United Airlines 747-400 in Economy: SIN-HKG-ORD (777) / SFO-HKG-SIN (744/777)

[yflyer]

A quick peek into the restrooms...

[yflyer]

Prior to landing in Hong Kong, breakfast was served...

I had hotcakes with sausage...



This would seem to be a foolproof dish to service inflight, but again UA struck out...

The hotcakes were partly crumbly, and partly overcooked and rock hard, with parts of the hotcakes stuck to the casserole. Yuck.

Was it something to do with the strange in-cart heating element in the 744 galley equipment? Or was it just really just the law of averages at work, after a wonderful run of good UA catering on their 777 and 787?

In any case, we were about to land at 7.45pm in Hong Kong. Not the most appropriate time for breakfast service anyway, and there would be great food in the terminal.

[yflyer]

Landing into HKG was very smooth...by now any 744 pilots must be pros and masters of their craft. The jumbo kissed the runway gently yet firmly, without any float....and decelerated smoothly. Too bad it was Chek Lap Kok...what I would give to experience another turning, white knuckle 747 landing over the rooftops into Hong Kong's old Kai Tak airport in Kowloon.

As we deplaned, I asked the cabin crew member by the door if I could take a picture of the 747 F cabin.

"Sure!" he said...



There probably aren't many places more desirable to be on a plane than in the nose of a 744.

One final look at the UA 744, rego N122UA, a 17 year old plane that must have carried tens of thousands of passengers across the Pacific from the US to Asia over the years...

[yflyer]

The transit stop in HKG was a short one.



The flight landed at gate 45, and my connecting UA895 was close by, at gate 42.

After clearing arrival security at W1 and heading back to the airside area, rather than go to the UA lounge near gate 60, not far from the gate 40-50 for the UA connections, I opted to take a long walk (with travelators along the way) right to the other end of the main terminal, close to the customer/immigration area, for a bowl of beef brisket noodles and wonton soup at 正斗粥麵專家 Zheng Dou Tasty Congee and Wontun Noodle Shop.

正斗 (Zheng Dou) is far and away my favourite eating outlet in the airside area at Hong Kong Airport. I end up eating there almost every time I am in transit in HKG on on SQ, UA or any Star Alliance carrier.

My transit stop in HKG was quite short. If I walked briskly, there was JUST enough time for me to do this.



When travelling on CX or other Oneworld carrier through HKG, I try to visit the CX or QF lounges, as these have superb food and facilities, but the SQ and UA lounges aren't as impressive, so I would rather give up a visit to the SQ or UA lounge and eat a sumptuous meal at Zheng Dou instead.





While I had to walk all the way to the food court area, there was one-way people mover back to the UA gates for my connection, UA895 to Singapore.



This was a 772 in the same config as my outbound UA896 a week before.



I was in Y this time, not Y+.



No blankets on this short sector, but each seat came with a pillow.



Dinner was served...



The options were pasta or chicken...I had the chicken, which was a repeat of the same wonderful chicken rice main I had on my earlier HKG-ORD sector, and this did not disappoint.



Tsingtao beer this time...



We landed after 1am in Singapore into a very quiet T2. No queues at immigration or at the taxi stand at that hour.

[yflyer]

Final reflections?

I will miss the 744. The 744 has a charisma that no other airliner has. I doubt the opportunity will arise for me to try J or F on UA on the 744. But I think any flight in the upper deck or in the nose of a 744 would be memorable, whatever the airline, just because of the unique ambience in those cabins.

What about Economy?

The vast 744 Y cabin remains a comfortable cabin for long haul flights. It was in the past, and it still is now. I would be quite comfortable flying long haul in a 744 cabin even today.

The lack of seatback IFE is no longer a showstopper, now that they have streaming video/wifi, and the availability of your own entertainment on your tablet or phone.

Although the catering on my particular 744 flight were not particularly satisfying, purely in terms of seat and cabin comfort, the 744 hard product is still ok, and maybe even preferable to the new generation of 10-abreast 77W's and 9-abreast 787's.

How does UA Y compare with SQ? Let's not even go there. While it is not a night and day difference like it once was, SQ's Y product, to me, still sets the standard, whether you are on SQ's A380's, 77W's, or their fantastic 77WR's and 77WN's. And while I found UA cabin service fine on the whole, with some exceptionally warm and friendly cabin crew members on many sectors, a tiny minority of the UA cabin crew I encountered spoke and acted in ways that would have shocked pax who are used to SQ's style of cabin service...

So while my first choice of airline to the US would still be SQ, I think UA offers a strong product, and one I would be comfortable flying if schedule and price were right.

As for flights on the 747? I just can't get enough time on this plane, and would fly it as often as I can, whether on UA or any other airline.

Thanks for reading!

[ek&sq]

Wonderful TR, yflyer! Opportunities to fly on the Queen are indeed rapidly diminishing, and the bare orderbook of the 747-8 doesn't hold much promise either.

I've been curious if UA would step up their game by bringing Polaris-equipped 77W's to SIN, since most of their HKG flights are poised to go that way. However, the low loads on your flight and the success of UA1/2 suggest a cancellation of the HKG-SIN leg is more likely.

[Maverick8]

Great Report Yflyer,

Great to remember the time that was. The United 744 seems like a time capsule. Can't believe they have had it in service for so many years. Yet they did not refit to add ptv.

[yflyer]

Wonderful TR, yflyer! Opportunities to fly on the Queen are indeed rapidly diminishing, and the bare orderbook of the 747-8 doesn't hold much promise either.

