TravelingForMiles.com may receive commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on TravelingForMiles.com are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. TravelingForMiles.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers.
Some links to products and travel providers on this website will earn Traveling For Miles a commission which helps contribute to the running of the site – I’m very grateful to anyone who uses these links but their use is entirely optional. The compensation does not impact how and where products appear on this site and does not impact reviews that are published. For more details please see the advertising disclosure found at the bottom of every page.
United Airlines in the last of the three US legacy carriers to introduce a true Premium Economy product and the airline has just announced that the first seats will go on sale in a few days.
As of Monday 3 December 2018 United will begin selling it’s “Premium Plus” product for travel on select international flights starting 30 March 2019.
The Airline expects to have the product available for purchase on 21 routes by the end of May 2019.
The launch date for sale of the United Premium Plus cabin isn’t really a surprise because it’s the same date that United will be releasing seats for its new 787-10 Dreamliner which features the new cabin.
The new Premium Plus cabin first appeared on select Boeing 777 aircraft earlier this year but the airline has only been using these seats as an enhanced Economy Class offering up until now. From Monday passengers will be able to purchase seats for the true United Premium Plus experience.
What Are The First Routes To Offer The Premium Plus Cabin?
United has very helpfully provided us with 3 tables showing the first routes to offer the new Premium Plus cabin – one for each aircraft type that has the cabin onboard.
777-200ER Schedule (click to enlarge)
777-300ER Schedule (click to enlarge)
787-10 Schedule (click to enlarge)
What Does United Premium Plus Offer?
You should temper any excitement you may have if you haven’t tried the seats out yet as they’re not exactly special – they’re very similar to what American Airlines and Delta already offer (no surprise there!)
Still, the Premium Plus seats are a noticeable step up from the cattle-class seating you’ll find further back in the aircraft.
The United Premium Plus seats are approximately 19 inches wide (2 inches wider than most Economy Class seats) and they offer 38″ of leg-room (7″ more than regular Economy and 4″ more than most Economy Plus seats).
The seats also offer more recline than the regular Economy Class seats.
All seats in the United Premium Plus cabin are equipped with power and USB outlets and they offer additional storage (over a regular Economy Class seat) for customers to be able to store personal items close to hand.
As far as the soft product goes…
United says that Premium Plus passengers will receive “a hearty welcome meal, mid-flight snacks and a pre-arrival dining service“. Beer, wine, spirits and all other beverages will be complimentary and an amenity kit will be provided too.
When it comes time for a rest United will provide a Saks 5th Avenue blanket, a plush pillow and noise cancelling headphones to shut out the noise around you or to help you enjoy the in-flight entertainment on the large seat-back screens.
Awards & Upgrades
This was probably a big issue that United flyers were waiting to hear about (would upgrades from Economy only upgrade to Premium Plus?) and here’s what United has said:
MileagePlus members will have the option to book award travel in United® Premium Plus by using their MileagePlus miles. For upgrades, either a single Global Premier Upgrade or a MileagePlus Upgrade Award can be used to move up to a United® Premium Plus seat or to United’s Polaris business class cabin.
So upgrades from Economy can go to Business Class or Premium Plus – you can rest easy United flyers 🙂
Bottom Line
As someone who’s planning to try out a lot more Premium Economy cabins going forward (to see if they are a viable alternative to Business Class) I’m happy to see yet another product launch on routes that I’m likely to use.
There isn’t all that much United can do with the seat that hasn’t already be done by the likes of Delta and American so the only real way the airline will be able to differentiate its product from the competition is by the service it offers onboard.
It will be interesting to see how United takes on this challenge…especially as this isn’t an airline with which one automatically associates great service.
quote : “MileagePlus members will have the option to book award travel in United® Premium Plus by using their MileagePlus miles. For upgrades, either a single Global Premier Upgrade or a MileagePlus Upgrade Award can be used to move up to a United® Premium Plus seat or to United’s Polaris business class cabin.
So upgrades from Economy can go to Business Class or Premium Plus – you can rest easy United flyers”
i would interpret that as a shrewed move by UA – they give you the hope it’ll clear into J, but if only W is available, it’ll clear into W instead of still eat up your GPU/miles.