SFO is my home airport and as a result, fly United quite often for business and personal travel. As always your trip report is 100% spot on. The direct and honest feedback of the good and bad is the gold standard of airline reviews. The neck pillow availability is as inconsistent as you pointed out. 50% of the time I get one and 50% of the time it is upon request. Never thought to ask why this is and glad you did. I have eaten the chicken and noodles dish at least a dozen times last year and concur it is as awful as you state. It is not hyperbole when you state it is overcooked and bland. Fully concur with your statement about breakfast as well. It truly is mediocre at best. When asked what I ate on the flight, my standard reply for United catering is, "a plastic tray of brown." The ice cold croissant is the parting middle finger letting passengers know the airlines does not really care. United's long haul food service appears to be standardized across all stations as I've always received the same starch/chicken lunch/dinner and a starch or scramble breakfast. One last item to add insult to injury. The awful and cheap plastic trays slide across the table like ice on ice. On one of my flights, the plane pitched up slightly during meal service and dozen of trays went sliding onto people's laps.
Many moons ago , every US airline had thier own in-flight menu. Post 9-11 every major airport and airline contracts with a local provider.. DYNATA, GATE-GROUMET ARE the 2 big boys that produce thousand of meals from a single facility. It's being done this way for security reasons.. just wait .. by 2050 the will provide branded MRE's ..
WOW ! ! ! At 07:37 you see a perfect slot transfer timing! The incoming plane needs to be safe on the ground before the outgoing plane reaches "V1", the point you can not abort a takeoff. I haven´t seen it so well-timed before. Nice work by the tower crew.
Spot on. Flew EWR to LHR and what they served I wouldn’t even feed to my dog. Compared to Virgin Atlantics offering they make United’s food look like budget airline food
9:15 Better eat those pretzels. Even if you’re not hungry when you board a plane, you should still eat something salty during the flight because salt helps you retain water, making you less thirsty and therefore less likely to drink too much water and have to use the bathroom
You might not see this but a airline I have NEVER heard of is going on a flight from London Stansted to Boston with a stop over in kefavik and is leaving on the 22nd of April
Hello David. Very good trip report. I agree with you - on a flight of 10+ hours, the food selection and quality should be at the top of the chart. Kudos to being able to sit in an Economy seat for that length of time. For me - with Japan on my bucket list of places to visit - it would have to be Premium Economy or higher as I prefer the larger space. Was surprised that you were able to obtain the flight for such a low cost which is rare these days. Keep up the good work!
Catering has for many years been a major challenge for United. And, I am sure the only reason the free meals are even offered on UA Asian flights is that all of their competitors offer high quality, wholesome free meals in Economy (and yes, often prepared by the same inflight caterer that UA uses!). On any 9 to 15 hour flight, the quality of food & beverage (F&B) is absolutely welcome even to veteran travelers - and I don't easily forget the quality of my Economy class meals to/from Asia on non-Star Alliance carriers like JAL, KAL and Cathay Pacific. In fact, United's Star Alliance partners Asiana, ANA and SIA all have very good F&B options in all classes of travel.
Great review! This will be useful as I am taking this same SFO-NRT flight on United next month, so I'll be looking forward to see if I have the same experience or not
Just be glad you got hot meal service at all. Three weeks ago I flew round trip from SFO to Cancun on a United 737 Max 9. It was a 5 1/2+ hour flight and there was no meal service at all and only one beverage service! The "snack" was one half dollar size chocolate coated rice cracker. If you walked down to the galley, the flight attendant would sell you a boxed meal of crackers, cheese and hummus. Of course, there was no announcement that this was even available. The return flight was on "International Flight Attendants Day" but the crew couldn't have been less friendly. On the beverage service we go two small bottles of wine and had to call back the flight attendant to ask for glasses to drink them from. She looked at us like we were from Mars. I guess she thought we should drink straight from the bottle. The pilot turned on the seat belt sign during a few minutes of light turbulence then, I guess he forgot to turn it off as it stayed on for the next several hours. I was also surprised there was no infotainment screens on such a new aircraft. Only a little bracket where you could mount your own screen device. A truly horrible experience all around...
I've always wondered exactly why Tokyo has two international airports in Narita and Haneda, and exactly what purposed they served. It look all the way up until two weeks ago when I learned Haneda is located within Tokyo itself and Narita was built 2 hours away as a way to relieve the amount of flights Haneda used to experience.
I flew SFO-TPE on their 777-300ER last fall and my experience was much of the same. -The seats were OK (my flight had pillows on every seat upon boarding, though). -Service was fine. (however bathrooms either didn't get cleaned at all or my flight was full of absolute pigs) -Catering was forgettable (so much so that I have no recollection of what I ate, but at least it was inoffensive enough to be forgettable). I do remember the sad and stone cold croissant though, don't tell the French on pain of starting WWIII. -IFE was fine but if you take more than a couple trans-oceanic flights in a month you'll probably start running out of stuff to watch. The TV selection for stuff I wanted to watch had just 2-3 cherry-picked episodes it seemed, which is easy to burn through in a 12+ hour flight and on my return flight it was exactly the same selection a month later.
