The current trend is the premium economy.
As more people explore upgrading options that offer additional perks without spending a fortune on a lie-flat bed, demand for this middle-class cabin between business class and economy has grown in recent years.
2019 saw the launch of United's version of premium economy, known as Premium Plus.
Since then, the carrier has added the "purple seats," as devoted customers jokingly refer to them, to the majority of its long-haul wide-body fleet.
The Boeing 767-300, however, wasn't the first aircraft type to receive the chairs.
When United Airlines retrofitted its fleet of 38 Boeing 767-300 aircraft, it divided the aircraft into two groups: 24 of them are now "high J" versions (featuring 46 Polaris business-class seats, 22 Premium Plus recliners, 43 Economy Plus seats, and 56 economy seats), and 14 are in a less opulent "standard" configuration (featuring 30 Polaris pods, 46 Economy Plus seats, and 138 economy seats).
A Premium Plus cabin is noticeably absent from the latter group.
Although United had intended for this to be a more leisure-focused layout, the demand for these upgraded seats has recently increased noticeably.
United chose to equip these 14 jets with a Premium Plus cabin last summer rather than allowing rival airlines to fill that demand.
And now, only about five months after the conversion project was announced, this new configuration, internally known as the "76Q," is in use.
The first modified jet, N642UA, which has been appearing across the United network, recently spent some time in Newark in between trips.
When there was a lull, I was at the airport and was able to quickly arrange an aircraft tour.
So, here is how the inside seems.
Premium Plus on United's modified Boeing 767-300
The new Premium Plus cabin, which is situated directly behind the last row of Polaris, is the main attraction.
With seats placed in a conventional 2-2-2 configuration, the additional 24-seat cabin extends across rows 20 through 23.
The Boeing 767 is not broad enough to accommodate a middle seat, unlike some of United's larger wide-body aircraft, such as the 777 or 787 Dreamliner, hence there are no middle seats in this cabin.
For a more private flight, bulkhead walls divide the new cabin from Polaris and from the economy.
Just be aware that United didn't put curtains between Premium Plus and economy, so it might not feel as upscale as if you were flying with a rival (KLM, for instance).
It shouldn't surprise frequent United flyers that the seats themselves are comfortable.
The "bones" of these chairs have remained unchanged.
All of them have a pitch of 38 inches, a recline of 6 inches, improved padding, and additional features including a larger 13.3-inch high-definition entertainment screen, an adjustable and supportive headrest, a leg rest, and a footrest.
Every seat has a universal power outlet and a USB-A connector, and the seatback pockets have been enlarged to provide more room for stray goods.
Each armrest has a bi-fold tray table that extends out of it that is 17 inches wide and 10 1/2 inches long, making it ideal for larger devices like a 13.6-inch MacBook Air.
Despite having a similar appearance, not all seats are made equally.
For starters, if you like to stare out the window while flying, row 20 and row 21 might not be the best choice for you.
There are a few additional reasons why the bulkhead row (20) can be debatable.
Although these seats lack a real footrest, when fully reclined, they do have a stable location for your feet to rest.
United replaced the seatback storage with a small slot on the bulkhead wall for storing loose things.
If you choose a bulkhead, you won't have to worry about someone reclining into your space even if these cutouts are smaller than those you'd find behind other seats.
The entertainment screens are stored under the armrest and are not accessible during taxi, takeoff, or landing, which is another possible disadvantage of the bulkhead.
Contrary to the 13.3-inch screens you'd find elsewhere in the cabin, the screens in the bulkhead are an odd 11 inches wide.
Personally, if I were a passenger on this flight, I would choose a seat in row 22.
I could eliminate the lost windows in rows 20 and 21, as well as some of the bulkhead's disadvantages, in this method.
Additionally, since I'd be in the last row of Premium Plus, I'd be a row farther from the economy cabin, which should help reduce the light and noise pollution there.
The 24 people traveling in premium economy share the three restrooms, which are all the way in the back of the plane, with the 149 passengers traveling in economy.
During the peak hours, such as during first descent, I assume that there may be lengthy lineups to use the restroom.
United changed one of the bathrooms into a galley space during the Premium Plus retrofits, even though the "basic" 767-300 design had four restrooms shared by all 184 economy passengers.
It's logical that flight attendants would require additional workspace and storage while preparing meals for Premium Plus, but it's just sad that this would mean losing a bathroom.
Other upgrades on United's Boeing 767-300
The new Premium Plus cabin is the standout feature of the modified Boeing 767-300, but United also made several other improvements to the aircraft while it was in the hangar.
Of course, some other seats will have to be sacrificed to make room for the new Premium Plus cabin.
In this instance, United eliminated 25 normal economy seats and 14 extra-legroom Economy Plus seats to create room for the new cabin.
Unfortunately, all 14 of the extra-large seats that were eliminated were in the convenient "couple" configuration on the sidewalls of the aircraft.
This indicates that the proportion of middle seats with additional legroom has grown in this updated layout.
Fortunately, United kept the 10-row, 30-seat Polaris cabin untouched, with the exception of one very noticeable change: the inclusion of a new aisle at the front of the Polaris cabin.
When traveling on Polaris in the past, passengers had to play a game of Twister with the flight attendants in order to get between the two restrooms that were situated at the front of the cabin.
This was a problem notably around mealtimes, and I've observed crew members becoming visibly irritated when customers interrupt the service flow to use the restroom.
An upgrade that United might think about incorporating into its future cabin designs is the new aisle, which allows passengers to move between each side of the cabin and utilize both restrooms without having to obstruct the flight attendants in the galley.
New LED passenger reading lights were also installed by United throughout the aircraft, but it's difficult to determine how much better these are during a tour from the ground.
In conclusion
With its most recent Boeing 767-300 cabin renovation program, United is fully committed to premium economy.
There will be four onboard options available on every United international wide-body route once the deployment is finished in the coming months: Polaris business class, Premium Plus, Economy Plus, and normal economy.
FACEBOOK