Review of United flight Chicago Greensboro in Economy

Airline United
Flight UA3882
Class Economy
Seat 12D
Flight time 02:21
Take-off 20 Dec 18, 06:09
Arrival at 20 Dec 18, 09:30
UA   #76 out of 96 Airlines A minimum of 10 flight-reports within the past two years is required to appear in the rankings. 444 reviews
YGeorgeW
By GOLD 785
Published on 1st January 2019
Happy New Year folks!

Hopefully everyone spent New Year's Eve like me - trying to figure out if I can fit a trip to Vietnam to try to take advantage of that CX mistake fare. Unfortunately, I was unable to find something that fits because my schedule is not at all open for the next year and I am not quite up to the level of traveling for several days purely to experience a luxurious cabin and nothing else.

As I alluded to in my last trip report, my flight home was cancelled. Weather at the destination airport was given as the reason - there were some heavy rains in the region. I did not want to wait until the next day, so I was re-booked onto a flight to next closest airport, Greensboro (GSO), about a 2.5 hour drive. I should note that I was rather confused when going to the help desk for re-booking and used the premier lane, thinking that the "Premier Access" label on my boarding pass was enough - turns out that lane was only for premier status. However, the agent was very kind and did not make me re-wait in the proper lane. The flight to GSO was scheduled to board at 5:50pm, leaving me with nothing to do for the next ~4 hours.

Earlier in the year I was rather regretting selecting United for my Amex airline credit, but it came in handy today because I was able to get an United Club pass for free using the credit. Sorry I do not have more pictures - was rather irritated about the cancellation.

United Club (Concourse F)



I have been to quite a few United Clubs over the years, and they're all rather lackluster. There was not any hot food. As usual for United Clubs, it was rather crowded, though not every seat was taken. I would estimate about 70% full. The food spread was also quite disappointing, nothing hot. Nothing substantial that was cold either. I had a few cookies and that was about it.



After making a few calls at one of the office spaces, I went over to the bar. The bartender was quite friendly, engaging in conversations with several guests and offered to top off my drink every time it was empty. There were some house wines and beers as well as a premium menu for slightly better beer, wine, and liquor. I had two glasses of prosecco, which were complimentary. Since I had nothing to do as I wait, I hammered out the previous trip report before taking a call from a friend. I lost track of time on the call and just happened to notice that it was 5:50pm before rushing out of the club.

UA3882



UA3882 is a United Express flight operated by Air Wisconsin. I am used to flying them because they operate the only United flights out of my parents' home airport.

I arrived just a little bit after they called boarding for Group 3. The gate agent put a gate check tag on my carry-on. I usually don't mind the small regional jets, but the smaller overhead compartments are definitely a negative.

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Unfortunately, this was a packed plane and I did not have any options when I re-booked. I ended up in 12D, the window seat in the last row on the starboard side of the plane. I would strongly advise you to avoid this row if possible. The position of the lavatory directly behind you means there is zero recline and its proximity means there is quite a bit of traffic around you. The only seats worse would be the two seats in row 13, which are directly adjacent to the lavatory.

We pushed back a minute early, at 6:14pm, giving me a little hope we might be able to get into GSO early. However, we ended up sitting on the tarmac for quite some time - takeoff was at 6:45pm. I think there was quite a bit of traffic in front of us.

There was no wifi on the plane (as I believe is the case on all of Air Wisconsin-operated regional jets). Of course, I do not expect there to be wifi on plane this small. Service was the usual - a small pack of pretzels plus a drink. I asked the flight attendant, Melissa, if there was anything with caffeine (foolishly hoping for some coffee). The only thing she had was coke. After learning that I had a 2.5 hour drive after this flight, she took pity on me and gave me the whole can. It was a small gesture, but much appreciated.

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Despite my earlier hopes, we were 22 minutes late, arriving at 9:33pm. To make things worse, there was no gate for us and we had to disembark by remote stand. Sometimes it's nice to be able to get a picture of the plane. I tend to dislike it in the winter when I gate-checked a bag because you have to stand and wait out in the cold. In this case, it was also raining. However, to my surprise, the ground crew already had unloaded everyone's carry-on onto a cart by the time I walked down the stairs. I guess there are benefits to being in the last row. I paused for a quick picture of the plane as the ground crew looked at me like I was crazy.

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Luckily, it was a quick walk up some stairs into the airport. The drive home was awful, rainy and foggy and took half an hour longer than expected. All worth it in the end to be with family.
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Verdict

United

3.8/10
Cabin4.0
Cabin crew7.0
Entertainment/wifi1.0
Meal/catering3.0

United Club (Concourse F)

5.0/10
Comfort5.0
Meal/catering3.0
Entertainment/wifi4.0
Services8.0

Chicago - ORD

4.5/10
Efficiency3.0
Access3.0
Services4.0
Cleanliness8.0

Greensboro - GSO

7.0/10
Efficiency8.0
Access5.0
Services7.0
Cleanliness8.0

Conclusion

Lounge: United Clubs are nothing special, but it (sometimes) beats sitting in the gate area. The bartender was very pleasant, however. If you do not have the Amex credit, I definitely would not advise purchasing a club pass on its own ($59.99). You're better off finding a restaurant or coffee shop.

