What is United Airlines’ economy class product like on its 10-across 777-300ER between Europe and the USA?
Once in awhile, a bit of a reality check is nice. Although I love premium cabins and am fortunate to routinely secure upgrades, I still fly a fair share in economy class. This is usually by choice, typically to save money, but also because I actually survive just fine in economy class.
Earlier this month I had a choice to make: fly Lufthansa First Class for the fifth time this year or save the miles and fuel surcharges and just fly United Economy home. I opted to fly United.
One big disclaimer. The flight was wide open…only about a quarter full…and this greatly influenced my choice. Had the flight been full, you’d see a very different report below (and truthfully, I would have just flown Lufthansa).
Boarding began at 12:15p and as a United Premier Gold member, I boarded with Group Two. As I usually do when I fly economy class, I moved out of my Economy Plus window seat with an open middle seat in order to secure a row to myself toward the back of the plane.
If you are going to do this, make it clear to the gate agent that you want the entire row…and read below for how you will have to guard it onboard. Don’t just move yourself.
UA 0059
Frankfurt (FRA) – San Francisco (SFO)
Saturday, December 09
Depart: 12:50PM
Arrive: 03:40PM
Duration: 11hr50min
Aircraft: Boeing 777-300ER
Seat: 47G (Economy Class)
I stepped onto the United’s brand new 777-300ER in the middle of the Polaris Cabin and was directed through the galley and back to my seat via the far aisle.
United Airlines 777-300ER Economy Class Seating
Seating in both Economy Plus and Untied Economy is 3-4-3 on the 777-300ER. 10 across is a tight squeeze, but I do think the seat is well-padded and not so horrible that it would be unbearable even if the flight had been more crowded.
The seat has legroom of 31″ and a seat-back monitor with the same IFE as in Polaris business class. USB and power ports are available at each seat.
But with only a handful of passengers assigned to the rear economy class cabin, today’s flight would be the kind you could spread out in.
Call me territorial, but I chose to fly economy class instead of upgrade for a very specific reason: because I could secure a whole row in economy class. Absent that, I could have easily upgraded. In fact, I believe a handful of non-revs were even upgraded to business class on this flight. Consequently, I “staked my claim” by throwing my coat down and lowering tray tables across the middle section of four I had been assigned, sitting down in one of the middle seats.
This was absolutely necessary as many additional passengers began coming back to the rear cabin looking for a row of their own. Trust me, all you have to do is ask the gate agent. That’s far easier than trying to find one on your own after boarding.
By the time we took off, the rear cabin had one passenger in every section of three or four seats.
United Airlines 777-300ER Economy Class Dining
Meal #1 – Lunch
After takeoff, a lunch service commenced. On longhaul international United flights, beer and wine is complementary. Other alcoholic beverages are available for purchase. Service began with a bag of breadsticks and choice of beverage.
Three main choices were offered for lunch: chicken, pasta, or Indian vegetarian. While Indian vegetarian is usually the best choice, I felt like pasta and ordered that, which turned out to be ravioli and manicotti with ricotta cheese.
On the side was a grain-based salad and a highly-processed white roll that was not worth eating.
Dinner service was followed by another round of drinks, ice cream, and a small bottle of water. The toffee ice cream was excellent (and I dare say better than the yellow-vanilla ice cream served in business class).
Meal #2 – Light Snack
Halfway through the flight, FAs distributed a plastic snack bag containing:
- crackers
- snack mix
- Gouda cheese
- Kit Kat bar
Another beverage service followed and more bottles of waters were offered.
Meal #3 – Snack
60 minutes prior to landing (it’s usually 90 minutes before), the last meal service began. That included a turkey sandwich on a pretzel roll, potato chips, and sliced fruit.
Half the time the sandwiches are served warm, half the time cold. Unfortunately, on this flight they were cold. Still very tasty, though. This last meal is actually something I look forward to and sometimes even request when flying in business class. I love these sandwiches.
United Airlines 777-300ER Economy Class IFE + Wi-Fi
After pulling an all-nighter, I opted to take it easy onboard. In addition to six hours of solid sleep, I watched a couple movies (Dunkirk and All Saints) and watched a weird Tribeca film called Beautiful Dreamer, Beautiful Dreamer. United offers Tribeca movies and films and the selection rotates each month.
I recommend you bring your own headphones. United distributes complimentary headphones and they are about as good as any airline’s economy class headphones. Still, even the simple white earphones from Apple makes huge difference in terms of sound quality and volume.
The in-flight map was not working on my monitor (same thing happened when I flew in business class to Hong Kong), but worked fine on the seat next to mine:
Also note that United’s new 777-300ERs feature “From the Flight Deck”, hearkening back to the good old days on pre-merger United in which Channel 9 was available on nearly every flight.
Also note that in addition to seat-back screens, United offers streaming IFE (“United Private Screening”) on your handheld device. Just ensure you download the United app prior to takeoff. Use it to screen most of the same movies and TV shows as on the seat-back monitor (though not all of them).
Lastly, wi-fi was available at a cost of $36.99 of the flight or $14.99 per hour. That’s steep.
United Airlines 777-300ER Economy Class Lavatories
Lavatories are not huge, but far better designed than 777-200s and other older aircraft. The rectangular sink makes it easy to wash your hands or brush your teeth and there a a bit more room to move around.
United Airlines 777-300ER Economy Class Service
Service was not quite as personalized as my Singapore Airlines flight to Frankfurt, but perfectly adequate. The crew was in good cheer, fairly friendly, and attentive in terms of offering water runs between beverage services.
I’d love service in economy class like Singapore, but that just isn’t the service culture in the USA and Europe and I am not going to deduct points for FAs failing to kneel at my seat or call me by surname.
