Google search skills must be failing as I can’t seem to find Plegaria products online. The English part of the blurb on the bottles note they’re made in Thailand. I’d love to order retail-size versions.

On my arrival in San Francisco, I skipped the Arrivals Lounge that’s on the lower level after exiting customs having been there before and being unimpressed with the food offerings. In retrospect, I should have visited just to see if anything had changed, as well as pick up more amenities. Ah well… I’m a bad blogger. Instead, I re-cleared security immediately and headed to the Global First lounge.

Here, I definitely wanted a shower and after a quick nosh, I asked to use one of the two shower rooms available to passengers. Towels and an amenity kit were promptly provided.

United Airlines Global First Lounge Shower Amenity Kit SFO

The zipper bag itself isn’t really anything special or luxe, but I’m happy to have received one. Inside an internal plastic pouch are small tubes of conditioning shampoo, body wash, facial cleanser, shaving cream, body lotion and facial moisturizer. They’re not branded, but are remarkably similar in appearance and scent of the previous Murad offerings.

United Global First Lounge Shower Kit Contents

Also included with the kit: a small circular stick of deodorant, razor, Colgate toothpaste, toothbrush (identical to the one found in the Global First amenity kit) and a folding brush/comb. I do quite like the individual amenities as opposed to mass-use versions found in other shower rooms, usually in business class lounges.

I’ll have a detailed lounge review of the Tokyo location coming up shortly here on Frequently Flying, as well as a look at the ANA Suite Lounge and a San Francisco to Tokyo flight review in Global First.

Related posts:

The Reality Check That Is United Airlines Global First Class

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

Amenity Kit Reviews

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

United Airlines recently refreshed their amenity kit offerings now that the merger with Continental is solidly complete. I previously reviewed the new BusinessFirst kit and now bring you the Global First kit for this installment of Amenity Kit Reviews. For a better description of each category and the 7-point scale for scoring, please review my introductory post.

Bag/Container: The deep navy blue rectangular case is made of some type of high-quality canvas-like synthetic fabric and has a magnetic snap closure. A small silvery-gold metal plate featuring the United logo and Global First brand is affixed to the lower right-hand front side. It opens to reveal two large zippered mesh compartments divided by a penholder elastic band. Handily, it has a fabric loop sewn into the top allowing it to hang on the lavatory door. As you can see below, the “United Global First” brand is heavily promoted on the interior of the case. While I generally prefer an actual bag, I do very much like this design and reusability would be high. Score: 6

Skin Care: United went with the philosophy brand of skin care items this time around and the kit includes “hope in a stick” lip balm, “hands of hope” hand cream, “hope in a jar” oil-free moisturizer, “hope springs eternal” facial spritz, and a “purity made simple” facial cleansing cloth. The scentless, gel-like hand cream absorbs rapidly and was surprisingly un-greasy. The lip balm, too, lacked any scent or flavor, but the moist facial cloth had a slight aroma of sandalwood and sage. Separate facial moisturizer was ideal to apply after using the cloth and I absolutely love the mist/spritz on flights for instant refreshment. And my germ-phobic self was very happy to find a small bottle of Purell hand sanitizer in the kit. The enclosed product information card for philosophy offers 20% off any purchase of $50 or more on their website using an offer code. Score: 6

Oral Care: I’m thrilled United changed out the toothbrush that’s been making the cut the last several iterations of their kits. This one is medium-bristled and one of those where you pop the brush into the case. A tube of standard flavored Colgate toothpaste was also included along with Scope original mint mouthwash and two packages of peppermints containing two each. And I’m impressed by the Crest Glide dental floss – when you tear the pouch open, the floss stays internally adhered to each end of the pouch making it easy to avoid dropping it. And all the items come in a quart-sized plastic bag perfect for use for the 3 oz. TSA rule. It, too, is emblazoned with the United globe and Global First brand. Score: 6

Comfort Items: Eyeshades, socks and a plastic shoehorn are ribbon wrapped with yet another item featuring the United globe logo. The eyeshades are “one size fits all” with elastic straps and the socks have been slightly upgraded with little round rubber grippers on the bottom – a nice touch. Also included are a wooden comb (with the United Global First brand logo), soft-ish earplugs, a package of three tissues and a soft cleansing cloth perfect for cleaning eyeglasses or mobile device screens. I’m a bit torn between scoring this category a 5 or 6, so it’s getting my first-ever half point bump. Score: 5.5

Intangibles: This is by far the most substantive kit United has offered international first class passengers since I’ve been a collector. It contains a huge amount of useful items and it is indeed an exclusive amenity. I’m a branding dork and while the logo is virtually everywhere, I dig it. The full-sized pen is an added plus. Score: 6

Total score & comments:

I can’t fault anything in this kit and the score of 5.88 strongly reflects a solid offering. Now only if United would supply pajamas in Global First…

Related posts:

United Airlines BusinessFirst Amenity Kit Review – 2012

United Airlines First Class Amenity Kit Review (old version)

Ranking the 19 Amenity Kits I’ve Reviewed To Date

Amenity Kit Review Introduction

United Airlines posted pictures of its new amenity kits on Facebook yesterday. The Global First version looks quite nice and an upgrade from the current version, though the case might not be as reusable. Sadly, the BusinessFirst version doesn’t appear to be much of an upgrade from the current United Business Class model – and a significant downgrade from the Continental BusinessFirst version. I’ll be sure to get my hands on both soon for my Amenity Kit Review series. I’m flying BusinessFirst internationally next week, so I’m hoping they’ll be boarded.

What’s your take based on the pictures below?

Courtesy: United Airlines

Courtesy: United Airlines

Courtesy: United Airlines