Review: United Airlines Boeing 787-9 business class, Sydney to Houston
By James Fordham, March 21 2018
Route
Sydney - Houston
Aircraft Type
Boeing 787-9
Airline
United Airlines
Flight
UA100
Cabin Class
Business Class
Seat
3A
Notes
The Good
- New Polaris service
- Bedding from Saks Fifth Avenue
The Bad
- Older business class seats without direct aisle access
X-Factor
- Potential to save hours by connecting on United's extensive domestic network
Introduction
Ultra-long haul flights are becoming more and more common, with airline chiefs touting improved technology and features to help make the longer flights more bearable.
In this review, we test one of the world’s longest flights – Sydney to Houston – in business class on United Airlines’ Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner. The outbound flight from Sydney takes just under 16 hours, while headwinds on the way back extend the 13,833km trip to 17½ hours, making it the second longest commercial flight offered at the time of writing.
Departing Sydney daily at 11:50AM and reaching Houston at 10:35AM the same day, this ultra-longhaul route skips a West Coast stopover with the goal of getting travellers onto connecting flights from United’s Houston hub. The Texas hub services over 70 cities in North America and is especially handy for reducing the number of overall connections required when travelling to smaller cities.
The UA100 flight from Sydney to Houston also allows you to reduce overall travel time to certain onward destinations, including Tampa, Memphis, New Orleans, Mexico City and Cancun.
On board the 787-9 Dreamliner is United’s last-generation Business Class product, with the new and vastly improved Polaris Business Class expected to be fitted in the future (although the rollout has been slower than we’d like). The current offering is ‘Polaris service’, which entails improved bedding and dining options but in the older hard product.
Check-in
- Frequent flyer program: United MileagePlus, Star Alliance. You can also earn Virgin Australia Velocity points by crediting your miles to Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer and later converting them into Velocity points.
- Priority check-in: Head for the dedicated 'Premier Access' area, usually located to the side of check-in.
- Checked baggage allowance: 2x32kg bags.
- Carry-on baggage allowance: 1x113cm bag with no defined weight limit, plus a personal item such as a laptop bag/handbag and additional items such as umbrellas and duty-free goods.
- Priority security screening: Yes, Express Path access for both security screening and passport control.
United boards its flights by group number, with business class guests all in Group 1 (the first group called forward).
Lounge
Our journey begins in the Singapore Airlines lounge at Sydney Airport. Shared amongst a bevy of airlines for their first and business class passengers, as well as Star Alliance Gold members, the lounge offers a buffet and DIY drinks, including coffee and alcoholic beverages.
Located adjacent to the Air New Zealand lounge, the Singapore Airlines lounge has a relaxed feel thanks to the soft furnishings and decorations, with plenty of natural light and tarmac views.
The food selection is adequate but if you’ve got the choice you might be better off heading to the Air New Zealand lounge, which offers up barista made coffee, a manned cocktail bar and ‘food theatre’ stations where you can see chefs preparing dishes.
Pop into the nearby Air New Zealand lounge for a more luxe experience
If you’ve got some last minute work to do, there are plenty of powerpoints and USB ports available and Internet speed is serviceable as long as the lounge isn’t too busy – and even then it’s perfectly adequate for general browsing and emailing.
You can read our full review of the Singapore Airlines Sydney lounge here.
Seat
United Airlines’ Business Class layout sees 48 lie-flat seats situated at the pointy end of the cabin – remember, there’s no First Class available anymore, so these are the best seats on the plane.
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Stretching out into a full-length bed, the business class seats offer passengers a decent amount of room, but are certainly beginning to feel dated. Once the new Polaris business class seats are fitted, this product will be much more competitive, so it’s worth checking if your upcoming flight will have the upgraded seats.
The current seats are set out in a slightly staggered 2-2-2 layout, which means passengers in the window seats will need to step over their seat mate to access the aisle. There is a privacy screen, but it’s not exactly substantial. If you’re travelling solo, you may prefer the middle seats if the cabin is full to minimise disturbances.
