In the days leading up to trying United 737 MAX 8 Economy Plus for the very first time, I was sort of dreading the work required to put together a full review.
I mean, I’ve experienced Economy Plus another aircraft types before, and it ain’t all that exciting.
But guess what? It’s a little different on the MAX 8. And by “different,” I mean “a wee bit better than what I was expecting.”
All that dreading definitely dwindled.
UA1502 San Diego, CA (SAN) – Chicago, IL (ORD) Saturday, October 26, 2024 Aircraft: 737 MAX 8 Registration: N17303 Duration: 3 hours 31 minutes Seat: 10A (Economy Plus)
United Airlines 737 MAX 8 (N17303) side view illustration by NorebboStock.com. Our route from San Diego to Chicago this morning as UA1502.
My full review of United 737 MAX 8 Economy Plus
As a reminder, Economy Plus is United’s domestic enhanced economy seating option. It features the exact same seats as economy class, but with a few extra inches of leg room.
You’ll also get priority boarding access, wedged right in between first class and regular economy. That’s pretty much it.
Arrival at the San Diego International Airport (SAN)
It was a bit of a gamble arriving just past 5 AM for 7 AM flight. The airport was socked in under a layer of thick fog, which usually means one thing: delays.
5:10am. Welcome to a foggy (and groggy) Terminal 2 at the San Diego International Airport! Just for clarification, it’s me that’s feeling groggy – not the airport. There’s never a time of day when this place doesn’t shine like a diamond.
The status for my flight to Chicago was stubbornly showing an on-time departure. As was every other departure out of San Diego this particular morning. It didn’t make any sense, so I just rolled with it.
So yeah. It’s a little foggy out there. Ruh roh. Oddly enough, there was a clearing in the fog in the area immediately surrounding the 737 MAX 8 that would be taking me to Chicago this morning. Either Mother Nature knows not to F with SANspotter… or she’s just looking out for me. Nobody here at gate 39 seems the slightest bit concerned about the possibility of a fog-induced connection-busting delay. I can only dream of being able to give so few f**ks in my day-to-day life.“They’re gonna delay the flight. I just know it. Watch. Any second now. I’m gonna miss my connection in Chicago, and I’m going to have to spend the night in the airport curled up next to a trashcan. Any second now…”
The boarding process
It’s a good thing I’m not a betting man, because I would’ve easily taken (and lost) a $100 bet against anyone who “guaranteed” that they would start the boarding process right on time. Despite the fog, they were determined to get this flight out of here.
While I wait for the delay announcement, here’s a picture of my Economy Plus boarding pass.Alrighty then. Maybe this is going to happen after all? Here I am in the Zone 2 boarding queue (feeling pessimistic AF). I guess I’m doing a United Airlines 737 MAX 8 Economy Plus review today. Didn’t see that one coming… Here we go with what will be my first ever ride on a United 737 MAX 8. If the fog clears, that is.
Seat and cabin overview
United Airlines is going through a bit of a metamorphosis at the moment. Most of their other aircraft feature old and tired interiors without video screens and a decent overhead bin space. Not the MAX 8.
Well, this is it. Economy Plus here on the MAX 8 doesn’t look all that different compared to other aircraft in the United fleet, but I am digging the instructional graphics in the overhead bins.
The Economy Plus seats are exactly the same as the regular economy seats. Same materials and textures as well. The extra little bit of leg room is nice though – and well worth springing for an upgrade if you’re over 6 feet tall.
I have arrived (unscathed and feeling slightly more optimistic now) at row 10. The window seat is mine. It’s the same as United 737-800 Economy Plus, but with cleaner carpet and less sticky seats.Another way of saying it is that it’s basically regular economy class with a little extra somethin’ somethin’. Wait, what? I didn’t see any video screens when I flew United 737 MAX 9 Economy Plus a while back. Things are a changin’!Actually, some things never change. The 110v electrical outlets are still located way down there beneath and between the seats (where few dare to reach). It ain’t first class, that’s for sure. Then again, first class isn’t what it used to be, and the leg room here in Economy Plus is almost the same as what you’ll get up there. So maybe it’s kind of like first class? I don’t know. The best way to sum up this experience so far is to say that it seems as if somebody from United flew Delta A321 Comfort Plus recently and said (and I quote) “Hold my freakin’ beer…”
The departure
How the heck did they get us pushed off the gate 5 minutes early in such foggy conditions? I had no idea – at least until we taxied eastward to the threshold of runway 27. Apparently the fog hadn’t reached that far inland – so it wasn’t affecting arrivals or departures at all.
