Before I had the chance to try United 777-300ER Premium Plus, I imagined it to be a soulless and unremarkable premium economy experience.
Turns out I was right. I recently got to try it out on a flight from Tokyo to San Francisco, and it was every bit as run-of-the-mill “United” that I thought it was going to be.
It was, however, comfortable. Like, really comfortable. So comfortable that I’m actually thinking about doing it again. Turns out soulless and unremarkable ain’t all that bad if it’s comfy!
UA838
Tokyo, Japan (NRT) – San Francisco, CA (SFO)
Saturday, July 26, 2025
Aircraft: 777-322ER
Registration: N2846U
Duration: 9 hours 4 minutes
Seat: 21D (Premium Plus / Premium Economy)
My full review of United 777-300ER Premium Plus (premium economy) from Tokyo / Narita to San Francisco
This was an award redemption that I paid way too much for. What do you think? Is 170,000 MileagePlus points for NRT-SFO-SAN too much? What if I told you that the SFO-SAN segment was basic economy? Wait. Don’t answer that.
Arrival at Terminal 1 Narita Airport
This flight to San Francisco was scheduled to depart at 5:25 PM. I had to check out of my hotel (the International Garden Hotel Narita) at 11 AM, and after a 30 minute bus ride, I arrived at the entrance to T1 just before noon. The plan? To eat a leisurely lunch, get a bit of work done, and wait. And wait. And wait.
The boarding process for United 838 to San Francisco
Even though the plane had been parked at the gate for hours, the gate agents didn’t show up until 30 minutes prior to the scheduled boarding time. I thought for sure we were going to be running late. But nope. Turns out I’m overly pessimistic. Who knew?
United 777-300ER Premium Plus cabin and seats
The Premium economy cabin on the United 777-300ER is pretty small actually. There are only three rows Premium Plus seats (24 total), and they are arranged in a 2-4-2 configuration. It’s cozy.
First impressions: this is a good looking cabin IMHO. The dark gray and purple materials are dark and dreary, but it’s sophisticated enough to look like a proper long-haul premium economy seat. I like.
Amenity kit
As if the Saks Fifth Avenue blanket and pillow wasn’t enough, they also provided full blown (business class quality) amenity kits. Amenity kits aren’t something you can always expect in premium economy, and I certainly wasn’t expecting it on United. They surprised me.
Our departure from NRT
We pushed off the gate at 5:23 PM, which was two minutes ahead of schedule. The 5 o’clock hour is prime time for NRT however, so we had to sit in traffic on our way out to runway 16R. Total taxi time was 33 minutes. Oof.
In-flight entertainment
Way (way) over exaggerating how “awful” it is to fly United long-haul is fun, but wrong. The honest truth is that some parts of it (such as the in-flight entertainment) are really good. As a matter of fact, it one of the things that I like the most. United does it so much better than other airlines.
I especially like how customizable user interface is. I can set it up exactly how I like it, choose my favorites, and even use my own headphones via the Bluetooth connectivity. And the selection of movies and TV shows? Omg. Whatever you got a hankerin’ to watch, they got it.
The first meal service
Snacks and drinks were served approximately 30 minutes after takeoff. Immediately after that came the full meal service (and another round of drinks).
There were two meal choices on this flight: chicken or beef. I ain’t got no beef with that. The chicken was good.
Seat and cabin comfort
The second best thing about United 777-300ER Premium Plus (after the in-flight entertainment) is how comfortable the seats are.
The Saks Fifth Avenue blanket and pillow combo goes a long way towards making this one of the most comfortable premium economy experiences I’ve ever had. This was a lot more comfy than Air France A350-900 premium economy IMHO.
Premium economy lavatory
The lavatories for premium economy passengers are located just behind row 22. Note that there’s nothing stopping the riffraff basic economy passengers from using these lavatories, so be prepared to hold it if there’s a line.
