Intro
Welcome to the first report of the great African adventure. You might be thinking, an African adventure? You are flying from New York/New Jersey to Toronto in United economy. Well, there is a good reason for this. About 2 months before I planned to leave for Africa, I found an amazing deal in United Polaris Business from Toronto-Washington-Nigeria return for 2200$. Africa is quite an expensive continent to get to, and I felt like this was a very solid deal. However, it required me to reposition to Toronto, and that is exactly the reason for this flight🙂.
What a lovely flight onboard United Airlines, at least as lovely as a routine short-haul flight could be. While my upgrade to United First didn't clear, the flight landed 30 minutes early, and I was able to secure an economy plus seat free of charge thanks to my silver status🙂.
Routing
Flight routing
- 1UA3622- Economy- Newark-Toronto- Embraer 175
I will add more, as the flights arise
How I Booked
Last-minute short-haul international fares tend to be relatively expensive. However, a few days before departure, I managed to find a United economy ticket from Newark to Toronto for 10.6K miles with my premium discount (originally 15K miles). While not the best use of miles, it wasn't the end of the world, and a lot cheaper than cash fares😳.
Check-In
Upon arriving via train from New York, I made my way over to the United check-in at Terminal C. Seeing as I am a United Silver member, I was allowed to check in using the "premier access" check-in.
Within moments, I had a boarding pass in hand.
Another nice feature about United Airlines is that they offer free expedited security for silver members. Although I usually would have used TSA precheck, there was an issue due to a wrong date of birth😒, and it became a kerfuffle (my bad).
As security was a hot mess as per usual, this actually proved to be quite helpful.
Around Newark
That morning, I had left plenty of time as I had nothing else to do. This would be my first trip where I wouldn't take a laptop (in recent years), so it was just me and some planes. I strolled around the airport, where I found plenty of widebodies getting ready for their departures across the Atlantic.
Including this flight to Dubrovnik! A place I have always wanted to go🙂.
Those with Star Alliance Gold status would have access to the lounge. However, at the moment this flight was taken, I was a lowly silver, so that wouldn't fly for me😅.
Might as well grab a bite to eat then! I decided on this little diner I found and set up shop. For the purpose of this trip, I decided to purchase another phone with a physical SIM because some of the countries I would be visiting did not have Verizon travel pass…
Eventually, my food came out, and I enjoyed a chicken burger and chips. Does anyone else not like pickles, or is it just me?
With about an hour of relaxation, it was time to head off to the gate to embark on the adventure!
Boarding
On Tuesdays and Wednesdays, I have had the best luck clearing CPUs. The E175 cabin features 12 business class seats, and with only 4 sold, I thought I might have some luck🙂.
As it turns out, I was the only person on the upgrade list not clear…
To be fair, I was not that hopeful as I was a silver on an XN ticket😂, nor did it matter as the flight is about an hour.
I managed a quick snap of the tail of our plane parked up at gate C113. Isn't she beautiful on this sunny day in New Jersey?
Typically with these smaller planes, it doesn't take too long to board. Boarding was scheduled for 2:30 pm, but the gate agent only began the boarding process at 2:35 pm.
Also, what is it with all these UA widebodies without fully painted engines?
Once onboard, the FA greeted passengers at the door, and I made my way to my seat (9A).
The Seat/Cabin
The United Airlines E175 we were on today features 12 First Class seats in a 1-2 configuration across 4 rows, 32 economy plus seats in a 2-2 configuration, and 26 economy seats in a 2-2 configuration.
I have to say, the legroom in economy plus really does make a difference as I didn't feel cramped one bit!
Departure
Boarding was wrapped up within 10 minutes, and the captain came on to announce our flight time of just over an hour up to Toronto. Additionally, he mentioned that we should be pushing back a little bit early and that he hoped for an early arrival in Toronto.
A couple of minutes early, we pushed back at 2:58 pm local time amongst some gorgeous views.
A couple of minutes after that… we began rolling out on our short taxi to runway 22R.
Thanks to the close proximity of Terminal C to 22R, we were airborne by 3:16 pm with some truly gobsmacking views out over NY/NJ.
The Flight
With such a short flight time, I decided to soak in the beautiful views out over the skies.
The cabin crew came around to offer some biscuits and some water to passengers in economy, but I was quite full after lunch, so I opted out. Typical for a flight of this lenght in the US.
The E175 does feature wifi for a charge, as well as streaming…
Arrival
About 45 minutes after takeoff from Newark, the pilot informed us that we had just begun our initial descent into the Toronto area and expected a very early arrival at Pearson.
By 4:15 pm, we were on final descent into Toronto.
Where we ended up touching down 40 minutes ahead of schedule in Toronto. I am curious as to why United Airlines allocated a 1 hour 55 minute block time for this flight as the flight is just shy of 400 nautical miles🤔. I could understand 1 hour and 35 minutes…
In no time at all, we pulled into gate 160 in Terminal 1 and were off the plane in no time, ready to explore Toronto!
Immigration was relatively quick at this hour, and seeing as at the time I took this flight, I wasn't on the DHS watchlist, it was 10 minutes before I was out of the airport.
I waited for my Turkish friend, who would be picking me up as we headed out for a day to remember in Toronto🙃.
Toronto (for a bit)
Me and my best mate had a lovely time in Toronto, and he even treated me to his favorite steak frites in the city. Being a 1/3 Canadian, it partially felt like being home😅
