The good news?  Any passenger holding Premiere or greater status within United’s Mileage Plus program is able to book an Economy Plus Seat at no additional cost above what the regular coach fare price is for a particular flight.  The mediocre news is that United’s Economy Plus cabin resembles a coach cabin (physically and in amenities) more than anything.

The boarding area was terribly crowded with what looked like a plane’s worth of passengers lined up.  Having no idea what line to get into, I slid my way to a boarding lane that had no passengers.  Luckily, when I reached the front of the line, the gate agent called for Premiere Executive’s to board.  There was still a long line of Business Class passengers waiting to board when I blew through the jet-bridge.  I was greeted and quickly took my seat, 24C, on the Boeing 777 (reg: N779UA)  I was impressed with the cushy feel of the seat and cleanliness of the airplane.

If you choose one of the aisle seats in the middle section of seats (2-5-2), expect nearly every single person that boards the plane to run into you.  I took a few elbows, a hip, a knee, a foot and a roll-aboard to the side.  Despite selecting an entirely empty row to sit in, the morning of my flight, 90% of the Economy Plus section was full.  The FA announced that E+ seats would be available for purchase after takeoff for $97.

I found the noise reducing headphones in my seat back pocket, but unfortunately the captain was not transmitting Channel 9: Air Traffic Control.  More disappointing was that only one side of my headphones worked and it only woked if I applied constant pressure to the plug that connected to the audio jack.  Guess I would not be watching any movies.

While we were taxiing, a large plastic light fixture fell from the ceiling a few rows ahead of me.  Some people looked annoyed, others were laughing.  One passenger, probably the one who got smacked in the head with it, promptly grabbed the 3 foot piece and tossed it into the aisle.

Once we reached our cruise altitude, beverage service started in the Economy Plus Cabin.  I was surprised that no complimentary alcoholic beverages were available.  All adult beverages were for purchase,  How could this be?  Delta offers complimentary beer and wine throughout international flights in economy, nevermind E+.  More on this later.

For dinner, we were given a choice of vegetable pasta or chicken.  I chose the chicken which had some type of curry sauce and while it tasted alright,the chicken was quite fatty. I didn’t bit into any tendons though so  what more can a guy ask for?  The salad was was the best part; plentiful and fresh.  The roll was hard a rock.  I asked again if beer and wine were complimentary with dinner as I saw the FA in the other aisle handing out splits of wine left and right and she did not collect payment.  The FA paused, thought about my question and then replied: “no”
Still not sure I understand the policy.

I looked through the movie selections even though my audio was a bust.  “Kick-Ass” was the “editors pick.”  Some other movies: “Cop Out”, “Clash of the Titans” and “Daybreakers.”  I was able to keep myself busy trying to determine if anyone else had to pay for alcohol except me, playing solitaire and reading.

Some positives to look forward to in United Economy+ are the extra leg room and good service.  At 6′ tall, my knees did not jam into the seat in front me.  I felt the service was friendly and efficient, but I am sure one should/could expect this in each of United’s travel classes.

economy plus cabin

row 24 economy plus cabin

you can see the light fixture that fell in the aisle

cocktail, snack & stuart woods

dinner

economy plus cabin

breakfast: banana bread with the consistency of sawdust and yogurt

To my recollection, this London Gatwick – Atlanta flight, was my first international flight on Delta in Coach. Minus a miracle there was no chance of an upgrade. I was not overly excited about the flight, but on the other hand it was a direct flight home. I was interested to see what transpires in coach class on an international flight because I simply had not had much experience except for an Air France flight to Dubai.

I secured an exit row seat and shortly before push-back an fa asked the guy next to me to gather his belongings and follow her; “there is something wrong with your ticket and we just need to check it out” I am assuming that meant an upgrade because he followed without a response and never returned… Now I had 2 exit row seats to myself.

Breakfast was served almost immediately after takeoff and I was impressed with the meal.  There was a choice of some chicken dish or an omelet.  Breakfast, minus the presentation, could have been served in the Business Elite cabin. Yes, maybe the business class cabin was offered cereal and yogurt in addition, but I was not complaining. What I will complain about is when the drink cart came along, they only had coffee soda and oj. My first choice: bloody marry. I was given a highly annoyed response by the steward-aka not on cart. My second choice: cranberry juice, also not on cart.  Now he was irritated and I was denied again. He said he could not do it now (because 7 hours is not enough time) but that he would come back; he never did.

I was surprised to see a snack service mid flight. This was more true to a Delta domestic style: a choice of peanuts or pretzels, Pringles or M&M’s for 2 bucks, booze for $7.

I entertained myself for a few hours with a very solid on-demand music selection. There were a bunch of movies on demand at no cost but the HBO shows were from 2 to 7 dollars. No Soprano reruns were available so hardly worth it. And no, that show about a bunch of kids making cell phone calls to each other for 30 minutes is not worth the money.

Lots of water was distributed throughout the flight and the FA’s were quite friendly. I was surprised at the constant line for the bathroom… the entire flight there were people waiting for the bathroom. More shocking is that 75% of the passengers were in socks or bare feet. Foul and unsanitary!

Shortly before landing we were served pizza and ice cream. The pizza was of the microwave variety and not very good, but I would not expect any airline to be able to serve up a good pizza on a plane. American served this pizza in Business Class and it too was bad.

I could handle 14 hours in coach, with an exit row of course. Hell, that’s what most people do so maybe I will try.

boarding area

our 767

30 A&B

leg room

my view