United Airlines & fly.be: JFK-London-Guernsey & back
Jul 5, 2003, 1:36 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: YYZ
Programs: AC*75K, DL*FO, MB*TTN
Posts: 123
United Airlines & fly.be: JFK-London-Guernsey & back
United Airlines UA904
New York-John F. Kennedy (JFK) to London-Heathrow (LHR)
Wednesday, June 18, 2003
Boeing 767-300ER
Seat 5B, United Business
Scheduled Departure Time: 21h20 Actual Departure Time: 22h03
Scheduled Arrival Time: 09h35 Actual Arrival Time: 09h10
United uses Terminal 7 at New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport, and I must say, I don’t think I’ve ever seen United’s portion of the check-in area look so nice! (The other proprietor is British Airways, and a slew of its oneworld partners that haven’t yet sought refuge in the brand new International Terminal 4.)
Check-in was no problem. My Dad wanted to have us seated in United Business for the flight (we were booked in United Economy Plus). However, the problem was that, unbeknownst to him, the ticket which he booked me was not within a fare class that was upgradeable. However, the check-in agent was most helpful. My Dad said that he would use 30,000 miles to upgrade himself if they would provide me with a complimentary upgrade. The check-in agent put our names at the top of the upgrade list (due to the fact that he was offering to use miles to upgrade, and the slew of 1Ks were expecting it to be a complimentary upgrade). She said we should listen carefully at the gate to find out if we would receive the upgrade.
Another interesting factoid: the flight was completely overbooked.
Instead of availing ourselves of the Red Carpet Club (which, in my experience, is quite lousy anyhow), we decided to kick it at the gate with all of our fellow cattle-car passengers. My Dad went to pick up a sandwich, as he didn’t want to wait for the in-flight meal service if we didn’t get the upgrade. (In United Business, you can select the Early Seating Meal if you want more time to sleep – more on that later.)
The departure lounge next to the gate was rather inadequate; however, there were almost no other flights departing from our end of the terminal, so passengers could spread out.
The gate agents had one hell of a time dealing with all of the requests of the passengers traveling on this full flight. Passengers were constantly being called to the podium to receive information on upgrades and new seat assignments. As with any overbooking situation, the gate agents were also looking for passengers who were willing to fly to give up their seat. The benefits? A United Airlines $400 travel voucher, a hotel & food voucher for the night, and a seat on United’s 6pm London departure the next day. Obviously they found some takers, because the flight was able to start boarding around 8:30pm.
When United First and United Business boarding was called, my Dad headed to the podium, where he asked about the status of our upgrades. As I joined him there with our carry-on bags, I found out that we would receive the upgrade! How exciting! We grabbed the boarding passes and got onboard; we’d deal with the fact that we were seated on opposite sides of the United Business cabin later.
I was shocked to discover that my seat, 5B, was the bulkhead of the Business cabin – who gets a complimentary upgrade to their favorite seat?? I suppose I do! Anyhow, my Dad’s seat was 6F, so the man in 5A kindly switched seats with him.
Every seat had a pillow, a blanket, and a United Business amenity kit on it prior to the passengers boarding.
Of course, as with all of United’s Boeing 767-300ERs, this aircraft was equipped with “United Business Plus” (for lack of a better name), with 55 inch pitch. As seen above, the seats were the new United Business seats, which have to be the best non-flat Business Class seats in the industry (especially when in comparison to other carriers with three classes of service). Amenities include:
* Personal Verizon Airfone
* EmPower Laptop Power System
* Flexible In-seat Lamp
* Fully Electric Lumbar Support
* BackCycler Motion System (works as a massager)
* Nine-Channel Personal Video Monitor
Now across the aisle from me, in 5C, was a very interesting (and attractive...) guy. He was obviously a little bit hammered. Regardless, he glanced over at me and said, “I really like the sweater you’re wearing. Can I borrow it from you if I get cold?” I explained to him that I was only wearing a t-shirt underneath it, but if he got desperate, I’d consider it. His response? “I’m glad that I can count on you to keep me warm.” And then I got a devilish smile.
Sadly, the possibilities of my first mile high experience were shot down when the flight attendant discovered that he was actually seated in United Economy. Interestingly enough, he had traded seats with about three people, so the flight attendant had to follow the trail of boarding passes to find out who wasn’t in their seat.
After having him reseated, we had to wait to push back because people kept getting out of their seats in the Economy cabin. (Prior to arrival, I overheard one of the head flight attendants tell a passenger in United First that the passengers in United Economy were loud and rowdy all night, and that it had been quite a long flight...I took a moment to thank my lucky stars for the upgrade!) However, in the meantime, I glanced at the menu. Here’s a transcript for those of you who are interested:
**
BEVERAGES
Featured Wines
Your flight attendant will inform you of today’s selections.
Some of these wines may only be available on selected flights.
