My “indirect” route between Los Angeles and Chicago began with a flight up to San Francisco then a 15-hour flight on United Airlines to Hong Kong in Polaris Business Class on the 777-300ER.
United 777-300ER Business Class – My First Impressions
I began the morning in Burbank (BUR), flying up to San Francisco (SFO) then enjoying breakfast in the Polaris Lounge ahead of my longhaul flight to Hong Kong (HKG). It was a beautiful day and flights were on time.
Boarding for UA869 to Hong Kong began 45 minutes prior to departure and I found my seat in row 18A, a window seat in the last row of business class. I could tell the service would be excellent on this flight when the purser came over to my seat shortly after I sat down, welcomed me onboard, and thanked me for being a Premier 1K member.
I slept well the previous evening, but nevertheless was hoping to get a lot of rest on this flight We took off on time, lunch was served promptly, and I did get about six hours of rest, which is good for me these days. The Polaris bedding (mattress pads still are only available on request) remains excellent.
Internet on the 777 (Panasonic) is still bad…the internet was down for most of the flight and when it did work, it was very slow. That’s a big reason to avoid the 777 versus 787, though thankfully I prepared for the fact that internet would not work and completed all my essential work prior to stepping onboard.
Headphones have improved since my last flight…the quality is now much better (Meridian Audio).
United’s latest amenity kit partner is Brooks Brothers, though the contents of the kit have not changed.
Pajamas were offered and while comfortable, I like the older gray ones more in terms of style.
The pleasant surprise on this flight was the food. I knew United had really upped its beverage game, but did not expect such a nice lunch after takeoff. In terms of wines, selections included The Mascot Cabernet Sauvignon (about $150 per bottle) and a Domaine Serene “Evenstad Reserve” Chardonnay (2023) from Willamette Valley, Oregon, which retails for $75 and was very good with my fish. I did begin with an Aperol Spritz, another recent addition to the beverage line-up.
The appetizer, salad, and main course were all outstanding. The salad included baby spinach with crumbled goat cheese, roasted baby beets and candied pecans, served with a nice lemon vinaigrette dressing. For my appetizer, I chose whipped mint labneh with blistered cherry tomatoes, minced parsley, and za’atar vinaigrette…it really hit the spot.
But the most pleasant surprise of all was the main course. My expectations were very low, but I pre-ordered the fish, described as Chilean sea bass with orange-Aleppo roasted fennel, saffron farro risotto, pitted olives, Marcona almonds,
and cioppino broth.
Credit where credit is due: it was cooked perfectly and had a great flavor and I loved the fennel, risotto, and olives served on the side. Finally, finally, finally United has improved its food.
I followed that with a cheese course (also improved and now with pecans) and an ice cream sundae.
United now offers tapas on longer intercontinental flights as a mid-flight snack and I had to chuckle over the terminology, as each dish was entree sized, not tapas sized. I tried the black bean corn empanadas, brown butter gnocchi, and herb ricotta cheese. The heirloom tomato salsa on the ricotta cheese was not very good, but this was a nice mid-flight meal.
A full breakfast was served prior to landing and I had French Toast, which was fine (no eggs on the menu, with the other choices being congee or a yogurt bowl).
You never really have had to worry about going hungry on United, but that doesn’t mean you’d be satisfied with the food. This flight I was very much satisfied with the food, particularly the lunch after takeoff which will probably make my top 10 airline meal list for 2026.
CONCLUSION
I made it Hong Kong on time…it was a restful transpacific crossing and United has really upped its food and wine game compared to my last intercontinental flight.
But I did something stupid…or maybe not? I need your advice on that, but that will have to wait until tomorrow…
Overall, though, a very good flight on United, with the biggest (and most pleasant) surprise being the excellent food.
RE: Amenity bag – the included products are now made by Perricone M.D. instead of Therabody.
That catering looks great, but what are they thinking partnering with Brooks Brothers?! That’s where my dad shopped in the 1990s. I’m surprised the case isn’t plaid, and instead of a zipper, it just has two collar buttons to close it.
The amenity partnerships of US carriers rarely make sense from a branding continuity perspective. They’re all about maximizing dollars. I hope UA got plenty of whatever they wanted from the deal. Honestly, it feels more appropriate than Therabody.
I’ve never quite understood why there are so many Brooks Brothers stores in airports, either. But I guess they are just trying for name recognition with a crowd that probably has more disposable income than on average. Plus, their real business is selling shirts, pants, sweaters and the like, not suits anymore.
