Review: United Airlines 777-200 Business Class Los Angeles-Chicago (High Density)
Intro
Side note: taking a very brief break from the African adventure.
I recently had the opportunity to try out a United Airlines 777-200 in Business Class from Los Angeles to Chicago on a status run. See, while I say status run, there was more of a multiple-factor reason for this trip, which is as follows:
I wanted to review the final United Business Class, which I haven't had the opportunity to do yet.
I happened to find IN space on the outbound, and I space on the inbound
My plan was to spend my birthday weekend in New York
I needed 3 PQFs to set me on my goal for 1K next year
Overall, I actually quite enjoyed this flight. United does a fantastic job of offering a full meal on a 3.5-hour redeye, and I had a fantastic seatmate to keep me company. However, these seats provide almost zero privacy.
Route-Los Angeles-Chicago
Seat- 3A
Flight Number- UA2622
Aircraft- Boeing 777-200
Date- December 6th 2024
Flight Time: 4 Hours and 3 Minutes
Price Paid: 30K UA Miles+5.60$
How I Booked
Following my even latest trip to Africa, I happened to reach the Premier Platinum threshold for United. Once reaching PP, one is able to book IN fares on United, which are much more widely available than traditional I fares. I happened to stumble across a route from Los Angeles-Chicago-New York with the first leg on a 777-200 and the second leg on a 757-200. Cross country for 30K Miles and 5$ in taxes, I am sold!
LAX/Boarding
Seeing as there wasn't much to do on a Friday evening, my friend had dropped me off at LAX around 7:45 pm for an 11:00 pm departure. The check-in desks were an absolute breeze like they usually are, but for some reason, my TSA Pre-Check number would not show up. I'm curious to see if anyone else has had this issue, as it has not been just the one time.
I digress; another reason for taking this trip was that I had a lounge pass expiring that night, so I stopped by the United Club for some dinner. I'll touch on the full review of that lounge in a separate post, but the United Club at LAX is one of the nicer ones in the network, featuring a taco bar, an outdoor terrace, and a large but modern area.
Oddly enough, our flight tonight would be operating out of Terminal 6, more specifically, gate 68B. I find that the occasional UA widebody will operate out of this gate, and I have to wonder if we might see more soon with the way that UA is expanding at LAX.
By 10:30, boarding was already underway, and group 2 was being called.
The Seat/Cabin
Stepping onboard, passengers were greeted by a lovely flight attendant directing each person down which aisle to proceed. Turning left, I laid eyes upon the most dated United Airlines business class product. I had flown this plane once before in Business (many times in economy), but it still shocks me every time.
Seats on this 777-200 are laid out in a 2-4-2 configuration across 4 rows, totaling 28 seats (the middle section only has three rows). If possible, I highly recommend choosing a non-center section seat, as it really feels like you are up against someone the whole flight.
My seat for the day was 3A, a backward-facing seat on the left-hand side of the aircraft. To some people, this seat isn't great; there is very little privacy, the footwells are small, and the whole product feels dated.
For a long-haul flight, I could agree. However, if it hadn't been for this dated product, I would never have made a new friend on the flight (more on that in a bit).
We were slightly delayed due to a minor issue with the plane, but that wasn't an issue as the FA came around to keep our sparkling wine topped off.
Departure
20 minutes late, we pushed back from gate 68B and were rolling out to the 25R for departure.
It was a very brief taxi out, and we were wheels up 12 minutes to the West. An aspect that never gets old is taking off while sitting backward. Perhaps it is nostalgia from flying Club World when I was younger, but it's unbelievable looking out over the wing, combined with the sensation of slightly falling forwards.
IFE+WIFi
Located in front of the seat was a large and clearly refurbished IFE screen. The IFE offerings that United has is one of the best in the sky, as they actively try to get as many movies as possible when they release. There are certain movies that I'll see on United flying to Asia, but I won't see them when connecting to Singapore Airlines straight after.
For those who don't want to use the touchscreen feature, there is also a remote located to the left of your seat.
In addition, I was impressed to find that United Airlines offers wifi for 8$ on all of their domestic routes for mileageplus members (10$ standard). This is even applicable to the transcon service, which is very unlike AA😉. T-Mobile customers receive free wifi!
Amenities
I'm not one to fly these domestic routes with United very much, but I was happy to see that United loaded real headphones (same as Polaris) for this short red-eye. In comparison to my 5-hour hop on a 777-200 with American Airlines, which offered earbuds, this was lovely.
In addition, business class passengers were given a slim blanket. Yes, these blankets aren't great, but the blanket actually saved me when I was recently sleeping with a tribe in South Sudan lol.
Dinner
United shines in Domestic First in one area over the other US carriers: they offer a full dinner service during these short redeyes. Ordinarily, one would most likely prioritize sleep, but I thought I might as well enjoy it as I could sleep on the next flight (or so I thought).
There were some options to choose from onboard, but since I had pre-ordered, the FA came over moments after takeoff to confirm my chicken breast selection.
Service started with sparkling water and a glass of red wine.
Due to most of the cabin being asleep, the food came out quite quickly. Within about 40 minutes after takeoff, I was enjoying a delicious chicken dish, sharing some laughs with my seatmate, and having some free-flowing red wine.
All in all, a solid meal.
The service was nothing short of exceptional during the flight. Throughout the meal service, we were constantly checked on by the FA, who was patrolling the aisles with a bottle of red in hand to top up passengers.
Lavatories
Flying a widebody is always a treat on a domestic flight, but one of the best aspects is the larger lavatories that the 777s have versus a 737. There are basically 4 lavatories for 28 seats, 2 in the front and 2 by door 2L/2R, which are quite spacious.
I know I am in socks; call me crazy; I changed when I was in New York.
Arrival
For the next hour or so, I ended up chatting with my seatmate. We ended up being quite similar: he went to the same University as me, actually was an RD 5 rooms down from where I lived my freshman year, and was just a crazy flyer and AVgeek like me. It also happened to turn out that he was flying to New York with me the same day on the same flight...
I managed an hour and a half of sleep and somehow woke up when we were on the ground in Chicago. These red-eyes are brutal, but I was grateful to have a lie-flat seat, that is for sure.
Landing at Terminal C 15 minutes late, we had to make a quick dash to Terminal B as our flight was just about to begin boarding!
Final Thoughts
Flying on the oldest active 777-200 (N774UA) was a delightful experience. I am trying to find a way to fault United Airlines for this experience, but I simply cannot. In terms of soft product, UA offered a full (delicious) meal, a blanket, and the same headphones as Polaris. In terms of service, the FAs were absolutely fabulous the whole time. However, my favorite part was the hard product as if it wasn't for this dated 2-4-2 configuration, I never would have met this kind guy who I still talk to a week after the flight. Yes, I wouldn't fly this product internationally, but it is perfectly acceptable for a flight time of sub-4 hours.
Just a lovely, lovely, lovely flight.
Commenti