I am flying from San Francisco to Paris in January on United. I am wondering if in regular economy class there are any powerports to plug in a laptop computer.

Also, is the alcohol free?

One more...is it the "in seat" entertainment? If so, does that mean you get to pick what you watch AND when you watch it?

Any other comments about that flight would be nice to hear as well. Thanks!!

The alcohol is not free in economy.

Keith

The united.com website suggests that laptop powerports are only available in the First Class and Business sections of their aircraft. And it looks like Economy passengers will pay for their own booze. You might want to dig into the united.com site regarding in-flight entertainment.

I didn't realise United had put a stop to free booze in economy? It must be a relatively recent change (it was free when I last went with them in September).

I wonder if this is a trend amongst airlines - does anybody know which other airlines don't offer free alcoholic drinks in economy for transatlantic flights?

A few drinks was always the perfect recipe for me to get some decent sleep on long flights!

Dave,

I believe that only 1 or maybe 2 of the US based airlines still provide free alcohol on international flights. I know for a fact that AA charges.

The opoosite is true on foreign based airlines. Most if not all still provide free alcoholic drinks.

In my last trip on United on a 767 from the UK, the power ports were "welded" over. This was in business class. Don't count on power ports even if the aircraft is supposedly equiped with them. And even if they are working, you need a special adaptor - it isn't like a normal cigarette lighter in a car. So if you are desparate for power, you might find extra batteries cheaper than the adaptor. The adaptors are not available on board (as far as I know).

Thanks for the responses!

I work for an airline and know of no U.S. carrier offering free alcohol for many years. Even on international, some do and some don't. Most foreign flag carriers do, however.

I flew to Bangkok in October and alcohol was free in coach on the ORD-NRT, NRT-BKK, BKK-NRT and NRT-ORD portions. It seems to vary on the route because i thought I remembered paying for wine to London.

I fly transatlantic and down to Brazil pretty regularly -- UA, BA, and SAS to Europe, and UA and AA to Brazil. I've never seen a powerport in coach. All seem to have free alcohol in coach on transatlantic flights. UA is free to/from Brazil, but AA charges.