United Airlines Business Class

[jimmym40]

Has anyone flown recently on any of these segments? I'm interested to know if all segments of the flight in business class have the full reclining seats (like a bed). From Narita to SanFran they use a 747-400 aircraft. I don't know if it's upgraded or an old delappa dated aircraft. I know some of the business class seating still have the cloth "easy chair" type of seats that do not fully recline 180 degrees.

The other segments of the flights use a Boeing 777-200ER and I'm pretty sure they fully recline.

I checked the online seating charts, but they do not show those specifics in detail.

[CWMcMurray]

There is an iPhone ap called "seat guru " that should help you out if you can find out the aircraft type

If you do not have iPhone , I believe they also have a website with same info

[craigt3365]

seatguru.com is OK, but I've found not 100% accurate. As can be imagined. Be careful with UA, they code share with ANA. And the coordination between the two is not the best...as we found out last year.

Can't help with biz class as we fly back of the bus!

[rfukata]

as I remember on the international sector of UAL, there are 2 classes;

1) first class with full recliner box cubicle with all bells and whistles.

2) business class; appeared to be a normal business class seating without the private full recliner cubicle.

[mairuu]

It will "depend".

For my flight from NRT to BKK last week, they changed the aircraft twice from the time I made my reservation.

They were all 777-200.

The first one had lay-flat seats.

The second had the kind that don't fully recline.

The third had the same kind of seats as the second, but they were in a different configuration.

In case you might not know, you should check your reservation occasionally, because they will make changes like this and you might end up sitting where you would rather not. If you keep an eye on your res, you might be able to choose seats that you like on the changed plane.

[WilliaminBKK]

They are fully flat BUT be careful they will swap them occassionally with Continental livery and those seats are worse. BKK-NRT is so early in the morning you don't have time to enjoy the lounge in BKK, also the connection in NRT is hectic with all of their flights connecting at the same time the lounge is PACKED and the only cool thing about the lounge in Tokyo is the beer machine, the food is terrible.

If you are doing BKK - SFO you have so many choices my personal pick would be Cathay/ANA/JAL at least with ANA you can still accrue points and the service is so much better.

I really can't stand UA's product most of the pax in J class are either upgrades or employee's & their kids, lastly be aware in J class 50% of the seats face the aft of the aircraft.

[josephbloggs]

This time last year I flew UA business class to Las Vegas. BKK to Narita was "new" business class lie flats and was superb. Narita to San Francisco was old style business class. Coming back was the same in reverse. In the old business class the seats and environment were pretty awful but the service was superb so it wasn't too bad.

I know they are gradually overhauling all their planes but I have no idea if it's complete yet.

[josephbloggs]

This time last year I flew UA business class to Las Vegas. BKK to Narita was "new" business class lie flats and was superb. Narita to San Francisco was old style business class. Coming back was the same in reverse. In the old business class the seats and environment were pretty awful but the service was superb so it wasn't too bad.

I know they are gradually overhauling all their planes but I have no idea if it's complete yet.

Having said that it was not a patch on Emirates, Etihad, Singapore or Cathay's business class but it was pretty good value for the money. Pretty much all the American airlines are years behind their middle-eastern and Asian counterparts (excluding TG).

And the poster above is correct in that the lounge in Tokyo will be packed, but the beer machines are super cool. They ran out of clean glasses when I was there though it was so busy.

[jimmym40]

Thanks all for the responses. Just a side note. I'm from Vegas, lived there 30 yrs, moved here 6 yrs ago. I've noticed in the past six months or so there have been many posters mentioning Vegas - seems as though there are many Vegans living here in Thailand...

Anyway, I was going to start a new thread on this subject, but thought I'd give it a go here first.

I know I could call United rep in bkk, but as we all know (those that been here a while), I could call and ask this question 3 times, and would probably get 3 different answers, so I'll ask here for definitive replies from those "in the know".

If you fly business class on United, you get 150% miles awarded - correct? So, let's round it out, r/t from bkk to LAX, approx 8,000 miles, so you would get awarded 12,000 miles - CORRECT or not?

Okay, now I want to ask if anyone has/uses their United Plus Explorer Card (credit card)? First year free ($95 value). How long after the first year would you have to keep enrolled? I know there's fine print somewhere on the application, but it does not show up on the website. I don't think they'll let you takes benefits for free for one year and then dump them. I know tough question, but maybe someone went through this routine.

I used to fly TG twice a year back to Vegas and was a GOLD member, but let that expire about 2 yrs ago since their benefits kept loosing value and their airline prices are outrageous. So now, I'm thinking of enrolling in the United Explorer Card, but I will only make one trip a year and maybe even cut that down to one trip every two years. Just asking for your wild thoughts if it is worth it or not - to apply for their credit card???

I've never used miles for United (don't have only 35,000 right now. But as an added benefit of have an explorer card, your miles never expire.

Besides what United advertises about their Explorer card and benefits, is there anything else of benefit that's not obvious?

Sorry for all the questions, but any responses to any part would be appreciated.

Cheers...

