Never thought my last flight of the year would turn out like this...
FOC—PEK—IAD
As I mentioned before, the simplest options from Fuzhou to Washington are basically just CA and UA.
The last time I headed back, I flew out of NYC, and CX business class was absolutely amazing!
This time, I really didn’t want to deal with extra connections and ground travel, so I went with the simplest nonstop option.
For the same 80,000 miles, I could choose either CA business class or UA first class. I had read plenty of reviews of Polaris first class, but still couldn’t make up my mind about booking UA. I just kept feeling that no matter how bad CA might be, it couldn’t possibly be worse than UA.
What finally made the decision for me was the schedule. On UA, I could depart at 12 noon, while CA required choosing an early-morning flight. Night owls have it rough!
I left during the day on the 24th, Christmas Eve. Even leaving home at 9:30 was still painful for me... but definitely better than leaving at 5:30. Dragging myself out of bed is one thing, but asking someone else to drive me to the airport that early feels a little shameless. Anyone willing to take you to the airport at 5:30 a.m. is showing true love!
The domestic segment operated by a 738 was nothing special. Selling 8 first class seats for partner awards was honestly kind of outrageous. Fortunately, on the UA award chart, business class was also bookable! The meal was still beef noodles plus chicken rice; I think economy had beef rice. Since my plan was to eat in Terminal 3, I skipped the beef rice. Luckily the flight was only two and a half hours, so I arrived half-asleep.
I had a great meal, drank more than half a bottle of red wine, and then got ready to board. This timing was just perfect! I figured that even if UA was worse than CA, I could still live with it.
The Star Alliance logo was so huge that at first I thought I had gone to the wrong gate... From a distance, the 772 looks pretty similar to the 77W, just a bit shorter and missing a middle door. After flying the 77W so much, I’ve developed a real bias against the 772—it just feels kind of low-end... but hey, it’s still a 777, right? Better than an A330 at least....
UA’s first class cabin is in a 1-2-1 configuration, and one reason I picked it was because it offers more space. I chose seat 2,000, because I usually sleep on my right side, and if I picked 1A, my sleeping position would be too exposed. The seat was still the old Global First seat... a little sad.
The space was actually pretty good—felt much better than CA....
The blanket was from SAKS 5 ave, which I’m sure everyone already knows.
No teddy bear!!!! I specifically asked, and the flight attendant said they only had them during the first week!!!!!!
The entertainment system was in Chinese, but there weren’t many Chinese blockbusters... I didn’t watch a single one...
The menu did show off some of the new product’s features, though.
The amenity kit was a highlight. Let me pull out a few more unusual items for everyone to see.
A very thoughtful glasses cloth.
Is this for me to play with???
The DND card was pretty thoughtful too. You usually see this in hotel rooms: Do Not Disturb!!!
This car seatbelt-style design was pretty fun. You could even stay lying down during takeoff.
The storage compartment on the right was normal-sized, good for storing some personal items.
This large storage compartment on the left had been mentioned by other readers before, and after testing it myself, I think it’s meant for storing bedding—basically where you can stuff the blanket, duvet, pillow, and anything else you don’t want. So it’s both deep and large!!!
Next up: the food, the much-criticized food.
Salmon and tuna. The presentation was pretty nice.
Salad. There had also been a soup earlier, but I drank it too quickly.
This steak portion was easily twice the size of Cathay’s!!
Dessert was pretty good too.
This was breakfast before landing. It was thoughtful that the pickled mustard greens and chopped scallions were served separately.
To sum up this trip:
People say if you have no expectations, you won’t be disappointed. But I actually wasn’t disappointed at all—if anything, I was pleasantly surprised.
Maybe because of the route design, there were a lot of Chinese touches on board.
The cabin design and the award redemption value both felt pretty generous.
As for the food, I thought it was fine. Dishes were served one by one in the sequence of a Western meal, which felt much better than having everything brought out at once Chinese-style.
The wifi was a highlight. At 16.99, the price was acceptable—not to mention it could be reimbursed.
The seat was really quite good. I slept for at least eight hours... totally wasted my wifi....
I feel like I’m becoming a fan now. At least on this PEK—IAD route, I’ll definitely choose UA in the future!!!