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Firstly can I say that this is not a paid review. I’ve flown United Airlines on 4 occasions and my attitude to this airline was it’s cheap, no frills, average crew that just did their job and it got me from ‘A’ to ‘B’. The planes were outdated, the entertainment very 90’s and the food, well it’s airline food. I always thought they had a great ‘Frequent Flyer’ program though but that was as good as it got. We have flown Qantas, Jetstar and Air New Zealand and there was certainly a gap between United Airlines and the other 3.

So today, the 10th of June 2015, we take off on a flight bound for Los Angeles, flight UA 99, a direct flight from Melbourne to LA on the new Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner. So how does this flight compare to the previous few? Well, 5 hours into our flight, I must say I’m very impressed, although we were delayed by an hour or so due to the plane arriving late……looks like we’ll be about half hour late in. Not to bad! The new plane looks new, there’s plenty of headroom and the flight itself feels better than other flights we have taken, something to do with the cabins being less pressurized. Seats are comfy enough but we are flying economy so still a little cramped, mind you business class looked great when we walked passed it to get to our seats down the very back of the plane. Technology is great having power points in every seat, handy for charging my phone, camera and laptop, a USB plug in the monitor in front of you is handy as well and the individual monitors themselves are also great. They’ve got ample movies to keep all types of taste happy and a great selection of music, (I’m currently listening to the 80’s channel and lovin’ it!). You can access flight information at the touch of a button and they give you comfy headsets as well. But it gets better, I’m currently on the internet writing this new post, also checking emails, posting on Facebook, chatting to family and friends on messenger and doing some research on line. Big tick here and it’s only $17 US which i think is very reasonable given the time it gives you back and what it allows you to do.

Okay I know this part of the review is going to freak a few people out. It’s the food review part! How was it? Well for main, there was a choice between chicken and rice and cheese and pasta. We had the chicken and rice dish. It was absolutely beautiful. It was the best meal I’ve ever had on a plane. After the meal, they served desert, a very yummy salted caramel ice cream. I think they knew I was going to review the flight and were trying to bribe me with this great food! Seriously, I’d give the food an 8 out of 10. There is complimentary beer wine and soft drinks and you can purchase other alcohol as well. A worthwhile mention would be the trays. They are non slip and make eating that little bit easier. Around 6 hours into the flight, they bring you out these really nice ‘bruschetta’ crisp with a bottle of water. Nice snack just before heading off to sleep and in regards to sleep, don’t expect to get a lot of it. Sitting down and trying to sleep doesn’t go to well!

In summary would I fly United again? Yep I would absolutely fly with them again and even pay a little more too. The crew were lovely, we had no problems at all, the plane was, well new, with enough mod cons to keep you happy, the food was great and other than a late departure and a little bit of turbulence, I was very happy with the United Airlines experience.

Tips

  • Bring a US converter for the power in the seats. Handy to have a power board as well for plugging in multiple items
  • If you love staying connected, pay the $17 US for the Internet. Well worth it
  • Download the United app. It gives you real time scheduling, you can check in online and you can connect to the WiFi on the plane as well
  • Try and get some sleep around 6 hours in when flying from Australia to the US. By the time you wake up, there won’t be long to go and you would have got a half decent sleep! Good luck with that one!
  • Use a neck pillow and use the top of the seat to help support your neck. You can pull them in.
  • Be courteous and clean up after yourself in the lavatory
  • Listen to the 80’s music channel! Brought back heaps of memories for me!

Happy travels!

Travelling to the US? Traveltotheus.com.au