Late last year, I took three flights in United’s Regional Business Class and Domestic First Class.
I flew the following routes:
Punta Cana (PUJ) – Chicago (ORD)
Phoenix (PHX) – Washington Dulles (IAD)
Washington Dulles – Punta Cana (PUJ)
I have consolidated these into one article, as the products are essentially identical.
The on-board hard product was reasonably consistent across the three flights, the standard US Domestic First 2-2 configuration on narrow-body jets.
Unfortunately one of the seats was so badly worn, the I could feel parts of the fittings through the seat cushion. As the flight was full, the only option was to use a blanket as additional padding.
Fortunately for me, I was asked to move after take-off to accommodate a couple with a pet, erroneously seated in a bulkhead row. Obviously I readily acquiesced to this!
After this flight, I received a credit to my United MileagePlus account of 2,500 miles, labelled “Inflight Compensation Miles”.
This was not discussed on board, and I am not sure whether this was for the worn seat or being asked to move.
Either way, I considered it a fair and reasonable gesture.
Seat pitch was a uniform 38″, providing decent legroom.
I sampled a variety of the on-board catering, including both the omelette and shakshuka breakfast options, as well as a lasagne lunch dish.
Whilst the presentation of the lasagne left a little to be desired, it certainly tasted a lot better than it looked.
All of the dishes were tasty and filling and the on-board service was much more proactive than that on Air Canada Rouge’s Business Class product, of which I was rather critical in my recent review.
Overall, I was happy with the product and service, which was quite consistent across all three flights.
The upgrades from the standard economy product worked out at around $150 or £120 for each of the 4-5 hour sectors, which considering that baggage fees were included, I considered pretty good value and would be more than happy to pay again on a future flight.
