First impressions: I arrived at Hong Kong International Airport at 1815 for my 2000 departure for Singapore on UA895. This is a multi-segment flight, coming from Chicago to Hong Kong and then onto Singapore. For this flight online check-in is not possible so I checked in using one of the machines by the United desks, scanning my passport and supplying the credit card for the booking. I was offered the chance to pay for an upgrade to both Business class and Premium Economy, but just checked in and then used the bag drop facility.
Boarding: the flight was called from Gate 61 at around 1915 so I took the transfer train and arrived as the screens showed final call. Once on board I asked the man sitting in my seat to move, and then a member of cabin staff offered to take my jacket, which doesn’t often happen in economy. We were away on time, and quickly into the air.
The seat: The flight was quite full and I walked through the new business class seating (forward and backward facing) into the large economy cabin. I was in the final row in a window seat 60J. The configuration on the B747-400 is 3-4-3 until row 57 where it narrows and rows 58-60 have only two seats at the side. For a seatplan, click here.
The advantage of both 59 and 60J (and 59 and 60A) is you can stretch one leg down the side of the seat in front. The man in front of me however kept leaning towards the window and spitting on the floor. I was wearing a pair of tan loafers, and so waited until he had fallen asleep before taking advantage of this feature.
The flight: The meal service was delayed because of turbulence, but we were kept informed of this over the tannoy. There are no individual screens on this aircraft, so we watched the main film (Star Trek) on the overhead screens (quite awkward in rows 57-60 because the screen is a bit too literally overhead). There are 14 channels of entertainment, with several audio channels. The seat reclines a fair way, and with an inflatable neck support and some noise cancelling headphones on, I had no problem in sleeping for half an hour or so. The flight had a few bumpy moments and I stayed seated but behind the seat there’s an area next to the rear door where you can stand and stretch, and indeed a few passengers did this (without disturbing me).
When the meal service came it was in a box. Inside was a packet of Lays barbecue flavour crisps, a pecan cookie and a sandwich that not even in the interests of research would I remove the cellophane from. It looked to have meat and cheese in it. My neighbours ate their sandwiches very quickly then opened the food they had brought with them. It’s hard to say which smelled worse. We were then offered drinks, including alcohol, and towards the end of the flight, cups of water.
Arrival: We arrived ahead of schedule at 2315 in Singapore after a few more bumps on the descent (one of which had the flight attendants running for their seats). We quickly disembarked, and our luggage was already on the carousel by the time we had cleared immigration (which took about five minutes)
Verdict: good value, and comfortable. Eat before you get on board, though.
Contact: united.com
Tom Otley