My sincerest apologies to San Diego ATC for doubting their ability to keep operations running smoothly in dense fog. We pushed off the gate not on time…but 5 whole minutes early. Dayum!What fog? It’s a pretty nice morning over here on the east side of Lindbergh Field.Oh, that fog.
In-flight entertainment
United’s MAX 8’s feature large video screens stuffed with plenty of modern and useful tech. And because you already know I’m not a betting man, I’m not going to wager $100 proclaiming that it’ll keep you thoroughly entertained for hours on end.
It would. But I won’t.
Welcome aboard. That’s what she it said.Wait a sec. I don’t see anything here about filet mignon. The hell is this Economy Plus sh*t anyway?In all seriousness, I quite like how customizable the user interface is. I loves me some good UX!Bluetooth connectivity for your listening pleasure. You brought noise canceling headphones, right?
Food and drinks
Shame on me for thinking that they’d be slinging free premium snacks and drinks for Economy Plus passengers. I didn’t happen like that.
Instead, all we got was the same basic drink and snack service that regular economy passengers got. We did get first dibs on items from the food for purchase menu though. I guess that’s something.
Tray table locked and loaded for the coming feast.But is it really a feast without freshly carved roast beast? Hey, it was free, so I can’t complain too much.For what it’s worth, someone sitting nearby ordered something off the food for purchase menu that smelled really good. These “breaded bites” were woefully inferior to whatever delicacy that was. Water review: Clean and refreshing, with subtle mineral notes. It featured hints of chlorine with an earthy aftertaste. Pro tip: go for the Diet Coke instead.
Seat comfort
Economy Plus isn’t about seat comfort. It’s all about the leg room. Your lower back will hurt just as much as it would if you were sitting way back in row 38. Your buttocks will be just as numb.
Your legs though? They’ll feel great with all that blood flow rushing through them as you stretch them to their fullest.
Economy Plus seat recline isn’t even significant enough to mention. Oh wait… In the spirit of mentioning things that aren’t even worth mentioning, seat comfort is…totally nonexistent (and definitely not worth mentioning). How much longer until we arrive in Chicago?
The descent and landing into ORD
Spirits were high as we began the descent into Chicago. It was a fairly decent flight, the weather was absolutely perfect, and we were even 12 minutes ahead of schedule.
Oh hey, it’s O’hare!The fact that this is a lake still blows me away – even though I spent the first 22 years of my life in within a 2 1/2 hour drive of this monstrosity.Welcome to Chicago! I can smell the Nuts on Clark from here.
Unfortunately, arriving early at O’Hare isn’t always a good thing. You’ll usually have to sit and wait for a gate open, which is exactly what we had to do. By the time we reached our arrival gate, we were one minute late.
I can’t believe I flew all the way to Chicago and I didn’t even tell you about how nice the under seat storage space is. It’s nice!Probably the best thing about United 737 MAX 8 Economy Plus? It won’t kill you (thus rendering the need for this stretcher here in the jetway irrelevant). The fact that it’s here is worrisome though. What is United not telling us?
Pros and cons
At the time of this writing, the 737 MAX 8 just might be one of the best Economy Plus experiences available on United Airlines. It was certainly the best experience I’ve had so far.
Pros
The extra legroom really is worth it. Spend the money if you’re over 6 feet tall!
The video entertainment system is top notch. I love how customizable everything is.
Getting to board and deplane before regular economy class passengers ain’t nothing to scoff at I guess.
Cons
No premium snacks? Really?
The seats are the same ‘ol same ‘ol. They’re every bit as narrow (and uncomfortable) as what you’ll find in regular economy.
Nothing about the experience felt premium – except for the extra legroom.
Alcohol too – at least I think so. I really don’t understand why they don’t have more perks for these extra legroom seats. Seems like they’d make a killing making it a slightly more upscale experience.
