We cashed in some United Mileage Plus miles for one leg of our domestic travel. Thankfully there were “saver” fares – discounted – for first class so we routed through Houston on the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner to try their BusinessFirst product.
The Dreamliner is the newest plane in United’s fleet, a fuel-efficient composite construction wide body jet.
The plane’s lines are beautiful, and the wing flexes gracefully during flight.
The BusinessFirst cabin features pairs of seats, angled to provide some privacy but close enough for couples who are flying together.
Seats recline fully flat so you can sleep.
I dozed for an hour or so fairly comfortably, although the narrow end for your feet is a tight fit. Not all the seats have the same amount of foot space, I discovered.
While it was a domestic flight, nuts and sparkling wine were served shortly after reaching cruising altitude.
There was a choice of two entrees: a beef chili with melon and feta salad.
Option 2 was enchilada soup and chicken salad. Both were fine for a three-hour flight.
Warm chocolate chip cookies for dessert.
Large touch screen monitors provide a ton of on-demand entertainment options.
Two happy travelers!
With nearly three hours to kill in Houston, we made use of two United Club passes a friend gave me. The club in the E terminal has sweeping views of the gates.
After sunset, we made our way to the gate for our connecting flight to Kansas City aboard an Airbus A319.
Overall, the flights were positive. The service was friendly and the experience was with the miles (25,000 each) that we redeemed.
christao408 
I have yet to try the 787. On our last flight with EVA, we flew their premium economy. It was good but we couldn’t store bags underneath the seats. There was always something to obstruct it. The service was pretty good though.
I quite like EVA and will surely fly them again in the future.
I still think you guys fly in style haha. I could only dream of flying on business class.
Only way we could do it was to cash in mileage. Otherwise, I don’t anticipate being able to afford business class in my lifetime!
Nice flight! I usually fly United too and will look for this plane on my next flight.
They are starting to fly a lot of them out of LAX and SFO to destinations in Asia.
Strangely enough I flew the 787 to Tokyo on Qantas’ discount airline. Even the economy seats were really nice. I’ve never had the luxury of flying business before but it sure looks nice from your pics!
Jetstar?
Yup, Jetstar! The whole tinted windows thing was pretty cool.
i like the seats. they seem spacious and comfy. never tried united before.
Well, I guess any airline in business class will be okay, huh?
true. definitely much more comfortable than an economy seat. but so far, from the business class seats i have tried, which include emirates, lufthansa, and SQ, it is SQ that i found disappointing. the service was nice, but the seat itself, well, both lufthansa and emirates seats are much better in comparison. for me, at least.
It is interesting that there can be so much discrepancy in tastes. Hopefully, some day I will be so experienced that I can comment on these matters from first-hand experience!
i shall be experiencing Etihad business class later this december. i’m keeping my fingers crossed.
Lovely. Look forward to hearing all about it.
Sounds and look like a comfortable flight and you even got a short power nap.
And those power naps are just the thing!
Looks fun. Been wanting to fly that plane too.
Hope you get a chance soon.