Mid flight snack
The third best thing about United 777-300ER Premium Plus (after the in-flight entertainment and seat comfort) is the mid flight snack. It was more of a meal than a snack IMHO, and I almost couldn’t finish the entire thing. It was ginormous!
Seat recline
The recline in these seats is pretty good (but not as steep as I recently experienced in Air Premia premium economy). I think United did a pretty good job of balancing comfort for the recliner vs the reclinee.
The pre-landing meal
We were presented with two options for the pre-landing meal (a western option, and a Japanese option). Neither sounded all that appetizing due to the fact that I was still feeling quite full from the mid flight snack. I certainly didn’t starve on this flight.
The descent and arrival into SFO
We began the descent into SFO right on time. Perhaps the most significant thing about the descent was the fact that I wasn’t feeling all that eager to get off this airplane. I mean, I could still wiggle my toes, so it wasn’t that uncomfortable.
We landed on runway 28R at exactly 11 AM, which was exactly 10 minutes behind schedule. Seems we lost a bit of time during the approach. Maybe they couldn’t find the airport through all the sunshine? I don’t know.
Pros and cons of United 777-300ER Premium Plus
I’m so glad that I got to try this. I’ve never been a fan of flying United (or any US airline for that matter) long haul, but now I can see that they are indeed competitive. It’s a legitimate premium economy experience.
Pros
- I love how small the Premium Plus cabin on the 777-300ER is. It feels special. Cozy. Intimate. Kinda private too.
- Saks Fifth Avenue blankets and pillows. We normally only see that kind of thing in business class.
- Lots and lots (and lots) of food. It’s not the highest quality stuff, but you won’t starve.
Cons
- The small cabin size means that you’ll need to plan ahead to get the exact seat you want. With only 24 available, they go fast!
- Seat recline is pretty good, but not as steep as what you’ll get on some other airlines.
- Finding the headphone jack in these seats is infuriatingly cumbersome. I can pretty much guarantee that you won’t be able to see it without using the flashlight on your phone.
The single most pretentious travel blog I’ve ever read.
Hooray! I win!
Your review was spot on. Thank you so much! I only fly Premium Plus or Business if the flight is over 6 hours. With the right combination of RX drugs, I can sleep on PP fairly comfortably, but I’m very petite. Last December, my seatmate was a big guy and he was not very comfortable. We both spent quite some time with our phone’s flashlight looking for the charging hidden in a kind of hole. The food was okay and plentiful. It would be great if the seats reclined a bit more, 7 or 8 inches. There is room for that. All in all, I don’t feel physical pain paying for the PP seats, contrary to business seats.
You’re very welcome Lucy! Yeah, it’s always funny watching everyone fumbling for the charging (and audio) ports. I’m also pretty sure the flight attendants get tired of answering “where’s the charging port?” question on every flight lol.
But yup, Premium Plus is a huge upgrade over economy most of the time.
Scott, how does this United flight compare to that of ANA Premium Economy seats (comfort, recline, amenities, etc.)? How about versus JAL?
I ask because we are planning our trip to Japan for 2026 and looking at United as an option, although the only inconvenience for us is that we would have to fly to SFO from LAX instead of direct.
Thoughts?
Hey Marc – the only things better on United in my opinion was the in-flight entertainment and the blanket. I didn’t like the food on ANA, but it was probably because it was a late night departure (they didn’t do a full meal service).
ANA onboard service is light years better than United. The crews actually seem to care! Keep in mind that you also get lounge access with ANA premium economy, which is something you won’t get with United. The seats seemed to be about the same in terms of comfort.
I haven’t done JAL premium economy yet, but it’s on my list!
Thanks for the great review(s) Scott! They’re so refreshing & enjoyable to read!
The difference in PE meals between ANA & United is significant, with ANA’s meals being nearly identical to its economy class & United’s vastly upgraded compared to its main cabin/economy meals.