[roxnadz]

I honestly wouldn't recommend flying United right now...since their merger with Continental things have gone pretty badly in all facets of service.

Here's the skinny, though:

All United Boeing 747-400s feature the "new config" business class. Those are lie-flat seats with 15" monitors. Very nice, I've flown them regularly, you'll get plenty of sleep.

The 777-200ERs are a different story. Most of them have the new config, some (as described in posts here) are "old config" with reclining seats that are not fully lie-flat. I personally don't care, as I usually upgrade and am happy to have any business class seat. Contrary to what's stated here, the old config planes are not Continental planes. You can see which planes have been converted to the new config here: http://www.flyerguid...onversions_(UA)

The amount of miles awarded depends on the booking class you paid for as well as your frequent flyer status with the airline. If you pay for business class you get 150% award miles. If you upgrade, you get miles based on your status level, anywhere from 25 to 100%.

Can't say much about the credit cards, tend to steer well clear of them.

Edited April 18, 2012 by roxnadz

[jimmym40]

Just wanted to get this to the top of the list because I've added more added request and info in Post #9 above. Maybe I should start another post - asking about the miles awarded and credit card.

[rchapstick]

Just wanted to get this to the top of the list because I've added more added request and info in Post #9 above. Maybe I should start another post - asking about the miles awarded and credit card.

Earning miles: http://united.com/CMS/en-US/Marketing/CustComm/Promotions/Pages/united.aspx

[lomatopo]

Just to add: the NRT-BKK-NRT segments are hit/miss with regards to having the upgraded lie-flat (IPTE) seats on the 777, and as mentioned they swap out aircraft pretty frequently. Sometimes they use the HNL arriving aircraft, other times the IAD arriving aircraft. For my recent travel: April 12 BKK-NRT and April 20, NRT-BKK we had the "old" seats even though the new seats showed in the reservation/seat-map up until ~ 30 hours before departure. The "old seats" are OK for this route and make upgrading to business a bit easier as there are 49 seats vs. 40 on the "new" configed 777. ( I might not have cleared on April 12 without the swap even though I was #1 on the DM list.) Note that the current schedule shows a 747-400 for NRT-BKK-NRT on/about Oct. 2 (I flly on Oct. 3 ), and all of those have been updated to the new lie-flat seats. (I think there are up to two NRT-SFO flights, at least seasonally, so you have to check those more carefully re: 777 new/old and 747. I've been bounced onto this segment when NRT-BKK was cancelled.)

The RDM accrual rate for business class varies by fare class: 150% for Z/P and 175% for J/C/D. The PQM rate is 150% for all business class fare buckets. http://www.united.com/web/en-US/content/mileageplus/premier/qualify.aspx

There is a new affiliated card: United MileagePlus Club Card, which offers many benefits including no expiration of accrued RDM.

https://www.theexplorercard.com/MPClub95SC.aspx?CELL=SZF

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/united-mileageplus-consolidated/1329491-introducing-new-united-mileageplus-club-card-officially.html

And FYI for Premier Platinum and Premier 1K UAL now reimburses the $100 for the Global Entry Program. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/united-mileageplus-consolidated/1271588-2012-global-entry-fee-refund-plat-1k.html

[55Jay]

Verify equipment if it is "operated by ANA".

[Asiantravel]

I honestly wouldn't recommend flying United right now...since their merger with Continental things have gone pretty badly in all facets of service.

Here's the skinny, though:

All United Boeing 747-400s feature the "new config" business class. Those are lie-flat seats with 15" monitors. Very nice, I've flown them regularly, you'll get plenty of sleep.

The 777-200ERs are a different story. Most of them have the new config, some (as described in posts here) are "old config" with reclining seats that are not fully lie-flat. I personally don't care, as I usually upgrade and am happy to have any business class seat. Contrary to what's stated here, the old config planes are not Continental planes. You can see which planes have been converted to the new config here: http://www.flyerguid...onversions_(UA)

The amount of miles awarded depends on the booking class you paid for as well as your frequent flyer status with the airline. If you pay for business class you get 150% award miles. If you upgrade, you get miles based on your status level, anywhere from 25 to 100%.

Can't say much about the credit cards, tend to steer well clear of them.

" I honestly wouldn't recommend flying United right now...since their merger with Continental things have gone pretty badly in all facets of service. "

quite frankly I can't see how they can ever recover from this slow spiral downwards?

reminds me a bit of how NASA died

[skippybangkok]

Avoid it like the pest.......

1) Sir, we have 3 meals, whats your choice ? (A)..i will take #1....... sorry not available...... would you like 2 or 3 ? (A), ok i will take #2......... errrr thats all gone too, we have #3.

2) cabin crew arrogant

3) cabin crew talk / laugh loudly during low peak time in the galley - enough to wake you up with ear plugs ! (admit, am a light sleeper )

4) ignore the call button..............

5) Lounges suck, and i.e. Tokyo the Wifi did not even work (freq disconnect, and when you could connect, slow throughput ). Had to cancel a skype conference i scheduled there.

Take ANA, SQ, TG........ avoid US based airlines !

You would think you were in Y class in a low cost airline