United Premium Plus Review (Is It Worth the Upgrade?)
Introduction
Last year, my husband and I flew Delta from Montreal to Honolulu. Our longer flight legs between Minneapolis and Honolulu and from Honolulu to Detroit were in the Delta Premium Select cabin. We loved it so much that I specifically tried to book it again this year. However, I could only find flights with two layovers on the dates we were traveling. So we decided to try the United Airlines equivalent, which is United Premium Plus.
This United Premium Plus review covers our experience on one flight in this cabin class. This is my honest review, as I paid for these tickets myself and don’t have any United status that gives me upgrades. I will discuss the amenities, food, cost, and whether I think it was worth the upgrade.
If you are interested in my review of Delta’s Premium Select cabin, you can read that blog post here.
What Is United Premium Plus?
United’s Premium Economy Cabin Explained
United Premium Plus is a dedicated “premium economy” cabin on long-haul international and some domestic flights. It is a separate cabin experience between the United Polaris first class cabin and the regular economy. Premium Plus offers more legroom and larger, reclining seats. Meals and drinks are also included in the ticket price.
Routes and Aircraft Offering Premium Plus
United offers Premium Plus seats on nearly all long-haul international flights that utilize a wide-body plane (Boeing 777, 787, and 767). It is also available on flights to Hawaii that use wide-body aircraft. Other flights between New York and San Francisco or Los Angeles also offer Premium Plus.
Our flight route consisted of two flights. The first leg of our trip was a short flight from Montreal to Chicago. This was in the economy class because I learned last year that in these short flights in small planes, there is not much difference in classes. You will still get a priority tag on your luggage if only part of your trip is premium. The first flight from Montreal to Chicago was on an Embraer E175, which was a better experience than Delta’s Bombardier for me. It felt larger and safer. After a short layover of 1.5 hours, our Premium Plus flight was on the Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner from Chicago to Honolulu.
How It Compares to Basic Economy and First Class
Fare class is all going to depend on the route, plane, and travel dates. Our full route included a three-hour flight from Montreal to Chicago and a 9-hour 27-minute flight from Chicago to Honolulu. Both flights ended up being an even shorter flight time than our itinerary stated in advance.
According to United’s website, Basic Economy and Economy classes offer standard legroom and seating in either the middle or back of the plane. There is not always in-seat power. Points are only earned if you choose preferred seating. Boarding zones are 3- 6. There is usually a small snack provided with your drink (non-alcoholic only), and meals are available to be purchased. Baggage fees are $35-40 for the first checked bag.
United Premium Plus offers priority check-in at the airport. You get two free checked bags included. Meals and drinks are free on the flight. You get larger seats that recline and footrests. You also board in Group 2.
United Polaris is the highest class seat. This includes a lie-flat seat. United Polaris also includes access to Polaris lounges at select airports, premium Saks Fifth Avenue bedding, and multi-course meals. This seat will also set you back thousands of dollars. You will board in Group 1.
As I mentioned, our first flight from Montreal to Chicago was on an Embraer E-175 regional jet. We were in row 8, which is technically considered Economy Plus towards the front of the plane. There are only 23-24 rows on this plane with seating for 76 to 78 passengers. This was a comfortable flight compared to last year’s Bombardier flight with Delta, where both my husband and I felt dizziness on the ascent that was kind of scary.
Booking United Premium Plus
I booked our flight directly on United’s website. I have heard that recommended multiple times, as there are instances where changing flights on a ticket booked through a third-party app can be much more difficult. I had dates for a hotel already booked, so my only real constraint was trying to book that specific date (a Wednesday), and only having one layover. As previously mentioned, Premium Plus is on your full ticket, so even though our first flight was economy, our bags were tagged priority and were some of the first bags to show up at the baggage claim in Honolulu. We also had two free checked bags.
Price vs. Value
I have a mixed review of United’s Premium Plus experience. I am not sure if I just caught them on a bad day, but it was pretty underwhelming compared to our experience with Delta last year.
We paid $1674 USD ($2274CAD) for two one-way flights. Our total per flight ended up being more like $1847 USD ($ 2509 CAD) each with taxes and fees. Now, airfares have increased significantly over the past year due to inflation and other reasons. I think we may have also been penalized for booking a one-way flight, but this year we decided to do something different on the way back and have a weekend layover in California. However, last year we paid $1533 USD for round-trip tickets. It was basically the same price for only half the flight route. Not a great value in the end. I booked both trips roughly around the same time, so it was not due to last-minute prices either.