Meals are very important and a deal breaker for me. Air India's hard product is not the best (one of the worst actually) but their food is so good that I always end up flying with them inspite of the multiple European or Middle eastern options.
Talking about food on flights, most USA Airlines offer the same standard amenities on Long Haul flights so the food can really be the make or break difference in which airline you choose. Also, a tasty meal is a great way to make the passengers more friendly and relax some tension and nerves for nervous flyers.
I flew on United from Tokyo to Newark on a 777, and I honestly can't remember the food. I do remember that it was a completely full flight and the seat was really cramped. Ironically, I've flown longhaul on Delta and United twice once each between Europe and US, and between Asia and US, and Delta outperformed United in both cases. I flew longhaul on American to Rio de Janeiro on a 767, and it wasn't a great experience either in economy or business class, but that was 9 years ago, so maybe things are different now.
@@Originalman144 Can go with the Texas BBQ. Not sure how they will get those big pits and the wood to smoke the meat over night. Would be a really long flight. No way I will get on a Tesla battery operated Long Haul airline.
It is the airport you’re flying out off sometimes. What Bugs me is the same catering company United, American uses from US airports and international airports is the same used by their competitors yet their food is always bad. It shows they’re not investing the same money in the quality and ingredients. Also the substitutes are poor versus what their competitors offer which is usually branded. They boast about how profitable they are but can’t seem to get the finer details right.
i never had a bad experience with airplane food, but i can tell you a great one: Singapore Airlines A380 from Zurich to Singapore in Economy, that was just amazing
Great video and also a really great price for a flight from the US to Japan 😁 I don't understand what they want to achieve with their new "pillow policy". United isn't a low cost carrier and on a long haul flight, I expect a pillow on every seat...
15:45 tb to summer of 2022 I was traveling to Italy on TAP and we had a 3 hour delay white sitting on the tarmac in the plane and as soon as we took off they started serving the meals. Thankfully I was in business class and the meal wasn’t bad but I remember it was some pasta dish with mushrooms and squash and while normally I don’t like mushrooms I just remember absolutely DEMOLISHING it in like 2 minutes it was the meal with like a salad and desert and a bread roll. All in all not the worst but one of the best meals I’ve had in recent memory
my worst meal was on qatar airways los to doh and doh to hyd it was a round trip for one month and since i had travelled previously with qatar i was expecting for some endeavious meals but my expections were washed away as soon as i recieved the meal....
Believe it or not, but my worst meal was on Turkish Airlines! Flying from Istanbul (the new airport, that opened a week or so prior to my flight) to Amsterdam. It was an egg dish and it literally made my sick right away, and the journey home after landing (3 hours from Amsterdam at the time) wasn't pleasant! The flight to Istanbul from Amsterdam a week before was great, the food excellent. Sad end to a great trip back in 2019. This not so egg-ellent meal was on my last flight until 2021 because of Covid. Since then BA and KLM gave me good food, but nothing special. In July I'll fly Emirates from Frankfurt to Tokyo (via Dubai) so curious to see what the food is like. But given it's my first time on an A380, I think it won't even matter :-)
Did the AVOD include unskippable commercials? What speed was the very fairly priced internet? Were the bathrooms cleaned regularly? Basic meal quality keeps falling while special order meals keep growing. I wonder if there is a connection. (thanks for including your height vs. pitch)
I am a San Franciscan living in the EU. I LOVED watching your climb over the bay area. Great to see. I don't like 3/3/3 seating configurations on planes. I always try to fly 2/4/2. Also not crazy about United. I fly to US alot on TAP and LEVEL. Significanlty better.
Unfortunately for those thinking Polaris and Premium Plus having better food, you are terribly mistaken. Overall, catering at United has gone terribly downhill. The hard product is okay (although Polaris seats could use a sliding door) the food is something to be desired……
You were lucky, wife and I flew an 8hr round trip UA light from Denver to Kona, Hawaii and both times we were served cold entrées, cold piece of baked chicken on cold quinoa, and the other choice a vegetarian entree, cold pasta with cheese, served straight out of the fridge. A kid who sat in the window seat looked at his meal, took the cookie and shoved the rest, tray and all, under the front seat. That said it all. Thanks for the review and I will check out other airlines for International flights.
So yes recently I had my worst meal which was an omelet and I think omelets are not good on flights as well as one gravy but there was one croissant and butter which was the only good thing on that flight.This was aboard on a Vistara A321 neo.
Minor Correction Narita is a considerably bigger Airport with more destinations and more flights. However Haneda is still quite busy and is indeed much closer to the city (20min via rail), Narita is 70min by rail to Tokyo Station.
