Trip Reports - 1k Mr Ua/ted Ord-tpa-iad-cdg-iad-mco-ord Y

I needed an extra 20K miles to make 1K this year. I decided to do the following MR and take advantage of the x2 EQM offer to reach the threshold. The run, my first true multi segment run, was fun, tiring and exhilarating at the same time. None of my friends understand.

Ted 1470
ORD-TPA
(2H 18M)

I left Evanston at 5:37 with my flight at 7:00pm. There was not a lot of traffic and I arrived at ORD at 6:04am.

Check-In was slow and I headed to the C class line. There was no difference between the C, Y or F line, nobody was there. I handed the agent my itinerary and said I was headed to CDG via IAD. He took my passport and kept looking at confused about what was going on. Eventually he asked what time my flight was to IAD. I showed him that first I was going to TPA which confused him because originally I said I was going via IAD and didn’t mention TPA. Not really sure what his confusion was, but nonetheless he printed my BP thru to CDG. His supervisor walked by and he mentioned that I was going to CDG via TPA and IAD and returning tomorrow and while he thought it was strange, she could not have cared less and kept walking. I asked if a window was available for the return CDG-IAD. I should have known better because the flight was under airport control and I could only change seats at CDG. After clicking away he said he couldn’t pull up the seat map and I thanked him and made my way to the elite security line. As it was 6:15am there were very few people in any of the security lines. The elite line was manned and I noticed a few people were turned away without the proper credentials. I breezed through and was on the other side of security in less than two minutes.

I entered the RCC near B19. I didn’t hand the agent my red RCC card, but instead my BP and 1P card. She swiped the BP and I was allowed entrance. I contemplated asking for drink chits, but as it was 6:30am I didn’t want to appear an alcoholic and passed. The RCC had only one other person. The usual breakfast assortments were laid out including orange juice, yogurt and various fruit items. I left the RCC at 6:40am for the quick walk to the Ted gates. As boarding had already begun, I had to wait in line to get to meet Ted.

Row 11, the exit row on Ted is very nice; there is plenty of leg room and under seat storage in front of you. I could do 2.5 hours easily in row 11. Seatguru says that in row 11, the window armrest is molded to the wall. This is the case in row 10, but in row 11 the armrest is just shortened, but it attached to the seat like everybody else. I noticed that there was some equipment over row 2 but there seemed to be plenty of storage for rows 1-3. On a short Ted flight I would consider taking rows closer to the front because on all the Ted segments it seems to take a long time to deplane. The row 1 bulkhead seemed to be adequately spaced from the seat. On my next Ted flight, I might try row one. With elite boarding and all, I think that I would be able to get enough overhead space. Economy Plus seemed to have some kind of seat blocking in effect because in E- almost every middle seat was full, while in E+ about half or more had no middle occupant. I was not so lucky with a couple sitting next to me. Doors closed at 6:55am, with pushback at 7:01am. Heading out to the runway I noticed that it was already going to be a busy day for ORD with 6 flights on approach. Channel 9 was made available and we took off at 7:15 on 22L.

The flight was uneventful. The first hour out of ORD was a little bumpy but it smoothed out. Snack boxes were offered for $5 and beverages were given out (in cups only of course). I was sitting in front of kids, and true to form, they were annoying but at least they didn’t kick my seat, which would come the next day. We began our decent at 9:20. Breaking through the clouds, Tampa looked very inviting, but also hazy. We touched down at 10:33EST. Ted seems like United because it is. The FA at times would refer to the Ted flight as a United flight. The only difference for me was that if this was a mainline flight I would be in F on upgrade. Instead I saved some 500 milers and had a nice exit row and a comfortable flight, but for those that have excess upgrade certificates, or are used to only flying F, I can understand that this would be a problem. I won’t avoid Ted, but I don’t think I will fly Ted over 2.5 hours if I have the ability to upgrade.

TPA is a nice airport but small. Nice big plasma screens dotted the concourse and gave information on upcoming flights, upgrade lists, weather etc. I sat in the Delta gates and slept until 12:19EST.