United Premium Plus is supposed to offer a similar experience to Delta Premium Select – an elevated experience without the huge price tag of a lie-flat first-class seat. However, I found the experience to be lacking compared to Delta.
Airport Experience & Boarding
Priority Check-In Experience and Baggage Allowance
As I mentioned, even if your whole route is not Premium Plus, it will still be noted on your ticket. At the airport, you can check in via the Premier Access line. Your bags are tagged priority, so they come out first when you arrive at your destination. This makes such a difference when you finally arrive after a long day of travel.
Baggage allowance is also an extra perk with this ticket. Each traveler receives TWO free checked bags of up to 50 lbs (23kg) each. Last year, we bought a collapsible duffel bag. This feature comes in handy because on the return flight, we fill it with clothes and shoes and utilize the extra free bag. You also receive one free carry-on.
Does Premium Plus Include Lounge Access?
According to United’s website, the United Premium Plus ticket does not include lounge access. However, they do state that you can sometimes purchase a one-time pass to the United Club. Polaris lounges are included with the purchase of a Polaris ticket or paid membership.
Boarding Process and Boarding Group
The United Premium Plus ticket includes priority boarding. Premium Plus ticket holders board in Zone 2. The only group in front of you is the Zone 1 (Star Alliance and Polaris ticket holders) boarding group. This is a nice feature, as there are not many people in Zone 1, so we got into our seats and settled rather quickly.
First impressions stepping onboard
Our flight was on the Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner, which holds about 318 passengers. The Premium Plus cabin had a 2-3-2 configuration and 21 seats in 3 rows. Even though I booked our tickets very early, the seats I usually get (window and aisle together) were already completely booked. So we ended up with 2 seats in the middle (aisle and middle). We were seated in seats 22D and 22E, which were in the last row of Premium Plus with no one behind us. Despite the fact that I was in the middle seat, I was very comfortable with all the extra space provided. No complaints there.
United Premium Plus has purple branding. The seats are purple, and even our digital boarding pass was purple. This section of the plane is right after the entrance, and I noticed right away that there was a bathroom right in front of our section. This was a huge plus to the Dreamliner, as I remember the Delta A330-300 we had to walk all the way back to Row 42 (from row 21) to access the bathroom, as there was no bathroom between Delta One and Premium Select.
When we arrived at our seats, we had the blanket and pillow on our seats along with noise-reducing headphones. However, there was no amenity kit provided. According to United’s website, we were supposed to get a nice amenity kit with Brooks Brothers and Perricone MD skincare products. The amenity kit on the website has earplugs, socks, a pouch, an eye mask, tissues, cleansing wipes, eye serum, face mist, and hand cream. As I said, I am not sure what happened with this flight, but we did not get anything. There was also no menu printed out, as we had with Delta. Right away, it felt less premium to me, but it got worse.
United Premium Plus Seat Review
Seat Comfort & Dimensions
The Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner has 21 Premium Plus seats. The seat pitch is 38″ (96.5 cm). The seat recline is 6″ (15 cm). The seat width is 19″ (48.2 cm). This seems very similar to Delta’s Premium Select with a slightly larger width seat on United. I also had plenty of room under my seat to store both my backpack and my purse, which were both full-sized items. That experience was the same on Delta and United.
There is also plenty of overhead space for carry-on suitcases. Since you are seated in a cabin with 21 seats and are boarding early, there is not the same issue as in economy when you get to your seat, and all the overhead bin space is somehow already taken! The amenities in the seat are Wifi, a personal video screen, an in-seat power outlet, and USB in-seat power.
Amenities Provided
The amenities included with the seat are Wifi, a personal video screen, an in-seat power outlet, and USB in-seat power. The amenity kit promised on the website was not provided on my flight. The headseat was a nice, thick pair of over-ear noise-cancelling headphones. The headphones are not meant to be kept and are collected at the end of the flight. There is also a pillow and blanket on the seat for you to enjoy on your flight.
Footrest + leg rest details
The Premium Plus seats also include a fold-out adjustable footrest and leg rest. The additional legroom is almost like a recliner chair. Both my husband and I were very comfortable in these seats. We both ate, napped, and watched shows and movies during this long flight and arrived after 9+ hours feeling pretty good, considering. It is why I booked these tickets, because over such a long flight, it makes a huge difference.
United Premium Plus In-Flight Experience
Food & Dining Review
The meal service in United Premium Plus was subpar, especially after experiencing Delta’s Premium Select cabin. I think the difference is that Delta has flight attendants assigned to Premium Select whereas United does not. It definitely felt like the service was more rushed, less personal, and less attention to detail because these flight attendants are also moving back into the plane to do drink service for a huge plane.
