Dream-ON! United’s Flights Of Fancy!
Pack your bags and get ready for the flight of a lifetime to the great US of A. United Airlines has plenty to brag about with the introduction of its daily Dreamliner services from Auckland to San Francisco…and a bit of boasting couldn’t be any better deserved. Aviation experts say there are more than a dozen brilliant reasons the Boeing 787 has been dubbed the Dreamliner for long-haul travellers. The big winners for the newly added daily flights between Auckland and San Francisco are the travellers who travel smart, and climb aboard the new service.
We’ve done our homework and are pleased to report that it’s a fact: an unloaded Dreamliner weighs only about as much as 20 full-grown elephants. This might sound like a mighty big (trunk) call until you discover that the plane is lighter than any other aircraft in its class. And because its fuselage and wings are created mostly of lightweight, high tech carbon-fibre,
its fuel consumption can be up to 25% cheaper than other planes in the skies. Great news for airfares, when you take into account that fuel makes up the single largest spend for airlines worldwide, even more than staff costs and airport fees. Two highly efficient General Electric engines generate about 75,000 pounds of thrust at significant savings and far less engine emissions.
The wingspan of the Dreamliner is 177 feet long (53.9 metres), which puts it in the same category as Boeing 747, but it flies smoothly at a cruising airspeed of 561 miles per hour (903 km/h) and its wings can flex up to a staggering 25%. Sensors strategically situated throughout the wings and fusillade of the aircraft predict turbulence, and react accordingly to make the ride as smooth as possible compared to other aircraft.
Environmentalists love this plane; it not only guzzles far less fuel, but its noise and exhaust impacts on the planet are remarkable, but it’s the creature comforts on the inside of the cabin that have got air travellers really talking.
Making the trip to the US aboard the Dreamliner today is a breeze. Because no matter what class you choose, the on-board comforts will put a smile on your face. You’ll swear the flight’s much shorter, but a reality check will just alert you to the notion that you’ve had a lot more to do on board than ever before. To get you started, you can enjoy broadband Wifi from take-off to landing if you want to ‘stay connected’. With over 150 hours of on-demand entertainment delivered on a 15.4-inch video monitor, variety at 35,000 feet just added significant spice to the flight.
United’s Dreamliner offers a smorgasbord of over 150 movies, 185 television shows, thousands of songs and 20 interactive video games. And air travellers can even elect to learn a few languages during the flight if they like. Hablo Espanol?
Make the most of the ‘mood while in motion.’ Pick a seat, any seat and you’ll soon make a pleasant discovery.
The Dreamliner has from nose-cone to tail, state-of-the-art ergonomic seating with increased leg-room, adjustable neck, shoulder and leather trimmed seats all created to make the journey smoother. Mood lighting in the cabin can be altered by the crew, and there are no longer pull-down window shades. Window-side passengers can simply hit a button and darken or lighten the view.
The windows on the Dreamliner are the largest ever created for any aircraft in its class.
Don’t expect to lose weight on the Dreamliner on the way to or from the USA. Not many of us think about what it takes to keep a small airborne village happy at 35,000 feet across the Pacific but the back-of-house planning and catering that go in to making a Dreamliner flight pleasing is no small task. And you can’t just pop around the corner to get a litre of milk if you run out.
The Dreamliner carries more than 325 gallons (1,230.2 litres) of portable water, 26 drawers of soda cans, 20 drawers of wine and about 9 drawers of miniatures. There’s enough fresh coffee aboard to pack on a Colombian burro and enough milk to satisfy a small dairy farmer in the Waikato. After meals are served, a self-serve snack centre is set-up at the rear of the plane and passengers help themselves inbetween in-flight meals. The main cabin offers two choices for each meal seating, and vegetarian or other special diet requirements for food can be ordered 24 hours before departure. BusinessFirst meals offer four fine-dining choices, beverages and a compressive wine and cocktails list. So this is the time to relax in your own spacious seating area with upgraded on-board amenities kits and personalised service.
Go ahead, you get what you pay for and more when you fly United’s Dreamliner in BusinessFirst. United predicts a massive increase of business class customers, who will shed traditional air-carriers for this trans-Pacific service. It’s expected that perhaps as many as 35% of current business class customers, flying with other airlines will jump cabins and take advantage of the front-of-the-airplane benefits. MileagePlus by United claims to be the world’s most rewarding loyalty program for frequent fliers, with new membership expected to grow by up to 60% to and from San Francisco within the first year of the inaugural service, linking business-bound travellers with other airline partners worldwide. Travellers can also use their miles from thousands of other associated partners when shopping for merchandise, renting a car, staying at hotel or booking a cruise etc.
United’s BusinessFirst cabins on the Dreamliner deliver a luxurious travel experience, featuring 180-degree flat-bed seating, an enhanced multi-course meal service, on-demand entertainment and much more – arriving alive and revived just became a whole lot easier to accomplish. The bottom-line is, flying in the front has massive advantages while in-flight as well as what happens on arrival in San Francisco’s International Airport where customs and immigration lines are shorter and swifter, as well as ‘Express Passes’ that are provided for passengers travelling in the pointy end of the airplane.
International Business Class reimagined. Taking off on 1st December 2016, United are introducing United Polaris, (named after the North Star), a completely redesigned international premium cabin travel experience offering elevated comfort and service from lounge to landing. With exclusive new airport lounges (currently they are only in six mainland USA airports), custom designed directaisle-access seating, luxury amenities including bedding from Saks Fifth Avenue and more. The United Polaris experience will deliver a new level of quality to premium cabin travel. (note: United Polaris features, including aircraft and airport configuration, may not be available in all markets). www.united.com www.united.com/polaris