Service was more than adequate for economy class…other than failing to warm up the sandwiches, it was good.
CONCLUSION
Is the 10-across United 777-300ER economy class survivable? Absolutely, and I think it would be even with a full cabin. It’s not as ideal as 9-across Air India with three extra inches of legroom, but the flight was about as pleasant as an economy class flight can be on a U.S. carrier. Don’t worry: it will be fine.
Great post. Always nice to see an occasional economy long haul review. On your strategy of booking Economy based on the cabin being pretty empty, what way to you recommend determining these loads in advance of booking?
Difficult to say, but winter is great and I look for 9s across the board in terms of fare bucket availability and a very empty seat map. It is NOT a perfect indicator, but generally reliable.
So you asked the Gate Agent for a whole row and they told you which one to use? Did they block the entire row for you on the computer system? (If not, couldn’t you just look at the seat map on the United app to figure out which row you should claim?)
They did not block the entire row. Instead they just promised it would remain empty (because there was only one GA assigning seats at gate). App is indeed how I determined which row to choose.
Just to confirm, you identified a row on the app, asked the GA to not put anyone in that row, and then staked your claim in that row after boarding? So the GA’s role was basically to not assign seats in “your row?”
Thank you!
Correct!
Thanks for the economy review. We flew the reverse route on 12/13. Upgraded at the airport during check-in for $959, which the agent claimed was “cheap” for this route. Regardless, it was money well spent as our tickets were dirt cheap to begin with. Happy new year.
Glad you got the upgrade!
I know your reviews tend to be heavily skewed to Star Alliance carriers, but in this case, Delta is the clear winner. They are the only US airline with 9 across seating in all of their 777s, which translates to an 18.5” seat width in economy. A big difference that is increasingly rare these days.
Besides the 3-4-3 seating the whole experience looks not bad for economy. I once flew one of AC’s 777’s from YYZ to FRA in a full economy class with the 3-4-3 seating and from that flight on have been avoiding 777’s for long-haul economy class flights. It’s overall just too uncomfortable, especially when the cabin is full.
The food on your UA flight actually looks pretty decent compared to other airline’s economy food. I am very surprised that they served a mid-flight snack. Is this only done on Europe to West Coast flights?
I think the potential problem is if you get stuck in a middle section of 4 on a full flight. From what I understand, the way the seats are designed, there is only underseat space for 3 bags per 4 seats. I’d imagine you’re also going to have constrained leg/foot space in some of those seats. Regardless, I’d still prefer the 3-3-3 config of the 787 over this one.
Otherwise, this looks like a perfectly reasonable coach product. The meals in particular seem above average.
These new thin seats hardly recline – you probably didn’t try because you had a whole row for yourself. I flew on this aircraft from Newark to Tel Aviv and I suffered quite a bit.
Before you say 3-4-3 on a UA 777 is fine on even on a full flight: try being in a middle seat with average size men on both sides of you. There simply is not enough width, and shoulders / elbows will sharply and deeply jab you the entire flight. For me, that was not survivable for 7 hours.
If you have an aisle/window, its probably fine. But middle seat on a sold-out 3-4-3 777: never again.
I understand…I hope to never have to experience a full 777-300ER on UA in economy class…
Was ch 9 (aka from the flight deck) on? Pity about the cold roll, mine are usually so hot that the cheese disappears into grease.
Channel 9 was on.
With a middle row for myself? Maybe… otherwise: no chance in hell, I’ll ever set foot into that agonizing-chamber again. I’ve been on T7s from LX, UA, DL (3-3-3) and BA (also 3-3-3) and, I’m sorry to be so blunt about it, the conclusion based purely on passenger comfort is that the Boeing 777 is simply the worst of the current widebodies. Even in 9Y, that airplane is just cramped, 10Y is Spirit-style. The discomfort of the draughty AC is one thing and you know that the cabin noise levels will always be higher on a Boeing when compared to a similar Airbus but that thing just takes the cake.
Matthew,
Have to thoroughly disagree with your “full cabin” guess as below. Having flown this crappy bird, I can attest it blows and blows hard. You knew enough to stay away from it – if the aircraft was full – you said so yourself. Yet in the end you give UA a pass and tell your readers – it will be OK! What gives? Maybe give it a “full cabin” try first like I did (for 14 hours to Asia) and then provide an actual assessment.
I spent half the flight leaning out into the aisle dodging carts and asses just to try to get away from my rather normal-size seat mate’s elbows and shoulders. The difference between the retrofitted 772 and the old cabin is 24 more economy seats, for example! That’s how many more bags and how many more trips/waiting in line for the lavs. Forget UA when it comes to this long-haul aircraft unless you can pull off poor man’s business class with a whole row to yourself. If that option isn’t available, try another aircraft type or airline that still flies 9-abreast (there are plenty still left).
I talked to one of the FAs on my flight (while waiting in a long line to use the lavs), she said the crews are already getting wary of the new ERs.
MATTHEW – “”Is the 10-across United 777-300ER economy class survivable? Absolutely, and I think it would be even with a full cabin.””
Also known as the 77W it might be a great plane in other respects but I completely agree with Steve B on this. My last 14 hour flight from Mumbai to Newark was in a777-300ER with this passenger- and crew-abusing layout. The aisles in economy are so narrow everyone bangs against you if you are in an aisle seat. The service carts barely fit and items kept getting knocked off. The crew were clearly not happy with the new configuration.
I have enjoyed every previous flight on this route until now (although the substandard and disrespectful boarding gate experience for tbis flight both in Newark and Mumbai is tough to stomach). I will never fly in this plane with 10 across again. I will be considering Air India or Delta for this non-stop NYC route.