United Business Class, any good?

[smith]

I am flying LHR-Washington on the UA925 departing 16:20. I think it is a 777, anyone have any experience of business class on this flight? good/bad? I don't think this flight has the new business class offered by UAL which looks pretty good, now with flat beds.

[raffele]

I don't know specifically about J class but family who have travelled United on the same route you're on in the past haven't been wowed by the service from end to end. Average - nothing special is how it was described..

[strake]

I can't help with the Dulles flight but came back from Chicago with UA after being cancelled on VS.
This was in the newer cabin I think. Service was good from experienced, professional crew. Seats were OK perhaps slightly less privacy when compared to VS or BA. The only thing I found a bit disconcerting was the video system. The individual screens are very large (which should be a good thing) and positioned side by side so occassionally, you can't help but be distracted by your neighbours screen when watching your program.

Other than that, it's much the same deal as most major carriers.

SeatGuru on the Sticky above might help in giving you more detail on your flight.

[Hartington]

It's maybe 3 years since I last flew US J (so the old product). Wasn't awfully impressed. Not bad, as such, just awfully average. One thing that did irritate me was they wouldn't let me into the lounge at Denver because they said I wasn't making and international connection and I wasn't a paid up member. Well, I was making an international connection (within fare rules) but I could understand that someone working the door of the Red Carpet club might not understand the nuances so I didn't make a fuss.

[Eboy]

I have flown United Business Class to LHR from Dulles, but not the return -- equipment for my flight 925 had an encounter with birds at LHR and I was moved to BA. This was a couple of years ago and it was not the lie-flat seats.

I generally agree with the other posts. It is . . . well . . . OK. Not bad. But you will have better service on some other airlines. I only use an economy ticket and upgrade with coupons or miles -- not worth thousands of dollars to me.

I also agree the SeatGuru site is good. Quite accurate with regard to United aircraft. Some Business Class seats are better than others.

Exit row aisle in Economy would have been almost as good for me on that flight.

[EastMids]

A few of UA's IAD flights are on the 767, but most are on the 777.

None of UA 777 have got the business class refit yet - the program starts in September, I think (supposedly the story is that the 777 IFE is driven by a single system, and UA's current y-class seat back IFE in the 777 can't cope with the AVOD so they have to refit y-class on the 777 too, and that requires a reconfig of Y to 3-3-3 against their current 2-5-2).

The new UA business class is OK (as mentioned above), the old business class seat is probably 10 years out of date by current standards - better than anyone's y-class, but not a patch on today's j-class. Mind you, I don't particularly rate AA or CO highly for business class either. Service on UA can be patchy - I [have to] use UA fairly regularly and I find the London based crews in particular are usually fairly good, and fortunately recently most of my flights have had London based crews.

In terms of seats (on the 777) - check seatguru as mentioned before, but business class is split into two sections. I prefer the small cabin of two just rows in front of the number 2 doors (rows 8 and 9 I think) rather than the larger cabin of five rows behind door 2.

Put it this way about UA business... If you get the new seats, all well and good. If you have to pay the same price for UA's old seats as you would have to for business class with BA or VS, I'd probably go with either of those airlines in preference to UA - frequent flyer program notwithstanding. If you're stuck with UA and the old business class seats, its still a heck of a lot better than economy.

Andy

[timmyneedham]

You probably need someone who's been on it in the last few weeks to get the latest seat info etc but I can vouch for the service and food. Last time I did the IAD-LHR in UA business I had the best night's sleep I've ever had on a plane and the food was good too. Woke up and thought I'd missed on board shopping but they sorted it out for me with no problem and made me a fantastic cup of tea. When I said I wasn't used to strong tea in the US they said they left the bag in longer for Brits!
I haven't flown with them for a while as not been to US for some time but would have no hesitation recommending them for overall product. I should add that business cabin was extremely busy that night as well.

TN

[smith]

I got the flight with star alliance (bmi) frequent flier miles so not complaining. Looks like it will be a 777 so will be old style seats and not the flat bed I'd imagine. Not complaining though, quite looking forward to it. Thanks for the replies.

[manintheback]

Old style United Biz, think of Virgin Premium Eco as a comparison but not quite as good service.