Well, Narita is busier with cargo and international airlines, but in passenger numbers, Haneda is far bigger than Narita, having served slightly above 80mio passengers in 2019, while Narita had just about half as much in the same year. What you are right about though is that, if you look just at international passengers, Narita had more because almost all passengers at NRT are international.
OMG your Tripreports are always perfect I always look up to you Simply Aviation I have been watching since 2018 simply aviation is why I came into tripreporting
My worst meal without a doubt was with Lufthansa. I had booked an economy seat with points and of course was seated in the rear of the 747. By the time the meal service got to me there were no choices left .......... I received cabin temperature noodles with some "meat"? and cherry yogurt. This was a flight from Frankfurt to Vancouver (YVR)
My worst flight meal was last year on American’s 777-300ER from DFW-LHR. The food was so dry, and the sides were inedible. Definitely do not want to have that same experience going to Europe again in a few weeks
I don't really have a bad comment on any airlines food, but if I'm being honest maybe the one in london to hong kong by cathay pacific during july 2022, I think the food wasn't the best and it is not too appetizing, ice cream is provided which is good but the main meal isn't the best.
U cannot deny, normal Polaris 1 way ticket 2-3k sometimes are like 4-5k. My problems are why United food selections on Polaris cannot match international careers level? (General US careers have the same problems) it looks exactly like economy food putted in heavier silver wear. If just for sleeping why would people spend 2-5k one way on United Polaris getting treated with animal foods instead spending similar amount of money on international careers like (JAL ANA EVA Cathay Singapore etc..)
I definitely agree with yiu David that meal look very desirable 😢. For my worst experience with food would have to be on iberia from jfk to mad last year and for breakfast all we got was a Banana and a drink so so sad.
Here! Here! Thanks for that tip, too. United hasn't really changed much. The real deal is the cheap airfare you mentioned. Yes, the food does sucks, but when in doubt, my family and I just bring real snacks and some Japanese instant ramen bowls just in case the food really sucks. Thanks!
For €250 to Tokyo I would not care if there was no food at all! That is amazing. I am also 188cm tall so the seat is all that matters but tbh it looked fine for economy food.
I am here because I will take the same UA 787 flight from Newark to Narita this July. By watching at the meals served I have the basic idea of how good(bad) that is (better if they serve hamburger, noodles are not their specialty). By the way the best meals I can recall were from JAL/ANA/Korean Air, and some other Asian airlines.
Nice vid Simply Aviation! A few months ago ZIPAIR Tokyo started service to SJC, an airport near SFO but is less busier, and is my local airport. Perhaps that could be an idea for a future trip report?
I guess these seats are bad for long haul flights. I took a United 787-8 for a short 1 hour 30 minutes hub transfer flight and the seat was generous and very comfortable
I had a flight with united from houston to Amsterdam with a 777-200er with the new livery (which i really love) last year and the food was very good it was noodles with chicken also but they did it correctly the service and flight was amazing but the only thing i personally missed was ice cream we had a small cake with sprinkles i prefer ice cream tho😁
I really don't have much problem fasting for 12 - 14 hours. My expectation, from experience, that UAL might serve food worth eating, would argue against putting them to the test. I would just wait and eat in Tokyo.
SFO is my home airport and I have a lot of status with united and I agree with your review in economy the pillow is not good but in Polaris the gel pillow is a different story and I agree which the food on this flight and my favorite meal with united is the beef short rib or the Belgium waffle
You cracked me up big-time with the comments on the food 😆. Made my day actually. You are correct, United's food leaves a lot to be desired - and that's after flying it twice, once in economy and once in business. The business class flight was from BOM to EWR. Now I was grateful for actually having a nonstop flight back to the U.S. (this was when the pandemic was gaining ground while grounding air service), but you'd think UA would have the brains to load more snacks on board for a flight that's 15+ hours. The food wasn't that great either. And from I gather, this isn't a one-off thing. The economy offering was pretty meager and portions were rather small. Left me hungry, which isn't something I've ever said about other airlines lol. Anyway, great video, I enjoy watching your reports. 👍
I absolutely appreciate your analysis of airline meals. Other channels typically gloss over the airline food. At least you got two meals per meal service! I wish I had that kind of pull. The worst meal service I had (non Covid era) was Lufthansa economy long haul from SFO to MUC. Bland chicken or mushy pasta. Breakfast was sad egg sandwich. Hands down worst (Covid era) was Avianca LAX to BOG - inedible cold ham and cheese sandwich with only water offered.
Another great video, you are 100% in the right and those meals didn't even look appetizing. My worst meal was breakfast on QF1 from SIN to LHR where they used some crappy powdered eggs.
US airlines need to understand that they are so far behind when it comes to in-flight meals. I flew economy on Emirates and I was blown away at the quality of the meals.