Flight: This flight was worse than usual because of the delay, the weather, and my seat. Normally, I would not give such a low rating to the United Express flights. Otherwise, I tend to find the Air Wisconsin-operated United Express flights to be decent for what you pay.

Related

4 Comments

If you liked this review or if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to post a comment below !
  • Comment 482356 by
    KL651 TEAM 4534 Comments
    Thanks for this FR and happy new year.
    Did UA provide some sort of compensation for the rental car needed to reach your final destination?
    I didn't know they had no boiler on the CR2.
    • Comment 482370 by
      YGeorgeW GOLD AUTHOR 273 Comments
      Thanks for reading KL651 and Happy New Year!

      "Did UA provide some sort of compensation for the rental car needed to reach your final destination?"
      -Unfortunately not, I had the option of waiting for the next flight to my final destination the next morning, but didn't opt for that. I admit I'm very timid about asking for compensation in these types of situations.

      "I didn't know they had no boiler on the CR2."
      -I'm not sure if I have ever paid attention to it before. I normally never ask for coffee unless I really need it to wake up (not a coffee drinker).
  • Comment 482364 by
    marathon GOLD 10117 Comments
    I like the CR200 because it is small - this is the nearest (least far?) I get to a private jet experience ;)
    What is wrong about it is that the windows are too low (I'm a short guy, though !), but I guess it did not matter all that much on a night flight.
    A full can of Coca-cola being mentioned as a commendable favor? We in Europe joke that we are always ten years behind the US - I don't like what lies ahead for us, at least in this regard.
    I guess I've been considered crazy quite a number of times when taking pictures of the aircraft from a rainy tarmac. Thanks for sharing, happy New Year and welcome to the madhouse ! :)
    • Comment 482371 by
      YGeorgeW GOLD AUTHOR 273 Comments
      Thanks for reading marathon!

      "I like the CR200 because it is small - this is the nearest (least far?) I get to a private jet experience ;)"
      -Probably, unless I manage to find a cheap empty leg some day. For the small planes, I actually prefer the Embraer RJ-145 personally.

      "A full can of Coca-cola being mentioned as a commendable favor? We in Europe joke that we are always ten years behind the US - I don't like what lies ahead for us, at least in this regard."
      -Now that you mention it, writing that sentence is kind of laughable. I hope Europe doesn't go there though I do not have much experience flying regional economy in Europe, most of the time it has been part of an award ticket in business to FRA or MUC. An Aegean flight, ATH to ISL, is the only one I can think of and I have almost no memories of that flight. I have flown a lot of Chinese domestic flights and generally the snacks are much better than what is provided in the U.S.

      I guess I've been considered crazy quite a number of times when taking pictures of the aircraft from a rainy tarmac. Thanks for sharing, happy New Year and welcome to the madhouse ! :)
      -My pleasure! Thanks for the welcome and Happy New Year!
  • Comment 482588 by
    hometoyyz 539 Comments
    Thanks for sharing this flight-report. About the only positive thing I usually have to say about CRJ-200s is that they're not Embraer 135/145s. And how unfortunate to be stuck right at the back.

    Weird that there was no coffee on board... I didn't even think of the possibility of no boiler until KL651 suggested it. But I feel like I've had coffee in the past on early-morning CRJ departures. Of course, we don't get a lot of CRJ-200s into Toronto, mercifully enough. I'm mostly on 900s with the occasional 700.

    And I hear you about the joys of no-jetway gates on cold and rainy (or snowy) days. There's just one gate -- well, one gate, four parking spaces -- that's like that at T3 YYZ, but I get it quite frequently.

    Does UA not keep all pax on-board until the skychecked bags are unloaded and on display next to the plane? That's standard operating procedure on Delta Express operated flights in Toronto, I presume to keep from having people milling around the tarmac too long.

    Sorry it was a bit of a negative experience... but thanks for sharing anyway. And happier flying in 2019!
    • Comment 483003 by
      YGeorgeW GOLD AUTHOR 273 Comments
      Thanks for reading Hometoyyz!


      "Thanks for sharing this flight-report. About the only positive thing I usually have to say about CRJ-200s is that they're not Embraer 135/145s. And how unfortunate to be stuck right at the back."
      -I'm usually okay with the small regional jets, (15 years ago I had a connection on a turboprop where the AC failed - nothing has ever come remotely close to being that bad), it's just the last row is really awful.


      "Weird that there was no coffee on board... I didn't even think of the possibility of no boiler until KL651 suggested it. But I feel like I've had coffee in the past on early-morning CRJ departures. Of course, we don't get a lot of CRJ-200s into Toronto, mercifully enough. I'm mostly on 900s with the occasional 700."
      -After KL651's comment, I made sure to check during my next flight on a CRJ. As luck would have it, I noticed there was a coffee pot, but because of some issue with it, there was no coffee on my flight.


      Does UA not keep all pax on-board until the skychecked bags are unloaded and on display next to the plane? That's standard operating procedure on Delta Express operated flights in Toronto, I presume to keep from having people milling around the tarmac too long.
      -I honestly never paid attention, but do have memories of years ago standing around waiting on the tarmac. Nowadays, I very rarely end up with a remote stand.

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