I just bought tickets for my mom and I to go to London in May (From L.A.) We've been several times before but this will be our first trip there on United Airlines. The last two times we flew on Virgin Atlantic and British Air, in 2003 and 2004. Both those times we were given little "goodie bags" on board with support socks, eyeshades, toothpaste & toothbrush. Should we expect the same amenities on UAL in 2006, or should we bring our own?

No, I have not received anything flying US airlines overseas for years. You need to bring your own.

And bring those $5 bills so you can get a drink. United started that last year going across the Atlantic. Hopefully, you will get an earphone, blanket and pillow.

Are you flying first class?

Am I flying first class? I wish! No, not being filthy rich, I am flying coach. I bought tickets on UAL because they had a great price, cheaper than VA or BA or even AA. Thanks for the advice, I will pack my own flight supplies.

I'm sorry but the Last UAL flight I was on from London to JFK was not so good. The plane was a 767 and the flight seemed like an overcrowded city bus. The UAL 777 from SFO to HNL was so much better as at least the plane looked better.

Well let me tell you...I just got back from London using American and comparing the service to Virgin or British Airways is like comparing night and day....

The audacity...they charge for booze...both Virgin and British Airways the drinks in coach are free. On American, United they cost $5 each even for a small bottle of wine with what they call dinner.

And both Virgin and British Airways on the LHR-JFK flight about an hour out of NY service a "tea" sandwiches (not very big but real food)...American hands out those snack packs they have the gall to charge $3 for on domestic flights.

I would think United does likewise.

Going off-topic here...

Last year when I flew CO from Bristol back to Newark, we were served "cream tea" before arrival. CO had always done that on London-US flights, but it was still a surprise.

The scones and tea were bad, but they gave us actual clotted cream from Cornwall, which I had just visited.

Anyways, some people reported recently that cream tea has been replaced with a sandwich. I wish that was not true.

[As always, drinks are $5 or 4 euros. Or as low as $4 if you buy the CO drink coupons in bulk.]

Daisy54, how much cheaper were the UA flights?

Does anyone know how many channels United has in coach for viewing? BA had 18 channels.

Daisy,

I used the UA service between LHR and LAX and vice versa last fall (November). I was pleased.

However, they did not have those "goodie bags", so you would have to bring your own.

The plane in each instance was a 777, one of my favourite planes around. Try to get seats on the outer sides of the aisle - there are only two neighbouring seats there.

I have one suggestion to make: Do enquire whether there are any seats available in Economy Plus. This is the front section of the Economy cabin and the seats are the same as a bit further back, but there are about 4 inches more space in between the seats. This may not sound like much, but on a flight of that length can make a significant difference.
I opted for one of those seats on both segments and was extremely glad I did - particularly on the London bound flight. It just eases stretching out a bit which comes in handy when you try to get a nap.
The surcharge they were asking was pretty low. I think out of LAX they charged me US$ 65.00 for the flight to LHR (on my way to LAX I got it for free because I had had to wait for the agent who was a bit busy - sometimes it pays staying calm...;-) ).

mrwunrfl,
The UA tickets were about $150 cheaper than the same route on America, Virgin or British Air. I'd been pricing tickets about every other day and on Tuesday these $595 fares appeared and I grabbed them.

The possibe demise of free booze on international flights doesn't bother me, I'm not much of a drinker these days and it's frequently advised not to imbibe on long flights anyway, but I will be packing my eyeshades, water bottle and snacks in my carryon.

I was able to request our seat assignments when I booked the tickets and got outside seats both ways, an aisle and a window.

Daisy,

you won't need a water bottle from my experience. The FAs came around frequently offering drinks and water in particular. When I stood up twice in between and asked for another can I got it immediately. So I would suggest you do not bother bringing and schlepping your own water.

Always bring a water bottle when you are traveling-comes in very handy when sitting at airports and also dying for something to drink in the middle of the night on a flight. I just flew Alitalia to Milan and never saw the flight attendants from dinner to breakfast. On Delta from Rome, we were asked every half hour between meals if we wanted water.

There is a big difference between Economy Plus seats on UA and regular coach seats. On every domestic UA flight I have been on recently they try to sell me one of these at check-in. We didn't buy, but husband and son ended up in them anyway.

I've only seen the amenity bags in business class in recent years, and I don't ever remember getting one with support socks, just regular socks.