Guide: Lie-Flat Seats on United’s Domestic Flights

United operates two dedicated sub-fleets configured with lie-flat (flatbed) seats for domestic flights: Boeing 757-200 aircraft and 777-200 “High Density” aircraft. Additional details on those configurations – including seat maps – can be found at the end of the post.

⭐ Did you know United’s Newark (EWR) to San Juan (SJU) flight is operated on a Boeing 767-400?

Lie-Flat (Flatbed) Seats on United’s Domestic Flights

The following route categories have regularly-scheduled flights with flatbed seats:

1. United ‘Transcontinental Service’ (formerly p.s. / Premium Service)
2. Select flights to/from Hawaii
3. Hub-to-hub flights (plus EWR-SJU)

United ‘Transcontinental Service’ 

Formerly known as p.s. (Premium Service), United’s ‘Transcontinental Service’ – swanky name, I know – now includes flights from Boston (BOS) to San Francisco (SFO). Most transcontinental flights are operated by one of two 757-200 variants – both with the same Diamond seat. The 777-200 HD also operates on select flights, including Boston.

All three ‘Transcontinental Service’ routes have fully flat seats:

• Boston (BOS) – San Francisco (SFO)
• Newark (EWR) – Los Angeles (LAX)
• Newark (EWR) – San Francisco (SFO)

United Premium Transcontinental Routes with Lie-Flat Seats | Image: Great Circle Mapper

Hawaii Flights from Denver, Chicago, Houston, Newark and Washington Dulles

The densely-configured 777-200 HD was designed for leisure-heavy routes like Hawaii. From Honolulu (HNL), United flies lie-flat 777-200s on select flights to Los Angeles (LAX) and San Francisco (SFO); and daily to Denver (DEN), Chicago (ORD), Guam (GUM) and Houston (IAH).

Select flights to Hawaii also feature flat-bed seats on Boeing 757 and Boeing 767 aircraft:

• Denver (DEN) – Honolulu (HNL), Kona* (KOA), Lihue* (LIH), and Maui Kahului* (OGG) [more details below]
• Chicago (ORD) – Honolulu (HNL) and Maui Kahului (OGG)
• Houston (IAH) – Honolulu (HNL)
• Newark (EWR) – Honolulu (HNL) Boeing 767-400ER 
• Washington Dulles (IAD) – Honolulu Boeing 767-300ER 
• Select flights from Los Angeles (LAX) and San Francisco (SFO)

*757-200 aircraft 

Hawaii Flights with Lie-Flat Seats | Image: Great Circle Mapper

United Hub-to-Hub Widebody Flights

United also operates widebody aircraft on hub-to-hub routes. These flights are commonly referred to as “positioning” or “repositioning” flights. Rather than having the aircraft sit on the ground waiting for an international departure, United rotates certain aircraft between hubs to increase fleet utilization.

🌟 Pro Tip: The best way to find scheduled United widebody flights is to search on United Cargo’s website. United Cargo posts a widebody schedule each month – you can download July’s widebody schedule here: UA_JulyWidebodySchedule

Denver (DEN) Lie-Flat / Flatbed Flights [July 2018]

United operates four daily departures from Denver (DEN) to four Hawaiian islands. All four flights feature lie-flat seats:

• Denver (DEN) – Honolulu (HNL) | Boeing 777-200
• Denver (DEN) – Kona (KOA), Lihue (LIH), and Maui Kahului (OGG) | Boeing 757-200

Denver also sees two 6:55 pm departures to both Los Angeles (LAX) and San Francisco (SFO) on the high-density 777-200 aircraft:

• Denver (DEN) – Los Angeles (LAX) | Flight 1613 | Departs 6:55 pm | Boeing 777-200
• Denver (DEN) – San Francisco (SFO) | Flight 257 | Departs 6:55 pm | Boeing 777-200

If you want to catch a Boeing 787 Dreamliner flight from Denver, there’s a morning departure to SFO:

• Denver (DEN) – San Francisco (SFO) | Flight 256 | Departs 7:45 am | Boeing 787-8

Newark (EWR) Lie-Flat / Flatbed Flights [July 2018]

The biggest ‘surprise’ widebody route is United’s Newark (EWR) to San Juan (SJU). United announced an expanded partnership with DHL in 2016; to meet increased cargo demand United added widebody aircraft on one of its flights between San Juan and its Newark hub.

• Newark (EWR) – San Juan (SJU) | Flight 1523 | Departs 8:10 am | Boeing 767-400ER (equipment varies)

This July, United will also fly widebodies on three domestic flights from Newark:

• Newark (EWR) – Chicago (ORD) | Flight 977 | Departs 8:00 am | Boeing 777-200ER
• Newark (EWR) – Houston (IAH) | Flight 687 | Departs 4:05 pm | Boeing 767-400ER
• Newark (EWR) – Houston (IAH) | Flight 1810 | Departs 5:05 pm | Boeing 777-200ER

United Boeing 787 Dreamliner Domestic Flights [July 2018]

In addition to the morning Denver (DEN) to San Francisco (SFO) departure, United operates Boeing 787-8 and Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners on the following domestic routes [as of July 2018]:

• Houston (IAH) – Los Angeles (LAX) | Flight 832 | Departs 6:14 pm | Boeing 787-9
• Los Angeles (LAX) – Houston (IAH) | Flight 1981 | Departs 11:15 am | Boeing 787-9
• San Francisco (SFO) – Washington Dulles | Flight 308 | Departs 11:05 pm | Boeing 787-8
• Washington Dulles (IAD) – Denver (DEN) | Flight 1950 | Departs 8:30 am | Boeing 787-8

United Boeing 787-8 | Photo: United Airlines

Two Versions of United’s Boeing 757-200

Any route flown on the 757-200 (not the 757-300) will have flatbed seats arranged in a 2 x 2 configuration.  Boeing 757-200 Version 1 has 16 seats and is used for both domestic and international flights. Version 2 has 28 flatbed seats and is flown exclusively on United’s ‘Transcontinental Service’ routes (EWR-SFO/LAX and BOS-SFO). Version 2 has two cabins:

United Boeing 757-200 Version 2 | Image: United Airlines

The fully flat seats are the decade-old B/E Diamond seat, seen below. The same seat is found on United’s Boeing 787 Dreamliners and “ex-Continental” Boeing 757s, Boeing 767s, and Boeing 777s. The Diamond seat is also on Version 2 of the Boeing 767-300ER aircraft in a 2 x 1 x 2 configuration.

United ‘Diamond’ Seat Boeing 787 | Photo: United Airlines

Boeing 777-200 HD (High Density)

Version 3 of the 777-200 (“HD” / High Density) has 28 lie-flat seats arranged in an extremely cozy 2 x 4 x 2 configuration. The 777 HD mainly operates to/from Hawaii but is also being used this summer for three international routes from Newark (EWR): Barcelona (BCN), Dublin (DUB), and Madrid (MAD).

United Boeing 777-200 “HD” | Image: United Airlines