#68 out of 94 Airlines A minimum of 10 flight-reports within the past two years is required to appear in the rankings.
448 reviews
With all the craziness at European airports last summer, I shouldn't have been surprised that I was hit with another cancellation. Originally, my return trip was booked on a simple AMS-IAD direct flight. That was cancelled before my traveling to Europe and I called to have it changed to AMS-ORD-DCA (as opposed to IAD). The AMS-ORD route was cancelled the day before I was due to leave Amsterdam and I was rebooked on AMS-IAH-DCA instead. There was no availability left that weekend for either ORD (on Sunday) or EWR (either weekend days).
For those of you looking for the IAH Polaris Lounge review, that'll be in the next report.
With all of the horror stories coming from Schiphol last summer, I made sure to get to the airport 3 hours in advance of departure. That turned out to be unnecessary for the specific day I was flying (Saturday), but I wasn't going to risk it after seeing the kilometer-long lines stretching out of the airport. You can see the temporary coverings they put in place so people would be shielded from the elements while queuing.
Once inside, I would describe the airport as more of a normal busy day, not the chaos I had seen in the news.
Luckily, both the check-in and security for premium cabin passengers were short and efficient.
Along the way, got to see some beautiful KLM birds, a 777-300ER in front and a 787 behind it. It's quite a beautiful blue livery.
Here's a SQ A350. Every time I see an SQ plane I wish I was flying to Singapore.
The Aspire Lounge (No. 41) served as the contract lounge for many of the Star Alliance carriers here. It can be found a level above the gates, close to Gate 41. There was a line to get in. Normally, the lounge accepts Priority Pass, but given how crowded and hectic operations have been at Schipol, I wasn't really surprised they were turning away Priority Pass members.
There was a nice spacious check-in area once you turn the corner.
As you might have guessed, most of the seats were occupied. The lounge is one long room with a variety of seating.
Walking further down the lounge . . . I didn't take m any pictures given how many people were around.
At the end of the lounge was a separate area that was set aside just for the SQ passengers. A SQ agent stood in front of the area to enforce that only SQ passengers were using this area. From a distance, it looks like the amenities were the same, but just a better passenger-to-seat ratio.
The food options were very limited, as were the beverages. The wine and liquor selection were quite sparse as well. The coffee machine was okay; I got a latte from it.
The tarmac views from the lounge were quite good.
In addition to the all the KLM planes, the US big three, I also spotted an Etihad 787.
An United 777 was being tugged into place and what looks like an China Airlines plane in the background. This was too far away/blurry for me to try to identify the plane.
I also got a close-up of an Air Europa 787-9.
After a while of just hanging out in the lounge–there's not much to do in this one–I headed over to the gate.
I was returning on one of United's many 777-200s. I still remember back when the Polaris retrofit was incomplete and it was always a risk with these planes whether you'll get a Polaris layout or the old 2-4-2 horror.
SSSS was called at 10:20am CET, 5 minutes before the scheduled boarding. The gate agent announced, "Please leave your companions behind." They also asked Global Services and 1Ks to line up, but we just stood for a while in line before we actually were called to go forward at 10:30.
United's 777-200s have 50 J seats between two cabins. The larger, forward cabin has 32 seats in 8 rows of 1-2-1 with a staggered configuration. Because of my cancellations and rebooking, there were no window seats left and I was in 1D.
As before, the Polaris seats are fairly private and already had its excellent bedding and an Away amenity kit waiting for you in your seat.
I won't go into too much detail for the seats as I have reviewed them before, but I believe the bulkhead seats have slightly larger footwells. The middle seats have a privacy partition that does the job when you're sitting down.
In contrast to my flight to Zurich, this time, there was a proper printed menu waiting at your seat. Soon after boarding, the purser, Debbie, stopped by my seat to introduce herself and welcome me onboard. As boarding was nearing completion, Doug, one of the FAs working my aisle, stopped by to take my order.
Here is the Away kit along with a glass of sparkling wine.
In my experience, the IFE screens are usually fairly crisp and responsive. I usually find it more convenient to lean forward and use the touch screen rather than rely on the remote. I didn't take screenshots, but the Wifi pricing for this flight was:
$5 for 1 hour
$9 for 2 hours
$22 for the full flight
I received my slippers before boarding was complete, which was around 11:15am. United's slippers are sturdy and reasonably comfortable. Eventually we pushed at 11:35am, 20 minutes behind schedule. We took off at 11:58am.
Service began roughly 30 minutes after takeoff. The tray table can be found underneath the IFE screen and is easy to pull out and unfold.
I began a glass of champagne and a small cup of nuts. The champagne this flight was Ayala, which I consider to be a small downgrade from the Gosset on the previous flight.
