United Business Class Review London, UK (LHR) to San Francisco, CA
Book your flight on United here.
This article is part of my trip report 'Westward bound'. The trip report index will appear below once all posts have been published.
I took the Heathrow Express train from Paddington a full $30 poorer for the 15 minute ride. My plan was to use Heathrow Connect which is the same train and just runs 5 minutes longer for just $12 but no ticket machine would accept my no chip credit cards.
Check-in was done in less than a minute and my bag was on its way being loaded into the plane.
I spent about an hour in the Star Alliance Lounge (review to come tomorrow).
United uses a 747 for the SFO flights from London. The plane is not the newest but the Business Class is the same as on all retrofitted planes (I'm not sure if there are any planes with the old business class left at all).
My seat was on the upper deck directly behind the first officer (and the lav :). The beauty of the seat is that you can move your legs onto the storage area just right of the seat which gives you quite a bit more space.
The crew introduced themselves and the words 'London based' fell. I immediately relaxed and began to look forward to the flight. And indeed at any interaction the crew was courteously offering their services. What a difference to the flight attendants on my outbound to Korea.
Lunch was served and it was pretty good. Very much edible although my favorite the Tandoori chicken was not available. I felt the portion size was on the small side and although I had 3 courses I was still hungry for another sandwich (which I brought from Pret-A-Manger for $3.50). Needless to say that sandwich was the highlight of the lunch in taste and freshness :)
I fell asleep for a couple of hours with just the right amount of turbulence throughout the flight. I usually sleep best with a light shaking and rolling but wake up when it begins to rock like crazy.
I watched a TV show and fell asleep again only to wake up just before descending into SFO :) So I saved myself the embarrassment of the breakfast/lunch that would might have ruined my flight experience. That's almost 8 hours of sleep out of 10 hours flying time :)
Overall I really like the Business Class seats United offers, they are on the small side but very 'cozy'. They go 100% flat and for me sleeping is a breeze. The entertainment system works just perfectly. If you can pack a lunch or decent meal for your trip you may be able to really enjoy your trip with United.
Book your flight on United here.