Hi David, my wife and I really enjoy your videos. We just discovered your channel recently. We will be flying American Airlines Boeing, 787-8 between Dallas Fort Worth and Amsterdam in August 2023. Have you ever flown this route and what type of experience would you expect? We will be flying business class.
Agree with you - the food is important and airlines rarely get it right, especially in Economy Class. It really does leave a bad taste with you and a little more effort could make such a better impression. Some of my worst experience - ANA Economy International (I try to order Vegetarian instead). The best, Singapore Airlines Business - best coffee I have ever had (and service).
@@samroy5967 For *food* in coach it was one of my worst experiences. Food was overcooked and soggy. Route was ORD - HND. But other trips with ANA have had similar, not so great food experiences. Service on ANA, on the other hand, is super friendly.
Fun fact, both United and Singapore serve the exact same coffee onboard from Illy Coffee in Italy. The service is quite different, but the coffee grounds are the same.
I fly almost exclusively Lufthansa for a number of years now (usually FRA-LAX LAX-FRA). The food is cheap, but largely pretty palatable. Cheap doesn't have to be "BAD".
I am flying with United for the first time in November, London to Houston, if the food is like that, I might bring some of my own, or just have a big meal before boarding, and wait until I get to the hotel for my evening meal, at least the entertainment looks good, and seats comfy enough. I always bring my own pillow for longer flights.
SFO is my home airport and as a result, fly United quite often for business and personal travel. As always your trip report is 100% spot on. The direct and honest feedback of the good and bad is the gold standard of airline reviews. The neck pillow availability is as inconsistent as you pointed out. 50% of the time I get one and 50% of the time it is upon request. Never thought to ask why this is and glad you did. I have eaten the chicken and noodles dish at least a dozen times last year and concur it is as awful as you state. It is not hyperbole when you state it is overcooked and bland. Fully concur with your statement about breakfast as well. It truly is mediocre at best. When asked what I ate on the flight, my standard reply for United catering is, "a plastic tray of brown." The ice cold croissant is the parting middle finger letting passengers know the airlines does not really care. United's long haul food service appears to be standardized across all stations as I've always received the same starch/chicken lunch/dinner and a starch or scramble breakfast. One last item to add insult to injury. The awful and cheap plastic trays slide across the table like ice on ice. On one of my flights, the plane pitched up slightly during meal service and dozen of trays went sliding onto people's laps.
Many moons ago , every US airline had thier own in-flight menu. Post 9-11 every major airport and airline contracts with a local provider.. DYNATA, GATE-GROUMET ARE the 2 big boys that produce thousand of meals from a single facility. It's being done this way for security reasons.. just wait .. by 2050 the will provide branded MRE's ..
You know United's catering is bad when one of the highlights is the cheeseburger.
WOW ! ! !
At 07:37 you see a perfect slot transfer timing! The incoming plane needs to be safe on the ground before the outgoing plane reaches "V1", the point you can not abort a takeoff.
I haven´t seen it so well-timed before. Nice work by the tower crew.
That's awesome
Thank you for pointing this out!
@@kuckoo9036 It is still a perfect slot transfer ^__^
I usually fly United in premium class and their food leaves a lot to be desired. It needs a total overhaul
I totally agree. Not a fan of their breakfast at lunch time.
Except for the ice cream sundae
Spot on. Flew EWR to LHR and what they served I wouldn’t even feed to my dog. Compared to Virgin Atlantics offering they make United’s food look like budget airline food
I flew LHR to LAX Business last October, and underwhelming doesnt even begin to describe what they had.
Yeah it's basically cafeteria food even on a 6K ticket. And, they sling it at you on a single tray.
Who else loves brutally honest?
hope he shows us his face once a while....
@@oshkoshbgood David shows his face a lot.
7:08
@Lee Claxton I don’t think so
@Lee Claxton no you can see description about all of his booking details
This video is proof Simply Aviation is one of the best review utoob channels. Great work as usual David.
9:15 Better eat those pretzels. Even if you’re not hungry when you board a plane, you should still eat something salty during the flight because salt helps you retain water, making you less thirsty and therefore less likely to drink too much water and have to use the bathroom
This is why I fly with ANA or Japan Airlines when traveling to Tokyo
Ahh, it’s cheap enough to pack your own food.
Worst meal I ever had was on ANA. No thank you!! Not to mention ANA is far more expensive.
Yeah, not a good idea to look for gourmet food on airplanes. Just pick one with a good safety record with the cheapest price.
Exactly. However, I enjoy United's catering above that of American or Delta, which I find is truly disgusting. @@heythave
for some people (like me) just want to get there as cheap as possible and couldn't care less about the food
You might not see this but a airline I have NEVER heard of is going on a flight from London Stansted to Boston with a stop over in kefavik and is leaving on the 22nd of April
Babe wake up, new brutally honest episode dropped.
