Disappointed United P.S. Premium Service Flight - JFK to SFO 3/29/08 Flight 893

I was especially disappointed with United Airlines' "Premium Service" return flight from JFK New York to San Francisco (flight 893 on 3/29/08). My flight to New York was great (flight 6 on 3/22/08) because it had all the bells and whistles that I expected, but my return flight was a total nightmare.

I paid 45,000 frequent flier miles to do this vacation in business class, and here's what you get on a flight on United Airlines on their "Premium Service" flights to/from New York JFK and SFO/LAX:

• Leather reclining seats with foot rest
• Premium quality food with champagne, includes at least three entree items and a snack.
  
• Personal entertainment player that works like an iPod with on demand games, movies, tv shows, and more.
• Adapter-free electrical plug to power-up your computer, iPod, etc.
  
• Basically, it's like riding international business, but you get the extra perks.

Here's some photos I took of my flight from SFO to JFK on the Premium Service plane:


How do you like the fact that the special United P.S. plane (Boeing 757) was changed to a Boeing 767 international configuration?

We get this announcement about ten minutes prior to boarding flight 893 on 3/29/08. Then the lady on the PA system says that you don't get all the perks. Damn.

Here's a list of what I lost due to this plane change:

• I got a reclining seat with footrest, but it was not leather.
• I requested for a seat in the front row of business, which gives extra leg room. I lost it and had to sit in the second row.
• The electrical outlet required an "EM Power" plug. I nearly drained my iPod dead because of this. I could not watch videos on my iPod since it eats my battery quickly,
• No personal multimedia player. I got that stupid pop-out video player that showed videos on a loop. In two hours, you see the same TV episode. Also looked like it was VHS quality with the static lines.
  

I'd have to say, First Class passengers would be really pissed off. The Premium Service planes comes with those flat sleeper seats, but all they got was a reclining seat instead. What kind of bullshit is that?

Oh yeah, even worse: The plane took-off 30 minutes late. Two lightbulbs were burned out and the tap water system in the rear of the plane was not working. Whoopie.

Here's some interesting news, while my experience was bad, reading the summary of flights from JFK to SFO on 3/29/08, flight 17 was supposed to leave at 5:35PM but left at 7:04PM due to "ramp service."

Come on United. I expected better. 45,000 air miles is a lot to pay for a nice seat and top notch premium service. How about some compensation for this expensive flight?