I've been curious if UA would step up their game by bringing Polaris-equipped 77W's to SIN, since most of their HKG flights are poised to go that way. However, the low loads on your flight and the success of UA1/2 suggest a cancellation of the HKG-SIN leg is more likely.

Thanks, ek&sq! I haven't tried the 747-8 yet...LH seems to have a few on routes between Germany and USA. Been trying to schedule a flight on one of those, but haven't yet...

Great Report Yflyer,

Great to remember the time that was. The United 744 seems like a time capsule. Can't believe they have had it in service for so many years. Yet they did not refit to add ptv.

Thanks, Maverick8! Yes, quite a sense of nostalgia boarding that aircraft. Not many long haul aircract operating these days without seatback IFE. That said, I think for me, streaming movies and wifi on personal devices is a decent enough substitute for seat back TV's if the wifi works well enough.

[SQueeze]

Thanks for a wonderful report as usual, yflyer.

UA looks good here.

After having experienced high density EK on short sector DOH-DXB recently, everything else seems good to me in any case. I so so so dislike EK now. They are essentially LCC in a gigantic scale.

[SQGamespeed]

Wonderful TR, yflyer! Looks like UA has really made efforts to make their long-hauls more bearable in Y. I have been hearing of positive developments from other sources too.

Also, I'm surprised to see that Channel 9 is still around; I thought that feature was completely discontinued. Shocked to see that the catering for your SFO-HKG flight was so bad, especially for the first meal. I'd have thought they would have decent Asian meals, given that SFO is UA's transpacific base and is a gateway to an area with some of the widest availability of Asian food in the US, thus presuming that would have given them plenty of opportunity to get this right. So I'd hope this is not a regular problem.

And it is sad to see yet another major 747 operator eventually retire the plane. The reasons to do so may make perfect economic sense, but for many of us who have grown up seeing it used as THE long-haul aircraft of choice, it is poignant to see it go. There still is really no aircraft like it.

After having experienced high density EK on short sector DOH-DXB recently, everything else seems good to me in any case. I so so so dislike EK now. They are essentially LCC in a gigantic scale.

Introducing 2-3-2 in J in 2016 is wonderful, right?

Very LCC-like indeed. On an SQTalk thread about this new JCL, someone mentioned that EK is like the Ryanair of JCL travel. But for EK, it is much more about making huge profits as possible, and as long as the planes get full, and passengers don't complain in large numbers, they will keep stuffing in seats like this.

[yflyer]

Thanks for a wonderful report as usual, yflyer.

UA looks good here.

After having experienced high density EK on short sector DOH-DXB recently, everything else seems good to me in any case. I so so so dislike EK now. They are essentially LCC in a gigantic scale.

Thanks, SQueeze!

These days, I try to fly EK Y only on the A380, if possible. At least those have a comfortable hard product. 10-abreast EK Y on the 777 is a last resort for me.

Wonderful TR, yflyer! Looks like UA has really made efforts to make their long-hauls more bearable in Y. I have been hearing of positive developments from other sources too.

Also, I'm surprised to see that Channel 9 is still around; I thought that feature was completely discontinued.

Thanks, SQGamespeed! Yes, was very pleasantly surprised to still see it featured. Seems that not many pilots turn it on, though. I was lucky to get it on my outbound...

Shocked to see that the catering for your SFO-HKG flight was so bad, especially for the first meal. I'd have thought they would have decent Asian meals, given that SFO is UA's transpacific base and is a gateway to an area with some of the widest availability of Asian food in the US, thus presuming that would have given them plenty of opportunity to get this right. So I'd hope this is not a regular problem.

Also hope it was a one-off! Good that UA offered General Tso chicken on the Y menu, but too bad they botched the preparation that day...

Totally off-topic, the chef who created General Tso chicken just passed away in December, at the age of 98.

And it is sad to see yet another major 747 operator eventually retire the plane. The reasons to do so may make perfect economic sense, but for many of us who have grown up seeing it used as THE long-haul aircraft of choice, it is poignant to see it go. There still is really no aircraft like it.

At least LH is still flying their 748's! Got to try and get onto one of those!

[SQueeze]

Introducing 2-3-2 in J in 2016 is wonderful, right?

Very LCC-like indeed. On an SQTalk thread about this new JCL, someone mentioned that EK is like the Ryanair of JCL travel. But for EK, it is much more about making huge profits as possible, and as long as the planes get full, and passengers don't complain in large numbers, they will keep stuffing in seats like this.

It's also the Ryanair of Y travel on the 777.

[HUGE AL]

There probably aren't many places more desirable to be on a plane than in the nose of a 744.

Your 744 appears to be different than the one I flew (the TR you requested ) as your front closet is considerably smaller. Note the lack of bin space if seated in rows 1 & 2 giving a total of 8 bins for the entire 12 seat F cabin.

[yflyer]

Your 744 appears to be different than the one I flew (the TR you requested ) as your front closet is considerably smaller. Note the lack of bin space if seated in rows 1 & 2 giving a total of 8 bins for the entire 12 seat F cabin.

8 overhead bins for 12 pax? Such hardship!

Looking forward to the TR

[SQGamespeed]

Your 744 appears to be different than the one I flew (the TR you requested ) as your front closet is considerably smaller. Note the lack of bin space if seated in rows 1 & 2 giving a total of 8 bins for the entire 12 seat F cabin.

8 overhead bins for 12 pax? Such hardship!

Indeed. The horrors.

What stood out more to me in this picture, however, was that F looks pretty cramped. Somehow, it just doesn't seem as spacious as F in the nose of a 744 should feel. For example, SQ also had 12 SkySuites on their 744s, but the F cabin still felt spacious. Oh well, it is a moot point comparing UA with SQ...