V-Flyer

A travel agent has offered us a price of £699 for PE for United to LAX returning back to LHR with SFO

I would prefer to fly Virgin but at the moment PE is £1400 so we are just keeping an eye on the Virgin prices but also looking at other options.

I have never flown with United before so really keen to hear your thoughts about United especially their seats and service. I've looked at their website but haven't really been able to get a good look at their cabins.

We can get BA PE for £853, appreciate its not VS PE but if its very similar to Uniteds product then I think I would prefer to fly BA.

Lesley

I thought UA only sold E+ as either an annual pass, part of 1K/1P or "on the day".


So... Not sure how an agent's able to offer a guaranteed seat in E+ with them. [?]

Originally posted by preiffer
I thought UA only sold E+ as either an annual pass, part of 1K/1P or "on the day".

So... Not sure how an agent's able to offer a guaranteed seat in E+ with them. [?]

With a Y or B Economy fare - as these are seated in the E+ cabin - this sounds about the right price for a B.

Lesley: note that UA E+ is just a bigger (35") seat pitch, and that's about it.

The seat is the same as the rest of the Y cabin, as is the service, as is the £3 charge for an alcoholic drink - yes, even on a Transatlantic flight. There's no amenity kit, no priority baggage, and no dedicated check-in.

It is, however, a good deal ticket to upgrade into business with miles - if you have enough UA or Star Alliance miles stored up somewhere.

Cheers,
Mike

Hi

I haven't got any miles for anybody other than VS and even then its only 45k, I've googled United
Economy plus seats and didn't like what I saw, there is more leg room in BA PE.

We are just dithering about whether to book BA or hold off and hope the VS PE prices come down.

Thanks for your replies
Lesley

mcmbenjamin is our resident expert on UA Y+ I think...

VS.

Originally posted by VS045
mcmbenjamin is our resident expert on UA Y+ I think...

VS.

Well I do not know about expert but thanks.

When checking in for your flight (online, kiosk at airport or agent) sometimes you get offered to 'upgrade' to Econ Plus for a slight fee.

Premier and higher (NOT STAR STATUS) get Econ Plus when booking if available. There is no charge and Premier and higher and book any economy fare class.

Buy an 'Economy Access Pass'

Luck out and have the rest of the Econ cabin fill-up and get seated in Econ Plus on day of departure (happens on Ted and CRJs a bunch)

Flirt with the gate agent

Originally posted by Boyle73
Hi

I haven't got any miles for anybody other than VS and even then its only 45k, I've googled United
Economy plus seats and didn't like what I saw, there is more leg room in BA PE.

We are just dithering about whether to book BA or hold off and hope the VS PE prices come down.

Thanks for your replies
Lesley

Did you select lowest available fare in PE when checking online? £1400 does sound a lot, I recently looked at LHR-SFO-LAX-LHR in PE and it came in at £1100. So better but not BA price.

If you did, I'd book BA, its miles better than UA but sadly with the recent improvements to VS PE that's miles better than BA WT+. However £500 or so is a big difference ... VS is consistently pricey!

The £1400 VS PE fare sounds like a high-season weekend S fare.

This would be upgradeable to Upper for 20k VS miles each way, if there is availability.

Mike

Originally posted by mike-smashing
The £1400 VS PE fare sounds like a high-season weekend S fare.

This would be upgradeable to Upper for 20k VS miles each way, if there is availability.

Mike

Yes, the prices are for S fares, love the idea of using my miles to upgrade to J but I can't imagine that our friends would be overly keen on us leaving them in PE.

Going to Dubai next year and hopefully in PE so will definitely look at using my miles to upgrade to J, so thank you! [y]

We have a decision to make this week, the current BA & VS sale finishes tomorrow, so we either buy our seats or wait and see if another sale starts on the 21st and prices are cheaper.

Lesley