Another fantastic flight in your immense air travel history.
You didn’t mention 2 benefits of the 777 that are so important, compared to their 787: a) seat width is 22″ rather than the narrow width of only 20″ on a 787 (allows you to sleep on your side if you like) and b) width and space in toilet is almost double which is nice for changing into PJ’s. I had been on a Thai Air flt. (before the UA flt.) that used an A350 which had 26″ width and make flt. quite comfortable, so had to adjust to the 22″ on 777 ; the amount of personal space is so important on a long haul.
I do want to take United to BKK via LAX if only because it’s only a short layover on the same plane. Of course from SFO you have to worry about connecting on time. Also I’d much prefer flying OW if there’s long layover in HKG.
The PP availability on SFO HKG though is much more abundant (probably also because there are more J seats).
48 versus 60, indeed, though a lot more Y seats on 777-300.
I do prefer the Dreamliner.
Salute to the Aperol Spritz and the ice cream sundae!
They have dropped congee on the SFO-ICN route, so glad to see it is still there for Hong Kong. It is a better choice than the sweet breakfast dishes being offered in Polaris.
15+ in J is far better than in UA’s 773’s 3-4-3 economy. 14 hours to NRT in-the-back got me good. Yikes.
I much prefer the United ‘blue’ Polaris PJs; still have a stack of grey ones from a bunch of EWR-JNB flights.
United Pilot here. Glad to hear you enjoyed the food. United has been really working on delivering a better quality experience!
Sounds great. Wish they had the Mascot cab sauv on the TLV EWR flight. It was listed but not available. Perhaps price was a factor.
Did you use Plus Points to upgrade?
Brooks Brothers still has good clothes today and stores worldwide.
Yes, booked an L fare and used 80 expiring PlusPoints.
Such a badass!!
(Not even kidding; pumped to see PP’s actually prevail!)
“I knew Untied had really upped its beverage game, “.
Trademarked flattened croissant still looks alive and unwell. The fish description sounded good. Thank you for the report.
Good to see the quality of the food has improved, and that despite the length it was a pleasant flight overall.
The Chilean Sea Bass is indeed excellent.
Kudos to United catering. It is good system wide on a consistent basis.
is it? Common thread seems to be it’s usually bad but can surprise you from time to time
Ding ding!
Im still choosing CX on this route ver UA any day if paying my own way. For UA even in J i usually bring my own snacks and eat a big meal before boarding.
Must add, though, if rolling the dice and flying UA on schedule, I’ve had some excellent FAs on this route (even better on average than NRT/HND or SIN). And recently.
Maybe it because of the still typically light load factors the FAs are less stressed? Not sure if the newer 5th freedom flights have done anything to fill the cabin…
Still amazed thad Asian carriers run 13 FAs on the same/similar cabin layout that UA and DL run 9 FAs for long haul. That explains a lot of the service difference probably.
Yes United has improved their food since after the pandemic. I would still say it was better , along with the service before the pandemic. And now they wait so long to serve breakfast, like one hour before landing, youre in a rush to eat. And if there is even a rumor of some minor turbulence, they won’t even serve breakfast in Business Class. So a 14.5 hour flight to MNL, you get one meal at 2am in Business Class. The pajamas are nice but you better change back early as they want you to raise your seat and be seated 35-45 minutes before landing which detracts from the so so service.
On this particular flight, I found it better than pre-pandemic. The only thing I miss (and this goes back a decade) is the tamale-filled breast of chicken.
https://liveandletsfly.com/united-airlines-chicken-dinner/
Catering out of DXB is also excellent on UA.
Ultimately, fifteen enjoyable hours spent on board one of UA’s 22 B777-300ERs (average age: 8.2 years).
“Untied” lol. I wish you would let me proofread…or someone?
Too bad Grammarly crapped my system, making it unbearably slow.
Any recommendations on seat selection? I prefer window and a row up toward the front, on the notion it is more quiet and less disturbance.
I will definitely have the wine and full meal.
I like the bulkhead rows because there’s more room for your feet, but my seat, 18A, was very quiet (there’s a curtain with premium economy directly behind).
Curious about the Internet (Panasonic). I have T-Mobile which gives me free internet and streaming on United. Never really had a problem before on the 777 or 787 international. Do you use the T-mobile ?
Agree about the upgraded catering.
Also wonder if it matters which Intl Hub one departs from or is it pretty equal now?