A Legacy Continental 737 from HKG

United used to run giant 747's out of HKG to SIN in the past, although they were usually only half-full from what I could see. So it was interesting to see them running this tiny Continental 737 out here tonight, especially given that it featured the two-cabin configuration that one usually sees on domestic US flights instead (i.e., no international lie-flat seats, despite being out here in Asia). But this Continental flight was still much better (service, food, etc.) than that lousy seat they gave me on the long haul out of SFO, which was nearly all the way in the back of a United 747. They didn't even give me Economy Plus.

Now that I think of it, they ran a 747 on the way up to Narita this week rather than the 777's that they used to use on that route. I can only assume that all of this was the result of the Continental merger. I also found out upon check-in at SFO that the standby upgrade list is no longer dependent on your status (check-in time doesn't matter either), but rather on the price that you paid for your economy class ticket. That's fair, but it just makes my 1K Million Miler status seem rather useless now, especially if it's becoming harder for me to get upgraded.

In fact, I didn't even bother going into the United Lounge at SFO on the way back, mainly since they charge for Wi-Fi if you are flying peanut class like I was. So I just parked myself in the food court where I got Wi-Fi for free. It's unfortunate that this new schedule via HKG gets in later than before too. When all was said and done, I kinda wish that I had flown ANA instead.