It’s great how you finally got to fly on a United 737 MAX 8! I think the caption where you said it’s like someone from UA flew Delta A321 Comfort Plus and said “hold my freakin’ beer…” perfectly sums this experience up. Which isn’t a bad thing btw, it’s great to see United taking inspiration from Delta and not American for their new interiors.
Also, I haven’t flown on United in a while, but it seems like in every economy/economy plus review I’ve seen lately, they always have a different snack, which is a nice touch IMO. It’s nice to see some creativity, and they all look fairly decent. It’s the next best thing short of actually including proper food on the ticket.
All that said, I wish UA would differentiate Economy Plus a bit more. It seems like the only perks are priority boarding & extra legroom, which is definitely nice, but having an improved soft product over regular Y would be nice as well. As it stands, it’s “Plus” in hard product only.
Thinking out loud, but they should make a fare class where you just get the extra legroom & priority boarding, and another where you also get better snacks & drinks. That would be interesting…
The most interesting thing about this is that I didn’t even try to get on the MAX 8. This was supposed to be an A321neo. I’m not complaining though, because the MAX 8 was on my list!
Not only that, I was expecting exactly what I experienced in MAX 9 Economy Plus a few years ago. That aircraft was fitted with the old interior – which is extremely basic compared to the new interiors.
And I totally agree with you about the differentiation thing. They gotta do something to make Economy Plus Worth spending extra money for. Extra legroom and priority(ish) boarding isn’t enough IMHO.
Interesting how this was gonna be an A321neo! At least it was swapped to another aircraft with the new interior, and not an old A320ceo/737NG.
Regarding the interiors, all of UA’s MAX 8’s actually have the new one! It’s the MAX 9’s that are being retrofitted, from the interior you flew a few years ago to this one, as they were delivered before UA announced it. The MAX 8’s all had this interior from the get-go.
Also, I love how your autocorrect (?) is so used to writing Dallas/Fort Worth that it capitalized “Worth” here lol. Looks like it’s an avgeek as well haha!
Ozzy
At least delta comfort + passengers get the snack basket on longer flights!
Scott (SANspotter)
Alcohol too – at least I think so. I really don’t understand why they don’t have more perks for these extra legroom seats. Seems like they’d make a killing making it a slightly more upscale experience.
Peter
It’s great how you finally got to fly on a United 737 MAX 8! I think the caption where you said it’s like someone from UA flew Delta A321 Comfort Plus and said “hold my freakin’ beer…” perfectly sums this experience up. Which isn’t a bad thing btw, it’s great to see United taking inspiration from Delta and not American for their new interiors.
Also, I haven’t flown on United in a while, but it seems like in every economy/economy plus review I’ve seen lately, they always have a different snack, which is a nice touch IMO. It’s nice to see some creativity, and they all look fairly decent. It’s the next best thing short of actually including proper food on the ticket.
All that said, I wish UA would differentiate Economy Plus a bit more. It seems like the only perks are priority boarding & extra legroom, which is definitely nice, but having an improved soft product over regular Y would be nice as well. As it stands, it’s “Plus” in hard product only.
Thinking out loud, but they should make a fare class where you just get the extra legroom & priority boarding, and another where you also get better snacks & drinks. That would be interesting…
Scott (SANspotter)
The most interesting thing about this is that I didn’t even try to get on the MAX 8. This was supposed to be an A321neo. I’m not complaining though, because the MAX 8 was on my list!
Not only that, I was expecting exactly what I experienced in MAX 9 Economy Plus a few years ago. That aircraft was fitted with the old interior – which is extremely basic compared to the new interiors.
And I totally agree with you about the differentiation thing. They gotta do something to make Economy Plus Worth spending extra money for. Extra legroom and priority(ish) boarding isn’t enough IMHO.
Peter
Interesting how this was gonna be an A321neo! At least it was swapped to another aircraft with the new interior, and not an old A320ceo/737NG.
Regarding the interiors, all of UA’s MAX 8’s actually have the new one! It’s the MAX 9’s that are being retrofitted, from the interior you flew a few years ago to this one, as they were delivered before UA announced it. The MAX 8’s all had this interior from the get-go.
Also, I love how your autocorrect (?) is so used to writing Dallas/Fort Worth that it capitalized “Worth” here lol. Looks like it’s an avgeek as well haha!