Transferring Internationally at EWR
I arrived in ok a connecting flight from SJO, so you can view that review here: https://flight-report.com/en/report/72024/united-ua1079-san-jose-sjo-newark-ewr/
Ordinarily on connections, I can’t really comment on security, but since EWR was my first point of entry into the U.S., that meant that after clearing customs at Terminal B, I had to take the AirTrain to Terminal C and re-clear security there. When I arrived at Terminal C, the line for precheck was horrendous. It took 25 minutes to get through the line and that was with both Clear and Precheck. Which is awful.
The Lounge: United Club at C123
Once through security, I made my way to the United Club located at gate C124, which is arguably one of the best United Clubs in the network. It features a very nice food selection, a full bar, a coffee bar with handcrafted coffee beverages, and showers!
Boarding, the Cabin, and Seat
I arrived at gate C94 about 5 minutes before boarding started.
Boarding began a bit early at 6:03, with pre boarding. I pre-boarded with my fellow 1Ks
We boarded through door L2, and I turned left into the business class cabin.
The business class cabin on the 757-200s for United is arranged in a 2-2 configuration. It’s the older business class that United offers, but honestly this is fine for a 757 because a 1-1 configuration wouldn’t really work well. The cabin has 4 rows with a total of 16 seats.
I quickly found my seat, 3A, a window seat on the left side of the aircraft.
Just ahead of you is the large IFE screen. To the left is an armrest. To the right is another armrest with seat controls.
In the center console is the tray table which pulls out.
Just over your left shoulder, in a very awkward position is the cubby with a cup holder, a universal power outlet and your headphone jack. I found the headset here. It was difficult to plug in the headset there.
The seat features individual reading lights and armor cents and two windows.
Yes, this is a lie flat seat. Did I lay flat? Nope. It’s such a short flight, so laying flat just doesn’t make much sense.
The seat is well padded and comfortable. In fact, dare I say it… it’s more padded and comfortable than the Polaris seats. Yes, I said it. The newer Polaris seats are comfortable, but the padding and cloth on this seat immediately feels more comfortable, and you can tell as soon as you sit in it.
Now, it’s not as wide as the Polaris seats and has not as much privacy, and has many more drawbacks which make the Polaris seats better. And yes, overall they are better. But, I do just want to point out that these are more well padded.
Pre-Departure
A few minutes after I sat down, we were offered a pre departure beverage of either Sparkling wine or water.
At 6:44, the captain came on to announce our flight time of 52 minutes from take off to touch down. He said, because it’s snowing we would have to get de-iced which would add to our taxi time and that we’d probably arrived in Washington later than scheduled.
Departure
At 6:48, the safety video began to play, and we pushed back, about 6 minutes ahead of schedule.
We began our taxi shortly thereafter.
At 7:13, we were at the deicing pad, and that process had begun.
A few minutes later, we started our engines again and continued our taxi.
At 7:43, we lined up on runway 4L.
At 7:50, we reached 10,000 feet, indicating we were well on our way to Washington.
The Flight
At 8:02, the flight attendant came by to offer a round of drinks. I went with a gin and tonic.
At that same time, the captain came on to announce that we probably wouldn’t be finding a smooth enough air pocket for him to turn off the fasten seatbelt sign but that we’d be on the ground in 35 minutes.
At 8:08, the captain came on to announce that we had begun our descent and requested that the flight attendants should prepare the cabin for landing, so the flight attendant came through to collect our glasses and also check that we were ready for landing. I had reclined my seat a bit, so I put my seat back in the upright position.
We were battling some pretty rough winds on the approach.
We touched down on runway 1C at 8:31.
We parked at gate D32 at 8:38 pm, 21 minutes behind schedule.
