Check In and Security
I was originally booked on a flight with Lufthansa, connecting through FRA, that would then connect to a United flight to IAD departing at 11:30 am.
I arrived at Heathrow’s Terminal 2 at 8:30 am, about 3 hours before my originally scheduled departure time. Terminal 2 at Heathrow is where all of the Star Alliance carriers operate from.
Lufthansa uses Zone B for check in, and since my original flight was with Lufthansa, that’s where I went to check in. Lufthansa has a separate line for First Class and HON circle members as well as business class and Star Alliance Gold members. The friendly agent printed my boarding passes and told me that the Lufthansa lounge was now reopened.
Business class and Star Alliance Gold passengers have access to Gold Track security at Terminal 2 at Heathrow. Security took some time… I won’t get into it but one of the agents was trying to tell me that I couldn’t take something through that I clearly could, and I had to ask to speak with her supervisor. Once her supervisor came by, he said I was correct and let me through, but it took some time.
As soon as I got through security, I received a notification from Lufthansa that my flight was delayed and my 11:30 departure time was now changed to 12:00.
Flight cancellation and rebooking
I then made my away to the Lufthansa lounge. When I presented my boarding pass for check in, the agent at first, handed me my boarding pass back and said “welcome to the lounge!” But then she quickly took it away and said, “wait a minute.” She looked at her computer screen and looked back at me. “Mr. shivpilot14, your flight to Frankfurt had just been canceled.” She then looked at her screen again and checked on some things. “They haven’t yet rebooked you!” She was so kind and explained that I needed to go downstairs to the transfer desks and that they would help me. She also said, “Tell them you want to be put on the United nonstop to Washington!”
I was on the escalator going downstairs when I got an email from Lufthansa. It said that I was now on the 12:05 p.m. nonstop flight to Washington.
Now, here’s the problem. It’s a first world problem, I know, so please don’t judge me. I was originally flying through Frankfurt because the FRA-IAD flight had confirmed upgrades into Polaris using plus points. Because I originally booked in economy, this meant that I was now back in economy. Not only economy, but a middle seat. I quickly called the 1K desk and asked them to put in plus points for my upgrade. The nice lady was able to do it, she said it would be confirmed, but that because I’m departing from London, I’d have to pay an additional $127.00 in taxes and fees. I didn’t mind that. So long as I didn’t have to sit in economy in middle seat. She was able to confirm it for me, and assigned me 15L, which she said was the only window seat left.
I then went to the United transfer desk that had a Premier 1K line. I explained what happened and the agent checked my passport and printed my boarding pass. After confirming that I didn’t check in any bags, she printed my boarding pass, and informed me of where the United Club was located.
Lounges at LHR Terminal 2
I had access to the United Club at Heathrow, which I’ve reviewed more than once before. You can check those out here: https://flight-report.com/en/report/66557/united-ua958-london-lhr-chicago-ord/
And here: https://flight-report.com/en/report/71733/united-ua919-london-lhr-washington-iad/
I didn’t want to go to the United Club because that lounge gets very crowded and isn’t relaxing to be honest. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a nice lounge, but it’s not relaxing.
So, I made my way to the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge which is one of my favorite lounges because of how quiet and relaxing it is. I reviewed this lounge about a month ago, and it hasn’t changed. You can check out that review here: https://flight-report.com/en/report/71733/united-ua919-london-lhr-washington-iad/
Boarding, Cabin, and Seat
I left the lounge about 10 minutes before my 11:15 boarding time.
When departing the UK for the US, there are some security measures that need to be done. It’s just a quick passport and boarding document check. There was a separate queue for 1Ks. The agent quickly checked my documents and allowed me to join the line.
Boarding began right on time at 11:15, starting with preboarding. I preboarded with the other 1Ks in my line.
You could board either through door L1 or door L2. There was an agent in the jetbridge who asked for seat numbers and said, “oh it would be easier for you through the second door, please proceed that way.”
I boarded through door L2, and quickly found my seat, 15L. The window seat in the last row of the cabin on the right side.
The Polaris cabin on the 777-200ER has 50 total seats arranged in a 1-2-1 configuration. The forward cabin contains 8 rows, totaling 32 seats. The second cabin is smaller, with 4 full rows (rows 9-12) of 16 seats, with row 15 consisting of 2 seats, for a total of 18 seats in the second cabin.
At the seat, I found my bedding, with the gel pillow and the day blanket, as well as the duvet, and the amenity kit.
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.
The IFE Screen is large, and United has a lot of options to choose from.
