Review: United Business Class 777-200 Frankfurt To Houston

I've just flown United LHR - LAX and return, the meal on the outbound looked identical to what you had.

The return flight we had a really friendly crew but they were so innefficient, I gave up on my meal after the main course as we were already three hours into the flight!! Then they were still rushing round trying to get everything showed as we were about 2 mins from landing!!

The foot area is much bigger if you get a bulkhead row.

They do have Dine On Demand (noted in your menu pictures). It's called Express Dine. It may not be the full presentation course by course you receive normally, but you'll get your meal when you want. This is even offered on PS flights.

Thanks Chris;

I was going to ask about the bulkhead! Would this be true of other airlines flying those seats (Aeroflot in particular)?

Lucky, or Chris, do the aisle seats and window seats have the same size cubby?

Wow! A decent united flight... its progress....

I took the 787 MUC -SFO with the same menu but different service. Drinks and nuts immediately after seatbelt sign turned off, appetizers 90 seconds later. The , every two minutes or so I had to tell them not to take my plate, that I was still eating. Cheese was on dessert trolley. And that final chicken/couscous meal was hands down the worst I've ever had on a plane.

All that just makes me laugh since I was lucky to have a bulkhead with a wide foot area so I could lounge and binge-watch Luther.

I can't help thinking it wouldn't be possible to find outstanding flair for service that is customer focused such as Pam's without the set of circumstances the airline culture provides. Allowing for inconsistencies provides room to grow into the FA role at a natural pace vs a forced script.

@beachfan

I've only sat in the middle two seats to avoid having to climb over people but the footwell is a good size on both sides so assume the aisle and window foot wells are the same.

Lucky, I'm curious which you prefer, between this United product (with the B/E Diamond seat) and Lufthansa's business class? Obviously neither is a world-leading business class product. But United's soft product has caught up some with Lufthansa (particularly on catering), although LH's crew is more consistent. IFE goes to United. This seat is pretty much a wash, at least if you're talking about UA's ex-Continental product (Diamond). But something about United's blue-gray color scheme still turns me off, the Lufthansa interiors seem generally better maintained with more sophisticated cabin ambience. (Maybe I just tell myself that because it's European, but I do feel it.)

So I guess there were no memorable changes in the Sheraton Frankfurt Airport since your last trip?

Here is a tip for anyone who is flagged with SSSS...don;t wait for them to escort you and/or page you, just go straight to the counter, ask them where they are conducting that security inspection, and go straight there and get it over with. That's what I did last month while transiting through Frankfurt.

"My main takeaway, though, was home awesome Pam was." I think you meant to say how awesome Pam was. The poor German of the crew is also the same on some of the Air Canada flights I have taken between YYZ and FRA or MUC. I find their pronunciation of words typically bad and they sometimes seem to use the wrong words or grammar as they make their announcements, which can sometimes be kind of amusing. The first meal does look appetizing but the portion looks rather small in my opinion.

So that Uzbekistan 787 meal actually looks better than this UA one...Polaris food isn't that much better than the previous mediocrity. And I've had that cod more than a year ago I'm pretty sure...they continue to recycle the same old meals.

At least they have the great new seats everywhere! Oh wait...

I've never understood why US carriers are reluctant to offer a choice of appetizers in business class. Is it really that much extra work for the FAs?

Then again, UA doesn't even give you a choice of bread any more lol!

Plus, I love how the (only) appetizer was chicken, as were two of the entrees, and one of the the pre-landing meals...not the most diverse choice of food on this flight. I wouldn't be surprised if Ford avoided chicken for a week after this flight.

Hi - You are such a great writer and thanks for the review. We just flew United polaris business from Edinburgh to San Francisco with a stop in Chicago. The first plane was a 757 to Chicago, second was a 777 to San Francisco and the experience was not good. From EDI to ORD - Same seats although a two + two configuration because of the aircraft and same menu but very different presentation - dry and overcooked. The bedding wasn't available, just light blankets and the bathroom was dirty at the start of the flight - out of service at the end. Crew not great. New Polaris lounge in Chicago looked amazing but was over crowded as we arrived so we spent 10 minutes only. From Chicago to San Francisco flight didn't have pillows or blankets in business but good seats. We flew over to Europe in American business and it was A++ experience. Your flight gives me hope but we will not be rushing back to United.

Going through "security" at FRA has been a nightmare (when not using the First Class Terminal) for the last couple of years. Irrespective of carrier, class or airline. Repetitive, unnecessary checks, authoritarian, cold staff.
Were held up by security (yes, they took our passports and refused to explain what was happening) for almost an hour on the Singapore Airlines Suites flight between SIN and JFK that stops in FRA for refueling and crew change, ostensibly because some young airport policeman "just felt like it."
The gate supervisor for Singapore Airlines had to intervene so we could be released to board our plane. We never argued, and tried to be as gracious and polite as we could manage through the whole episode.

I just flew from Rome to Chicago on United. I was in first class, but our food looked much the same as what you pictured! While I did enjoy the new United bedding, I still go with Air New Zealand for the best Business bedding. They have think foam pads that can make you believe you are in a real if narrow bed. Checkin out!

UA uses ancient 777-200s on their IAH-HNL nonstop (when the plane doesn't break down) as it did for us in Feb 2017. Had to stop and change planes in SFO - another relic of a 777-200. Replace the 2 jet engines with 4 props, and they might be oversized B-29s used in World War II. "First Class" on this route isn't worth the extra $$$$ they charge Vs economy or the extra miles if reward travel

I had to chuckle at the seared beef short rib - it's the exact same dish I had flying SFO-EWR in p.s. Business back in March. It was pretty good, FWIW, though also a bit disappointing to see it's still on the rotation five months later!