When boarding, the port side wing is visible. It looks like there are pieces of grey tape on it... To cover areas where the paint is peeling?
Taker off was butter smooth! I live in the MDW/ORD hub. I got UA, AA, and SW. I WISH Delta hubbed here. Seems like a cut above right now.
Hello David. Very good trip report. I agree with you - on a flight of 10+ hours, the food selection and quality should be at the top of the chart. Kudos to being able to sit in an Economy seat for that length of time. For me - with Japan on my bucket list of places to visit - it would have to be Premium Economy or higher as I prefer the larger space. Was surprised that you were able to obtain the flight for such a low cost which is rare these days. Keep up the good work!
Narita also has the Narita Express which can easily get you to Tokyo
NEX is too expensive, take the bus. They both take the same amount of time but the bus is more than half the price of the NEX.
Great brutally honest review! I flew that exact route in June and returned 2 days before you flew.
Great video. I’m new to your channel. Really appreciate the open & honest review. Lots of valuable information.
had the same meals from newark to tokyo haneda 2 weeks ago. agreed, didn't taste good but the 50,000 points deal from united to tokyo, can't beat that
Catering has for many years been a major challenge for United. And, I am sure the only reason the free meals are even offered on UA Asian flights is that all of their competitors offer high quality, wholesome free meals in Economy (and yes, often prepared by the same inflight caterer that UA uses!). On any 9 to 15 hour flight, the quality of food & beverage (F&B) is absolutely welcome even to veteran travelers - and I don't easily forget the quality of my Economy class meals to/from Asia on non-Star Alliance carriers like JAL, KAL and Cathay Pacific. In fact, United's Star Alliance partners Asiana, ANA and SIA all have very good F&B options in all classes of travel.
Great review! This will be useful as I am taking this same SFO-NRT flight on United next month, so I'll be looking forward to see if I have the same experience or not
Just be glad you got hot meal service at all. Three weeks ago I flew round trip from SFO to Cancun on a United 737 Max 9. It was a 5 1/2+ hour flight and there was no meal service at all and only one beverage service! The "snack" was one half dollar size chocolate coated rice cracker. If you walked down to the galley, the flight attendant would sell you a boxed meal of crackers, cheese and hummus. Of course, there was no announcement that this was even available. The return flight was on "International Flight Attendants Day" but the crew couldn't have been less friendly. On the beverage service we go two small bottles of wine and had to call back the flight attendant to ask for glasses to drink them from. She looked at us like we were from Mars. I guess she thought we should drink straight from the bottle. The pilot turned on the seat belt sign during a few minutes of light turbulence then, I guess he forgot to turn it off as it stayed on for the next several hours. I was also surprised there was no infotainment screens on such a new aircraft. Only a little bracket where you could mount your own screen device. A truly horrible experience all around...
I've always wondered exactly why Tokyo has two international airports in Narita and Haneda, and exactly what purposed they served. It look all the way up until two weeks ago when I learned Haneda is located within Tokyo itself and Narita was built 2 hours away as a way to relieve the amount of flights Haneda used to experience.
Greater New York area has three international. Uk too. To Ueno Tokyo only 35 min on Skyliner not two hours.
Well yeah, Tokyo metro area is the most populated city in the world. If anyone needs two int'l airports it would be them.
Bro every giant city has multiple airports serving their metro areas lol
SFO or LAX? Didn't get the audio (LAX) with the place (SFO airport), the trip...
1:56 VERYYY NICE
I flew SFO-TPE on their 777-300ER last fall and my experience was much of the same.
-The seats were OK (my flight had pillows on every seat upon boarding, though).
-Service was fine. (however bathrooms either didn't get cleaned at all or my flight was full of absolute pigs)
-Catering was forgettable (so much so that I have no recollection of what I ate, but at least it was inoffensive enough to be forgettable). I do remember the sad and stone cold croissant though, don't tell the French on pain of starting WWIII.
-IFE was fine but if you take more than a couple trans-oceanic flights in a month you'll probably start running out of stuff to watch. The TV selection for stuff I wanted to watch had just 2-3 cherry-picked episodes it seemed, which is easy to burn through in a 12+ hour flight and on my return flight it was exactly the same selection a month later.
Meals are very important and a deal breaker for me.
Air India's hard product is not the best (one of the worst actually) but their food is so good that I always end up flying with them inspite of the multiple European or Middle eastern options.
Talking about food on flights, most USA Airlines offer the same standard amenities on Long Haul flights so the food can really be the make or break difference in which airline you choose. Also, a tasty meal is a great way to make the passengers more friendly and relax some tension and nerves for nervous flyers.
I flew on United from Tokyo to Newark on a 777, and I honestly can't remember the food. I do remember that it was a completely full flight and the seat was really cramped.
