Quick Trip to the Beach
Another one of these sudden work changes left me with the opportunity to take a quick and short trip. Instead of going abroad (because I already had an overseas trip coming up), I opted to just go to the beach in Florida. This was a very hastily put together trip with flights booked less than 24 hours in advance. I managed to snag the last IAH-DCA first class seat on this flight. While I could have flown directly to Miami, I didn't want to drag my work luggage around.
Flight routing
- 1UA1604 - Domestic First - Houston → Washington - Airbus A320
- 2DL1444 - Domestic First - Washington → Miami - Airbus A320
- 3DL1334 - Economy - Fort Lauderdale → New York - Airbus A321

UA1604
Because I was busy resolving work matters in Houston, I only arrived at the airport right before boarding. My flight back home was on N444UA, a 25 years-old A320.
Boarding was very odd on this flight. It began on time at 2:02. I was called to to the front and asked to board first as there was a woman who needed assistance seated in 1E–the gate agent thought it would be much easier if I sat down first instead of later having to step over her. So down the jet bridge I went, but then after maybe a minute or two of sitting down I was asked to go back because they decided to not board yet. Then after standing around awkwardly by the gate for 10 minutes, I was again asked to board first.
Things got worse because the contractor assisting the lady in 1E, who had cerebral palsy, dropped her when unbuckling her from her wheelchair. I heard a scream from the jet bridge right outside of the door and the FAs rushed out to help. Luckily she was fine. The purser, a ground supervisor, and the captain all came by at various points to profusely apologize and ask if she was alright. She was a very nice person and kept repeating she was fine–she later told me she wish they would stop making a big deal out of it and just get on with the flight.

In any case, back to the flight review: United has 3 rows of 2-2 recliner seats in a 2-2 configuration.

These seats had a thin blanket waiting for you when you boarded.

A center tray provided a place to put drinks and also had a little storage underneath it for chargers or other small items. The outlet was underneath this center tray above the storage.

Sitting in the bulkhead there was plenty of legroom.

Doors closed at 2:44pm and we pushed back 3 minutes later.

We took at 3:02pm CT. A while after takeoff, the FA took our orders: we had a choice of rigatoni, chicken bordelaise, or cobb salad. I just had a cup of water.

We were given a hot towel as well.

Here's the tray table, these are always a bit clunky. At the same time they are large and sturdy. There is a small holder at the top for tablets or similar personal devices.

For whatever reason it actually took more than 50 minutes after takeoff for our meals to actually be served. I had the chicken bordelaise, which was okay.

The rest of the meal was uneventful: we landed at 6:18pm ET and reached our gate 6 minutes later. It took a while at the baggage claim, however. I rarely check bags, but was gone for a long work trip this time. My colleague told me that apparently DCA has a bad reputation for being a bit slow with the baggage claim relative to everything else. It was nearly 30 minutes after deplaning before we got our bags.
What a weird and disorganised boarding experience. Airlines should really know what to do with pax with mobility issues considering there are so many flying every day, and yet it always seems like a mess. I can't believe the contractor dropped her...what an absolute mess.
On the bright side, because of your double pre-pre-boarding, you got some great clean cabin shots! Haha
Meal looks meh...very typical Domestic First fare.
Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for reading, Kevin!
I was shocked at the massive mess up with the passenger. As you said, the clean cabin shots were the only thing that came out of this, haha.