Champagne
Brut Yellow Label non-vintage, Veuve Clicquot
Brut Carte d’Or non-vintage, Drappier
White Wine
Burgundy: Chablis Chardonnay 2001, La Chablisienne
Alsace: Pinot Blanc 2001, Dopff & Irion
Sauvignon Blanc: Buena Vista Winery California 2001 & Allan Scott Vineyards Marlborough 2002
Red Wine
Côtes-du-Rhône: Grenache 2000, Château D’Orsan
Languedoc-Roussillon: Corbières 2000, Château Camp de la Val
Shiraz: Evans & Tate Western Australia Gnangara 2001
Cabernet Merlot: Hogue Washington
Beverages
Apéritifs and cocktails
Spirits and liqueurs
Beer
Starbucks coffee will be available throughout the flight.
MENU
*To Begin
Smoked salmon with Parma ham
Capers and lemon aïoli
Garden salad with balsamic Dijon vinaigrette and an assortment of specialty breads fresh from the bakery
*Main Course
Filet mignon with Hollandaise sauce
Home-fried potatoes, green beans and carrot bâtonnets
Rotisserie-style chicken with honey mustard beurre blanc
Corn flan and spinach with smoked bacon
*The Early Seating Meal
If you would like more time to work, relax or sleep, we offer a complete meal served all at once.
Smoked salmon with Parma ham appetizer
Marinated shrimp with Asian vinaigrette and tropical fruit
Eli’s Chocolate Truffle cheesecake
*Dessert
International cheese selection
New England Cheddar and Gorgonzola cheese
Eli’s Chocolate Truffle cheesecake
*Prior to Arrival
Continental breakfast featuring a fruit appetizer, yogurt, breakfast breads and fruit preserves.
**
Orders for dinner were taken prior to take-off, and were taken in order of status, as is done on most United flights (1K, Prem Exec, Premier, Full-fare, etc...). I selected the filet mignon, while my father decided to forego the Early Seating Meal and have the chicken.
As we taxied down the runway, I began to develop a headache, which was not terribly exciting – it’s just no fun to get an upgrade and not be able to enjoy it! So when the seatbelt sign was turned off after take-off, I immediately reclined my seat, popped up my video screen and flipped to Airshow, and took a brief nap.
I awoke a while later, and decided to have a glass of Pepsi. The flight attendant was most helpful, providing me with a few tablets of Bayer asprin. Therefore, for the the meal service, I slept, only to awake when a new portion of the meal was brought to me. I didn’t eat the appetizer (my father said it was quite good...”for airline food”, of course!), but the filet mignon was delicious. (I find airline beef always tastes the same – very predictable.) Notably, the rolls served were very difficult to eat because they were rather stale. I didn’t have the cheesecake; even though it looked delicious, I didn’t want to put too much food into my stomach. However, I had some fruit from the cheese selection, as well as a nice cup of tea.
When the meal ended, I promptly put the “wake me for meals” sticker on my headrest, and fell asleep...
I woke up about three hours later, when we were about 90 minutes outside of London. My head felt a lot better, and the flight attendant who had been so helpful before brought me the continental breakfast platter, as well as a nice cup of tea and a refresher towel. I have to say, the platter was a little bit disappointing – it would’ve been nice to have something a bit more substantial to eat; however, I figure it’s my fault for not eating the full dinner service that had come just a few hours before. The fruit was very fresh, and a nice mix (melon, strawberries, grapes), the peach yogurt was yummy, and the croissant was excellent (warm and flaky). I could’ve eaten ten more of those!
As we prepared for landing, I pulled out the UK customs card I had received just a few hours beforehand, and noticed that we were given FastTrack passes! I was a bit groggy, so that was rather exciting for 2am New York time!
I visited the lavatory, which was a mess, as usual. However, it was equipped with the usual Molton Brown aftershave, moisturizer, and Almond-scented soap. United’s getting so predictable!
Landing at Heathrow was uneventful, as was clearing customs due to the fact that we had FastTrack passes. Since I had carried on all of my baggage, we didn’t have to wait at baggage claim.
Here’s a breakdown of my experience:
Check-in 10/10: Nice looking check-in area, with extremely helpful & friendly agents
Departure Airport 8/10: The gate seating area is rather confined; however, the selection of stores is excellent.
Aircraft Seating 9/10: It’s not flatbed – but who cares? It’s my favorite Business Class seat.
In-flight Entertainment 8/10: Certainly a broad range of in-flight entertainment; however, just 6 channels of movies, 3 of short subjects, 8 audio channels – and Airshow. No interactive entertainment, or recent news programming.
Flight Attendants 9/10: Very helpful, efficient, and friendly on this fully-loaded overnight flight.
Meal 8/10: Great dinner – weak breakfast could use some improvement.
Arrival Airport 8/10: Heathrow Terminal 3 is a mess – but that’s certainly not United’s fault!
And a question:
Who in God’s name designed the bulkhead fabrics? You know, the ones where it looks like someone tore pieces of fabric and died them United’s Red, Orange, and Blue? They’re so heinous!
------
fly.be JY909
London-Gatwick (LGW) to Guernsey, Channel Islands (GCI)
Thursday, June 19, 2003
British Aerospace BAe 146-300
Seat 10A, Economy Class
Scheduled Departure Time: 12h55 Actual Departure Time: 15h45
Scheduled Arrival Time: 13h50 Actual Arrival Time: 16h32
After hoofing it over the London Gatwick from Heathrow, my Dad and I went to the fly.be check-in counters in Gatwick’s South Terminal.
