United Airlines Premium Economy Class: IAD-SFO B787-9

United announced Premium Plus back in late 2018, but just rolled out the new seats on their 787-9 Dreamliner’s this year. I was lucky to be able to try it out a few months ago. United downgraded the 777-200 serving this route (IAD-SFO) with a smaller, but more fuel efficient Dreamliner. It’s a major upgrade though as Elites have access to Premium Plus as they do Economy Plus. Premium Plus is a true international quality Premium Economy seat. I’ve previously flown Premium Economy on Cathay Pacific, Japan Airlines & Virgin Australia so I had a great comparison. United was the comfiest I’ve experienced, but the service on United was the worst out of these 4 airlines.

I found my window seat at 22A which is the last row of Premium Plus, but it still has a full recline. The width of the seat and extra recline made it very comfortable. While reclining there is a button for a leg rest as well to help put you into a cradle-like seat. At your feet, there is even a footrest to use if you prefer or combine it with the leg rest for ultimate comfort. With the new seats, they installed very nice HD TV’s which made watching a movie enjoyable.

We took off on time and flew into the sunset on the West Coast. Service was minimal, but soda and water was served along with a snack pack. I ended up spending most of the flight working using the onboard WiFi. It’s satellite-based provided by Panasonic and costs $28.99 for the entire flight with no data caps. It was fast too at 31Mbps down and 1.4Mbps up.

Conclusion: If you want the best way to fly domestically without flying First or Business Class, book Premium Plus with United! You won’t regret it. Just don’t expect the best service.