Review of United flight Honolulu San Francisco in Domestic First

Airline United
Flight UA1258
Seat 4A
Aircraft Boeing 777-200
Flight time 04:50
Take-off 25 Jun 23, 14:00
Arrival at 25 Jun 23, 21:50
UA   #68 out of 94 Airlines A minimum of 10 flight-reports within the past two years is required to appear in the rankings. 384 reviews
BayAreaTraveler
Published on 22nd October 2023

honolulu to san francisco on United airlines UA1258 in United first



Watch the video for fabulous scenery on the climbout from Honolulu!



For this particular trip from Honolulu to San Francisco, I actually did not originate in Honolulu but rather originated in Sydney. I needed to come back arrive in San Francisco in the evening and the only way to do so was to depart in the evening from Sydney and connect in Honolulu before heading onward to San Francisco arriving late in the evening.


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Here is not the plane I was on but rather the plane adjacent to my gate. I could not obtain a good shot of my plane due to its location. But the livery is still the same as this plane going to Los Angeles. The plane that I was on, N779UA was one of the oldest plane I have ever flown on. It was originally delivered to United in July 1996, line number 35!


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After going through customs and obtaining my luggage, I walked all the way from the Hawaiian side to the G Gates which was quite a long walk. Even though the layover was 3 hours, because of the long delay to get my luggage and go through security, I did not even have time to catch a meal or bathroom break!  My advice for anyone connecting from an overseas flight is to have at least a 3 hour window!


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I was pretty much the last person to board First Class as my name was called up by the Gate Agent to tell me that my tray table was not working and so I was compensated $100!


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United's domestic 777-200 fleet consist of the old style Business class setup with a 2-4-2 configuration. Plenty of legroom but not a whole lot of privacy due to it's configuration. Some of the seats are faced backwards and you can clearly see others who are facing frontwards which can be awkward.


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Settling in to myself. I was unable to take a good shot of the seat due to my seatmate who was already settled there and did not want to disturb her privacy.


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Each seat came with a blanket.


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And a rather large pillow!


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Headset was also included.


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Just taking a quick look at the literature from the "seat pocket". Comes with UA's Hemisphere magazine, Safety Card with brochure for United's Explorer Credit Card.


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Here's a look at the supposed broken tray table which actually worked. It just could not properly be stowed away and there was a gap. But it worked fine. Seat controls were also on the side along with controller for the monitor.


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The IFE was very lagging and unresponsive. I didn't even bother using it. A bit disappointed.


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Pushback


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Engine start up.


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Taxi to the Reef Runway


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And takeoff!


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Just a spectacular and fabulous view of Waikiki on takeoff. For better views, watch the Youtube video!


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Diamond Head clearly seen.


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Shortly after takeoff warm nuts and beverage were served. I chose orange juice.


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And then lunch was served. The main entree was rice with chicken katsu with broccolini along with shrimp appetizer, bread roll and cake. The chicken katsu was awfully disappointing as it was too dry and too little sauce.


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A tour of the lavatory. It was clean but since the plane was so old, it was obvious that it was tired.


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Watch the sunset.


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Then nearly 5 hours later it was time to descend into San Francisco International Airport by making a left downwind.


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Landing on Runway 28L


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See more

Verdict

United

5.4/10
Cabin7.5
Cabin crew6.0
Entertainment/wifi5.0
Meal/catering3.0

Honolulu - HNL

7.0/10
Efficiency7.0
Access7.0
Services6.5
Cleanliness7.5

San Francisco - SFO

7.5/10
Efficiency7.0
Access7.0
Services8.0
Cleanliness8.0

Conclusion

In all, the biggest disappointment from the flight was the food offering. It was mediocre at best due to the super dry chicken. The flight attendant service was typical, not great but not bad. Overall though I was quite content as I was flying First which I rarely get to do.

Information on the route Honolulu (HNL) San Francisco (SFO)

5 Comments

If you liked this review or if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to post a comment below !
  • Comment 638275 by
    wmx.the.flyer BRONZE 42 Comments
    Very enjoyable report, awesome views!
    Seems like you still found the seat comfortable enough despite it showing its old age and the lack of privacy and space.
    That Chicken Katsudon was a complete joke, though: I’ve never seen one with such laughable amounts of curry!
    • Comment 638447 by
      BayAreaTraveler AUTHOR 4 Comments
      Thank you for your comment and reading the report. Yeah, I was a bit dismayed with the food. My thought was either there was not enough sauce to go around or the FA had no idea that katsu needed a nice serving of curry in order for it taste good.
  • Comment 638444 by
    airberlin GOLD 1879 Comments
    Thank you for that report with stunning views! Love the take-off view of the bay.
    I did not know that this UA config in 2-4-2 was still existing. I got it on a FRA-ORD flight 15 years back... The confort is better than thought though but definitly not on pair to what you now get on the market.
    As always very disappointing food on premium class UA - my main reason not to take them in Business...
  • Comment 638796 by
    KévinDC TEAM SILVER 6744 Comments
    Nice report with great pics! It's good to get the Dom 777 for this short West Coast route. AA, who I fly the most, only operate A321s from the West Coast and don't have a Domestic widebody subfleet like UA. While this old seat is outdated, it's a heck of a lot better than the standard recliners the competition are flying on narrowbodies. Only Hawaiian have a better product up front on the A330s, but even they're flying mostly A321s with Recliners to the West Coast these days.

    Thanks for sharing!

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