Ted 1576
N478UA
TPA-IAD
(1H 56M)

The incoming aircraft arrived late and the departure time was pushed back to 2pm. The gate agent did a good job keeping everyone informed and mentioned that there would be a tailwind today so we should still get in on time or even early. There were many of us with connections in IAD. The GA wanted a fast turnaround, so the plane would be checked very quickly and not cleaned. With flight time under two hours, that was fine with me. Even with all the announcements boarding did not begin until 1:54, with many kids and handicapped passengers. Elite allowed to board first after pre-boarding and the flight was very full with some standby passengers not making the flight. Ted tunes were playing on the plane and it was very crappy, including Ted Kids, which the whole plane had to endure. In true identity crisis fashion, the safety video was not that of Ted, but instead mainline United. Push back at 2:10 and take off at 2:17. Thunderstorms might have been rolling in as we headed in-between very thick clouds. The pilot was able to navigate between them and the flight was smooth. No nuts or pretzels were served and one pass was made for drinks. Touched down 4:07 and were parked at the gate at 4:13.

The RCC was very crowded with passengers from the many Europe bound flights. I handed the agent my BP and my 1P card. Swiped, no problem but didn’t offer any drink chits. I asked and after scanning my BP again she said of course and offered 1 drink chit. The bar was very crowded with only one bartender so I instead grabbed handfuls of Oreos and Milano cookies. The RCC gives good cell phone reception which was a pleasant surprise. I moved on to the Duty Free, which was also crowded, and picked up some smokes for my roomies.

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UA 914
IAD-CDG
(6H 30M)

The flight began boarding at 5:05pm. F/C passengers were allowed to board first, followed by elites. Although I had 21J in economy, it pained me to see that the C cabin was almost entirely empty. The rear C cabin had only 9 passengers. Its times like that I wish I was on AA and could upgrade chepo fares, but now with the new co-pay policy that aadvantage no longer exists. 21J is amazing, there is a ton of legroom and I can fit my backpack under the seat in front. I think 21 H/J are the best seats in economy. There were a few empty seats Economy Plus but with E- completely full. Push back at 5:43 while two passengers were still standing. They had a baby and the FA allowed them to move to the bulkhead and they were still stowing coats etc. while we were moving. In Brazil it’s normal to be up and about before while the plane is moving, but that’s a big no no in the U.S. I was waiting for an FA to run by and make them sit down, but that never happened. On taxi we passed a Virgin A346 G-VEIL and a BMI A332 GWWBM in Star Alliance livery. We took off on runway 30 at 5:59pm.

At 6:17 beverage service began with dinner following at 6:55. A choice of beef tips, pasta or meatloaf was offered. I had the beef accompanied by a small salad, grapes and a spice cake, which was moist and very tasty. Dinner was finished by 7:30.

The flight path took us south long island, south of Boston, and south of Halifax, ultimately leveling off at 38,000 feet. The movie selection for this month was bad. I ended up watching Garfield, which was terrible, and The Terminal which gets worse each time you see it. Breakfast was served at 5:10 Paris time which seemed late for a 6am arrival. Breakfast consisted of a fruit cup, orange juice and a warm croissant with jelly. On a side note, the moist towelettes distributed before dinner and after breakfast were cold/lukewarm, which is not usual. The crew was Paris based and efficient, but not overly friendly. We made land fall near Ghernsey, headed just north of St. Helier, south of Rouen and south into Paris. Paris was very foggy with low visibility. Touchdown at 5:57 Paris time with clapping in E-. We taxied for a long time and parked at the gate at 6:09.

