#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
Here is the last leg of my trip home from the Netherlands. Due to all the chaos last summer at European airports, my originally neat trip featuring one flight each way has doubled into a 4-leg journey.
While IAH is probably my least favorite airport to transit through, this switch at least gave me the chance to review the Polaris Lounge here, which I have never visited. The Polaris Lounge can be found in Terminal E as you walk from the international connection area (or if you're coming from D).
There is a variety of seats from individual booths, to tables, to loungers. In this regard, it is like all of the other Polaris lounges. As you can see in the pictures, the lounge was reasonably full when I was there mid-afternoon.
A highlight of the Polaris lounges is always a beautiful bar. All of the counter seats were occupied though.
Directly behind the bar is the dining area, which is smaller than at ORD, EWR, or IAD. I didn't have enough time for a sit-down meal, so I skipped it this trip.
Instead, I opted to go directly for a shower. Luckily, I had no wait. As always, a hot shower after a long flight is always very satisfying. United uses Sunday Riley amenities in the lounge just like onboard.
The regular bathrooms are more or less the same.
Because I was short on time, I opted to check out the buffet area instead:
I grabbed a small plate and got a glass of champagne from the lounge. Like at IAD, the IAH lounge was serving Lanson.
I sat at a small table across from the bar. It had a good view of the tarmac.
As I was leaving the lounge, I found where the concierge agents worked, as well as some solo seats and a bench right by the entrance. I'd only sit in those seats if you had nowhere else to go.
I didn't have too long in the lounge, unfortunately, and had to trek to my gate soon.
After a short stay in the lounge, I made my way to Gate D1. Currently Terminal D is under renovation (and will be for a while), so there's no carpet. It very much has the feel of a construction zone.
I was going home on an ERJ-175 (how many times have I flown this between IAH and DCA?).
Preboarding began at 4:02pm CT. There didn't seem to be many other elites on the flight. As shown here. United's ERJ-175s have 4 rows or 1-2 in the first class cabin followed by economy in a 2-2 configuration.
These seats are reasonable for a regional jet, just missing any seatback IFE screens.
Here's a look at 4C/D before their passengers got seated.
Predeparture water was offered (I wasn't planning on asking for the sparkling wine anyways).
We pushed back at 4:34pm, 4 minutes behind schedule.
While taxiing to the runway, here is a look at the construction currently underway at IAH.
We took off at 4:51pm.
I noticed that 2C had an interesting contraption to set up her phone as a seatback screen.
The lavatory on regional jets are as tight as you might imagine. I really wish United would put lotion in the lavatories for domestic flights.
Brantley, the FA working the first class cabin, began taking orders about 30 minutes after takeoff. He thanked Global Services and 1Ks by name for our loyalty. Interestingly, it looked like he was skipping around taking the GS and 1Ks orders first (front-to-back) before going back and taking the orders from Platinums and below (and non-elite members). The usual procedure, per my understanding, is that they just take the orders front-to-back and arrange it so that GS and 1Ks are given their preference first (not actually served first).
The choices on this plate was some sort of a chicken dish or a cheese plate. Neither sounded appetizing.
It would be about another half hour before I received my plate as drink orders and service took quite a bit of time. I just opted for water to go along with the chicken. It was cold and not very good. The cookie cupcake is really addictive though.
The rest of the flight was very uneventful. We landed at 8:26pm ET, which was ahead of schedule, but had to wait around for ground crew. We finally got to our gate at 8:36pm, which ended up being 7 minutes early.
Lounge: The IAH Polaris Lounge is the smallest of the ones I have been to (I've never visited the West Coast lounges). Other than being a bit tighter than the other Polaris Lounges in the network, it's got all of the same goodies, which means it's a good time.
Cabin & Seat: I've mentioned before in other reports, but I like the solo seats on the ERJs as far as regional jets go. Otherwise, they are nothing special and lack seatback IFE monitors.
Service: There's not much to comment on for Brantley--he was friendly.
Meal & Catering: The food was not very good, but at least we've moved on from the snack box era. The little cookie cupcake is very delicious though.
Bottom Line: I have made the IAH-DCA flight countless times by now. I generally prefer mainline and not on a regional jet, but ERJ-175s aren't so bad as far as the regional carriers go.
Les contributeurs de Flight-Report ont posté 3 avis concernant 1 compagnies sur la ligne Houston (IAH) → Washington (DCA).
La compagnie qui obtient la meilleure moyenne est United avec 6.8/10.
La durée moyenne des vols est de 2 heures et 48 minutes.
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4 Comments
Embraer are my favorite aircraft. Not sure why. I find them so cozy. Add to that the experience of First Class and it must be heaven.
Thanks for another detailed report, YGeorgeW!
Interesting that Embraers are your favorite. I tend to prefer mainline over regional any time of the week though.
Another nice looking Polaris lounge, though IAD's does look better.
The absolute best.
UA have always had a huge proportion of flights operated by regional jets, many for 4h+ flights. At least they have Embraers on those longer flights like this. In F there's not really much difference between an E-jet and a CRJ, but in Y getting an Embraer makes a world of difference in comfort with seats wider than any mainline aircraft and no middle seats of course.
Whaaaat in the world...those look like wire hangers..yikes i hope they weren't because they'd probably damage the lovely fake leather on the seats.
Yes! and fresh food on a regional jet is always nice as well.
Thanks for sharing!
I agree on that and the upgrade odds thanks to the Y-to-F ratio is also usually much better. That said, once I'm up front, I usually prefer mainline: better elite recognition, meals, service, etc.
Thanks for stopping by!
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