There is a faux marble countertop on the left side where you can set things on top of, this is where the headsets and the printed menu were located.
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. In there was a water bottle for use during the flight. I find this spot perfect for storing my toiletries and 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.
The seat does feature individual air vents, which is nice.
Pre-Departure
Within 30 seconds of me boarding, a flight attendant came by to offer my choice of water or Prosecco as a predeparture beverage. I went with water.
The seat has 3 windows, which is nice and these windows offer a great view of the wing and engine.
I settled in and took a look at the menu. Because this flight was rebooked for me at the last minute, I couldn’t preorder my meal in advance.
At 11:17, flight attendant Nikki came by to welcome me on board and thank me for my 1K status, she also came by to take my meal order.
I went with the red vegetable curry. It’s not the best choice to be honest. I’ve had it before and it’s ok. I like it enough but the beef tenderloin on my last LHR-IAD flight was a complete disaster. I also wasn’t too interested in the halibut. And honestly a roast chicken with a marinara sauce didn’t sound appetizing at all. So, red vegetable curry it is.
At 11:54, the captain came on to welcome us on board and let us know that our flight time would be 8 hours and 15 minutes and that we’d have some turbulence en route.
At 12:05, the boarding door was closed, and the safety video began.
The captain came on at 12:10 to let us know that we had to wait for our takeoff window for another 15 minutes. I suspect that this was because of the fog from earlier had several flights delayed on departures, so they had to resequence some flights. Heathrow is one of the busiest airspaces in the world and things like this happen often.
Departure and Climb Out
At 12:29, the captain came on to tell us that we had clearance. We were just waiting for some traffic in the alleyway to clear first.
At 12:32, we pushed back.
We had a long taxi to the runway.
At 1:03, we lined up on runway 9R for departure.
We reached 10,000 feet at 1:15 pm. Heathrow being a busy airspace, has climb profiles that make it where you can just climb straight up, you have to climb, then level off, then climb, then level off.
Cruise
At 1:24, a hot towel was distributed, indicating the start of the meal service.
At 1:30, the captain came on to announce that we had reached our cruising altitude of 35,000 feet. He apologized for the delay on the ground due to the long taxi and wait for our departure time. He said that we would be touching down late in Washington- around 4:15 pm local time.
At 1:32, the drink cart came around and we were offered something to drink. I went with a glass of Chardonnay. It was served with my choice of still or sparkling water and a ramekin of warm nuts.
At 1:57, we hit some turbulence.
At 2:02, a flight attendant came by to offer me a starter of either the smoked salmon starter or the mozzarella starter. I went with the mozzarella. She also said “More Chardonnay?”
At 2:06, we hit some really bad rough air and the captain came on to say “FLIGHT ATTENDANTS BE SEATED IMMEDIATELY. IMMEDIATELY!”
At 2:34, my main course was served!
At 2:49, dessert was brought out. I went with the ice cream sundae!
inished the Ice cream sundae very quickly and settled in for a nap. I’d only gotten 3 hours of sleep the night before, so I was pretty tired.
I slept for a solid 4 hours, and honestly could’ve slept longer if it weren’t for the bad dream that I was having. I woke up with about 2 hours left in flight. I decided to ring my call bell and do the “call bell challenge.”
It took about 15 seconds for the call to be answered. Lightning fast!
I ordered a Coke Zero.
At 2:56 local time in Washington, about 90 minutes prior to landing, the lights came on on the cabin.
At 3:15, my pasta was served with my choice of drink. I went with another Chardonnay.
The pasta was really good. I’ve had the other option- the Wellington burger before- and it’s awful. This was much better.
Descent and Arrival
At 3:23, the captain came on to say that we were about 57 minutes from landing and that we’d be experiencing some rough winds on the approach, so he’d need to turn the fasten seatbelt sign on early and ask the flight attendants to prepare the cabin for landing early- in about 15 minutes.
We began our initial descent into Washington at 3:40, and the captain came on to say that in 15 minutes, he’d be turning on the fasten seatbelt sign.
!at 4:00, the first officer came on to announce that we had a wind delay. We had strong winds with gusts up to 45 MPH. So we had to enter a holding pattern for a bit.
At 4:12, the first officer came on to announce that we’d been cleared to begin our approach into Washington.
At 4:56, we turned for our final approach to a rare runway 30 arrival.
We touched down on runway 30 at 5:01 pm.
We then had a long taxi to the gate.
We parked at gate C2 at 5:13 pm, almost 90 minutes behind schedule.
