Review of United flight from Washington to Cancún in Business

Check In and Security

I arrived at IAD this morning at 6:30 a.m., approximately 2 hours prior to my scheduled departure time of 8:34 a.m.

IAD is designed where every airline has check in and baggage claim in one main terminal, and you then take a train or a shuttle to the concourse where your flight is departing from. You just have to find your airline ticket counter to complete check in.

United’s check in is located at the far end of the terminal. There are a few different options for check in. There’s a line for Economy, one for Premier Access, one for global services, and then towards the back of the terminal there’s a separate area for Polaris and 1K.

Even though Cancun is not an Polaris destination, I am 1K, so I went to that line in order to check in. There was nobody at the Polaris and 1K check in area, so I was able to check my bags, and get my boarding pass in no time.

I then proceeded to security. IAD has a few different lines for TSA. There’s the East Security Checkpoint and the West Security Checkpoint. There’s also a TSA PreCheck checkpoint in between the two concourses.

I find that arriving at IAD between 6:00 and 6:30 tends to be one of the busiest times to arrive at IAD for security. It can take a while because a lot of people are trying to catch their early morning flights.

Security took me about 25 minutes to clear including the line, and I have both Precheck and CLEAR.

The Lounge

After making my way through security, I made my way to the “moon buggy” to take my over to the D gates.

The United Clubs at IAD are all pretty bad, but honestly D8 is one of my least favorite clubs. It’s dark and extremely uninviting. It does sit at ground level, so you can get some interesting tarmac views at ground level, but that’s the only plus of this club.

If you’re flying from IAD and looking for a United Club- I would honestly choose the club that’s closest to your gate. In this case, my gate was D9. 

Customers travelling in business class to the Caribbean, Mexico, and Canada have access to the United Club upon Departure, as well as Premier Gold and higher flying internationally. Since I am both 1K, and in business class, I had access to the club today. You can view the full United Club access policy here: https://www.united.com/en/us/fly/travel/airport/lounge-access.html

 After checking into the club, you can take an elevator or stairs downstairs to the club’s seating and dining area.

The lounge is divided into two sections: one side that is smaller, has windows at the ground level so you can look at the tarmac.

The other side is a main seating area, which also has the bar. In between the two is the buffet.

I grabbed a coffee, and some yogurt, and took a seat next to a window that put me nose-to-nose with a Star Alliance Livery 777-200ER heading to Tokyo.

Boarding

I left the lounge about 5 minutes prior to my 7:54 boarding time. I was able to get a picture of the 737-900 that would be taking us down to Cancun today.

Boarding began right on time at 7:54 with preboarding. Preboarding began with passengers with disabilities, families with children under the age of 2, Global Services, and then 1Ks.

I boarded with the 1Ks.

Cabin and Seat

The First/Business Class cabin on the 737-900ER consists of 20 recliner style seats in a 2-2 configuration, spread across 5 rows.
 
This particular 737-900ER has United’s new NEXT interior, which features on demand seatback IFE at every seat.
 
I wasn’t able to get a picture of the cabin because boarding was a bit chaotic. There were a few people on board already and a few people behind me waiting to get down the aisle.

The seat features two windows, though the second window is at your seat back so it can be difficult to get to and see out of.

Pre-Flight Service

At 8:11, the flight attendant came by to confirm my meal selection of the chia seed oatmeal. United allows you to preorder your meals beginning 5 days prior to departure on select flights. There is no menu, but I am including a picture of the selection menu on the website.

At 8:14, a pre departure beverage of water or orange juice was offered. I went with orange juice today. It was served in a plastic cup that looked like real glassware.

At 8:20, the captain came on to welcome us onboard and announce our flying time of 3 hours 6 minutes. He also informed us that we’d be closing the boarding door, and as soon as he said that, I heard the door close.

The Flight

At 8:22, the safety video began to play. I’m not a fan of United’s new safety video theme. It’s centered around a ball bearing rolling through a course. It reminds me of my high school physics rollercoaster project- and who wants to be reminded of that?

At 8:30, we pushed back from the gate, and began our taxi to the runway shortly thereafter.

At 8:48, we lined up in Runway 30, and immediately began our takeoff roll. 

We reached 10,000 feet at 8:55 and were well on our way to Cancun.

The IFE features Bluetooth connectivity but it should be noted that it wasn’t that good of a connection. The audio kept cutting out, and so I eventually had to plug in my headphones.

At 9:05, the meal service began with the distribution of a hot towel. 

At 9:11, the captain came on to announce that we reached our cruising altitude of 32,000 feet and that we had 2 hours 45 minutes of flight time remaining.

At 9:15, my coffee with Bailey’s was brought out.

At 9:26, my meal was brought out all on one tray. I had finished my coffee, and was offered another drink- I went with a mimosa.

At 9:42, I finished my meal and my tray was taken from me. I also was offered another drink, but I passed this time. I was ready to settle in and enjoy the remainder of the flight.

Throughout the flight, the flight attendants came around a few times to offer drinks. I was fine, so I passed.

Descent and Arrival

Around 10:28 local time in Cancun, the captain announced that we were beginning our initial descent.

We have a very hard touchdown at 10:47 am on runway 12L. I mean, you could really feel it!

We had a quick taxi to the gate and parked at gate 36.