United Global First Honolulu to Denver
It was not my original intent to fly back home on United. Indeed, I had purchased a non-refundable ticket on AA8 one of two daily HNL-DFW 767-300s assuming that I would be upgraded, either with a free EXP upgrade or, worst case, an SWU. Alas, I played the odds and lost when a wide open F cabin went from F7 A5 to F2 A0 overnight. So United it is, using 50,000 MP miles for the one way three class First. At around T-45, I headed for the gate, going outside for the short walk to Gates 6 & 7.
I do love the anti-bird spikes on top of the monitor.
Our 777-200
Looks pretty full tonight.
And the usual UA gate lice.
After a couple of handicap boardings, boarding commenced with the usual "Group 1" stupidity. Unlike AA which boards First Class first (wow, what a concept), United boards everyone with Group 1, which includes 1Ks and GS and various friends, families and groupies. Tonight that meant about 30 pax boarding, all but three of us in J or Y. Three class First Class on a 777-200 is only 8 pax, two rows of 1-2-1 seating. While not in the same hard product category as the great international First Class cabins, the seat was more than adequate and indeed outstanding for a 6 hour domestic flight.
Lots of useful storage space.
But it is United. My otherwise comfortable blanket complete with grease stains.
In flight service was exactly what I expected. When you fly United, set your expectation low and you will not be disappointed. The usual "senior" DEN-based on their choice of routes. PDB was offered, in plastic of course. Once in the air, beverage service with a mini-package of pretzels. No nuts, a single bag of pretzels. But my Diet Coke was served with pineapple and a cherry. Ugh.
I wasn't the least but hungry but accepted the "snack" just for the photo op.
LOL. I don't think so. Within 60 seconds, I took the tray up the galley and handed it to the FA who asked "you don't want your snack?" Uh, no.
The off to the lav to change into my AA PJs. I turned down my own seat into a total lie flat bed. It was reasonably comfortable and with the help of my SQ eyeshades, got nearly 5 hours of sleep. A mattress would have been nice, but this is United. I woke on my own, went to the lav to change back into my clothes. Breakfast consisted of a blueberry scone, presented in the always classy United cookie bag. Yeah, made fresh especially for me. Ha!
Despite the presentation, the scone was pretty good.
And our approach to DIA, with the morning sun casting a very cool shadow of our 777.
We arrived on time at 8:30A and I was home to a peacefully quiet home by 9:15.
Despite the inferior UA soft product and inflight service, this is probably the best way to fly to Hawaii from the mainland. For a domestic flight, the 777--200 three class First Class hard product is hard to beat. Plus, award space in the F cabin seems pretty easy to find.