There was no hot towel service or drink service before our meal. That was provided on Delta and was a nice touch. You got a hot towel, snack, and drink right away before getting your meal a little later. On United Premium Plus, they came around to clarify our pre-ordered meal, which was served to us before our drinks. Then the drink crew came through and went from our cabin back to the economy cabin.
We were served our meals on trays, but did not receive the tablecloth. We did receive real glassware with our meal, but the drink cart came around and served our drinks in plastic cups, so that was a bit weird. I don’t know why they gave us those empty glasses and then didn’t use them. There were quite a few flight attendants on this plane, as it was huge, and it seemed like they were very busy. Perhaps the plane and passenger count are just too large on the flight we took to really give the elevated service.
We pre-ordered our meals on the United app, but I believe that could be changed on the flight if you wanted to. Since we were on an early morning flight, we were given breakfast, snack service, and then a pre-arrival meal. So the first meal is the one that we ordered. There were two options, with one being vegetarian. The meat option was scrambled eggs with Portuguese sausage. The vegetarian option was coconut mascarpone crepes. I got the vegetarian option, as I am a vegetarian, and my husband got the eggs with sausage. We both enjoyed our meals. They came with fruit, a roll, and a dessert of pineapple coconut cheesecake.
In addition to our pre-ordered meal, there was also a pre-arrival course, which consisted of two options: one vegetarian and one meat. The vegetarian option was radiatori pasta, and the meat option was a shredded kalua pork sandwich. For some reason, you don’t pre-order this meal.
This was where the service was really disappointing for me. Again, the flight attendants are rushing through the cabin one more time. Since I was in the last row in the middle, I was probably the last person to get her meal. When the flight attendant got to me, she pretty much just handed me the kalua pork, and I tried to give it back to her and say I can’t eat this, I am a vegetarian, but she is so distracted she just keeps moving on. Didn’t even ask me what I wanted because that is all they had left. Luckily, my husband had taken the last pasta and traded it with me. He did not like the sandwich, but the pasta he gave me was very good. Now, I understand that they will run out of things, but I specifically put on my reservation “Asian vegetarian” so that should not have happened. Combined with the rushed meal service and lack of customer service, it was something that stuck out to me.
Aside from those two meals, there was no snack service provided, which was also different from Delta. Our experience on Delta was that they came around with a basket of snacks, and we had additional drinks in between meals. Again, on United, it seemed like no flight attendants were assigned to us, so there was no elevated service.
United In-Flight Entertainment System
I liked the in-flight entertainment system, and I think it was a bit better than Delta’s. There were new release TV shows from Apple TV and HBO Max. They also had a few new release movies. It was much more up-to-date entertainment. We both watched shows and movies that we had not seen before, so that was nice.
United Premium Plus comes with a 13-inch touchscreen, which is the same as Delta’s. It is also possible to tilt the screen at different angles as well. There was also a possibility of connecting to Wifi for free as MileagePlus members. We did not utilize this feature as we did not need it.
Our outlets were a bit hard to reach between us and under our armrests. It was such a strange angle, but once I finally got my phone plugged in, I left it there for the remainder of the flight.
Cabin Crew & Service
This was unfortunately the biggest difference from our experience with Delta Premium Select versus United Premium Plus. The United flight had so many different flight attendants who were coming through. I was also in the middle, and it was a bit confusing as my husband and I were sitting together, but sometimes I couldn’t order with him because the person in the other aisle was responsible for me.
The flight attendants on this United flight were obviously busy and rushing through our service. Our meals were served before our drinks in the first service. In the second service, I was given a meal that I could not eat, even though I had indicated on my ticket that I was a vegetarian, and the flight attendant was pushing the cart and walking away when I tried to correct her.
United Premium Plus Sleeping & Long-Haul Comfort
How Easy It Is to Sleep in Premium Plus
Both my husband and I napped in our Premium Plus seats. We both had our breakfast and then watched some TV on and off and napped throughout the flight. My husband prefers the aisle because he is taller, but he did not need the extra space with these seats. I was a bit worried being in the middle, as that is not my preferred seat, but I was very comfortable. There was plenty of space between the passenger on the other side of me. The leg rest was comfortable. The blanket was typical of what you are provided on flights and helped me stay warm.