CDG
Twice it has happened to me (once in GRU and now in CDG) that instead of going straight to the RCC, I end up going through immigration and can’t get back through because I don’t have a BP. I had to walk around the terminal for an hour and a half until the UA counter opened up. After feeling stupid for making the same mistake, it was nice to walk around and get some fresh air. I was the first in the F/C/Star Gold line for check in. The way the check in area is set up is that F/C/Star Gold enters from one side and Y passengers enter from around the other side. I made my own bag tag out of a second 1P card and the agent noticed it before the counter opened and asked if I needed anything while I was waiting. I thought that was very nice. The screening process before you actually get to the counter is thorough. My passport was checked against my itinerary and they asked me to open my bags for a quick look. After I got my security sticker I was sent to the counter. Check in was simple and BP were issued. I did get the dreaded SSSS on my CDG-IAD sticker. I assumed that this was going to happen at some point during the MR. No window seat was available in Economy Plus and the agent offered me the window exit in row 30. I declined but moved from 20G to 23H. At immigration the officer stamped my passport next to the incoming stamp, and right before he gave it back he did a double check and looked at me and said “same day?” I nodded with a tired smile and he chuckled and let me through. After a minute of duty free shopping I headed to the RCC, couldn’t find it, ended up at the F lounge and given directions to the RCC. The F lounge was very warm and incredibly small. It looked as if it could only handle one full F cabin at any time. The F lounge is next to the United gates with the RCC being a 5-7 minute walk. The RCC agent was very nice. Perhaps the nicest RCC agent I have ever dealt with. Thank you for joining us today, thank you for being an elite, whatever I can do for you etc., it was very nice. The RCC has no view and there are no shower facilities, but everything else was available including soft fresh croissants among other food items, a smoking lounge, free WiFi and a T.V. Terminal 1 at CDG shows its age. The duty free was confined to a small area and the facilities were old. It needs to be remodeled; but the use of moving walkways is really nice. The RCC is on the 10th floor with a SAS business lounge on the 11th. Saudi Arabian Airlines had there own club with many airlines sharing a lounge with a local contractor. The RCC was to get very crowded with some standing so I decided to check out the SAS lounge. The lounge was typical Scandinavian design; clean and much smaller then the RCC, but nice with Stella in the fridge. The agent at the front desk asked if the RCC sent me and I said no, but it was getting crowded. She mentioned the RCC had a better newspaper selection, but they had computers with internet and I was welcomed to use them. I perused the internet, grabbed some drinks that were not downstairs and then headed back to the RCC. Three flights worth of C/elite passengers were in the RCC CDG-SFO/ORD/IAD. UA 927 CDG-SFO was delayed because the arriving aircraft departed late do to a cargo balancing issue. The new departure time was scheduled for 3:10 Paris time. Because of the delay, United provided a lunch buffet for all the passengers. I thought that was great and had never heard of anything like this before. Paris based United employees get an A+. I left and went to security which was inadequate to handle the excess of passengers for my flight. Only two metal detectors were open. I left early knowing that I would have additional security screening. My bag was swabbed along with my shoes, had a full bag search, wanded and had a hand pat down. Not really a big deal and the security guy tried to make small talk in bad English.

UA 915
CDG-IAD
(7H 56M)

The flight was full in all cabins. I watched on op-up take place on the plane. Push back at 12:55 and we took off at 1:01. I slept the first three hours. I awoke once to get lunch and ate some of it later. After the previous day of only airline food, I was in no hurry to eat. Chicken or pasta was offered and it was not great, but filling. I noticed that the C menu was photo copied on normal paper, a bit tacky. There were more crap movies, so for the first time ever on a long haul flight I did not watch any of the movies. An hour and 50 minutes before landing snacks were passed out. Because I did not eat a lot of my lunch I was hungry and the little turkey sandwich, chips and Twix tasted good. We had been cruising at 38,000 with the first couple hours of the flight being a bit bumpy but smooth after that. We flew over Boston with an hour and four minutes left at 1:55EST and down into IAD. The approach into IAD was beautiful and clear with many miles of orange and yellow foliage. The decent was very turbulent and as I was listening to channel 9 tower was letting some departing aircraft know that wind shear had been reported. Touchdown at 3:04EST. Deplaned quickly and headed to immigration. The immigration officer was really nice. There is a long bank of immigration booths and the line snakes along all of them. His booth was at the end and he was just telling people at the end to come over the rope and straight to his booth. He was the nicest, friendliest immigration officer ever. Customs was quick, asked where my bags were, I said this was it and she waved me through. The fact that there were a lot of international arrivals and many people behind me with bags may have factored into her not caring. This is a nice change compared to ORD. They seem to have nothing but time to grill you about your travels. I was back in the RCC that I had been in less than 24 hours before. Much more calm, and about 1/5 full. Grabbed some more Milanos and decided to go for a walk down the concourse before my flight.

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Ted 1559
IAD-MCO
(1H 20M)

I left the club to find my seat mate from UA 915 as she was continuing on to GRU on UA861. I was going to invite her to the RCC as she had much of her journey ahead of her. I passed by C19 and noticed UA 1559 was in the final boarding stage. I was booked on UA1561 departing at 5:15. For some reason 1559 was leaving really late as it's scheduled for 2:27pm departure. I decided to see if I could get on, better than waiting at IAD. The GA took my BP and I asked if there were any windows and I was moved from my coveted 11A to 10A, still an exit. The seat did not recline, but on such a short flight it didn't matter.