Big surprise...the check-in area was a HUGE mess. We must have switched lines about three times to ensure that we were checked-in before the fly.be “30 minute rule” (be checked in 30 minutes before your flight, or else!). The ground staff standing in the line area was a bunch of 20 year olds who absolutely had no idea what they were doing.
Once we were checked in, the agent told us that our flight was delayed for two hours due to bad weather on Guernsey, which is not uncommon. We said, “No problem,” because it certainly wasn’t fly.be’s fault!
So we walked around the terminal, picked up a snack, then lounged in what Gatwick refers to as its “Viewing Area” – a very nice place to sit and relax for a while! Of course, as 2:25pm arrived (our new scheduled boarding time), we still hadn’t received word on our departure gate. Soon, though, we discovered that the flight was delayed for another hour.
We headed to our departure gate (106, if memory serves) the moment it popped onto the screen. As we arrived at the gate, boarding began, so we got onboard immediately.
The flight was uneventful, and there was no onboard service due to the fact that the aircraft had arrived late from Guernsey (the reason that our flight to Guernsey could not depart on-time), and fly.be decided not to cater the aircraft to save time and get us in the air as soon as possible.
Well appointed aircraft if I do say so myself. However, their Business Class (or “Economy Plus” as it is now called) looks as if it doesn’t offer much more than regular Economy Class – but isn’t that the norm with most European airlines these days?
Arrival in Guernsey was simple – and baggage arrived on the single baggage belt in the “Terminal” about 10 minutes after arrival.
Here’s a breakdown of my experience:
Check-in 5/10: Quite frankly, an experience I’d like to forget. One of the reasons that I think I’ll try Aurigny next time...
Departure Airport 9/10: A wide range of stores and food shops – and a lovely observation area!
Aircraft Seating 8/10: The pitch is tight – but the leather seats are soft and cozy!
Flight Attendants 7/10: Very friendly over the intercom – I don’t think I saw any of them in the cabin during the flight.
Arrival Airport 8/10: Let’s put it this way: Guernsey is Guernsey – nothing more, nothing less. It’s nice to see that they’re building a large, modern terminal, though!
------
fly.be JY906
Guernsey, Channel Islands (GCI) to London-Gatwick (LGW)
Sunday, June 22, 2003
British Aerospace BAe 146-300
Seat 4C, Economy Class
Scheduled Departure Time: 11h25 Actual Departure Time: 11h25
Scheduled Arrival Time: 12h15 Actual Arrival Time: 12h08
The Guernsey Terminal is very simple, which made everything a breeze. Check-in was simple, and there was ample seating for the passengers traveling.
When your flight is called, you clear security, and then sit in the boarding area for approximately ten minutes until the flight is ready for boarding.
The flight was short and sweet – and this time, we received the full fly.be service experience, with the possibility to purchase drinks and light snacks. (I didn’t have anything to eat.) It amazes me that the flight is less than an hour long, yet the flight attendants still can manage to provide a meal service!
The seats were, again, comfy – it was nice to have an aisle seat, too!
Gatwick’s arrivals area was not in the best shape, and it took nearly 25 minutes for our baggage to arrive.
After collecting the bags, I took the Gatwick Express to my hotel with my Dad – what a great service!
Here’s a breakdown of my experience:
Check-in 10/10: It was quick and painless with the friendly team of fly.be agents!
Departure Airport 9/10: As I said before, Guernsey is Guernsey – nothing more, nothing less. However, I do give them credit for operating such a lovely departures area.
Aircraft Seating 8/10: The pitch is tight – but the leather seats are soft and cozy!
Meals 8/10: As with most low cost carriers these days, you had to pay for your snack. However, the selection (outlined in fly.be’s in-flight magazine “Flying Colors”) seemed delicious, at very fair prices.
Flight Attendants 10/10: Excellent – service oriented, and perfect for this type of trip.
Arrival Airport 5/10: What a mess – avoid Gatwick at all costs! Let’s hope Guernsey gets Heathrow service back soon...
------
United Airlines UA905
London-Heathrow (LHR) to New York-John F. Kennedy (JFK)
Tuesday, June 24, 2003
Boeing 777-200 (Worldwide Configuration #2)
Seat 19E, United Economy Plus
Scheduled Departure Time: 13h20 Actual Departure Time: 13h45
Scheduled Arrival Time: 15h55 Actual Arrival Time: 15h37
United uses Terminal 3 at London’s Heathrow Airport, along with almost every other international carrier which has flights from Heathrow. I took the Picadilly Line straight from my hotel (The Pelham...great location, highly recommended) to Heathrow, which was a breeze.
United’s check-in area is on the opposite side of the check-in area from where you arrive from the Tube. However, it is very well organized, with separate pathes for United Business/1K & Premier and United Economy. (United First has a nice little cove for those passengers.)