On this flight I opted for the halibut–so that I'm not always reviewing the short rib, but it was a fairly meh course. In general I've had poor luck with fish on flights, not just United. The pretzel bread and cauliflower were fairly good though.
I opted for ice cream again, but it wasn't the sundae as before. I think I prefer the standard sundae.
After meal service I checked out the forward lavatory. We have the standard Sunday Riley amenities: hand lotion and facial spray.
Because of the timing of the flight, I opted only to have a short nap (to avoid jet lag issues). If you're looking to sleep, however, be warned that the galley light is quite bothersome for this seat.
After my nap, I got up to stretch my legs a little. A small snack basket of snacks, mostly chips, was available in the galley if you're feeling peckish.
I asked for a cup of tea, which was promptly served.
Lights came on around 80 minutes before landing. Breakfast service began at that time. I opted for the Wellington burger. Debbie asked me why so many of the frequent fliers always go for this item: it's because it usually reheats pretty well. Definitely not the healthy choice though.
As we began our descent, FAs Denise and Doug came through to thank each passenger by name. In my experience, United is somewhat inconsistent about this and it's always a nice touch to wrap up your flight.
We landed at 2:28pm CT and was at the gate 4 minutes later–my shortest taxi ever at IAH. From there it was off to IAH's terrible international transit process and more importantly, to find a quick stop at the Polaris Lounge.
Lounge: The Aspire Lounge is nothing to get excited about. I wouldn't have spent as long as I did in there if not because I got to the airport really early for fear of the summer chaos at Schipol.
Cabin & Seat: I'm glad that United has finished retrofitting all of its 777-200s with the new cabins. It's still a less comfortable ride than the 787s, but seats are reasonably private and United's top-notch bedding really makes it a comfortable pod to lounge or sleep in. The one main demerit is that the galley light is quite bothersome for 1D (I don't think that the same problem exists for 1G).
Service: The FAs on this flight were enthusiastic, friendly, and responsive. I don't ask for much in J usually, so it's not as if I had many requests, but both meal services were quite efficient and any small requests were handled quickly with a smile.
Meal & Catering: United is still lagging behind its competitors when it comes to catering. The lack of meaningful choice (as in choices that taste equally good) should be a target of improvement.
Bottom Line: Given how many cancellations everyone was dealing with from AMS last summer, by the time my flight got changed again to IAH, I was just glad I could still go home that weekend. I think KLM flies a 777-200 on this route as well and given that they're still on the old 2-2-2 configuration for its 777s (with much worse bedding), it's a no brainer to opt for the United flight between AMS and IAH.
4 Comments
Gosh, I thought those were third-world problems! I won't complain again.
Rumor has it that cauliflower makes you bloated. Or is it just urban myth? I hope it IS just a myth, for the sake of everyone onboard. XD
Thanks for sharing!
I think for cauliflower it's all about moderation. If you have too much of it you'll get excess gas and bloating. If you drink a lot of water though, it shouldn't be too much of a problem. The amount here for a single flight wasn't a problem.
Fantastic even! The lounge looks a lot like the old KLM non-schengen lounge before it was refurbed, and the views are similar...i imagine they're close to one another physically.
LOL Hahaha yeah that was a long 5-6 years. Phew, finally complete!
Me too, the way J seats are designed these days, the screens are not as far as even when they were angled flat J
That's another premium-ish touch. Slippers are rare on most US/EU carriers. Usually an amenity associated with Asian carriers. Now if they could just improve the catering UA would be on another level than other US carriers, but the mediocre typical US carrier fare on board is still holding it back.
One of the reasons I never get seats in the first row on long-haul flights, especially overnights, because I don't like wearing eye masks, especially during Covid when you had to wear a face mask and eye mask at the same time it was all very disorienting when first waking up. I much prefer the privacy of the last row in general
Lovely report as always. Thanks for sharing!
I think I remember seeing signs for the new KLM lounge reasonably close by, or at least when I was trying to find this lounge. Next time I'll have to expand my Delft house collection and check out the lounge.
After the 772s were done, it was still hit-or-miss for the 788s and 789s and their 2-2-2 configurations. Glad we can put that business behind us. I've never flown on one of UA's 767-400s, but supposedly those are also getting retrofit this year.
Now that you mention it, that's a good point. LH added pajama tops to their J a few years back though. Overall the sleep-part of UA's soft product is very good: fantastic bedding, mattress pad, pillows, etc . . . As you said, it is the catering that is the main part holding it back.
I always wear eye masks, even at home, haha. So that doesn't bother me, but I'm incredibly sensitive to light that even with an eye mask this will bother me a little. Good thing this was daytime flight where I was aiming to stay up for most of it.
Thanks for stopping by!
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