Review of United flight Chicago Paris in Economy

Airline United
Flight 987
Class Economy
Seat 47A
Aircraft Boeing 787-8
Flight time 08:00
Take-off 27 Nov 21, 18:30
Arrival at 28 Nov 21, 09:30
UA   #68 out of 94 Airlines A minimum of 10 flight-reports within the past two years is required to appear in the rankings. 384 reviews
KL651
By 2043
Published on 11th June 2022

Here's the return part of my trip back to the US, the first one post.

The LH flight to ORD was a pleasant surprise given my history with the German airline.
https://flight-report.com/en/report/56768/lufthansa-lh430-frankfurt-fra-chicago-ord

Let's see how UA's service had evolved after all these events.

Thanksgiving was just over but the Christmas decorations were all out at ORD, really enjoyed that.


photo 20211127_163016-copy


Check in was done on a kiosk with a friendly French speaking employee that came over to check if I needed help.

TSA took a long time since I have no pre check and the European bank was in full swing.

Always loved ORD's architecture, reminds me of my first trip to the USA many years ago as it's the airport I landed at.


photo 20211127_170641-copy


Our gate was also decorated.


photo 20211127_171150-copy


The crew arrived late and boarding began late as they needed time "to get situated".
No view whatsoever on our plane tonight.

The economy cabin, notice no more pillows or blankets… It felt very sterile.


photo 20211127_183254-copy


Although Polaris and Premium Plus were full, Economy was half empty, and I got 3 seats to myself.


photo 20211127_183646-copy


Some passengers asked a passing F/A about pillows and blanket, and she came back with these disposable pillows (i guess) that she took out of a big plastic (garbage looking) bag, and came back for the blankets.


photo 20211127_185333-copy


No announcement was made that pillows and blankets were available, but were not placed on the seat to guarantee they were clean and freshly loaded on the plane.
I felt that pretty cheap.

Cabin view before take off, we pushed back late, taxied for a very long time and took off almost one hour late in spite of the light passenger load and quick boarding procedure.


photo 20211127_190826-copy


After take off, crew served dinner, all at once, with the japanese crackers and dessert, probably to minimize contact.

But again with such a light load it felt more like they wanted to expedite the service.


photo 20211127_191657-copyphoto 20211127_200906-copy


The IFE was a newer version with a very nice moving map and plenty of films to choose from.
I watched Sweet Home Alabama and really enjoyed it.


photo 20211127_194626-copy


After the movie, I took advantage of the 3 seats and fell asleep for a 3 hours, sun was rising and we were flying above (frozen) England when I woke up.


photo 20211128_014333-copyphoto 20211128_015158-copy


Breakfast was served, but I wasn't hungry so only had coffee and took the yoghurt and cookie home (I hate wasting food)


photo 20211128_015414-copy


We flew right over Heathrow, it's the best shot I could get, but the constant take offs and landings were visible from 12.000 meters


photo 20211128_095104-copy


We then started our descent towards CDG where the weather was poor to say the least.


photo 20211128_020959-copyphoto 20211203_170952-copyphoto 20211128_023801-copy


We landed on the south runway facing west, which meant a short taxi to Terminal 2A that UA operates from, since Terminal 1 is still closed.


photo 20211203_170503-copy


Air Austral 77W, not a fan of their livery


photo 20211128_094848-copy


We parked next to this AA 788 from Miami, about 15 minutes late as we couldn't make up our delay during the flight.


photo 20211128_094923-copy


It didn't take long to get off the aircraft, passing the Premium Plus which looked good.


photo 20211128_095746-copy


Last views on our aircraft


photo 20211203_233446-copyphoto 20211128_101108-copy


I was happy to fly UA again as I have a soft spot for this airline but this flight was rather disappointing, the lack of pillow and blanket probably was due to hygiene and Covid standards, but not even mentionning they were available upon request was cheap and it felt like the crew didn't care if the passengers would notice.
The seat and leagroom were fine but the lack of amenities will cost some points.

Same thing for the meals that were expedited, like the crew really didn't want to risk being in the cabin.

Meals were tasty and IFE was good, but the service was disappoiting.

See more

Verdict

United

6.5/10
Cabin5.0
Cabin crew4.0
Entertainment/wifi9.0
Meal/catering8.0

Chicago - ORD

5.0/10
Efficiency5.0
Access5.0
Services5.0
Cleanliness5.0

Paris - CDG

5.0/10
Efficiency5.0
Access5.0
Services5.0
Cleanliness5.0

Conclusion

I was happy to fly UA again as I have a soft spot for this airline but this flight was rather disappointing, the lack of pillow and blanket probably was due to hygiene and Covid standards, but not even mentionning they were available upon request was cheap and it felt like the crew didn't care if the passengers would notice.
The seat and leagroom were fine but the lack of amenities will cost some points.

Same thing for the meals that were expedited, like the crew really didn't want to risk being in the cabin.

Meals were tasty and IFE was good, but the service was disappoiting.

Information on the route Chicago (ORD) Paris (CDG)

Les contributeurs de Flight-Report ont posté 22 avis concernant 3 compagnies sur la ligne Chicago (ORD) → Paris (CDG).


Useful

La compagnie qui obtient la meilleure moyenne est Air France avec 7.5/10.

La durée moyenne des vols est de 8 heures et 11 minutes.

  More information

3 Comments

If you liked this review or if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to post a comment below !
  • Comment 605119 by
    airberlin GOLD 1879 Comments
    Merci EB for this nice flight report. I was connecting myself to check for a recent recent report on United and you’ve just realized my dreams!. Was looking for an update on the Polaris service though ?
    Otherwise the seat seams good, the aircraft is new and the IFE has a nice interface and hopefully content as well. That’s what I look at first place.
    So thanks for this post again!
    ab
  • Comment 605402 by
    KévinDC TEAM SILVER 6744 Comments
    Damn, no pillows on a long-haul overnight flight, that's lame! And yes, they should've at least made an announcement that they're available on request! I assume it's cost-cutting under the guise of Covid protocol otherwise they'd let people know they are available. They probably didn't load enough and preferred people didn't know they were there.

    The main meal looks surprisingly nice for UA, but the breakfast is kind of sad. I believe pre-pandemic that there were hot breakfasts on flights to Europe, other than from the East Coast.

    Thanks for sharing!
  • Comment 605687 by
    lysflyer 1266 Comments
    Thank you for this report! Regrettably, UA offered a pretty basic service. Thankfully, the light load allowed a bit more comfort.
    Regards
    LYSflyer

Login to post a comment.