68 reviews
Report No: 2019-601E
Ladies and Gentleman,
Welcome to this new short series that would contain 3 domestic flights onboard United and United Express onboard a short weekend trip to New Orleans, Louisiana. In this series, I would present three different aircraft types at the United fleet but the services on all flights were similar. In addition, the first two reports would contain lounge reports as well.
The first report of the series would be onboard the Embraer E-170 of Republic Airlines which was being operated for United Express. As I was going to meet my travel companion at IAH and as I planned to fly together with him to MSY, I have decided to take an option via IAH which was cheaper than direct MSY flights. Also, I've paid $30 more for a flight departing from DCA for my convenience. This report would also contain a small report of the United Club in Ronald Reagan National Airport.
Here is the routing for this short series;
Pax for this flight:
Domestic First: %100
Economy and EconomyPlus: %95-100
My originally booked flight wasn't the flight I've flown so I have checked-in for that flight 24 hours before that flight.
As United offers a free same calendar day change for Star Alliance Gold members I was looking for a better flight later in the day, which I could fly UA 2241 with my travel companion who would arrive from a Lufthansa flight and transfer to that IAH-MSY flight.
I have confirmed my seats for my originally booked flights.
Two hours later, I had the option to be rebooked to UA 2241 for free but I would have preferred a later DCA-IAH leg.
So, a few hours later, I was able to view the option that I wanted ( UA 3513/UA 2241 )
The flight details
Seat map for this flight.
And for the second flight. A reminder that unlike American Airlines and Delta, United does not offer free EconomyPlus seating for their alliance elites.
The morning of the flight, I have tracked the incoming flight from Flightradar24.
At that time, I was waiting for the metro to head to the airport.
Due to construction at the metro lines, Ronald Reagan Airport is the temporary last stop of the Yellow Line.
Arlington, VA while onboard the metro
And the Thomas Jefferson memorial, alongside the Washington Monument
I had arrived to the airport 1h20mins before the scheduled departure time of my flight. My flight seemed to be on time.
As I've entered the terminal, this Delta A321 was visible
I have headed to security and used the PremierAccess lane. After a 5-10 minute wait it was my turn. My bag was flagged because I haven't taken out food items from my bag. After an explosive check on the food items, I was all set and I headed towards the United Club to have some breakfast.
I was welcomed by the United Club agent after scanning my boarding pass
Our aircraft, N863RW was visible from the club.
The club had simple breakfast offerings such as greek yoghurt, veggies, fruits, porridge, bagels, donuts, cereal, juices, coffee, etc…
I have found a seat at the rear section of the lounge which also had a small bar of fruits and juices. The main area where the bar is located was much more crowded than the rear section.
Magazines were also offered at the club.
Boarding pass
Our aircraft from the gate
A funny thing happened just before boarding had started, the gate agent started his announcement by "Good Afternoon" rather than "Good Morning" which he realized later the smile of the passengers and corrected it. Then, boarding had started with the respect of priorities.
I took my seat 12A which was a regular Embraer seat with decent legroom.
The seat pocket
United destinations within the USA
Snacks offered today onboard
And the beverage list
United Private Screening was offered onboard this flight but it didn't worked properly.
In the Hemispheres magazine, there was an article about the new Polaris Business class seats and the new Domestic First seats.
Terminal Map of IAH
Before it was our turn to push back, this UnitedExpress regional had pushed back for his flight to Newark.
And shortly, it was our turn
On the way to the runway, this American 737-800 had passed by.
And another one of them
And it was time to take off
Pentagon
Arlington, VA
Ronald Reagan Airport
And we're over the clouds
At the first point, internet wasn't available but entertainment was available.
Later on, when internet became available, there was an issue with the Wi-Fi which disconnected mobile phones from the network.
However, I had the chance to look at the internet options
The route map
So, I wasn't able to watch a movie via my mobile phone.
So, I opened my laptop and tried watching a movie over there, it worked. Then, I've filled a complaint form about the Wi-Fi issues onboard at the Live chat option at the gogo website and I had immediately received a complimentary Wi-Fi pass for the day. The Wi-Fi had a decent speed for browsing and it opened Flight-Report's at flight-report.com within a decent time period.
While my complimentary internet access had started, the cabin crew had served pretzels and a choice of drink for free. I haven't asked for something on the BoB menu as the options are expensive and not worth it.
Later on, the cabin crew appeared for the second time, this time for a water refill about an hour before landing.
Flight information at that time
A photo when we had started our descend
Few minutes later, IAH was visible
And, we had landed on time
Shortly, we had started our taxi to Terminal A.
And we had parked to gate A2.
After saying goodbye to the crew, I have left the aircraft. The last view of the Embraer that took me to Houston.
As my next flight was departing from gate C41 and as I was going to meet my travel companion at Terminal D transfer security, I have headed to the monorail station.
This report has now came to an end.
Thanks for reading and hope to see you in another report.
To expedite the process of publishing reports, I would not include a detailed conclusion for reports in this series.
DCA
(+) Decent wait for security
(+) Priorities respected throughout boarding
(-) Food items being flagged without notice
United Club DCA
(+) Decent breakfast selection
(+) Comfortable seating
(-) Soft drinks in plastic cups
UA3513
(+) Comfortable seating and great legroom compared to other aircraft in the UA fleet
(+) The gesture of free Wi-Fi when PrivateScreening was not working properly
(-) Lack of hot meals for purchase in a 3h30min flight
(-) United PrivateScreening issue on mobile phones
IAH
(-) The Skyway was operating with issues
Les contributeurs de Flight-Report ont posté 3 avis concernant 2 compagnies sur la ligne Washington (DCA) → Houston (IAH).
La compagnie qui obtient la meilleure moyenne est United avec 6.8/10.
La durée moyenne des vols est de 3 heures et 10 minutes.
More information
1 Comments
None of the Embraers have hot meals stateside ( at least for UA) as they are not equipped with ovens. Even in first class you get a cold entrée.
Also you complain about the prices of the items - it’s supply and demand just like you pay to fly out from DCA instead of IAD - if one is hungry they would buy regardless of the price. it’s not like airport food is any cheaper.
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