Check-in was extremely simple, and I was on my way in moments. My Dad had phoned to get me a reserved aisle seat in United Economy Plus. Of course, this obviously had no impact on the agent. I was assigned 19E...yes, a dreaded middle seat in one of the 777’s blocks of five. After trying to reseat me, she told me that the flight was booked solid and there was really nothing she could do. Whatever...
So I made my way up to the departures level, where I queued for security and one more ID check. What a mess! It was a good twenty wait to simply have my passport checked and my bag screened – oh well, safety first, right?!
I took a seat amidst all of the stores and duty-free shops. I had a direct view of the departures monitor, so I could see what gate we would be assigned to as soon as it appeared. After waiting for about 25 minutes or so, I was on my way to Gate 20.
Once there, my passport was checked once again for security purposes, and I was given the stub from my boarding pass. I sat in this departure lounge for about 20 minutes, watching Parliament’s discussion regarding the royal’s safety after that guy had managed to get into Prince William’s 21st Birthday party.
I can see where the priorities of the Brits are...
We boarded around 12:30pm, and the gate agent was strict about the order in which United Economy was boarded (“from the back, forward”).
Once onboard, I found 19E wasn’t a bulkhead (as I had been hoping it was!), so I took my seat. Every seat had a blanket and pillow on top of it.
I was in United Economy Plus, so the pitch was around 35 inches. The new international United Economy seats are very comfy – amenities include:
* Fully adjustable headrest
* Nine-Channel Personal Video Monitor
For those who are interested, I was intrigued by the fact that United has taken out the in-seat phones on the Boeing 777s in Economy Class.
I began flipping through Entertainment Preview, United’s in-flight entertainment guide, and just few moments later, I was surrounded: two British couples in their 60s on their way to the states for a two week tour of the Northeast were on either side of me. I cursed my father, as I had discovered the night before that he was actually traveling on a United Business class ticket, leading me to use some choice words to describe my feelings towards him that morning before I left.
However, it turned out that they were quite amiable folks. They nearly force-fed me candy throughout the flight (they had brought a bag of “sweets” onboard with them). And at one point, when I was passing over one of the women to get back to my seat after using the bathroom, she said, “Oh, I was hoping you might take a seat in my lap.” That was really quite interesting... !!
A beverage service with those famous “Cocktail Savories” were served about 20 minutes after takeoff. And it was only about 20 minutes after that when we were served lunch with another beverage of our choice. Here’s the menu selection (of course, menus were not handed out!):
**
MENU
*To Begin
Green salad with an Asian sesame ginger dressing
Served alongside wheat and white breads
*Main Course
Chicken served in a tomato sauce
Mashed potatoes with a mushroom sauce and spinach
Cheese ravioli served in a tomato sauce
Mixed vegetables
*Dessert
Cheese with Carr’s crackers
Cadbury Chocolate Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
**
This United Economy lunch was certainly delicious. It seems that many people around me had the pasta and were extremely disappointed. However, any traveler should know that airline pasta is never the way to go! The chicken, on the other hand, was delicious, and very well cooked. But then again, I think airline food tastes pretty good most of the time due to all of the weird chemicals that are added in to preserve freshness!
The Cadbury chocolate ice cream was a nice treat, but to be honest, I kind of expected it when I noticed that there was no sort of dessert item on my meal tray.
The bread provided was far superior to the bread I’d had in United Business on the flight to London. It was served in a plastic wrapper, and was probably about the size of a 3”x5” index card – and one half was white bread, and the other was wheat. Really...quite clever! And very tasty and fresh!
I took a quick trip to the lavatory right after I had my lunch, and I must say – the United Economy lavatories on this Boeing 777 were absolutely revolting. They smelled like a combination of urine and air freshener. There was hand soap all over the sink-top area, and used paper tissues littered around the small floor area. It was something of a shock after my flight with Air New Zealand where flight attendants were in the lavs every hour to ensure that they were sparkling and fresh. Nothing against United, as it is my favorite airline – but they could possibly work on this.
After that, it was onto the in-flight entertainment selection. Sadly, all of the movies I had wanted to watch were on the last flight (“How To Lose A Guy In Ten Days” and “The Hours”)...of course, I had already seen both of them, but it was better than the return selection.
So I thought, “Well, why not just watch Ben Affleck and Colin Farrell in tight leather suits on United Cinema 1? I don’t actually have to listen to the audio, I can just check out the eye candy!” Sadly this thought was shot down by the head flight attendant who explained that channel one entertainment would not be available!
Therefore, it was onto Plan B: “Confessions of a Dangerous Mind”, which actually turned out to be a nice two hour distraction. I have to note that I was intrigued by the fact that the seatback monitors could be pulled forward – I was under the impression that all of the video screens in United Economy couldn’t be adjusted that way!
After that, I listened to some music for about an hour while staring blankly at the Airshow map, drifting in and out of sleep.
Approximately two hours prior to landing at JFK, a final beverage service was provided, with the United snackboxes. I absolutely love those things – I think they’re so attractive (they have the same designs on them as the menus for United First and United Business), and they always have something rather tasty inside of them!
I had a Pepsi (gotta say, I love the fact that United’s serving Pepsi now!) with my snackbox, which included a ham & cheese sandwich on a roll, with a bag of potato chips (or crisps as the Brits like to call them...), and a chocolate bar.
