Hello And welcome to my latest trip report. This is a flight that I do several times a year, but this one was different. It was my first time flying out of the new Terminal B at Boston’s General Edward Lawrence Logan International Airport [Logan for short]. In my previous report, I mentioned there will be some shakeups at KBOS due to recent airline mergers, most notably the CO/UA actually. UA used to have their operations split between the pmCO Terminal A and the pmUA Terminal C. This year finally saw the merging of the two operations to a newly renovated section of B. For those curious, Terminal A will be mostly Delta now with Alaska there also. I think some gates will actually remain empty. The vacant parts of Terminal C will be used by the ever expanding jetBlue. They’ll have ALL of terminal C now. Cape Air does have some ramp area, but they just park remotely and board via stairs. Terminal B is now UA's merged, albeit smaller, operation. Along with United, US Airways and American [soon to be just American] are split between two different sides. I anticipate them to condense to one side. Probably the US side. Air Canada, PenAir, Spirit, and Virgin America are also there.
I walked into the bag check area. It’s not the prettiest entrance area, but plenty serviceable. There’s a strong emphasis of self-service throughout UA’s part of the terminal. There’s kiosks for checking in of bags and even printing your own baggage tags. Then you proceed to drop it off to the staff behind the white monitors.
As a heads up, the wait at security is much longer as there is only one checkpoint for all of AA and UA. For some reason in the old Terminal A, I never had a wait and it was half UA and all DL.
Here’s some plane spotting I did. I think this A320 was headed to ORD.
And this 757 to DEN.
Some sitting area! I swear I’ve been to lounges that have these exact seat. Here, they’re for everyone’s use.
If anyone is interested in the power ports that are available.
Here’s some of the sitting areas. As you walk down the terminal there are several color schemes used throughout it. Blue, Green, Red, and Yellow. Heres the Yellow: Here's the Green: And here's the Red:
There are self boarding kiosks which I have yet to try. Apparently it speeds it up. Here's one of them. They're prevalent throughout Europe I hear. Lots of interactive tv’s throughout for information. And self service Kiosk's are heavily emphasized. Entrance to the lounge on the second floor. Some general shots around the terminal. And here's my plane at gate B28. N429UA (MSN 539) Delivered in 1995.
Here's a Panorama I took just off of gate B29.
A large issue I had was for some reason the gate, B28, I was at had no pre assigned lanes. There was markers from 1&2 but nothing for 3-5. When it became time to board there pretty much was a mad rush to the gate. The jet bridge was packed for a while. Now time for the flight. It was on one of the older, non-renovated pmUA A320’s. For the new configuration with the new recaro seats, check out my previous a320 report.
The seat back was kinda dinged up a bit.
Obligatory leg room shot. Always take it with a grain of salt as I am rather tall 6'1 (1.85m)
On United, Channel 9 on most planes offers the opportunity to listen to the aircrafts communication with ATC.
Logan's Iconic ATC tower.
Part of the refurbed terminal.
CapeAir Cessna 402
jetBlue custom livery for the NYFD.
United birds parked.
Panorama of the new part of the terminal.
US Airways de Havilland Dash 8
While Taxing out. *Interesting note: While taxing out I was listening to the ATC, and I was able to hear the pilot communicate with the tower. He requested that they go to an empty taxiway to debug an aileron issue that popped up. It was fixed about 10 minutes later. Based on this, I wonder if it's still a good idea giving pax access to these communications. It was pretty cool knowing that I was one of the very few that knew why we were stopped for a while. It also could have given me a heads up if we had to return to the gate.
A container ship at Conley Terminal.
After takeoff, islands in Boston harbor.
Overview of Boston. Always very scenic.
After takeoff, I switched on the wifi. While I never purchase full access, it does offer the ability to track the flight.
Beverage service. They offer two services throughout the flight, along with a f/a offering water midway.
Usually I always go with bloody mary mix only. Enjoying it while watching an old Doctor Who.
After a rather uneventful flight, we landed in Houston. Taxing around the airport took some time as we landed on the other side.
UA Heavy metal. 767-400 I believe.
767-400.
KAL 777-200ER
Parked 787-8
And lastly a Spirit a320.
See more
Verdict
United
4.9/10
Cabin3.5
Cabin crew7.0
Entertainment/wifi4.0
Meal/catering5.0
Boston - BOS
6.6/10
Efficiency4.0
Access5.5
Services7.5
Cleanliness9.5
Houston - IAH
6.8/10
Efficiency6.0
Access7.0
Services7.0
Cleanliness7.0
Conclusion
I still haven’t made Star Alliance gold so no lounge visit this time. I hear the views are spectacular from them. I found the new terminal in Logan to be very comfortable and look forward to using it some more. My only complaint is the boarding at B28 needs to be refined. No idea what happened at that gate.