I boarded and the flight crew was bubbly with some wearing Halloween type outfits. The plane was half full at best and I had row 10 to myself. The crew for the aircraft's return flight that evening to ORD was also on the plane. That crew was ORD based. Push back at 4:35. The safety video was actually for Ted this time. The four total flights I took with Ted, only two had the Ted version safety video. Seat blocking might have been in effect for this flight as Economy Plus seemed to have two people per row in each row and E- consistently had three. On our way to runway 30 we passed a BA 772 GVIIU, which is in serious need of washing! Also Austrian Airlines OE-LAO in Star Alliance livery. I forget, but I think it was an A343. Take off at 4:47. Once airborne the purser talked about MP and the Around the World promo from DC that UA has. She also mentioned how many miles would be earned on the flight. I always liked that for some reason. The pilot came on and mentioned that because we were so late they had loaded extra fuel so they could go at full speed the whole way to MCO. If UA is in a cash crunch, and we were already late and it's the evening and there are probably few connections, why waste extra fuel? Ted TV was not turned on during the flight, even though it was mentioned that after climb out and once cruising altitude was reached we would be enjoying Ted vision. Channel 9 was on and that was all I needed. I really do love channel 9.

Touch down at 6:27pm, about an hour before I was scheduled to arrive. The aircraft was going to ORD that night and I was contemplating asking to get on that flight instead of staying over night at the La Quinta Inn that I booked for $30 on Priceline. The gate area seemed chaotic and crowded, and I couldn't get a refund at the hotel so I stayed the night. The "Inn" very generously called was only ten minutes away, but the courtesy van took a half hour to pick me up.

Ted 1523
N452UA
MCO-ORD
(1H 24M)

La Quinta had a courtesy shuttle that left for the airport every hour on the hour. We left at 6:05am and I was in the terminal at 6:15 for a 7am flight. There was a long line for the 7:30 flights out to IAD and LAX I believe. One of the four UA agents combed the line making sure people were waiting for the 7:30 or later flights; I mentioned that I was here for the 7am flight and she pulled me out. Check in was a mess. First she told me I was not going to make it. I asked why not, as I had no bags and the plane wouldn’t leave for 45 minutes. She said there was not much she could do and that the machines cut off at 45 minutes, obviously she was not an easy chicken however, so that didn't matter. At this point a 2P on the same flight with no bags came up next to me and a different CSA checked her in with no problems. Meanwhile, I wait for this spastic CSA to get her act together. The agent kept saying I won't make it, so I thought fine, rebook me on the later flight, give me a DM card for this flight and let me get through security so I can get on my flight. She tried to print my BP for this flight and the computer said I had already checked in. I don’t know why UA computers had me as checked in. I tried online check in for the outbound, but was told to check in at the airport because of the intl segment and had no computer access after that. At this point I had half an hour, and waited to see how this was going to play out. The inept agent finally got help from the agent who had helped the 2P ages ago. She was able to print out my BP in three seconds. I thanked the competent agent and flew off to security.

Security was fast enough (no elite line at MCO), but there were a lot of children. I don't fly to leisure destinations often, so I am not used to a billion strollers everywhere. I arrived at the gate at 6:35 and the boarding line was long. I decided to check out the RCC that was across from the gate. For an outlying station, the RCC is nice. You have to walk upstairs to the desk to get in but once inside its spacious and bigger than the Paris RCC with a better view. I grabbed a glass of OJ and headed out to the gate. The flight was completely full and we pushed back at 6:56am, with me on board in 11A. We made our way to 18L and channel 9 kept resetting. We sat on the taxi way for a while and over channel 9 I heard the pilot mention to the tower that a dual navigation failure occurred with the computer. The pilot called tech support out in San Fran and we taxied to a remote stand, shut down the engines and rebooted the computers. All worked well, all the passengers stayed calm and we were up and running about ten minutes later.

Take off at 7:34am. I decided to try a $5 meal for the sake of the whole Ted experience. The mini meal consisted of cheese spread, water crackers, salami slices, terra chips and more Milano cookies. It was filling, but a sandwich would have been better as this was difficult to assemble. I could only imagine three passengers in E- trying to assemble their meals at the same time. It would not be pretty. Descended into ORD and woke to turbulence and disgusting weather. Tower spaced aircraft to close and we had to go around with touchdown at 8:58CST at the gate at 9:08 amid heavy rain.

Thanks for sharing your mileage run! :) A few comments on your trip:

1) The downside about row 1 on Ted: no underseat storage.

2) That was nice of the United-Paris to offer a buffet lunch for everyone! I've never heard of that either. It probably costs less than giving out meal vouchers. Can you give us more details? Did they set up the brunch in the boarding area? Was it cold-cuts and bread and such?

3) Looking forward to the rest!

Completed; all in all not a bad trip, the flights were excellent and the Paris UA staff amazing. Well worth it to make 1K

I dont know what type of lunch UA Paris provided, as my plane left around the time they were to serve the lunch. The RCC agent made it sound like a good full meal and better than what was going to be served on the plane.