After a busy day in Seattle, I flew home on a retrofitted United Airlines 737-800 in first class. It was another smooth journey with a hearty meal and some great views over Los Angeles…but it wasn’t perfect.
United 737-800 First Class Review
United currently operates from the A gates at Seattle, though some shuffling may occur in the months ahead. For now, the United check-in accounters are on the far side of the terminal, closest to the A gates. There’s a security checkpoint there too. If you use the checkpoint on the other side, prepare yourself for a very long walk.
I stopped at the United Club before my flight, which is a perfectly nice lounge. Our inbound aircraft from Denver arrived late, but the ground crew managed to turn it around very quickly and what was supposed to be a 20-minute boarding delay turned out to be no delay at all.
United 1835
Seattle (SEA) – Los Angeles (LAX)
Saturday, May 04
Depart: 4:47 PM
Arrive: 7:29 PM
Duration: 2hr, 42min
Distance: 954 miles
Aircraft: Boeing 737-800
Seat: 3A (First Class)
This was the same retrofitted cabin I flew from Cabo to Denver last December and it is nice to see more 737-800 popping up with retrofitted interiors.
Seats
United’s latest generation “first class” seat, which also appears on the Airbus A321neo, has “wings” and an “articulated cradle” such that when you recline the seat cushion slides forward to give the illusion of greater recline. There’s a hardshell behind the seat so when you recline the person behind you does not know.
This cabin had 16 seats spread out over four rows in a 2-2 configuration. Seat pitch is 37 inches, the length of the seat is 20 inches, and the recline is five inches.
Seats have power in the center console, including a unviersal outlet and a USB-C charger.
Unfortunately, there were crumbs and grime in the center compartment and on the tray table:
It was a gloomy evening in Seattle:
IFE + Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi internet costs $8 for MileagePlus members and $10 for non-members regardless of domestic flight time. Select T-Mobile customers can enjoy complimentary access. Streaming movies and TV shows are available via the United app.
Each seat also had a seatback screen with Bluetooth connectivity (complimentary headphones were also offered), featuring a library of movies and TV shows (a great selection than the streaming service) as well as games, audio, and a moving flight map.
I became enthralled watching a German movie called Das Lehrerzimmer (The Teachers’ Lounge).
This was the flight in which I was treated to some beautiful views of Los Angeles on approach followed by some great aircraft spotting on the ground at LAX.
> Read More: My Scenic Tour Over Los Angeles On United Airlines
Food + Drink
Dinner was served after takeoff, commencing with a hot towel, followed by a beverage and warmed mixed nuts.
I pre-ordered eggplant for my dinner, described as:
Breaded eggplant pesto
Breaded eggplant pesto with marinara and alfredo sauce
Other choices included a fruit and cheese plate, pasta, cobb salad, or chicken breast.
Yes, it was quite unsightly like most domestic meals on United. But it really hit the spot because it is something I would never dream of eating at home. We don’t do breaded stuff, but this was a nice treat. It was served with bread and caramel cheesecake (which I skipped) and a green salad.
Wait, What? Some Negative Feedback?!
Ok, you folks are always saying that I am hopelessly blinded when it comes to United. Well, let me offer this constructive feedback on my flight: drink glasses were not refilled after dinner, which was incredibly annoying. And I feel too timid on United to use the flight attendant call button because of the “roll eye” reaction by some FAs. Yeah, my problem…but I feel like service should be proactive and I should never have to ask for a drink when seated in the front cabin. Even just asking if I needed anything else when picking up the meal tray, which is standard protocol, would have been helpful.
And the flight attendants who worked the cabin were quite nice…cheerful and friendly. They just should have at least checked once more during the final 90 minutes before landing. Little things like that, however, do leave a lasting impression–either positive or in this case, negative.
CONCLUSION
Objectively, I enjoyed a comfortable flight down the West Coast with a decent dinner and nice IFE.
But if I’m being honest, it was not one of the better flights this year in terms of service…the drink refills just annoyed me and I don’t think I should have to flag flight attendants down or use the call button to get a drink.
Nevertheless, this was a special flight because of our approach over Los Angeles…it makes me want to fly in from the north again just to try to get better shots of Dodger Stadium.
I still wouldn’t be excited to have this meal, but it does look markedly better than the previous ones you’ve shown.
I think until United changes something about their catering this is the status quo. A shame bc it would vastly improve their product and perception.
Talk about a very caloric meal. Holy s..t!
I left the bread and cake on the tray! 😉
“There’s a hardshell behind the seat so when you recline the person behind you does not know.”
Yeah, but in that third cabin/seat pic you posted it looks a bit obvious the person in front of you is reclining.
Yes, I saw that. LOL! I still don’t understand why US airlines cannot offer healthier meals. Last week on Delta, breakfast options were french toast or a quiche. Both extremely caloric and fatty.
To be fair, a cobb salad (mostly spinach) was one of the choices
To be honest, what is the calorie intact of a quiche? Maybe 500-700? If sticking to a 3000 calorie intake as a male who is exercising daily and active is that really so atrocious? You can also pick away at the interior and avoid the shell, thereby cutting it down to probably 300/400.
Looks like they used red pesto or forgot the green basil pesto!!
It was just tomato sauce!
You must have worked hard to make UA work on SEA-LAX. It’s really sad because for so many years this was a mainstream route with 6-8 flights/day and for a time it had hourly departures all day long. But it’s been down to 1-2/day making it extremely hard to use. AS is the king of this market. I wish UA would compete.
I cannot imagine flying UA over AS or DL on this route. Better experience in pretty much every possible respect.
Nice luck on the refitted 738s though – They are still pretty rare – approx. 20 out of an active fleet of 134. I keep getting stuck on the ancient ex-CO birds with the most uncomfortable F product of any mainline US carrier IMO.
IRRC, Alaska has a much lighter meal though on flights under 1090 miles, right? Like just a sandwich or fruit plate on LAX-SEA, right?