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Hi Greg, thanks for sharing this latest trip report! BOS' renovated Terminal B looks pretty nice, especially the comfy looking seats with power ports and USB ports. Even if you had Star Alliance Gold status you wouldn't be able to get in to the United Club on a domestic flight--it would have to be an international itinerary...trust me, you're not missing anything :-) But you probably know that LOL. Unless you're *A Gold on a foreign carrier, then I believe you do get lounge access on domestic flights.
Channel 9 is one of the good things that PMUA brought over to the new UA(on some aircraft anyway) and I like the transparency of it all. Although Pilots can chose to switch it off if they have a real problem and prefer that pax didn't hear, but it is a nice feature for AvGeeks like us in general.
Seat pitch looks really tight, which is normal on PMUA a/c in non-Economy+ seats, but then again if you're 6'1, seat picth is always tight for you! BTW I think the for the 767-400 at IAH you must've meant 767-300ER, 764s don't have winglets since they have raked wingtips.
Does any other airline do BOS -> IAH nonstop? I can't think of any though it is weird to think that UA could be the only carrier on a route between two major cities like BOS and Houston.
Thanks for the kind words Kevin. I'll have to look up the lounge access policy. I wasn't aware of that, though I won't be getting Star gold any time soon anyways ;)
The only other non stops are jetBlue and sometimes Southwest. They both do BOS-HOU, which is Hobby Airport in the south part of Houston. I used to use Hobby, but find IAH much nicer and more convenient for me.
P.S. Good call on the 767. I believe you are correct.
I am not interested in the terminal layout, but I am interested in the power ports available for ordinary passengers ;) And yes, I am impressed by these seats for the said ordinary PAX. The drink holders at the end of the armrests ! It could exist in the US only :) Self boarding kiosks do exist in Europe, but I would not call them prevalent. I for one have yet to see one. All in all, it seems a comfortable and spotter friendly terminal. Aviation geeks must love UA's Channel 9 ! I see nothing wrong in letting PAX know what is going on. I hate we know better, you don't need to know and just trust us attitudes towards customers, whatever the context may be. Thanks for this comprehensive report !
BOS' upgraded terminal looks great, I have only seen the self boarding system at FRA (and maybe AMS if I'm not wrong), I wonder what a circus it would be if they used it in Colombia. UA is so unappealing, the only cool thing they seem to have is Ch. 9., what a shame. The views of Boston during takeoff were great!
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6 Comments
Channel 9 is one of the good things that PMUA brought over to the new UA(on some aircraft anyway) and I like the transparency of it all. Although Pilots can chose to switch it off if they have a real problem and prefer that pax didn't hear, but it is a nice feature for AvGeeks like us in general.
Seat pitch looks really tight, which is normal on PMUA a/c in non-Economy+ seats, but then again if you're 6'1, seat picth is always tight for you! BTW I think the for the 767-400 at IAH you must've meant 767-300ER, 764s don't have winglets since they have raked wingtips.
Does any other airline do BOS -> IAH nonstop? I can't think of any though it is weird to think that UA could be the only carrier on a route between two major cities like BOS and Houston.
I'll have to look up the lounge access policy. I wasn't aware of that, though I won't be getting Star gold any time soon anyways ;)
The only other non stops are jetBlue and sometimes Southwest. They both do BOS-HOU, which is Hobby Airport in the south part of Houston. I used to use Hobby, but find IAH much nicer and more convenient for me.
P.S. Good call on the 767. I believe you are correct.
The BOS terminal looks wonderful and much more welcoming since the renovation.
Crew seemed to be on top of things and at least you got a full can.
And yes, I am impressed by these seats for the said ordinary PAX.
The drink holders at the end of the armrests ! It could exist in the US only :)
Self boarding kiosks do exist in Europe, but I would not call them prevalent. I for one have yet to see one.
All in all, it seems a comfortable and spotter friendly terminal.
Aviation geeks must love UA's Channel 9 ! I see nothing wrong in letting PAX know what is going on. I hate we know better, you don't need to know and just trust us attitudes towards customers, whatever the context may be.
Thanks for this comprehensive report !
Seems like the revamp was inspired by Madrid T4 that also has color coded areas throughout the concourse.
Anyway it looks good.
An average flight with UA again, I'll be flying them on a long haul flight in a few months and I'm still unsure it was a wise choice.
UA is so unappealing, the only cool thing they seem to have is Ch. 9., what a shame.
The views of Boston during takeoff were great!
Thanks for sharing!
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