The food provided enough of a distraction for me that, by the time the flight attendants were collecting the boxes and leftover garbage, we were preparing to decend into JFK.
United did provide a brief arrival video regarding the customs & baggage collection process at JFK’s Terminal 7.
However, as usual, customs at Terminal 7 was a complete mess, due to the fact that a British Airways 747-400 had arrived from London as our aircraft had arrived from London; therefore, it was a complete fight between the BA and United ground agents who were handling customs to see who could get their customers through customs first. Oy vay...
I have to say, it seems like BA is trying to take over this terminal. I’m sorry...they can have Heathrow Terminal 3, but BA is certainly not the sole proprietor of JFK Terminal 7!!
Baggage arrived after a five minute wait. But I’m sure since most people had to wait in customs lines, they didn’t have to wait there for long anyhow!
Here’s a breakdown of my experience:
Check-in 10/10: Well set-up “nook” for United’s check-in at Heathrow Terminal 3. The wait was not long at all!
Departure Airport 6/10: I suppose if you’re the airport with the most international carriers in the world, you can’t have the best airside set-up. However, the security set-up was absurd, as was the fact that you have to walk through gaudy duty free shops to get anywhere!
Aircraft Seating 9/10: Comfy enough – nice Economy seat!
In-flight Entertainment 8/10: Certainly a broad range of in-flight entertainment; however, just 5 channels of movies, 3 of short subjects, 20 audio channels – and Airshow. No interactive entertainment, or recent news programming.
Flight Attendants 9/10: Very helpful, efficient, and friendly on this fully-loaded flight.
Meal 10/10: Perfect service for Economy Class.
Arrival Airport 7/10: United’s gotta stake its claim before BA and its oneworld cronies take it over! Bright and clean – but very confining.
New York-John F. Kennedy (JFK) to London-Heathrow (LHR)
Wednesday, June 18, 2003
Boeing 767-300ER
Seat 5B, United Business
Scheduled Departure Time: 21h20 Actual Departure Time: 22h03
Scheduled Arrival Time: 09h35 Actual Arrival Time: 09h10
United uses Terminal 7 at New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport, and I must say, I don’t think I’ve ever seen United’s portion of the check-in area look so nice! (The other proprietor is British Airways, and a slew of its oneworld partners that haven’t yet sought refuge in the brand new International Terminal 4.)
Check-in was no problem. My Dad wanted to have us seated in United Business for the flight (we were booked in United Economy Plus). However, the problem was that, unbeknownst to him, the ticket which he booked me was not within a fare class that was upgradeable. However, the check-in agent was most helpful. My Dad said that he would use 30,000 miles to upgrade himself if they would provide me with a complimentary upgrade. The check-in agent put our names at the top of the upgrade list (due to the fact that he was offering to use miles to upgrade, and the slew of 1Ks were expecting it to be a complimentary upgrade). She said we should listen carefully at the gate to find out if we would receive the upgrade.
Another interesting factoid: the flight was completely overbooked.
Instead of availing ourselves of the Red Carpet Club (which, in my experience, is quite lousy anyhow), we decided to kick it at the gate with all of our fellow cattle-car passengers. My Dad went to pick up a sandwich, as he didn’t want to wait for the in-flight meal service if we didn’t get the upgrade. (In United Business, you can select the Early Seating Meal if you want more time to sleep – more on that later.)
The departure lounge next to the gate was rather inadequate; however, there were almost no other flights departing from our end of the terminal, so passengers could spread out.
The gate agents had one hell of a time dealing with all of the requests of the passengers traveling on this full flight. Passengers were constantly being called to the podium to receive information on upgrades and new seat assignments. As with any overbooking situation, the gate agents were also looking for passengers who were willing to fly to give up their seat. The benefits? A United Airlines $400 travel voucher, a hotel & food voucher for the night, and a seat on United’s 6pm London departure the next day. Obviously they found some takers, because the flight was able to start boarding around 8:30pm.
When United First and United Business boarding was called, my Dad headed to the podium, where he asked about the status of our upgrades. As I joined him there with our carry-on bags, I found out that we would receive the upgrade! How exciting! We grabbed the boarding passes and got onboard; we’d deal with the fact that we were seated on opposite sides of the United Business cabin later.
I was shocked to discover that my seat, 5B, was the bulkhead of the Business cabin – who gets a complimentary upgrade to their favorite seat?? I suppose I do! Anyhow, my Dad’s seat was 6F, so the man in 5A kindly switched seats with him.
Every seat had a pillow, a blanket, and a United Business amenity kit on it prior to the passengers boarding.
