Review of United flight Munich → Chicago in Business

boarding

My connecting flight from London arrived at a remote stand and we had to then take a bus to Terminal 2. I then proceeded upstairs to the H gates as my flight was flying out of the gate H08 today. Prior to getting to the gate, I was met with the familiarity of the security checks that you have when departing Europe to flights to the US. After verifying my passport and other information, I was allowed into the secured gate area.
 
I then found out that our flight would be departing late because the inbound aircraft had arrived late. Meaning that I had about 40 minutes to wait. I probably should’ve checked that before going through the secured area, as there’s nothing, and I mean, nothing in that secured area except for a few bathrooms and one little cafe with coffee and pastries. It seems that with as many flights heading to the US on both Lufthansa and United, that Lufthansa and the Munich airport would’ve put at least one smaller business and senator lounge in this area.

I was able to get a picture of the 787-10 taking me to Chicago today!

We began boarding at 11:10. The boarding process was chaotic. There were multiple automated boarding lanes, but they weren’t using them. They used two different gates for boarding, H07 for global services, 1Ks and group 1, and H08 for everyone else. This led to people not understanding the process and there being a mad rush to get on the plane. I must’ve been pushed or shoved or cut off at least 12 times during the process. It was a mess. Then the agents turned away people who were in the wrong group or lane, and sent them all the way back through the line of crowded people, which I think is right turn people away but there was a queuing rope that they could’ve undone and sent them around. Instead, they had to fight their way back through the crowd and go back.

Anyways, I boarded with that hodgepodge crowd of Globals, 1Ks, and group 1s. 

cabin and seat

Once on board, I quickly found my seat, 11L, the right side window seat in the last row of the cabin.
 
I wasn’t able to get a picture of the cabin on today’s flight.

The overhead bins on the 787s are massive, and have more than enough space to store any luggage that you may need to store in the overhead bins, especially if you’re in business class.

The seat has two windows, that are controlled by dimmer switches on the wall or in the IFE system. And this seat in particular offers excellent views of the engine!

The seat controls are located next to the right armrest, with a wheel that allows you to adjust between fully-flat bed mode, and the fully-upright taxi, takeoff, and landing mode. You can also adjust your footrest, your lumbar support, and your recline with a lot of different combinations.

There is a faux marble countertop on the right side where you can set things on top of. Just above the countertop is the IFE remote control, the universal power outlet, a USB-A charging port, the headphone jack, and a small vanity closet where you can store a few things during the flight. I find this the perfect spot to store your toiletries and/or chargers.

The seat is well padded, comfortable, and extremely private. You can’t see another passenger in the cabin unless you really start looking for them, and nobody else can see you. Which is what I love about the Polaris seats. On the 787-10, there are individual air vents above your seat, and an overhead reading light.

At the front of the seat, there is an IFE screen. United has an excellent IFE system with tons of selections.

pre-departure

At 11:39, slippers were brought out. 

At 11:43, the captain came on to announce our flight time of 9 hours.
 
I took a look at the printed menu at my seat, even though I had already preordered my meal. 

At 11:44, our purser, Linda, who was super friendly and energetic came by and said, “Hi! Mr. Shivpilot14! Nice to see you! I see you preordered the vegetable red curry today! I’ve got you down for that! Welcome on board!”

There was no pre-departure beverage offered, but honestly it would’ve delayed us even more, so I would rather do without the water or sparkling wine PDB.

the flight

Enter text here…At 11:56, we started pushing back from the gate, about 26 minutes behind our originally scheduled departure time, at this point, the safety video began to play.

At 12:10, we lined up on runway 8L for our departure.

At 12:16, we reached 10,000 feet and were well on our way towards Chicago.

At 12:39, the service began with the distribution of a hot towel.

At 12:55, a tablecloth was brought out and a beverage was offered. I went with a Cabernet Sauvignon and water, which were both served with a ramekin of warm nuts.

At 1;15, my salad was brought out on the tray. The flight attendant told me that the rest of the meal would come soon. They were having issues with one of the ovens so it would take a bit longer. 

A few moments later, they brought a bread basket. I went with the pretzel roll.
 
They gave me an “herb dressing” with the salad which was different than the Caesar that was advertised. It tasted TERRIBLE. To the point where I didn’t want the salad after dousing my salad in that dressing. A few minutes later, my terrible salad was taken from me.

At 1:36, my red curry was brought out. It was good but nothing out of the ordinary. 

At 2:02, dessert was brought. I decided to change things up a bit and go with the cheese plate with port wine. There wasn’t a lot on the cheese plate and the crackers being in plastic was tacky. The port wine was overly sweet and so acidic that it was not even drinkable, to be honest. 

Even with one oven being down, the service on today’s flight was slow. I mean the dessert cart wasn’t even coming down the aisle at 1:50 pm, which was almost 2 hours after our departure time.
 
At 2:08, the cabin crew turned off the lights and dimmed all of the windows in the cabin, indicating that the service was over. At this time, I decided to take a nap.

I woke up around 5:00 pm local time in Munich with about 3 hours and 40 minutes left in flight. Meaning, I slept for almost 3 hours which is pretty good on a daytime flight like this.
 
I decided to do the “call bell challenge” and see how long it would take for me to get a Coke Zero. It was lightning fast. It took a total of 21 seconds. 

descent and arrival

At 12:15 local time in Chicago, a hot towel was distributed for the pre- arrival service. I was proactively offered an Asian vegetarian meal by a flight attendant, and I decided to take it because I had the burger out of default (they ran out of everything else) last week on a flight from Brussels, and burger is not great. Not good at all.
 
At 12:35, my meal was brought out. I took two bites and sent it back. I would’ve been better off with the burger. 

By 1:00 pm, we had begun our descent into Chicago.

At 1:08, the flight attendants passed out landing cards because “Chicago doesn’t have automated passport machines” and also “you don’t have to fill out or sign the form, you just have to give it to the CBP officer.” What? I have global entry, so it didn’t matter to me, but it’s a bit confusing.

We touched down on runway 10C at 1:47 pm and began our taxi into the gate.

We parked at gate M30 in Terminal 5 at 2:03 pm, only 8 minutes behind our scheduled arrival time despite our lengthier delay in Munich.