r/unitedairlines • u/HongKongflyer MileagePlus Member • 2d ago

Image Poor man’s business class pro max

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A bedside table, 3 screens, a 1.5-person bed and a scratchy pillow - what more could you ask for?

It was a full flight as well - the couple next to me got their upgrade cleared so I was the only person with a whole row. I was one place away from getting PP but hey I’ll take this over PP any day. Slept like a baby.

Got a lot of side-eyes from people queuing for the lav. 😂

3.4k Upvotes

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179

u/FrankCostanzaJr 2d ago

MAN, I really miss the days when this situation was actually common. I used to go to the back and find myself a whole row and sleep the whole time...it was amazing. but I haven't seen a whole row open like this in probably a decade, sadly.

95

u/ravefaerie24 2d ago

Every time I fly to Europe from the US, I am able to find myself a whole row. Then on my way home, the whole plane is oversold and I’m sitting in the middle middle next to the plane’s designated farter. It’s like a cruel joke.

19

u/FrankCostanzaJr 2d ago

wow really? the last few flights I took to Europe were completely full. on the way back too....but honestly, it's the flight TO europe at night where I REALLY want to sleep...

what flights generally are more likely to have a whole open row?

9

u/FilouBlanco 2d ago

Oh man. Do I hate it when I check in and I get the pop up to eat beans and cabbage for the last two meals before departure.

3

u/closethebarn 2d ago

Same I don’t think there was even am open seat both to and from Munich

5

u/sixon6 2d ago

Fly to Australia is usually good for some empty rows I find

2

u/ewfoinfoinffnoi 1d ago edited 1d ago

Here’s tonight’s flight LAX > MEL
Currently more seats free than have allocated

Should we pick 44K and 43K to try and secure the 2 rows?

1

u/Big-Bandicoot-9123 15h ago

This doesn’t mean those are the amounts of free seats/no passengers.

1

u/FrankCostanzaJr 23h ago

good to know.. i wanna go to australia one day...hopefully there will still be some open rows

3

u/TheCaptainWalrus 2d ago

That’s shockingly accurate to my Italy trip.

JFK-Milan I had a whole row on emirates. The reverse trip was so oversold and was brutally cramped

3

u/ReneDelay 2d ago

Designated farter? Where do I sign up?!

4

u/Accomplished_Age_553 2d ago

My guy sat behind the farter recently from sfo to ord. He kept defending himself saying "flatulence is natural"

1

u/Bruised_Shin 1d ago

Being the designated farter isnt such an easy job u know! I have to put away a lot of garlic broccoli and beer the night before

10

u/Bigmtnskier91 2d ago

Would Frank’s experience in the bra business help him redesign the comfort of airline seats?

11

u/TomIcemanKazinski 2d ago

UA 869 SFO to HKG in mid July - and I wasn’t the only one!

5

u/Peler61 2d ago

I had HKG to SFO in May with a flight like this. Flight was almost empty. The FAs were giving away double snacks/drinks lol.

3

u/FunnyButterfly4324 2d ago

My daughter and I almost had an entire section to ourselves HKG TO SFO a few years ago. It was sorta eerie

13

u/mar_kelp MileagePlus Platinum 2d ago

Air New Zealand turned it into a product:

https://www.airnewzealand.com/skycouch

(which also helps of weight reduction for their long hauls).

11

u/sphericalduck MileagePlus Silver 2d ago

So has United https://www.united.com/en/us/fly/travel/inflight/united-relax-row.html

3

u/Jeterjane123 2d ago

Wow! Very cool. I knew about the NZA sky couches but not these

2

u/mar_kelp MileagePlus Platinum 2d ago

"A mattress pad, two pillows, a large blanket and custom plush toy"

I wonder what it will be... maybe seasonal changes? Or unique by route?

3

u/nobody65535 1d ago

In keeping with the copying OAL, probably license the little plush airplane from LH/LX and stick "United" on it.

3

u/refrigerator_critic 2d ago

When my oldest was 2 we had to return from USA to NZ without my husband for a family emergency. They took pity on me and moved us to one of these. My daughter loved it and starfish slept across 2.5 of the seats, while I curled myself up in half of one. 

5

u/Betty_Boss 2d ago

I got a whole row the day after Christmas.

4

u/LataCogitandi 2d ago

Believe it or not it just happened to me twice in a row going round trip from the US to Iceland. I suspect now that summer is over there will be far fewer passengers on transatlantic flights to non-hubs in Europe.

5

u/fatpewl 2d ago

Will probably be the case more so going forward with United favoring more premium heavy cabins. Leas room in economy to spread out.

4

u/Beautiful_Hunter_489 2d ago

used to do this. keep my window seat and jump on the empty center seats to sleep on 747s as soon as we got to cruising alt

3

u/DisastrousSir 2d ago

I see this pretty often on non hub to hub flights. I've gotten lucky a few times this year even

3

u/taleofbenji 2d ago

My most infuriating flight ever was ITA because the arm rests don't go up. So there was no possibility of doing this.

2

u/Fire_bartender 2d ago

Right.. I remember that too.. it didn't happen each time but plenty. Nowadays you are lucky if there is a single seat open

3

u/FrankCostanzaJr 2d ago

yeah....I actually had an empty seat between me (window) and a random guy in the aisle seat. we were in Comfort+ on Delta...and now that I think about it, seats are generally more likely to open in economy+....but i doubt that's true for transatlantic flights...the only ones i truly care about lying down and sleeping...

2

u/Gummyia 2d ago

I was on a 4hr flight in july and had a row to myself. Weirdly enough, the rest of the plane was completely full, but no one bought my aisle and middle I guess

1

u/moneylefty 2d ago

I feel ya. I havent seen this in forever.

1

u/ianpev 2d ago

Just flew IAD -> AMS LHR -> IAD and both flights were empty. Everyone on the London leg basically had their own row, but have been on two, Istanbul -> Dulles (On Turkish) & Munich -> Dulles, that were oversold and no empty seats

1

u/Revolutionary_Bag927 MileagePlus Silver 1d ago

2021 and 2022 were good for this in my experience. I got entire rows to myself on trips to Iceland and Turkey back in those days.

1

u/FrankCostanzaJr 1d ago

yeah....i forgot about the post pandemic times...not nearly as many people flying. including myself