Review of United Express flight from Toronto to Washington in Business

Intro

Following a lovely evening and a fantastic sleep in Toronto, my morning alarm went off to go to Nigeria. Within seconds, I hopped out of bed, ready for the day ahead, as it was going to be a day to remember. It was 13 years since the last time I was in Africa, and I was so excited to go back.

This first flight of the day was onboard a United Airlines E175 from Toronto down to Washington Dulles. The flight in itself wasn't too different from the last flight, much like a lot of the commuter flights, but this time I would be in Business. However, it did get me from Point A to Point B early. I cannot complain there!

Routing

How I Booked

As I mentioned briefly in the previous flight report, this ticket has been through the ringer and back. The reason I flew to Toronto was because I found a round trip fare from Toronto to Lagos in Polaris Business Class for 2300$ or so. I felt like this was an extremely good deal and one I had to take advantage of, so I did…

Now, with that being said, due to some stuff in Nigeria (we will get to this at the end of the trip 27 FR's later), I ended up canceling the return ticket for this flight. However, I just used the return portion last week. So for 2300$, I managed to fly:


YYZ-IAD (Domestic First)

IAD-LOS (Polaris Business)

KSC-VIE (Austrian Business)

VIE-ZRH (Austrian Business)

ZRH-EWR (Polaris Business)

EWR-YVR (AC Signature Suite)


In my opinion, it is a no-brainer and 6 PQFs. 

Check-In

Thanks to the Four Points by Sheraton, I was kindly dropped off Curbisde at Terminal 1 at around 7 am on a sunny Thursday afternoon. 

The United counters are easy to locate and weren't too busy at this hour. Thanks to having my second leg in Polaris, I was allowed to use the priority line which had nobody else in it.

So, if you don't know, American citizens need a visa to visit Nigeria. At the end of the next report, I will explain how I got mine as tourist visas are difficult to come by, but I did have an invitation letter that allowed me access to VOA. It took about 10 minutes for the agent to verify the invitation letter and call a couple of people, but in the end, it all worked out!

Finally, it is time to leave Canada and return to the USA. Passport control and security were empty at this hour, which meant I was off to the AC Lounge in no time🙂.

During this trip, I had yet to be put on the DHS watchlist. Three months later, every single one of my bags is checked, entering and departing the USA now…

Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge

Once immigration is cleared, there will be clear signs to the Maple Leaf Lounge. Access is granted for those who are Star Alliance Gold traveling on an *A same-day operating flight, or those ticketed in Business Class.

The lounge was relatively quiet on a Thursday morning and offered multiple choices of seating with beautiful tarmac views. The AC lounges always seem to impress me, especially SFO. 

There was food and drink available, but interestingly, no alcohol was served in the AC lounges until 10-11 am. The selection of food was alright, consisting of the basics, such as a few hot items, a toaster for bagels/bread, and some pastries. 

Boarding

After relaxing for about an hour and a half, it was finally time to head off to our gate today, 164A. Toronto Airport impressed me with how modern it felt while also being functional. 

Boarding commenced at 9:30 am sharp for our scheduled 10:00 am departure. GS was called first, and then the whole other 5 groups before group 1 was called. 

Stepping onto the plane, I found an FA preparing the galley while welcoming those onboard with a friendly smile🙂.

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.

My seat would be 1A for this flight over to Dulles, but personally, I would choose 4A as the legroom in 1A isn't great.

Don't worry; I took my shoes and socks off and proceeded to put them on the ceiling😉🥴

During departure, the FA came around and offered us some water, which I happily obliged to. I never understood what to expect when flying UA with PDBs (I wasn't going to drink until the Polaris flight anyway) since I oftentimes see plastic stems on LAX-IAD (which isn't PS), but not a route like this. 

Departure

At 9:45 am local time, boarding was wrapped up, and the captain came on to inform us of our flight time of just over an hour. Additionally, he expected an early arrival into Dulles, which is always good news.

Moments later, we pushed back 6 minutes early on our short taxi out to 6L. 

It was a very short taxi, as we had a smooth takeoff roll by 10:06.

The one thing I don't like about these jets is the turbulence. I still get PTSD (no not like saying I have PTSD when I don't, but I had to go to therapy for it) from Australia (more in the Aussie trip report later this year).

Looking out of the blurry window upon departure, I spotted one of my favorite planes in the sky😁.

We cruised out with a few bumps…

Snack Service

Due to this flight being blocked at just over 300 miles, the crew came around sharply after departure to take our drink orders. Naturally, I had to go with my traditional sparkling water. 

After the whole cabin had been served, the FA came back around to offer a snack basket. Since I have been flying a bit too much and have gained a pound or two, I was hoping the skinny pop would help me shed it 😅.

Why did the popcorn go on a diet? Because it wanted to be a little skinnier for the snack box🥴.

It was a marvelous day to fly with some gobsmacking views, just a dirty window. 

Lavatory

Due to the sparkling water taking effect, I headed to the bathroom for a mini loo review. The bathrooms are small on the E175, and there isn't much any airline can do about it. However, it was kept pretty clean during my flight.

Arrival

Approximately 45 minutes after departure, we had begun our initial descent into Dulles. As is classic with Dulles, we flew by the airport to the East and made the right bank to be on final approach into IAD by 11:05 am. 

We had a bumpy touchdown at 11:10 am local time onto 1R (interestingly, I would be taking off from 16L later that day).

Check out the Ethiopian 777😉

By the time we exited the runway, it was a very brief 6-minute journey over to C24.  

On these short hops, I really don't see much point in flying up front. However, the biggest benefit is that you are able to get off the plane that much quicker and spend an extra 90 seconds in the Polaris Lounge😉.