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Has anyone flown United's Premium Class, the reclining seat?

In June, my husband and I will be flying to LHR in United's Premium Plus Class. The seats appear to be the "purple" ones and are between Business and Economy. I'm especially interested in the foot and leg supports. I'd like to be able to sleep and it's the lack of leg support in Economy which stops me. Are these seats anything like a La-Z-Boy recliner in the way in which they recline? I'd like to be able to use our own experiences as our guide when booking a flight to Paris in October, but we'll want to book before our England trip.

Posted by
2980 posts

While you're awaiting other responses suggest that you take a look at the reviews on Seat Guru: https://www.seatguru.com/.
You can plug in your specific airline, aircraft type, flight number, etc. and get detailed cabin maps and reliable reviews (sometimes by individual seat number) of the various options.
We find it quite helpful when selecting seating on our own trips.

Posted by
321 posts

I flew United "Premium Economy Plus" BRU-IHA (Brussels/Dulles) returning from Portugal back in September 2019, pre-Covid.

Seats were 2-4-2 (vs. 3-4-3 in Economy), resulting in a much wider seat, much more legroom with footrest and much more recline. Big side pocket for storage for small stuff. Soft product (services) included blanket, amenities kit, etc. I was served "real" food on china and glassware and metal flatware; cloth napkin. I basically felt I was getting business class services without the lie-flat pod.

I answered a similar question on Reddit a couple weeks ago and received a reply from someone saying they had flown same route recently and got about the same service.

The Points Guy recently ran a piece on booking Premium Cabins with awards which also includes brief service summaries: https://thepointsguy.com/guide/premium-economy-awards/

Now fully retired and with a bigger travel budget, I now am considering Premium Economy my minimum for international legs (particularly west coast US to Europe!).

Posted by
1052 posts

Thank you AlanJ and Carol now retired. I watched the suggested video and read The Points Guy article. Both were informative. I do appreciate comments from RS contributors, too, to get specific comments that I can also ask questions about. So far, I've received very helpful responses and suggestions.

Posted by
416 posts

I just flew United's Premium Plus class from Milan to JFK in early August. Surprisingly, it was fewer miles to book at Premium Plus seat than a regular Economy seat. I don't know if that was a computer glitch, or what, but I jumped on it as soon as I saw it. I had the same experience as AlanJ and would definitely choose Premium Plus again if the miles were low enough. It was very comfortable for "Economy". Do be aware that the foot rest is a little high up if you're tall (I'm 6 feet even), so I had to have my legs bent to put my feet in the foot rest. It folds up if you don't want to use it.

Posted by
1052 posts

Good to know, Bill. I'm 5' 2". When I've flown business, the sweet spot for me to be able to sleep was not fully flat but at a recliner spot. Hoping the leg rest is solid enough.