Noise Levels
There were no noise issues in the Premium Plus cabin. The cabin is enclosed between Polaris and economy, so it’s a smaller unit. There might have been a toddler in the first row of Premium Plus, but there were no other children nearby. I did wear the noise-cancelling headphones while watching shows, but did not need to wear them otherwise. I slept easily with the blanket that was provided to me and my own eye mask.
Comparison to Economy Plus and Economy
On the Dreamliner, the big difference between Premium Plus, Economy Plus, and Economy is the cabin size and seat configuration. Premium Plus has its own cabin separated by a wall. Economy Plus is just behind Premium Plus with 54 seats in a 3-3-3 configuration. The seat pitch is 34″ (4 less than Premium Plus), and the recline is 4″ (2 less than Premium Plus). The seat width is 17.3″ (it is 19″ in Premium Plus).
United Economy has 199 seats in a 3-3-3 configuration. The seat pitch is 31″, and the recline is 3″. The seat width is 17.3″, which is the same as Economy Plus. The Economy Plus and Economy seats are all in the same cabin. There is a galley between rows 40 and 42 with bathrooms, in addition to having them all the way in the back of the plane after row 60.
I liked this configuration better than Delta’s because of our proximity to the bathroom. All seats in all classes have Wifi, power outlets, and USB ports.
Arrival Experience
Deplaning
Since the Premium Plus seats are near the front of the plane, you are going to be off the plane very quickly. You are in rows 20-22 in the Dreamliner. There are only 44 seats in Polaris from rows 1-11, so there is not much waiting for deplaning.
Priority Baggage Delivery
As I mentioned before, this is a huge perk of the Priority Plus ticket. Even in comfortable seats, after 9-plus hours, when you finally arrive at your destination, you just want to get out of the airport and start your vacation!
Our bags were some of the first to arrive at the baggage claim. We only had a minute or two to wait for them, just enough to use the bathroom. I don’t think I have ever received my bags so quickly before.
Pros & Cons of United Premium Plus
Pros
More spacious seating and a small, dedicated cabin were major advantages of this seat class. I usually fly economy for cross-country flights, and it definitely gets uncomfortable changing positions constantly. For a longer flight, this seat is so much better.
The meals were very good. My husband and I both liked our breakfasts. Our food was sufficiently warm (which has not always been our experience on other airlines). Our fruit was fresh, and our meals were quite tasty.
In addition, having priority services like boarding in Zone 2, 2 free checked bags, and Priority bags enhanced our long day of travel.
Cons
If I had not flown Delta’s Premium Select cabin last year and didn’t have anything to compare it to, I might say it was okay. But I noticed a big difference in amenities and service compared to United’s Premium Plus seats. The meal and drink service was rushed and provided in the wrong order. There was no amenity kit provided despite having that listed on the website as part of the ticket. There was also no water bottle or hot towel service. They ran out of vegetarian meals on the pre-arrival meal, and I was just handed whatever they had left despite noting my preference on my ticket. The service was not up to par with Delta’s attention to detail.
The higher cost is a con as well. I paid a lot more this year than I did last year for Delta’s better experience. I know ticket prices are higher across the board, but I got a lot more value for my money on Delta’s Premium Select versus United’s Premium Plus.
Is United Premium Plus Worth It?
When It’s Worth the Upgrade
This is a tough one, but despite the hiccups, I would probably still book this ticket on a similarly long flight or an overnight flight. The seat comfort, recline, and footrests were the best things about this ticket. Unfortunately, you have to pay more for that comfort level now. However, now that I have flown Delta Premium Select and United Premium Plus, if I had the choice, I would choose Delta 100% of the time.
When You Can Skip It
I don’t think Premium Plus is worth it on shorter flights. I find my limit to be around 5-6 hours on a flight in economy. After that, you start to feel like you are shifting constantly and cannot get comfortable no matter what you do. The clear benefit of this ticket is on long routes and international flights. This is also where they use the widest-body aircraft that has these seats.
Conclusion
Final Thoughts on Flying United Premium Plus
I hope this United Premium Plus review has been helpful for you in deciding whether to book in the future. Both my husband and I were very comfortable and enjoyed the food and drinks, and were able to rest and relax in these seats. As I mentioned, I think it is worth the cost for longer flights and red-eye flights when you don’t want to sit uncomfortably in Economy, unable to stretch out, but also don’t want to spend 10K on flights.
Would I Book Premium Economy Again?
Yes, I would book United Premium Plus again, but only for longer flights and depending on the cost of the ticket, which was quite high this year. If I had the choice, I would choose Delta Premium Select over United Premium Plus because the service did not even compare.
