{"id":231388,"date":"2026-03-29T09:00:15","date_gmt":"2026-03-29T09:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/29\/6-cool-innovations-coming-to-uniteds-economy-cabin-the-points-guy\/"},"modified":"2026-03-29T09:00:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-29T09:00:15","slug":"6-cool-innovations-coming-to-uniteds-economy-cabin-the-points-guy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/29\/6-cool-innovations-coming-to-uniteds-economy-cabin-the-points-guy\/","title":{"rendered":"6 cool innovations coming to United’s economy cabin – The Points Guy"},"content":{"rendered":"


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This past week, United Airlines announced a lot of news that was geared heavily toward travelers willing to pay top dollar.<\/p>\n

Look no further than the airline’s most high-end plane yet<\/a><\/span> \u2014 complete with a brand-new Polaris product and a whopping 99 total premium seats.<\/p>\n

Plus, the airline announced lie-flat suites for two new aircraft configurations it unveiled, along with what might be the fanciest regional jet in America<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n

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SEAN CUDAHY\/THE POINTS GUY<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But the airline has also been busy rolling out some intriguing new developments for the coach cabin that, if we’re being honest, will affect a lot more travelers than any bells or whistles at the front of the plane.<\/p>\n

Here’s some of what caught our eye.<\/p>\n

A couch in the sky<\/h2>\n

The most exciting update was the reveal of United’s new “Relax Row.”<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

It’ll allow passengers to turn three economy seats into a bed. The airline is framing this as a great way for families traveling together to catch some shut-eye inflight.<\/p>\n

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SEAN CUDAHY\/THE POINTS GUY<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

United plans to price its Relax Row as an add-on option for travelers who book an entire row. Expect the best pricing for groups of three traveling in three separate seats.<\/p>\n

This should be a similar product to what Air New Zealand has offered for years<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n

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The Chicago-based airline plans to debut its Relax Row on its Boeing 787 Dreamliners and certain large Boeing 777s and is planning to install this setup on 200 planes by 2030.<\/p>\n

Most planes will have around nine of these Relax Rows, but some jets could have up to a dozen.<\/p>\n

What does Relax Row get you beyond a “bed” in the sky? The product will come with a children’s stuffed toy and extra bedding.<\/p>\n

Starlink Wi-Fi<\/h2>\n

OK, this wasn’t a new announcement this past week, but we’d be remiss not to mention it \u2014 because it might be the biggest onboard development of all.<\/p>\n

As TPG has reported extensively, United is in the process of rolling out Starlink Wi-Fi to its planes<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n

If you haven’t flown with an airline that offers Starlink, it might be the fastest onboard internet in the marketplace today.<\/p>\n

I’ve been able to stream video, view a Zoom meeting and get work done (simultaneously) without interruption on aircraft with the technology.<\/p>\n

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Trying out United Airlines’ Starlink Wi-Fi service in May 2025. SEAN CUDAHY\/THE POINTS GUY<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On planes equipped with the service, it’s complimentary for United MileagePlus<\/a><\/span> members.<\/p>\n

United has said that it expects to have Starlink on at least 800 jets<\/a><\/span> by the end of this year.<\/p>\n

We should note that the carrier isn’t alone in adding Starlink service: Among other U.S. airlines, Hawaiian Airlines has it on Airbus planes today. Hawaiian’s sister carrier, Alaska Airlines, just started installing the service<\/a><\/span>. Southwest Airlines also recently announced it’s outfitting its aircraft<\/a><\/span> with the necessary equipment for Starlink service.<\/p>\n

Better earbuds and blankets<\/h2>\n

From the high-tech and expensive to the practical: United this week said it would start offering a “softer, more stylish blanket” and “new, higher quality earbuds” with better audio in its coach cabins on longer flights.<\/p>\n

While neither will offer the comfort of a lie-flat seat or premium economy recliner, both should make a long-haul trip in coach a little more comfortable.<\/p>\n

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SEAN CUDAHY\/THE POINTS GUY<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

That said, I tend to opt for my own headphones when I connect to United’s seatback screens. The carrier is in the process of rolling out Bluetooth connectivity<\/a><\/span> across its fleet, which makes it easy to connect listening devices like Apple AirPods.<\/p>\n

As for travelers who forget their headphones? Hopefully, better earbuds will prevent travelers from playing TikTok videos with the volume cranked up for all to hear \u2014 that’s now (officially) a no-no on United’s planes<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n

Onboard snack bars<\/h2>\n

If you’re a frequent Polaris or Premium Plus traveler, the upscale seats on United’s new Airbus A321 Coastliner and A321XLR planes<\/a><\/span> may have stolen the show when the carrier announced two new aircraft configurations this past week.<\/p>\n

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Polaris Suite that will debut on United Airlines’ Airbus A321XLR and A321 Coastliner planes. SEAN CUDAHY\/THE POINTS GUY<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But if you tend to fly in economy, two words may have caught your eye: snack bar.<\/p>\n

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Snack bar on United Airlines’ Airbus A321XLR. UNITED AIRLINES<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The airline plans to add walk-up concession stations for its economy cabin on these spiffy new jets.<\/p>\n

United will fly its Coastliner on prime transcontinental routes, especially those from its Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) hub.<\/p>\n

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UNITED AIRLINES<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Its XLR planes are headed to Europe.<\/p>\n

Both will replace aging Boeing 757s.<\/p>\n

Tiny planes, big (enough) overhead bins<\/h2>\n

Finally, much of the buzz about United this past week centered on one of its tiniest planes.<\/p>\n

The carrier announced a newly configured regional jet it’s calling the CRJ-450.<\/p>\n

Again, headlines around this United Express jet mostly dealt with the front of the plane \u2014 it’ll have first-class seats, which is a novelty for a plane of this size. Additionally, first-class passengers will have spacious lockers instead of overhead bins.<\/p>\n

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United Airlines CRJ-450. SEAN CUDAHY\/THE POINTS GUY<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

That’s great \u2014 if you fly in first class.<\/p>\n

As for the back of the plane? There will be overhead bins \u2014 and United said they’ll actually be large enough to fit rollaboard bags. That’s typically far from a given on really small regional jets like this 41-seater; usually, if your bag has wheels on an aircraft like this, you have to valet tag it and wait for it after landing.<\/p>\n

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Economy cabin on a United Airlines CRJ-450. SEAN CUDAHY\/THE POINTS GUY<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

That should happen a lot less on this plane and the many other regional jets United is already outfitting<\/a><\/span> with the more spacious bins.<\/p>\n

Related reading:<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n


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This past week, United Airlines announced a lot of news that was geared heavily toward travelers willing to pay top dollar. Look no further than the airline’s most high-end plane yet \u2014 complete with a brand-new Polaris product and a whopping 99 total premium seats. Plus, the airline announced lie-flat suites for two new aircraft […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":231389,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-231388","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-travel"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231388","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=231388"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231388\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/231389"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=231388"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=231388"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=231388"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}