Review of United flight Denver → Frankfurt in Economy

Hello, everyone, and welcome to Part 2 of my trip report to Frankfurt, Germany! I just landed in Denver, Colorado, from Kansas City, Missouri, and this review is about my connecting United Airlines flight to Europe. Enjoy! :)

When I arrived at the gate, I was surprised to see that my plane wasn't there yet. Boarding was supposed to begin in less than one hour, so I was hoping that we wouldn't have a delay, but fortunately, this wasn't the case. Our aircraft, a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, was actually at the terminal across and about to be towed to our gate. If you look closely, you can see it behind the Delta Airbus A321.

And there it is! :) The Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner is truly one of the most remarkable airplanes ever built! It is quiet, fuel-efficient, and its internal cabin pressure is the equivalent of 6,000 feet (1,800 meters) altitude, which means increased passenger comfort. It has a range of over 7,000 nautical miles (over 13,000 kilometers) and offers room for around 240 passengers.

Just loading some catering onto the aircraft before boarding…

I really love the design of the engines and the wings! :) The curved wingtips are commonly referred to as ''raked'' wingtips and serve as an alternative option to winglets. This contributes to both fuel efficiency and, as of a result, a wider operational range. The engines were designed by GE and Rolls Royce and offer improvements in fuel consumption, noise, and emissions. 

Everything looks like an on-time departure! :)

On the plane to Frankfurt, Germany! :) After taking my seat, I started settling in for a long flight. I mainly listen to music or watch movies, so I got my headphones out and placed my bag underneath the seat in front of me. Shortly before the boarding process was completed, the Captain made an announcement and welcomed us on board, saying that everything looks good for an on-time departure and that the flight time would be 8 hours and 55 minutes, which is about half an hour less than expected earlier. Looks like a decent amount of tailwind. :) Only about 15 minutes until pushback.

A view of our route to Germany. I really love looking at all the details of the flight and see our present position! :)

My seat was 35A, which, just like on the previous flight, was on the left side, and again, behind the wing. :) As you can see, the Boeing 737 that was next to us had just left the gate, and this big beauty came in! A Boeing 777-200! :) I believe I have flown on this one before, but as a little child, and I hope to travel with it again in the near future! :)

Here we go!! :)

Extending the flaps and testing the control surfaces of the aircraft. 

Another airplane coming in to land…:)

We taxiied out to Runway 34Right, which points to the North. It was a relatively short taxi and we were number 2 in line for departure. On the left you can see Lufthansa, Germany's major airline that I am going to fly for. This aircraft, an Airbus A350-900, is heading to Munich, which is the airline's second base. Its first is Frankfurt, but I believe that only United flies the Denver-Frankfurt route.

An Icelandair Boeing 757-200 from Reykjavik.

Last view of the terminal. See you in the future, Lufthansa! :)

I believe that every airport is unique in its own way. So is Denver, with this architecture that looks like a whole bunch of tents. :)

A Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 MAX. This aircraft, as you know, was grounded for an amount of time because of the tragic accidents that had occurred in the past, but it seems that Boeing has fixed the problems and the aircraft is returning to the skies.

Approaching Runway 34Right.

About to line up on the runway…

Here is a video of the takeoff. I made one of the landing as well. Please also take the time to visit my YouTube Channel, where you will find more airplane videos. Enjoy! :)

Farewell, USA! :) There is Barr Lake and its State Park in the distance.

Down there is a city called Brighton, which also has an airfield. It is a bit difficult to see, but it is between the two groups of houses on the left.

Slightly banking right to the northeast towards Canada.

Approaching Nebraska shortly before reaching our cruising altitude. Time to destination: 8:43. Distance to destination: 4947 miles/7961 km.

Altitude: 32721 feet/9973 meters. Headwind: 124 miles per hour/200 kilometers per hour.