Of course, as with all of United’s Boeing 767-300ERs, this aircraft was equipped with “United Business Plus” (for lack of a better name), with 55 inch pitch. As seen above, the seats were the new United Business seats, which have to be the best non-flat Business Class seats in the industry (especially when in comparison to other carriers with three classes of service). Amenities include:
* Personal Verizon Airfone
* EmPower Laptop Power System
* Flexible In-seat Lamp
* Fully Electric Lumbar Support
* BackCycler Motion System (works as a massager)
* Nine-Channel Personal Video Monitor
Now across the aisle from me, in 5C, was a very interesting (and attractive...) guy. He was obviously a little bit hammered. Regardless, he glanced over at me and said, “I really like the sweater you’re wearing. Can I borrow it from you if I get cold?” I explained to him that I was only wearing a t-shirt underneath it, but if he got desperate, I’d consider it. His response? “I’m glad that I can count on you to keep me warm.” And then I got a devilish smile.
Sadly, the possibilities of my first mile high experience were shot down when the flight attendant discovered that he was actually seated in United Economy. Interestingly enough, he had traded seats with about three people, so the flight attendant had to follow the trail of boarding passes to find out who wasn’t in their seat.
After having him reseated, we had to wait to push back because people kept getting out of their seats in the Economy cabin. (Prior to arrival, I overheard one of the head flight attendants tell a passenger in United First that the passengers in United Economy were loud and rowdy all night, and that it had been quite a long flight...I took a moment to thank my lucky stars for the upgrade!) However, in the meantime, I glanced at the menu. Here’s a transcript for those of you who are interested:
**
BEVERAGES
Featured Wines
Your flight attendant will inform you of today’s selections.
Some of these wines may only be available on selected flights.
Champagne
Brut Yellow Label non-vintage, Veuve Clicquot
Brut Carte d’Or non-vintage, Drappier
White Wine
Burgundy: Chablis Chardonnay 2001, La Chablisienne
Alsace: Pinot Blanc 2001, Dopff & Irion
Sauvignon Blanc: Buena Vista Winery California 2001 & Allan Scott Vineyards Marlborough 2002
Red Wine
Côtes-du-Rhône: Grenache 2000, Château D’Orsan
Languedoc-Roussillon: Corbières 2000, Château Camp de la Val
Shiraz: Evans & Tate Western Australia Gnangara 2001
Cabernet Merlot: Hogue Washington
Beverages
Apéritifs and cocktails
Spirits and liqueurs
Beer
Starbucks coffee will be available throughout the flight.
MENU
*To Begin
Smoked salmon with Parma ham
Capers and lemon aïoli
Garden salad with balsamic Dijon vinaigrette and an assortment of specialty breads fresh from the bakery
*Main Course
Filet mignon with Hollandaise sauce
Home-fried potatoes, green beans and carrot bâtonnets
Rotisserie-style chicken with honey mustard beurre blanc
Corn flan and spinach with smoked bacon
*The Early Seating Meal
If you would like more time to work, relax or sleep, we offer a complete meal served all at once.
Smoked salmon with Parma ham appetizer
Marinated shrimp with Asian vinaigrette and tropical fruit
Eli’s Chocolate Truffle cheesecake
*Dessert
International cheese selection
New England Cheddar and Gorgonzola cheese
Eli’s Chocolate Truffle cheesecake
*Prior to Arrival
Continental breakfast featuring a fruit appetizer, yogurt, breakfast breads and fruit preserves.
**
Orders for dinner were taken prior to take-off, and were taken in order of status, as is done on most United flights (1K, Prem Exec, Premier, Full-fare, etc...). I selected the filet mignon, while my father decided to forego the Early Seating Meal and have the chicken.
As we taxied down the runway, I began to develop a headache, which was not terribly exciting – it’s just no fun to get an upgrade and not be able to enjoy it! So when the seatbelt sign was turned off after take-off, I immediately reclined my seat, popped up my video screen and flipped to Airshow, and took a brief nap.
I awoke a while later, and decided to have a glass of Pepsi. The flight attendant was most helpful, providing me with a few tablets of Bayer asprin. Therefore, for the the meal service, I slept, only to awake when a new portion of the meal was brought to me. I didn’t eat the appetizer (my father said it was quite good...”for airline food”, of course!), but the filet mignon was delicious. (I find airline beef always tastes the same – very predictable.) Notably, the rolls served were very difficult to eat because they were rather stale. I didn’t have the cheesecake; even though it looked delicious, I didn’t want to put too much food into my stomach. However, I had some fruit from the cheese selection, as well as a nice cup of tea.
When the meal ended, I promptly put the “wake me for meals” sticker on my headrest, and fell asleep...
I woke up about three hours later, when we were about 90 minutes outside of London. My head felt a lot better, and the flight attendant who had been so helpful before brought me the continental breakfast platter, as well as a nice cup of tea and a refresher towel. I have to say, the platter was a little bit disappointing – it would’ve been nice to have something a bit more substantial to eat; however, I figure it’s my fault for not eating the full dinner service that had come just a few hours before. The fruit was very fresh, and a nice mix (melon, strawberries, grapes), the peach yogurt was yummy, and the croissant was excellent (warm and flaky). I could’ve eaten ten more of those!
As we prepared for landing, I pulled out the UK customs card I had received just a few hours beforehand, and noticed that we were given FastTrack passes! I was a bit groggy, so that was rather exciting for 2am New York time!
I visited the lavatory, which was a mess, as usual. However, it was equipped with the usual Molton Brown aftershave, moisturizer, and Almond-scented soap. United’s getting so predictable!
