UA1/2 Dreamliner Non-stop to San Francisco in Y

[yflyer]

I had dinner at SPQR, an Italian restaurant, before heading to SFO for my flight back to Singapore on UA1, a 10.55pm departure.

No queues at check-in at that hour in the international terminal.



Security queues were mercifully short too, and I was through to the airside international area in no time.

That said, I forgot to buy a cup noodle as a mid-flight snack for my long flight, so I picked up a takeaway mediterranean mezze platter from one of several F&B outlets in the airsde area before heading to the United Club.

[yflyer]

The United Club is a very large lounge just on the right hand side of the airside area after you clear security.



Multiple spacious seating areas. This lounge is clearly sized for large numbers of pax, but at that hour, it was not busy.

[yflyer]

One end of the lounge had a full bar, with both paid and complimentary wine, beer and liquor.



A decent, but not particularly wide, selection of complimentary drinks...



Premium liquor and wine was available on a chargeable basis...

[yflyer]

Fairly basic F&B available, comprising snacks, cold starters and dips...









...and hot soup...



There are cubicles for work, equipped with high end Herman Miller Aeron chairs...



But no showers, which to me is a major omission for an international J lounge.

So not a particularly exciting lounge, but at least there were complimentary beverages, and it was quite roomy and spacious, compared to other airlines' SFO lounges, like SQ or JL, which seem to be quite space constrained.

[yflyer]

Today's flight UA1 was operated by 789-9 registration N27958, an aircraft just over one year old.

Boarding took place on time...





The J cabin, laid out in offset 2-2-2.



This looked to be a fairly full flight in J (and Y).



A couple of legroom / footwell shots.





Not the largest footwells, but as the seat was quite long, it probably would not be an issue unless you play basketball for the NBA...

[yflyer]

Next up the Economy cabin, comprising Economy Plus, with extra legroom...





And then regular Y.





Both regular Y and Y Plus were laid out 3-3-3.

This is the emex row...



Unlike my outbound flight, where the seats were fabric covered, the Y and Y+ seats on this flight were covered in dark blue leather...

[yflyer]

Widescreen IFE...



What a long non-stop hop across the Pacific!

I would have 16 hours to watch moves and TV on this flight...



All seats had USB, and A/C power.



Wifi wasn't operating properly on this flight. Aaargh!



We took off into the night sky for the 16 hour flight to Singapore, scheduled to arrive before dawn at 6.15am.



To be continued!

[HUGE AL]

[/IMG]

I still say this is the craziest layout for such a long flight.

[yflyer]

I still say this is the craziest layout for such a long flight.

Spare a thought for those in the back! 2-2-2 is still far better than 3-3-3!

[yflyer]

Supper service on this flight. There was a choice of two mains. I chose the chicken with rice...

As served...



...and with covers off...



I think pax these days have grudgingly accepted plastic cutlery and casseroles, but why does United rub it in by providing utensils and casseroles in such an unattractive dark grey colouring that makes the overall meal setting look so industrial?

But aside from that, the salad still looked quite fresh, and -- dare I say it -- quite inviting...



The main was quite attractively presented, and was quite tasty, as well. Everything looked surprisingly fresh, although portions were not huge.



White wine with my supper...



and a tangy, refreshing raspberry sorbet for dessert...



I found dinner to be tasty.

Could it be that I was actually enjoying an economy class dinner on United? While SQ's Y meal service is still top notch and superior overall to UA's Y meal service, the gap between UA and SQ's meals on this sector is not the canyon-sized gulf it used to be!

[yflyer]

Cabin ambience in the front Y cabin...



Note the see through curtains between Y and J.

Cabin ambience in the rear Y cabin...



After so many flights in 9-abreast 787 economy, my conclusion is that this config is not ideal, and along with 10-abreast 777's, this is a cabin layout I would avoid if possible. I find 9-abreast 777's on SQ, BA and CX much more comfortable (Now that CX is moving to 10-abreast 777's I will likely avoid those too.).

Based on A350 flights on QR and AY, and a short hop on SQ's A350, I also believe the A350 9-abreast Y cabin is superior to the 787, but I will comment more on that in future A350 TR's.

[yflyer]

Somewhere over the Pacific, a mid-flight snack was served...





This was quite tasty.



However, I still did not think this was enough, so I supplemented it with this mezze platter which I bought hours earlier from a cafe in the SFO airside departures area, which still tasted fine when I unwrapped it during the flight.



I washed it down with cranberry apple juice (loaded with ice!)...



Coffee in paper cups...

[yflyer]

Did I manage to sleep on this flight? Just barely.

Seat recline is average. The seat recline on SQ's 77WN, or SQ (And Finnair's) A350 is far, far superior.



The seat pivots forward slightly when you recline, which does help a little.



No underseat obstructions.



But the real issue here, as on all my previous 787-9 flights in 9-abreast layout, is that the seats are just too narrow for me. Whether it is the seatwidth or the supermodel-slim armrests, I had some difficulty resting and sleeping comfortably. I eventually did sleep, but not as easily as on other more spacious Y seats. By contrast, I usually sleep like a baby on SQ's 77W/77WN or A380 Y seats.

If you want a little more space in your aisle seat, or if you want to leave the seat with your meal tray still on the table, there is a small button at the underside base of the arm rest which you can press to enable you to raise the armrest.

[yflyer]

Breakfast was served prior to landing...





If I recall correctly, there was a choice of two dishes. I chose the noodle selection.





I didn't like this dish so much. If it was meant to be an Asian noodle dish, it was some way off the mark. It was too sweet, the proportion and type of vegetables was not right, and the noodles texture was too soft. It seemed to be a noodle dish either tailored to Western tastebuds, or it was a failed attempt at creating a fusion dish ending up with a creation that was neither here nor there.



But that said, better to be adventurous with catering, and trying new dishes, rather than just serving up the same egg omelette or egg frittata year in year out. Sometimes the dish is inspired...other times, well less so.

In any case, if breakfast onboard wasn't to your liking you could always skip it. In a short while, you would be landing in Singapore, a food paradise where you can get any kind of breakfast you want: kaya toast and eggs, mee pok, chye tow kway, roti prata, masala dosai, pork or chicken congee, ...you name it, you got it.

UA1 gets in early in the morning, which is perfect timing for a local Singapore breakfast!

[yflyer]

With the entire flight flown in darkness, we approached Singapore Changi Airport from the west...



...which gave those on the left side some beautiful views of the city skyline, Marina Bay, and the Singapore Flyer...



A very smooth landing and short taxi to the gate at T2, landing just as dawn was breaking.