Velocity Points Programme & flights to USA

[Mwenenzi]

Bit of an old thread but must say I stumbled on a little win if you call it that.
I know UA release seats award seats out on Australian routes but went online last night just to get some ideas and found J seats SFO-BNE for the exact dates I want in August. $57 in charges only per person and there were 4 available but we only needed 2. Ticketed almost instantly and seat selection on UA was a breeze.
I don’t have high hopes of the UA product but it’s a flat bad home and the process was super easy so happy with the outcome

BNE has an over supply of seats/flights from USA. Too many airlines.
Many people in USA think Australia=Sydney (and do not know of the other international airports)

 

[BRIS_VA_HAWK]

I've flown UA J Polaris seats many times and to be honest it's not bad. The hard product itself is good and just make sure you ask for the mattress topper as it's makes a huge difference!
The service is not too bad - depends on the crew but the times I've flown it's been perfectly fine. Drinks regularly topped up and plates/trays cleared relatively quickly so I had no issues - they're definitely not very chatty or overly friendly.
Catering on UA however is another story, it's terrible so if you go in with that expectation you'll be fine.

Also the Polaris Lounge in SFO is fantastic! Great space and lots of food/drink options - I'd recommend the sit down dining option vs the buffet.

Polaris Lounge @ SFO is the best I've experienced, however the sit down dining option does get busy, and the buffet is still a reasonable alternative.

Catering on UA isn't awful either. Sure it's not SQ, but it ain't JQ! In all seriousness, the lunch ex-Australia is fairly decent but breakfast on arrival (in either direction) could do with an uplift.

Agreed re: asking for the mattress topper - it hasn't been proactively offered, which I find strange, but

As for crew, it's going to be the more experienced ones (read: older) so you're going to get some who have checked out and are just going through the motions. Having said that, my experiences have been good overall.

I know UA release seats award seats out on Australian routes but went online last night just to get some ideas and found J seats SFO-BNE for the exact dates I want in August. $57 in charges only per person and there were 4 available but we only needed 2. Ticketed almost instantly and seat selection on UA was a breeze.

Very jealous you got those this far out! I'm looking for late July and unfortunately it's rare to get anything until ~4 weeks out. Well done and enjoy!!

 

[TMP]

Very fortunate pick up! We are sweating on some availability to come up <2 weeks of travel which seems to be more the norm these days, frustratingly

Got 2 x J seats for March. But it was certainly a bit of a faff. Ran into this well known issue...

Velocity Redemption not ticketed with United Airlines

We were connected to the overseas call centre and then to international ticketing. Tried to tell us that someone had booked one of the two seats and that was why it didn't ticket. Meanwhile all points and payment for taxes paid for at the time.

My partner was very persistent and managed after two long (15+ mins) periods on hold, to get the seats booked. And managed to get seats 1D and 1G too! So, all in all, good outcome. Just frustrating it is such a rigmarole.