Ironically, I've flown longhaul on Delta and United twice once each between Europe and US, and between Asia and US, and Delta outperformed United in both cases. I flew longhaul on American to Rio de Janeiro on a 767, and it wasn't a great experience either in economy or business class, but that was 9 years ago, so maybe things are different now.
Delta>United>American
We need some better airlines in the US. How about PRIME AIR with Whole Foods Market meals. Tesla Airlines with Texas BBQ and California recipes. 💥💥
@@Originalman144 Can go with the Texas BBQ. Not sure how they will get those big pits and the wood to smoke the meat over night. Would be a really long flight. No way I will get on a Tesla battery operated Long Haul airline.
I remember seeing this in your instagram story. I also flew this flight but from NRT-SFO, couldn’t film much but the flight and the food was amazing
It is the airport you’re flying out off sometimes. What Bugs me is the same catering company United, American uses from US airports and international airports is the same used by their competitors yet their food is always bad. It shows they’re not investing the same money in the quality and ingredients. Also the substitutes are poor versus what their competitors offer which is usually branded. They boast about how profitable they are but can’t seem to get the finer details right.
May you please fly one of the leased air India 777-200lr from delta?
i never had a bad experience with airplane food, but i can tell you a great one: Singapore Airlines A380 from Zurich to Singapore in Economy, that was just amazing
Great video and also a really great price for a flight from the US to Japan 😁 I don't understand what they want to achieve with their new "pillow policy". United isn't a low cost carrier and on a long haul flight, I expect a pillow on every seat...
15:45 tb to summer of 2022 I was traveling to Italy on TAP and we had a 3 hour delay white sitting on the tarmac in the plane and as soon as we took off they started serving the meals. Thankfully I was in business class and the meal wasn’t bad but I remember it was some pasta dish with mushrooms and squash and while normally I don’t like mushrooms I just remember absolutely DEMOLISHING it in like 2 minutes it was the meal with like a salad and desert and a bread roll. All in all not the worst but one of the best meals I’ve had in recent memory
my worst meal was on qatar airways los to doh and doh to hyd
it was a round trip for one month and since i had travelled previously with qatar
i was expecting for some endeavious meals but my expections were washed away as soon as i recieved the meal....
Qatar airways is a terrible airline if you don’t fly business class!
Believe it or not, but my worst meal was on Turkish Airlines! Flying from Istanbul (the new airport, that opened a week or so prior to my flight) to Amsterdam. It was an egg dish and it literally made my sick right away, and the journey home after landing (3 hours from Amsterdam at the time) wasn't pleasant! The flight to Istanbul from Amsterdam a week before was great, the food excellent. Sad end to a great trip back in 2019. This not so egg-ellent meal was on my last flight until 2021 because of Covid. Since then BA and KLM gave me good food, but nothing special. In July I'll fly Emirates from Frankfurt to Tokyo (via Dubai) so curious to see what the food is like. But given it's my first time on an A380, I think it won't even matter :-)
I think Turkish Airlines is overrated in general. There are definitely better carriers in Europe and the Middle East.
Did the AVOD include unskippable commercials? What speed was the very fairly priced internet? Were the bathrooms cleaned regularly? Basic meal quality keeps falling while special order meals keep growing. I wonder if there is a connection. (thanks for including your height vs. pitch)
My worst meals are also come from United from Chicago to Haneda (Tokyo). It was so salty & dry
7:42 I loved watching the drag race with that other plane
I am a San Franciscan living in the EU. I LOVED watching your climb over the bay area. Great to see. I don't like 3/3/3 seating configurations on planes. I always try to fly 2/4/2. Also not crazy about United. I fly to US alot on TAP and LEVEL. Significanlty better.
Unfortunately for those thinking Polaris and Premium Plus having better food, you are terribly mistaken.
Overall, catering at United has gone terribly downhill. The hard product is okay (although Polaris seats could use a sliding door) the food is something to be desired……
Brutally Honest Reviews by Simply Aviation are S Tier Flight Reviews
- a brutally honest review
Absolutely yes
Remember when they dragged that Asian doctor out of his seat after he already boarded? That was United.
@@heythave as an Asian, I’ll always avoid United then. Thank you for this enlightening advice 🙏
Wow Aerolopa is simply amazing. Thanks for the shout out!
16:05 the little park, where Love Flight Jack does often his live streams of Narita. Great to see from a different angle!
I never noticed that the center of the fuselage protrudes outward just behind the wings on the 789.
You were lucky, wife and I flew an 8hr round trip UA light from Denver to Kona, Hawaii and both times we were served cold entrées, cold piece of baked chicken on cold quinoa, and the other choice a vegetarian entree, cold pasta with cheese, served straight out of the fridge. A kid who sat in the window seat looked at his meal, took the cookie and shoved the rest, tray and all, under the front seat. That said it all. Thanks for the review and I will check out other airlines for International flights.