Each seat features a powerpoint, as well as a small storage area for magazines and the supplied noise-cancelling headphones.
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The center of the seats houses a shared side table, with a cubby underneath for additional storage. A large tray table extends out for dining or getting some work done.
Sleep
When it’s time to grab some shut-eye, just let the flight attendant know and they’ll arrange your bedding for you. On this ultra-long-haul route, you’ll get a pair of comfy fleece-lined slippers and a set of cotton pyjamas to lounge around in, however this isn’t offered on all Polaris-service flights.
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The bedding has been designed by Saks Fifth Avenue, adding some swank factor to the Polaris service offering. The mattress cushion is very comfortable, and the duvet provided can be switched out for a day-blanket if you want to put your feet up but not quite sleep yet.
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There’s a large pillow provided filled with “cool-gel memory foam,” which I found to be especially comfortable.
As someone that’s 6-feet tall, the bed was not as spacious as the technical specs make it out to be – I couldn’t fully stretch out, and felt like another couple of inches would have improved the experience greatly for me. If you’re over 6’1”, you may struggle to get comfortable, and the fact that your feet are in a small cubby hole also takes some getting used to.
Amenities are provided by international luxury spa chain Soho House, with the products coming from their Cowshed range.
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Meal
The United service begins with a pre-departure beverage, which in our case was champagne. Because we boarded early we were even offered a top-up before take-off.
Next, we have the drinks cart with nuts, where we decided to stick to the Champagne, which was Joseph Perrier NV.
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Everyone gets the same starter, which was a fresh and tasty dish of prawns and melon salsa with kawakawa and pesto, served with a large side salad and bread assortment.
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Out of the four main options we chose the NZ salmon dish of pesto cream sauce, smashed potatoes and mixed vegetables. The description undersold the dish as it was one of the best salmon dishes we’ve tasted on board, with nice touches like asparagus and edamame as well as a cheese stuffed capsicum.
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The other options were a lamb roulade, chicken breast, or a pesto pasta.
Afterwards, we opted for the passionfruit dessert...
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...and a round of cheese to cap the meal off.
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In between the two main meals of lunch and breakfast, United offers a selection of “Hot Bites” and “Cold Bites” if you’re feeling peckish. On this flight the Hot Bites menu included fish and chips and a cheese toastie with tomato soup.
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The Cold Bites were a selection of sandwiches, fruit plate, fresh fruit, potato chips, and cookies.
The last meal was this breakfast, offering up a danish, assorted fruit and a selection of hot items.
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Entertainment & Service
Entertainment comes via a large personal screen, with a good selection of classic movies as well as new releases. We also enjoyed the full box sets of television shows that were available.
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United offers inflight Internet access on board the 787-9 provided by supplier Panasonic. The cost is US$4.99 for one hour, US$8.99 for two hours, or US$21.99 for the whole flight. Clearly the last option makes the most option for one of the longest flights in the world.
Connectivity over the Pacific was quite slow and dropped out at times, which is par for the course for these international flights.
Overall
The United Polaris Business Class experience is certainly an improvement on the service we had received on previous flights, however even with luxe touches like the bedding from Saks Fifth Avenue you can't help but be disappointed in the hard product. Once the new range of Polaris seats makes an appearance, this should make for a much improved flight experience.
The writer travelled to Houston as a guest of United Airlines.
James has been interested in aviation ever since his first flight. When he’s not travelling, he’s still on the road indulging his motoring hobby, or trying a new whisky.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
29 Jul 2013
Total posts 203
Looks like the F&B still has a long way to go. The plating and presentation look more Premium Economy than Business.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
01 Nov 2016
Total posts 130
The biscuits with the arnotts wrapping still on is a classic.
Emirates Airlines - Skywards
30 Nov 2015
Total posts 729
At least they are still fresh.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
27 Jul 2016
Total posts 56
All class! Economy....