Further, while our ANA JFK-HND PE meals were edible, the HND-SIN meal was one of the worst meals in any cabin, on any airline, ever (going back decades including Eastern, Pan Am or TWA during their death spirals).
In fact, the ANA HND-SIN PE meal was so bad it was inedible.
Only caveat is that this was in November, 2022, so maybe – er hopefully – ANA’s PE catering has improved since then, even if a more recent check of the airline’s PE menu options otherwise appear to be similar to those offered back then.
That said, what makes ANA a viable option & perhaps even better than United, is that its PE includes complimentary lounge access, which at HND was especially nice & very much appreciated during our very long (~8 hours after a last minute schedule change by the airline) layover.
However, for those who already have complimentary lounge access available (via airline/alliance status, prepaid membership/subscription, credit card benefit &/or one of the lounge networks), then United, at least in PE, is likely the better option as we found its inflight transpacific PaxEx on a recent trip to/from Asia to be vastly superior to ANA’s inflight PaxEx on our November, 2022 JFK-HND-SIN itinerary.
Of course, our return on Singapore Air’s SIN-JFK nonstop in PE for the November, 2022 trip was much better than either United or ANA’s & remains among our favorites, along with Virgin Atlantic’s PE, which we also love.
You’re very welcome Howard. Although I haven’t heard nice things about ANA food recently (it mostly aligns with my experience – which isn’t good) it’s worth giving them another shot. Pretty much every airline has improved since the post Covid days of 2022.
I’m surprised to hear that you enjoyed United more than ANA! That hasn’t been my experience. At least not yet…
Honestly, I feel like US airlines are kind of over-hated, especially on long-haul routes. I’ve only flown AA economy long-haul, but, from what I’ve seen, United, American, and Delta seem pretty solid in all 3 classes.
As for it being soulless, I agree that United’s cabins definitely look like something you’d see at a large, faceless mega-corporation. However, the dark blue & gray branding looks pretty sharp IMO (it’s corporate but in a good way). Speaking of looks, the purple seats are an interesting choice, but they actually go pretty well with UA’s brand colors.
Also, as for having a separate section for seat recline, I like how it makes the review more straight-to-the-point, but I’d include it right after the “seat/cabin comfort” one. Placing it 3 sections later, after the lavatory & mid-flight snack, makes it feel a bit disjointed.
Now that I’ve done United long-haul premium economy, I’m really tempted to give American Airlines long-haul premium economy a try. I already know that Delta is pretty good, but I’m curious to see how it is on American (especially considering that they haven’t been trying all that hard recently).
And thanks for the suggestion! I agree that seat recline is more important than the midflight snack (and definitely the lavatory lol). I’ll keep that in mind for the next one…
You’re welcome! I’d keep the loo review & pre-landing meal sections, but merge the comfort and recline ones. And speaking of the different sections, I like how over the past few months you’ve gotten more “adventurous” with them and added more, such as one for the amenities, amenity kit, and of course, the lavatory.
As for American, yeah, it would be interesting to see a review of them! As far as I know, they’re still pretty solid internationally, it’s just domestically where they’re lagging behind United & Delta.
Premium Plus gets Premier Access – priority check-in, security (depending on the airport; probably not at NRT), boarding, and baggage handling. As a P+ passenger, you could’ve paid for a discounted trip pass to access the United Club at both NRT and SFO (probably around $40-60). Unlike the one-time pass, you’re guaranteed access. Excluding the dated toilets, the NRT UC is a decent place to spend a few hours.
170k miles is expensive for a Business Class one way, and completely insane for Premium Economy. $2-3k out of pocket, while also pricey, would’ve made more sense, IMHO.
I know lol, but nearly every flight back to the US that week was full (and I needed something interesting to review) so I bit the bullet and paid the price. Not my proudest moment.
Thanks for the tip about the lounge access! I didn’t know about that, so I’ll definitely take advantage of it next time.