So yes recently I had my worst meal which was an omelet and I think omelets are not good on flights as well as one gravy but there was one croissant and butter which was the only good thing on that flight.This was aboard on a Vistara A321 neo.
Omg new vid. I'm so happy you make our days better!
Minor Correction Narita is a considerably bigger Airport with more destinations and more flights. However Haneda is still quite busy and is indeed much closer to the city (20min via rail), Narita is 70min by rail to Tokyo Station.
Well, Narita is busier with cargo and international airlines, but in passenger numbers, Haneda is far bigger than Narita, having served slightly above 80mio passengers in 2019, while Narita had just about half as much in the same year. What you are right about though is that, if you look just at international passengers, Narita had more because almost all passengers at NRT are international.
@@simply_aviation I see I see, thank you for the explanation, also love the videos !
OMG your Tripreports are always perfect I always look up to you Simply Aviation I have been watching since 2018 simply aviation is why I came into tripreporting
I always fly JAL on my trips to the Philippines. Impeccable service and good meals!
Is there any way I can see the runaway I departed/landed on? (Would like to know after a flight)
1:56 huzzah!!, a man of tradition
Hi there. I recently watched your review on Delta's HND-LAX flight. Do you prefer the catering on UA or DL?
Another great video 👍
Thanks for sharing
My worst meal without a doubt was with Lufthansa. I had booked an economy seat with points and of course was seated in the rear of the 747. By the time the meal service got to me there were no choices left .......... I received cabin temperature noodles with some "meat"? and cherry yogurt. This was a flight from Frankfurt to Vancouver (YVR)
I find Lufthansa food is just weird, some ingredient choices make me scratch my head
My worst flight meal was last year on American’s 777-300ER from DFW-LHR. The food was so dry, and the sides were inedible. Definitely do not want to have that same experience going to Europe again in a few weeks
Great review and detail thanks you
I don't really have a bad comment on any airlines food, but if I'm being honest maybe the one in london to hong kong by cathay pacific during july 2022, I think the food wasn't the best and it is not too appetizing, ice cream is provided which is good but the main meal isn't the best.
Plane registration: N15969
David: Nice
U cannot deny, normal Polaris 1 way ticket 2-3k sometimes are like 4-5k. My problems are why United food selections on Polaris cannot match international careers level? (General US careers have the same problems) it looks exactly like economy food putted in heavier silver wear. If just for sleeping why would people spend 2-5k one way on United Polaris getting treated with animal foods instead spending similar amount of money on international careers like (JAL ANA EVA Cathay Singapore etc..)
Not surprised to hear that the food was bad. I don’t think I’ve ever heard anything positive regarding the food on United Airlines.
I definitely agree with yiu David that meal look very desirable 😢. For my worst experience with food would have to be on iberia from jfk to mad last year and for breakfast all we got was a Banana and a drink so so sad.
Great video, as always, David, thanks a lot ! And thanks also for the aerolopa tip, it will be very useful for me ! 🙂
Here! Here! Thanks for that tip, too. United hasn't really changed much. The real deal is the cheap airfare you mentioned. Yes, the food does sucks, but when in doubt, my family and I just bring real snacks and some Japanese instant ramen bowls just in case the food really sucks. Thanks!
For €250 to Tokyo I would not care if there was no food at all! That is amazing. I am also 188cm tall so the seat is all that matters but tbh it looked fine for economy food.
When i flew united on a 767 from EWR-LHR they gave us not one but two hot meals on a 6 hour flight! sure they weren’t that good
I am here because I will take the same UA 787 flight from Newark to Narita this July. By watching at the meals served I have the basic idea of how good(bad) that is (better if they serve hamburger, noodles are not their specialty). By the way the best meals I can recall were from JAL/ANA/Korean Air, and some other Asian airlines.
Brutally Honest, the only things I care about are, Is the aircraft & power plants well maintained? We’re you comfortable? Was the flight on time?
Was your carry-on weighed before you boarded at the gate?
No, on this trip mine wasn’t weighed.
Wow wow David, awesome as always.. ✌🏻✌🏻
What was that thing at 2:31 which you seemed to scan?
It was a face scanner, many airports are adopting those instead of scanning boarding passes, because it is better for security.
I simply love your video intros!
Absolutely fantastic video David!!
I really think you are right. Amazing foods are waiting after arrival!
Great trip report David and thanks for posting. I agree the catering left a lot to be desired!
i know its an old video but how was turbulence? thinking of taking this route, then to the philippines.
Nice vid Simply Aviation! A few months ago ZIPAIR Tokyo started service to SJC, an airport near SFO but is less busier, and is my local airport. Perhaps that could be an idea for a future trip report?
Already filmed a report on Zipair from LAX to NRT! :) Brutally Honest episode coming soon, but spoiler: the flight was actually fantastic!
Any trans pacific flight will get you 2 checked bags and seat selection on a major carrier.
So you were allowed two bags? Carry on and personal?