Delta Air Lines - SkyMiles
16 Oct 2017
Total posts 157
Ask the attendant not to demand your dog be put in the overhead bin...or not to threaten calling the cops if you dare to take a photo snap onboard. Seriously, United has an attitude problem worse by far than other American carriers. Google will point you to a raft of recent incidents. It may show out more on domestic flights, but I don't recommend them for international either if you can help it. Disclosure: I used to "Fly United" quite a bit.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
22 Jul 2015
Total posts 219
Agreed. As a Oneworld FF I'm usually on AA metal in the US and whilst they are 'efficient' they certainly are not like some of the stories out of the UA camp
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
11 Oct 2014
Total posts 691
A quick question James..
By any chance did you install the dedicated UA app and use it with the IFE system? If so, what was your experience with it?
03 May 2013
Total posts 677
Why is it that such a 2nd rate carrier like UA( and nearly all other carriers in Business Class) can hand out nuts in a nice serving dish to Business Class pax when Qantas throws an economy class like packet at you full of pretzels with only 3 nuts in it. Qantas only offer the nice service dish to 'first' class and even that is not warmed up and has half the amount of nuts in it!
Delta Air Lines - SkyMiles
16 Oct 2017
Total posts 157
Joe: your analysis would suggest that on the "nut index ratio" Qantas business class is in fact third rate. In some, though all, respects I'd agree with that. Neither QF nor UA can hold a candle to SQ, QR, EK, CX etc - in my opinion. Even CI a350 business wins my vote over the also-rans.
United Airlines - Mileage Plus
13 Mar 2015
Total posts 79
Joe.. You are wrong QF doesn't do that..UA, DL, AA in regular Economy... QF have one of the best and genuine services in the industry. Go ahead an see if airlines give you HOT food in regular economy on one and a half hour flight between OOL and SYD. They are not perfect but don't deserve your words at all.. three nuts? Not sure what you are talking about it... I have been flying QF and no relation to what you said here at all...
22 Dec 2017
Total posts 26
There's no mention of the service under Entertainment & Service. So bad that you couldn't repeat it? Or so good that you didn't believe it?
23 Mar 2018
Total posts 1
The flght crew servicing AU are generally very good; the Bloody Mary's are excellent, as is the entertainment and general comfort of pillows and comforters..
United Airlines - Mileage Plus
13 Mar 2015
Total posts 79
I made this trip last Feb 18 and it wasn't that great... really impress me much at all, the access to the aisle from the window is horrible because the rounded shape of "cocoon" it project so much on the free space to pass over the other passenger that you ended with a muscle pulled in your hip or leg... believe me I use this airline so much with their 787, 777 and 757 business.. Qantas space between rows is way much better in 747 and 380... that allows you to "jump' over the person who is sleeping without touching them..AA and VA all seats have direct access to aisle..NZ is too narrow cocoon that not much space around to put things... it feels a bit claustrophobic... Comparing to UA, food is superior on other airlines it doesn't looks great and flavors are OK, UA didn't have the signature POLARIS glasses for the wine on this flight... just the regular glasses... Service attentive but other's are much friendly. I have to say that I stay with QF, AA or VA....mix of good seats, great wines and champagne, great food and very professional and attentive service.. NZ has a great service and great food.. not so great in the wines and seats... QF has old style but very good room to move around.. I want to try the 789 to MEL or BNE soon.
29 Jan 2012
Total posts 182
Not exactly what I would call a value for money product, given the competition.
18 Mar 2016
Total posts 39
Having travelled on UA Melb/S.F in J class on a tired Dreamliner some time ago, with an obnoxious Head Steward who considered he was doing YOU a favour, I wouldn't consider Syd/Houston. Just done Auckland/ Houston on Air/N.Z. Excellent.
18 Oct 2019
Total posts 12
I had the misfortune to be on one of these flights - for the simple reason my schedule was tight. The food was third rate, the service excellent and the seat/bed uncomfortable.
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