UNITED: Premium Service Transcon Review, Boeing 777-200

Hello and welcome to another video. I'm Paul Lucas and this morning at 5am I am at San Francisco

International Airport about to head to Newark, New Jersey with United Airlines on one of their

premium service transcontinental routes. Now some of you who have been following this channel for

a while know that I actually had a few problems with United Airlines last year. I took United on

a 757 in premium service last year to check out their flagship product across the usa and i had a

terrible terrible experience i won't go into those experiences now but what i did do at the end of

the flight was book again for the following year and here i am now now this flight was originally

supposed to be on a boeing 787-10 dreamliner with the new polaris seats and that's why i booked this

particular flight however united changed the aircraft to a 777-200 which is one of the more

standard aircraft you'd find plying this particular transcon route so it has some slightly older seats

but the service on board will be exactly the same anyway i hope you enjoy the video let's get cracking

united operate from terminal 3 here at san francisco my business class ticket comes with

united premier access and this means i can use the priority check-in lanes the check-in kiosks

themselves proactively ask you whether you want to change to a different flight on the same day

and will even let you look at the seat maps for the aircraft. Sadly, there were no 787-10s flying from San Francisco that day

so I stuck with my original plan of flying on the 777. The kiosk will also weigh your bag for you

but you have to take it yourself to the bag drop. The atrium is located in the middle of Terminal 3 and contained a bit of a surprise

These are replicas of RAF Hurricane and Spitfire aircraft. My ticket entitles me to entry to the United Club, which is found right next to the atrium

the lounge also features a fizzy drinks post machine but it a little bit too early to be indulging in that kind of sugar load

I really like how United have tried to make the lounge reflective of its locality, San Francisco

Many airline lounges make a point of feeling like they're in no place at all

so I really appreciated this. There's a business centre with workstations in a conveniently quiet place at the back of the lounge

but as for me I was happy just to grab a little snack and watch the aircraft

so just heading down to the gate now it's only about a two minute walk from the united club just

behind me. United have a really great app, in fact. It's one of the best things about the airline

and with just 10 minutes to go until boarding starts, I was able to change my seat assignment

from the one they gave me on the south side of the aircraft, the right-hand side

to one on the left. Today's aircraft is a 777-200, which often applies the transcontinental routes

The airline also uses this aircraft to service long international routes too

Okay, so here we go. United Premium Service to Newark. Let's see how it is this time around

I'll admit to feeling a little bit nervous when boarding this aircraft. Last year I had three

very poor experiences with United and I was hoping for something better this time

This aircraft is laid out in a 222 configuration. When I got to my seat I found a blanket and pillow already waiting for me

For those of you familiar with my video on United's transcon service last year

yes I did check out the toilet before boarding and thankfully it was in good working order

and pretty clean too. It's also a lot bigger than the 757 lavatory

Sadly, the cloud is too low for us to get a good look at San Francisco downtown, so let's

have a look at today's route map. San Francisco to Newark is 2,563 miles, and the flight does this distance in 5 hours

20 minutes at 37,000 feet. United has consistently good Wi-Fi, and logging on was the first thing I did as soon as it

was activated. The plans available are fairly cheap in my experience, and I found the connection speed

to be good as usual. The in-flight entertainment screen is a decent size, and comes with a fairly responsive touch screen

There was also a good selection of movies and TV to choose from. The main thing that I dislike about this seat is that the power outlets are way behind you on your shoulder

and it's very difficult to reach them without standing up. The seat control functions are, however, sensibly placed

and there's also a remote to save you stretching forward and using the touchscreen

The table is stowed in the centre console and will fold out like this

and can be moved forwards and backwards. Finally, there's a small storage shelf underneath the screen

and a very small privacy partition, which only really works when you're reclined

The bedding on board is by department store Saks Fifth Avenue, and it's among the best anywhere in the sky

This flight departed at 7.30am Pacific time, so the meal on board is breakfast

Now, breakfast is a meal which is usually not terribly inspiring on planes

so I was interested to see what United made of it. I went for the chicken chorizo chili verde, and I have to say I was really pleasantly surprised

The meal looked really good and very appetising. This was one of the most

flavoursome dishes I've ever had for breakfast on board an aircraft. Great work

United Airlines. The eggs were also of a great consistency too. With such an early start behind me and a full stomach it was time for me to grab a quick nap

so I got the bedding out converted the seat into a bed and managed to sleep well for a couple of

hours. I woke up as we were passing Cedar Rapids in Iowa. Our flight path also took us over Chicago

affording us great views of O'Hare Airport and the shoreline of Lake Michigan. With just over an

hour to run, the second meal is served, and it comes in the form of a very small half wrap. I

think this is okay on the eastbound flights. My flight landed at just after 4pm local time

which meant that I would be getting dinner in a couple of hours anyway. Before landing, I ordered United's signature cocktail, the old-fashioned

Let's give this a try. The old-fashioned is really popular, but I think I was having that a little too early in the day

to appreciate it. This experience cost me 659 US dollars one way. That's about 518 pounds sterling

This was a much better experience than the one I endured last year. Filthy linen, a grimy cabin

a toilet which was so broken it was a hazard, and utterly terrible food all added up to a very

poor value experience. So I was delighted that United had managed to change my perceptions this

time around. The next video on this channel will be Delta One Transcontinental on their 767

That's a product that competes directly with this one, and believe me, you will not want to miss

that episode. I'm really interested to know what you guys think of United Airlines. Let me know in

the comments below as for me i'm going to sign off now and say goodbye and i'll see you in the next

video thanks for watching