My worst meal was on TAP between Heathrow and Porto in economy. A sort of warm sourdough roll with cheese. It was awful.
AMAZING VLOG OF AVIATION THANKS BRO KEEP IT UP
I guess these seats are bad for long haul flights. I took a United 787-8 for a short 1 hour 30 minutes hub transfer flight and the seat was generous and very comfortable
Great brutally honest review :) What a great price for such a long flight!
I had a flight with united from houston to Amsterdam with a 777-200er with the new livery (which i really love) last year and the food was very good it was noodles with chicken also but they did it correctly the service and flight was amazing but the only thing i personally missed was ice cream we had a small cake with sprinkles i prefer ice cream tho😁
You should try United from San Francisco to Taipei! Besides that, awesome video!
I really don't have much problem fasting for 12 - 14 hours. My expectation, from experience, that UAL might serve food worth eating, would argue against putting them to the test. I would just wait and eat in Tokyo.
Hello thanks for your vidéo! My bad métal on Air France from Paris to
Moscou!
SFO is my home airport and I have a lot of status with united and I agree with your review in economy the pillow is not good but in Polaris the gel pillow is a different story and I agree which the food on this flight and my favorite meal with united is the beef short rib or the Belgium waffle
You cracked me up big-time with the comments on the food 😆. Made my day actually. You are correct, United's food leaves a lot to be desired - and that's after flying it twice, once in economy and once in business. The business class flight was from BOM to EWR. Now I was grateful for actually having a nonstop flight back to the U.S. (this was when the pandemic was gaining ground while grounding air service), but you'd think UA would have the brains to load more snacks on board for a flight that's 15+ hours. The food wasn't that great either. And from I gather, this isn't a one-off thing. The economy offering was pretty meager and portions were rather small. Left me hungry, which isn't something I've ever said about other airlines lol.
Anyway, great video, I enjoy watching your reports. 👍
I absolutely appreciate your analysis of airline meals. Other channels typically gloss over the airline food. At least you got two meals per meal service! I wish I had that kind of pull. The worst meal service I had (non Covid era) was Lufthansa economy long haul from SFO to MUC. Bland chicken or mushy pasta. Breakfast was sad egg sandwich. Hands down worst (Covid era) was Avianca LAX to BOG - inedible cold ham and cheese sandwich with only water offered.
My 1,190 dollar seat was round trip but going to Iwakuni too! My son there in the Navy. Good price I thought
Funny enough I had the same veggie stir-fry from IAD-MAD last summer and it was also a miss.
Another great video, you are 100% in the right and those meals didn't even look appetizing. My worst meal was breakfast on QF1 from SIN to LHR where they used some crappy powdered eggs.
US airlines need to understand that they are so far behind when it comes to in-flight meals. I flew economy on Emirates and I was blown away at the quality of the meals.
That price is pretty normal until COVID. Used to find sub 400 of peak tickets to Japan from cali all the time.
Hi David, my wife and I really enjoy your videos. We just discovered your channel recently. We will be flying American Airlines Boeing, 787-8 between Dallas Fort Worth and Amsterdam in August 2023. Have you ever flown this route and what type of experience would you expect? We will be flying business class.
Agree with you - the food is important and airlines rarely get it right, especially in Economy Class. It really does leave a bad taste with you and a little more effort could make such a better impression. Some of my worst experience - ANA Economy International (I try to order Vegetarian instead). The best, Singapore Airlines Business - best coffee I have ever had (and service).
ANA was one of your WORST experiences???? 😳😳😳
How is that possible?
What route did you fly? 🤔
@@samroy5967 For *food* in coach it was one of my worst experiences. Food was overcooked and soggy. Route was ORD - HND. But other trips with ANA have had similar, not so great food experiences. Service on ANA, on the other hand, is super friendly.
Fun fact, both United and Singapore serve the exact same coffee onboard from Illy Coffee in Italy. The service is quite different, but the coffee grounds are the same.
I fly almost exclusively Lufthansa for a number of years now (usually FRA-LAX LAX-FRA). The food is cheap, but largely pretty palatable. Cheap doesn't have to be "BAD".
Asking for the second meal is a bad thing?
I am flying with United for the first time in November, London to Houston, if the food is like that, I might bring some of my own, or just have a big meal before boarding, and wait until I get to the hotel for my evening meal, at least the entertainment looks good, and seats comfy enough. I always bring my own pillow for longer flights.
Always choose the Japan Airlines or ANA as the carrier when going to Japan.
Best Meals on long haul flights are from ANA, Eva Air and Lufthansa in my opinion but for this price I can sacrifice the mediocre food
Nice video, because of you I can learn much about Airplanes 😊
i believed that all row 53a & j ( 4th windows location from the last window ) in B787-9 are no windows!
I usually fly United for long-haul domestic flights (Including to/from Hawaii) and international flights from the US