Leg 6 San Francisco International Airport - Newark Liberty International Airport
CO1130 - United Airlines (As Continental Airlines) , Boeing 737-800, Seat 30A, Economy Class (New United Colours)
2565 miles flown, 2560 miles earned
The pictures
Ok, I've been dreading this leg for a quite a bit - least of all of all the narrow body legs I'm doing, my head has some trouble of a 737 doing Trans-Continental distances. On second thoughts... Can I have a 757 back for this route please?
As I was boarding, i was muttering myself about the length of the run when a voice asked if I was on a mileage run. To which I said yes and met a fellow traveller -
circumknowitall who - yes - had a FlyerTalk tag on his bag. Amazingly - they do work! We had a brief chat about our mad trips before I realised I was in the wrong row (oops), and headed to the row infront. I settled in for this Trans-con with late boarders slowly filling up the plane. Sat in the isle seat was a man heading off to Tel Aviv who was having great trouble finding a place for his bag - and in the end having to tag it all the way back to Tel Aviv. And that’s why you need to get aboard a plane in the USA quickly - to get the overhead bin space as the man and wife learned.
Still he had the middle seat - like I did to spread out into.
Eventually, the videos played. Firstly with Jeff looking godly around Chicago O’Hare...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrdE02cDLMs
Then the actual safety video.
The plane pushed back and it begun the taxi around SFO, finally lining in a queue of 5 planes readying for departure.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPTgrD9l4j8
Now I lucked out again, with San Francisco to my left as we climbed out. I’ll let the pictures do the talking
Soon enough we turned away from the bay area and begun tracking eastwards to Newark NJ.
This is a way too short cabin for my liking...
In terms of IFE this bird was kitted out with LiveTV’s IFE product (with the introduction channel showing adverts mainly). Which is fine and dandy... for $6.99 a flight. So we all know what happens next.
Yes Harriet Jones. Ex Prime Minister. We know who you are.....
$6.99 or a sickbag with an iPhone? You should all know the answer... But the least they could do is integrate an Airshow client for free... oh well.
As I was mostly impressed with the Asian Noodle Salad, I again partook of another one, and remembered to ask for a full can of Diet Coke (which was delivered).
The crews were friendly, and did a couple of services before heading to the back of the plane. There was the odd water service too, with the staff being friendly. In fact.. very friendly. Definitely good to see compared to some Continental crews I’ve ran into in the past.
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As the flight settled down into the long slog with a fair few bumps to Newark. It continued to plod its way slowly across the United States of America from the height of midday sunlight, to cloudy layers and then to dusk. I took advantage of the quiet time and grabbed a couple of hours sleep. By the time the plane had crossed over the midwest day had given way to night, passing through the reds of the evening, and then the inky blue and black of the night.
Almost night
Decent began about 30 minutes before stated landing time, with a full cabin clear down. Eventually, the cabin turned to night, and the plane lined up to land at Newark, with Downtown Manhattan to the left of me, lighting up the night sky.
In the words of John Madden... FOOTBALL!
As we approached the Newark area, the night lights twinkled away, with the MetLife Stadium lit up below. Eventually, Manhattan swung into view on the final approach to Newark.
Midtown Manhattan
The plane landed at Newark and after a short taxi past the A and B gates, the plane docked at the 90 gates. Again, I waited for the sea of humanity to dissipate before thanking the crew and making my way off the plane.
Overall: Not a bad flight overall. The flight attendants where engaging and felt like they wanted to be there. The 737 itself seemed to suit the mission it … even if that plane felt at tad small on the inside. The product seemed pretty rounded with the LiveTV product, and that spare middle seat - I tell you - It makes ones hell of a difference
After disembarking, I caught up with
circumknowitall and we chatted about our mad trips, our mileage runs and other bits and bobs.
However, I had to split after a short while to pick up a few things and “enjoy” dealing with the Duty Free shop and get a few things for friends at work. And deal with the wonderful customer service and well staffed shops.
I’ll let you work out what was true in the previous statement and which is a slight at DruFry.
With that done, it was back to the United Club to chill for a bit.
United Club - C Gates (80ish Area)
I was welcomed to the club, with ID requested to access the club. I made my way back to the same place (but not before picking up a vodka and diet coke), and settled down to do a bit of typing and general stretching before the flight to Belfast.
In fact the Vodka and Diet Coke was so good.. I had another one. However after 2 vodkas and diet coke and a tub of snacky mix, the flight was called from the lounge. Once again, I packed up trash and headed down to the gate.
And at the gate my name was called. I was slightly excited. Was I getting an upgrade? Nope. I had left my Senator card in the lounge. Oopsie. 2nd oopsie of the day. I trundled back to the lounge where I collected my card, and headed back to the gate where boarding was just about beginning.
I collected my duty free, and then headed down the jetbridge.
The final 757 of the trip...