Happy to see a good review of United; while they are not perfect and have their fair share of bad apples, as an American, I am personally tired of seeing one of my flag carriers excessively bashed, especially this year. Have a flown MANY leading international carriers in premium cabins, and while many excel, many also lag behind US carriers, yet somehow are nonetheless reveared - I won't get into details, but have flown business on EK, SQ, OZ, and TG in the past year and been completely disappointed with various aspects of the service, yet have been thrilled with my experience on UA, EY, TK, and NZ. Yet, despite their dreadful 777-300 business class cabins with unpolished crews, Emirates gets all the praise, while all the "Pam's" at US and European carriers get slammed, when more often than not, their service is more gracious.

Lastly, I think the comment about the "terrible" German is a bit tacky. I would hesitate to judge someone making and announcement on a PA system in front of 300 people. I'm sure he or she tried their best, and German isn't an easy language to learn (I tried in college). Kudos for the effort. Many international airlines only speak the language of the home country as well as English, whereas language of destination is only offered as a pre-recorded announcement, so kudos to United for trying to staff the flight with crew with some knowledge of the language, and a bit tacky for the writer to judge them on their lack of perfect German.

@docntx

I don't know, my experience has been the opposite. I find transiting through FRA to usually be smooth and efficient. Is it is the nicest airport in the world? Probably not, but I've never had any major delays or problems with transiting and/or with security. Yeah, some staff there are cold, but I've also come across some nice and friendly staff as well.

Ben it's interesting your comments about removing the trays because before Polaris rolled out in December 2016, all sCO operated aircraft service in BusinessFirst did not have tray service (different story if you flew on the sUA operated aircraft because they did have tray service). The no tray service was much more elegant and originated in the CO days, so I immediately noticed this tray service concept when Polaris launched and classified it as a service reduction.

@MeanMeosh - if entrees are ONLY on the menu for five months in a row, that will qualify as an improvement...the terrible effing pork chop has been on the menu for literally 5+ years now.

Thanks for the update. I have recently flown the 767-400 service from IAD-GVA and then BCN-IAD. Hard product was ok, and I may have seen Pam on the IAD-GVA flight, because she was fabulous. A few weeks ago, also took the 777-200 (old school 8 across in C class) from IAD-MUC, and we had the 4 seats in the middle. It was an awful hard product (video equipment didn't work at all on one seat), and the crew was pretty awful, tom inlcude walking through the cabin 90 minutes before landing, and loudly announcing "BREAKFAST!!!!" to a sleeping cabin. We are in Rome and will unfortunately have the 777-200 from FCO-IAD on the way back. I have already been speaking with United about the experience on the way out. Would really like to see them improve.

I have also been spoiled a bit by "normal" service while bouncing around the EU on LX, LH and BA. Just don't know why the US Airlines get away with doing what they do.

Thanks, as always!

The music section in the entertainment section is missing in the review. I hope it is not intentional.

Looks only marginally better than Uzbekistan Airlines. The soft product looks good, the hard product, just okay. JetBlue is much better an airline with a both solid hard and soft product, they should be the flag US carrier, not dinosaurs like the US3.

I have flown a number of US airlines over the past decades including United, American, Delta, Continental, TWA, Western, Hughes Airwest, Southwest among others and was disappointed in all of their products except for Western, which of course, is no long with us. Today I never fly any US airline. I prefer, Air New Zealand, Air Canada, Westjet, Lufthansa and other European or Australian airlines because of their superior product. Also the recent bad press the US airlines have had based on their mistreatment of passengers is enough to turn anyone off of flying any US airline.

I am about to fly United business class again next month and am disheartened to see the same appetizer and salad offered as when I flew them business class in May. I hope they switch things up a little soon. Supposedly the new Polaris was going to make repeat meals less likely (according to their website). The roll out of the new seats is frustrating to me. I think they started advertising the new Polaris way too early (mid-year last year) and got everyone excited but it will likely be years before any of the routes I fly will have a plane with the new seats. Even the relatively new Dreamliners are not going to have them for ages. And all this over the next five years while Delta will have their all-suite configuration done by then as well. So United is, again, going to be one step behind. And yet I keep flying them, so more fool me.

Lucky..., a question for you: I am a regular reader of your blog and have noted the frequency with which you report that specialty coffee machines in premium cabins are often broken. In fact, it reads as though more often than not, regardless of airline, you can never seem to get a cappuccino or expresso. Is this more a result of crews likely unaware of how to operate them properly thus rendering them unusable? Just seems to be a consistent theme. Curious on your thoughts.

Marilyn Bradford, I agree that Frankfurt is terrible. It is the worst first-world airport I have been to. I go through once or twice a year on my way from Australia to Czech. Each time, immigration had only a few booths open with long lines - so easy to fix, but they don't. Staff are rude, the layout is weird, and there's generally nothing to recommend.

Avoid it if at all possible.

@Lucky I know this is an older post but I hope I can get your advice on a possible booking with United. In March 2018 I am flying from ORD to Beijing. I found business class seats on United at $2600 round-trip. This would be on a 777-200 much like the one found in this report. Would you think that out of pocket $2600 would be a good price for that or not? Thanks

@ALEX. I'm glad to see a good review of United too. They are far from perfect, or the best, but seem to be unfairly singled out. Pam is a great example of an experienced U.S. cabin crew member. I've flown on many international carriers as well, including Emirates. The more I've learned about EK's corporate culture, safety, work rules and fatigue regulations for flight deck crew members the more I appreciate the overall professionalism of the U.S. and European airlines. I'll take a healthy safety culture over five star service any day.