I settled into my BusinessFirst seat, 1E on the aisle, for the 13 hour journey to Chengdu. I used to love the window seat. Age, however, now dictates ready access to the lavatory and I don't want to be climbing over my seatmate all evening to get to the aisle. This is a six-seat across airplane in Business Class. Four of those six seats offer immediate aisle access, two don't. They're on the window. The seat itself is comfortable and converts into a full lie flat bed. Controls are built into the armrest. Powerpoint and glasses stowage is over your shoulder. The audio video on demand (AVOD) is accessed via touch screen or hand held controller. There are a couple of sometimes balky features, but overall it works well. The seatback screens in BusinessFirst are huge, sharp and clear. During the span of the flight I end up happily consuming four full films. No matter how comfortable the seat (and it is) I just don't sleep on airplanes. Oh yeah, about those lavs, they're as high tech as the 787 itself. Water flows from the sink at the wave of a hand. That' how the immaculately clean toilets flush too. The largest lavatory is located on the port (left hand) side between two sections of BusinessFirst. If you have a physical disability, this is the one you'll want to use. The BusinessFirst amenity kit has most of the requisite: eye shade, socks, toothbrush and toothpaste, tissue and in-flight refresher.

Since this is the Chengdu inaugural, the A Team staffs both cockpit and cabin, from the pilot in command to the flight attendants. They made the trip a real pleasure

Confession: I love good airline food. If I'm riding up front I'll skip a pre flight meal just to feast on the in-flight fare. United's BusinessFirst menu didn't disappoint. I started out with chilled jumbo shrimp and fresh seasonal greens. The former weren't over chilled; the latter not wilted. Before the main course of filet of Amazon Cod came a nice, buttery Rodney Strong Sonoma County Chardonnay, vintage 2011. After the main course, I skipped the cheese and port and dove straight into a caramel sundae. Sundaes are a staple of airline deserts, and it's hard to mess them up. Flight attendant Joey Cheng asked me if I'd like a liqueur with the sundae, perhaps a warmed Grand Marnier. I gave in graciously.

While the seats are comfortable, the AVOD ample, and the food more than fine it's the atmospherics of the flight that set it apart. The Boeing 787 is, quite simply, the most passenger friendly airplane in the skies today when it comes to cabin atmosphere. It's exceedingly quiet and subtly lit. The cabin altitude is thousands of feet below other jets and the amount of moisture infused into the cabin significantly higher. Assuming you haven't delved too deeply too often into United's wine list chances are you'll feel better upon touchdown.

This author was United's guest on Flight 9