- Hey, fellow explorers!
You know, I've always wondered,
is premium economy worth the extra price on United Airlines?
And today I'm flying a flight
that I think it's definitely gonna be worth the price.
United Airlines, San Francisco to Singapore, 17 hours,
I paid extra to get the premium economy seat
and so in this video, I'm gonna tell you
what it was like the in-flight experience
and let you know whether you should pay extra
for premium economy or not.
Now with the journey here,
starting from San Francisco Airport,
I find this to be generally quite a nice airport
to depart from, particularly the G Gates.
It's a nice new terminal with plenty of seats
although I would appreciate some more
in the way of food offerings.
All of the gates in G are down on a lower level.
Our flight was scheduled to board at 11
but ended up boarding about 45 minutes late.
Now, once I saw the crew board, I knew we'd be on soon.
The United agent did a great job managing the boarding line
and not letting people sneak into earlier boarding groups.
Once it was time to board,
instead of looking at a my passport or boarding pass,
they just had me look into this camera,
wait for a green check mark, and then go on the plane.
That was neat and novel.
Now, although there were two jet bridges from this gate
to the plane, they were just using one to board.
I was in seat 21-J down the far aisle.
After passing through the Polaris business class section
and looking at those seats
that were gonna be nicer than mine,
I found my seat for the next 17 hours.
The premium plus section on this Boeing 787 is
three rows of seats in a 2-3-2 seating configuration.
The seats, while not as amazing
as the business class are nice.
They're roomy enough that you aren't rubbing elbows
or fighting over the armrest.
So that actually feels like a civilized place to sit.
On each seat was an amenity kit.
More on that later, a nice fluffy pillow
and a fancy soft Saks Fifth Avenue blanket.
Compared to the economy class pillows,
these looked really fancy.
Now economy is a 3-3-3 setup.
So in premium plus you have two less seats per row.
That's what make this a lot more civilized seating area.
In the armrest in the center was a nice pair of slippers
and in the seat back pocket, a pair of big headphones.
I didn't use the headphones as I'm sure
my Sony noise canceling headphones are better.
Now, most noticeable things in this seat is the really big
and bright screen for entertainment.
It was a pleasure to watch movies on this
and there were a ton of movies,
but the problem with being a frequent traveler is,
I feel like I've seen them all.
First world problems, I know, I know.
All right, next to the screen was a little pullout knob
that you could use for hanging things
like a light jacket or a bag or maybe even your eye mask.
In the center, armrest was a tethered controller
that could be used for movie controlled
and playing some of the games in the entertainment system.
There was also AC power and USB power
and the headphone jack in the back of the armrest.
The other armrest was home to the tray table.
It's a neat little flap that you lift to open it up,
it pops out and lifts out.
And at the first fold out,
there's another spot that you can lift
that I presume this is for like holding your phone
or tablet or something.
Overall, when you fold it out all the way,
it's a nice big and sturdy tray table.
Alright, so what was in that amenity kit
I was showing you earlier?
There's a toothbrush, toothpaste, hand lotion,
lip balm, earplugs, grippy socks, and an eye mask.
Overall, a really nice set of amenities.
Now once you put the tray table back in,
you can actually slide the whole armrest down too
to make it easier to get in and out of the seater,
just give yourself a little bit more breath breathing room
without that armrest there.
Down below, there's plenty of leg room
even for someone who's six feet tall like me
and there was also a leg rest that was fold out
but I don't know.
I don't know about the leg rest,
I found the leg rests pretty useless for me.
I think probably I'm too tall.
Now, in addition to the footrest,
there's also a leg rest and recline available
via these two switches on the center armrest.
The leg rests is like in a lazy boy recliner
where it comes up and holds your legs up,
not just your feet.
Now once we were airborne, the first drink service came by,
a typical economy drink service from Push carts
and they provided almonds for the snack,
soda, beer and wine are free.
Since this is long haul International for premium plus,
real liquor was also available for free
as my seat neighbor got a vodka tonic,
just apple juice for me.
Now, dinner was definitely an improvement
over an economy meal, served on one large tray
with actual plates and glasses, including a glass for wine.
The choice was chicken or spaghetti.
I picked the chicken quite good,
moist with a flavorful cream sauce.
The lavatories I mentioned earlier,
they're shared with the economy
but let's take a look at those.
They have a nice touchless flush on the toilet,
a nice touchless water dispenser.
They've also got cups to rinse your mouth.
If you're brushing your teeth, you wanna spit something out
if that's something that you do.
Oh, and the windows on this Boeing 787 Dreamliner
are pretty neat.
There's no window shades, but you control
how much light is let in
with a touch of the button underneath.
Now when it's time for the lights to go out,
the plane goes through a little afternoon
to evening light show and when it's lights out time,
the windows all darken
and then the whole aircraft just goes dark.
So you don't have to worry about one person
not closing the shades, although somebody can choose
to lighten them up
but that's a decision they have to make to be that person
that has the really bright window.
Now, about halfway through the flight,
they brought out a mid-flight snack,
two ham sandwiches that were really mediocre at best,
and a selection of snack foods,
mango jerky, chips, some brownie chips.
I think the snack foods were tastier
than the ham sandwiches.
With the big pretty comfortable chair here in premium Plus,
I was able to get some pretty good sleep after that snack
probably about five hours.
My sleeping was not as good
as if I was in Polaris business class
with a lie-flat seat for sure
but it was big enough that I could move around
and get comfy.
About an hour before landing, it was time for breakfast.
The choice was between eggs and waffles.
I took the waffles
and while they looked good, they were dry.
It came with some sauce, but there wasn't enough of it.
There wasn't any maple syrup.
The fruit plate was good though.
And then about an hour later,
we finally touched down in Changi airport.
And after 17 hours I made it to Singapore's Changi Airport,
which I'm just waiting in baggage claim right now
for my luggage.
Over there on Carousel 43, found a nice quiet place
to just share my final thoughts with you.
By the way,
if you've never been to Singapore Changi Airport,
this airport's amazing.
How many baggage claims have you been to
where they have like plants
in the middle of the baggage carousel?
So overall, was it worth it to get premium plus?
I think so.
I mean, I really enjoyed the seat.
It was not as amazing as a business class seat
because it doesn't lie flat.
But it was big enough,
that I could feel civilized like a human.
I had enough room.
I wasn't rubbing shoulders with the person next to me.
I booked miles for the flight.
It was about 70,000 united miles
for my ticket out here to Singapore.
I would definitely do it again.
The food, I would say not that amazing.
I mean, yes, it was on like plates
and there were forks and things like that but,
the food's not the reason to buy the premium plus ticket.
The seat is the reason to buy it
and they just try to give you a little nicer food
to make you feel a little bit more special
but it's really just the economy food
on better plates and trays but I think the seat is worth it
and certainly coming here to Singapore is too.
Well, fellow explorers, if you enjoy this video,
you might enjoy checking out some of my other videos.
You'll find links here on the screen
or in the description below
and as usual, I won't say goodbye
'cause I'm gonna see you over there.