Landing at Heathrow was uneventful, as was clearing customs due to the fact that we had FastTrack passes. Since I had carried on all of my baggage, we didn’t have to wait at baggage claim.
Here’s a breakdown of my experience:
Check-in 10/10: Nice looking check-in area, with extremely helpful & friendly agents
Departure Airport 8/10: The gate seating area is rather confined; however, the selection of stores is excellent.
Aircraft Seating 9/10: It’s not flatbed – but who cares? It’s my favorite Business Class seat.
In-flight Entertainment 8/10: Certainly a broad range of in-flight entertainment; however, just 6 channels of movies, 3 of short subjects, 8 audio channels – and Airshow. No interactive entertainment, or recent news programming.
Flight Attendants 9/10: Very helpful, efficient, and friendly on this fully-loaded overnight flight.
Meal 8/10: Great dinner – weak breakfast could use some improvement.
Arrival Airport 8/10: Heathrow Terminal 3 is a mess – but that’s certainly not United’s fault!
And a question:
Who in God’s name designed the bulkhead fabrics? You know, the ones where it looks like someone tore pieces of fabric and died them United’s Red, Orange, and Blue? They’re so heinous!
------
fly.be JY909
London-Gatwick (LGW) to Guernsey, Channel Islands (GCI)
Thursday, June 19, 2003
British Aerospace BAe 146-300
Seat 10A, Economy Class
Scheduled Departure Time: 12h55 Actual Departure Time: 15h45
Scheduled Arrival Time: 13h50 Actual Arrival Time: 16h32
After hoofing it over the London Gatwick from Heathrow, my Dad and I went to the fly.be check-in counters in Gatwick’s South Terminal.
Big surprise...the check-in area was a HUGE mess. We must have switched lines about three times to ensure that we were checked-in before the fly.be “30 minute rule” (be checked in 30 minutes before your flight, or else!). The ground staff standing in the line area was a bunch of 20 year olds who absolutely had no idea what they were doing.
Once we were checked in, the agent told us that our flight was delayed for two hours due to bad weather on Guernsey, which is not uncommon. We said, “No problem,” because it certainly wasn’t fly.be’s fault!
So we walked around the terminal, picked up a snack, then lounged in what Gatwick refers to as its “Viewing Area” – a very nice place to sit and relax for a while! Of course, as 2:25pm arrived (our new scheduled boarding time), we still hadn’t received word on our departure gate. Soon, though, we discovered that the flight was delayed for another hour.
We headed to our departure gate (106, if memory serves) the moment it popped onto the screen. As we arrived at the gate, boarding began, so we got onboard immediately.
The flight was uneventful, and there was no onboard service due to the fact that the aircraft had arrived late from Guernsey (the reason that our flight to Guernsey could not depart on-time), and fly.be decided not to cater the aircraft to save time and get us in the air as soon as possible.
Well appointed aircraft if I do say so myself. However, their Business Class (or “Economy Plus” as it is now called) looks as if it doesn’t offer much more than regular Economy Class – but isn’t that the norm with most European airlines these days?
Arrival in Guernsey was simple – and baggage arrived on the single baggage belt in the “Terminal” about 10 minutes after arrival.
Here’s a breakdown of my experience:
Check-in 5/10: Quite frankly, an experience I’d like to forget. One of the reasons that I think I’ll try Aurigny next time...
Departure Airport 9/10: A wide range of stores and food shops – and a lovely observation area!
Aircraft Seating 8/10: The pitch is tight – but the leather seats are soft and cozy!
Flight Attendants 7/10: Very friendly over the intercom – I don’t think I saw any of them in the cabin during the flight.
Arrival Airport 8/10: Let’s put it this way: Guernsey is Guernsey – nothing more, nothing less. It’s nice to see that they’re building a large, modern terminal, though!
------
fly.be JY906
Guernsey, Channel Islands (GCI) to London-Gatwick (LGW)
Sunday, June 22, 2003
British Aerospace BAe 146-300
Seat 4C, Economy Class
Scheduled Departure Time: 11h25 Actual Departure Time: 11h25
Scheduled Arrival Time: 12h15 Actual Arrival Time: 12h08
The Guernsey Terminal is very simple, which made everything a breeze. Check-in was simple, and there was ample seating for the passengers traveling.
When your flight is called, you clear security, and then sit in the boarding area for approximately ten minutes until the flight is ready for boarding.
The flight was short and sweet – and this time, we received the full fly.be service experience, with the possibility to purchase drinks and light snacks. (I didn’t have anything to eat.) It amazes me that the flight is less than an hour long, yet the flight attendants still can manage to provide a meal service!
The seats were, again, comfy – it was nice to have an aisle seat, too!
Gatwick’s arrivals area was not in the best shape, and it took nearly 25 minutes for our baggage to arrive.
After collecting the bags, I took the Gatwick Express to my hotel with my Dad – what a great service!
Here’s a breakdown of my experience:
Check-in 10/10: It was quick and painless with the friendly team of fly.be agents!