Shortly after we had leveled off, the windows were darkened. This is one thing that I personally dislike about the Boeing 787 Dreamliner; they don't have the old-fashioned window shades, so you cannot choose yourself when you want to open or close them. It was going to stay like that until sunrise, so unfortunately, I didn't see much of the sunset. :(

My Dinner. :) I chose the pasta, which came with a small salad, a bun and a lemon sorbetto. It was very tasty! :)

At least I was able to catch a few views of the sunset. :)

It got dark very quick and I knew I wasn't going to be able to sleep, so I decided to surf through the entertainment system and watch some movies. We were just over Minnesota when it got a little bumpy and the Captain turned on the seatbelt sign. I was pleased to find that among the choices of movies was the Harry Potter series, so I watched the Sorcerer's Stone. :) Even though I have watched every movie countless of times, I could always watch them again! :)

Program of the month: Have a look at what is being showed at United Private Screening this month.
Entertainment: Look through our collection of films, TV, music, podcasts and more.
Accessible contents: Look through our contents with subtitles and audio description. 

By the time the movie was finished, we had already flown a significant distance and were just beginning to cross the Atlantic ocean. The rest of the flight was pretty smooth, a couple of bumps along the southern tip of Greenland, but other than that, uneventful. :)

The map also gives you the option to switch to night mode, which I found really cool! :) You can also see what time it is in all the parts of the world.

After almost 8 hours in the air, we finally reached the other side of the pond. We were flying over Scotland at this point and breakfast was about to be served.

Local time at destination: 8:05 am. Only about one hour and a half until landing. :)

As we were flying over the North Sea, it became bright outside again, and I could also (finally) adjust the brightness of my window. :)

Good morning, rise and shine! :)

Breakfast wasn't much; just a blueberry yogurt and a biscotti, but it was okay. :)

Shortly after entering German airspace, the Captain announced our descent into Frankfurt. He said that the weather was a bit cloudy and foggy, but expected to clear up upon our arrival. We actually had some magnificent views of the clouds and the fog! They were really stunning! :)

Almost everything you see down there is fog. Breathtaking to see it from 12,000 feet above the ground, isn't it?! :)

Starting to see parts of the beautiful German landscape. This is my home! :)

Now you can see the so-called ''spoilers'' or ''speed brakes'' in action, on top of the wing. They are designed to accelerate the descent and since we are very high and there is not much time to get down, they are very helpful and efficient devices! Since they destroy lift, they are also called ''lift dumpers'' and cause a light vibration in the aircraft, but that is quite normal. :)
 

Almost there! :) At this point, we are making a few turns as we are in a holding pattern. Frankfurt is one of the world's busiest airports and due to the high volume of traffic, it sometimes takes a while until a plane receives clearance to land. But we were actually 15 minutes early, so nothing to be concerned about. :)

Banking left. Still in the pattern. :)

Altitude: 7229 feet/2203 meters. Headwind: 2 miles per hour/4 kilometers per hour.

To me this was the most beautiful part of the flight! The views of the fog were truly breathtaking! :)

Beautiful landscape, don't you think? :)

Extending the flaps for landing…

Good morning, Frankfurt! :) It is truly a beautiful city to live in!

Down there is the Rhine river, which is the longest river in Germany.

We landed in Frankfurt at 9:30 am local time, 15 minutes ahead of schedule. On our way to the gate I got to see some of Lufthansa's big airplanes, such as the Boeing 747 Jumbo Jet and the Airbus A330/340. I hope that I get to fly at least one of those in the future! :)

A Lufthansa Airbus A340-300.

An Airbus A330, one of my favorite airplanes! :)

We will be parking at Terminal A, next to one of these Lufthansa planes.

Here's another Airbus A330! :)

Pulling into the Gate. On the left you can see a Boeing 747-8i.

Made it!!! :) Well, at least for the most part. Now I had one more flight coming up. After getting off the plane and clearing through passport control, I had to get to a Lufthansa flight to Berlin. However, I hope you forgive me that I did not take any pictures of that flight. It was very short, under an hour, and I didn't have a window seat this time.
I still hope that you enjoyed reading this trip report and look forward to sharing more with you in the future. Thank you, goodbye, and have a nice weekend! :)