Departure Airport 9/10: As I said before, Guernsey is Guernsey – nothing more, nothing less. However, I do give them credit for operating such a lovely departures area.
Aircraft Seating 8/10: The pitch is tight – but the leather seats are soft and cozy!
Meals 8/10: As with most low cost carriers these days, you had to pay for your snack. However, the selection (outlined in fly.be’s in-flight magazine “Flying Colors”) seemed delicious, at very fair prices.
Flight Attendants 10/10: Excellent – service oriented, and perfect for this type of trip.
Arrival Airport 5/10: What a mess – avoid Gatwick at all costs! Let’s hope Guernsey gets Heathrow service back soon...
------
United Airlines UA905
London-Heathrow (LHR) to New York-John F. Kennedy (JFK)
Tuesday, June 24, 2003
Boeing 777-200 (Worldwide Configuration #2)
Seat 19E, United Economy Plus
Scheduled Departure Time: 13h20 Actual Departure Time: 13h45
Scheduled Arrival Time: 15h55 Actual Arrival Time: 15h37
United uses Terminal 3 at London’s Heathrow Airport, along with almost every other international carrier which has flights from Heathrow. I took the Picadilly Line straight from my hotel (The Pelham...great location, highly recommended) to Heathrow, which was a breeze.
United’s check-in area is on the opposite side of the check-in area from where you arrive from the Tube. However, it is very well organized, with separate pathes for United Business/1K & Premier and United Economy. (United First has a nice little cove for those passengers.)
Check-in was extremely simple, and I was on my way in moments. My Dad had phoned to get me a reserved aisle seat in United Economy Plus. Of course, this obviously had no impact on the agent. I was assigned 19E...yes, a dreaded middle seat in one of the 777’s blocks of five. After trying to reseat me, she told me that the flight was booked solid and there was really nothing she could do. Whatever...
So I made my way up to the departures level, where I queued for security and one more ID check. What a mess! It was a good twenty wait to simply have my passport checked and my bag screened – oh well, safety first, right?!
I took a seat amidst all of the stores and duty-free shops. I had a direct view of the departures monitor, so I could see what gate we would be assigned to as soon as it appeared. After waiting for about 25 minutes or so, I was on my way to Gate 20.
Once there, my passport was checked once again for security purposes, and I was given the stub from my boarding pass. I sat in this departure lounge for about 20 minutes, watching Parliament’s discussion regarding the royal’s safety after that guy had managed to get into Prince William’s 21st Birthday party.
I can see where the priorities of the Brits are...
We boarded around 12:30pm, and the gate agent was strict about the order in which United Economy was boarded (“from the back, forward”).
Once onboard, I found 19E wasn’t a bulkhead (as I had been hoping it was!), so I took my seat. Every seat had a blanket and pillow on top of it.
I was in United Economy Plus, so the pitch was around 35 inches. The new international United Economy seats are very comfy – amenities include:
* Fully adjustable headrest
* Nine-Channel Personal Video Monitor
For those who are interested, I was intrigued by the fact that United has taken out the in-seat phones on the Boeing 777s in Economy Class.
I began flipping through Entertainment Preview, United’s in-flight entertainment guide, and just few moments later, I was surrounded: two British couples in their 60s on their way to the states for a two week tour of the Northeast were on either side of me. I cursed my father, as I had discovered the night before that he was actually traveling on a United Business class ticket, leading me to use some choice words to describe my feelings towards him that morning before I left.
However, it turned out that they were quite amiable folks. They nearly force-fed me candy throughout the flight (they had brought a bag of “sweets” onboard with them). And at one point, when I was passing over one of the women to get back to my seat after using the bathroom, she said, “Oh, I was hoping you might take a seat in my lap.” That was really quite interesting... !!
A beverage service with those famous “Cocktail Savories” were served about 20 minutes after takeoff. And it was only about 20 minutes after that when we were served lunch with another beverage of our choice. Here’s the menu selection (of course, menus were not handed out!):
**
MENU
*To Begin
Green salad with an Asian sesame ginger dressing
Served alongside wheat and white breads
*Main Course
Chicken served in a tomato sauce
Mashed potatoes with a mushroom sauce and spinach
Cheese ravioli served in a tomato sauce
Mixed vegetables
*Dessert
Cheese with Carr’s crackers
Cadbury Chocolate Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
**
This United Economy lunch was certainly delicious. It seems that many people around me had the pasta and were extremely disappointed. However, any traveler should know that airline pasta is never the way to go! The chicken, on the other hand, was delicious, and very well cooked. But then again, I think airline food tastes pretty good most of the time due to all of the weird chemicals that are added in to preserve freshness!
The Cadbury chocolate ice cream was a nice treat, but to be honest, I kind of expected it when I noticed that there was no sort of dessert item on my meal tray.
The bread provided was far superior to the bread I’d had in United Business on the flight to London. It was served in a plastic wrapper, and was probably about the size of a 3”x5” index card – and one half was white bread, and the other was wheat. Really...quite clever! And very tasty and fresh!
I took a quick trip to the lavatory right after I had my lunch, and I must say – the United Economy lavatories on this Boeing 777 were absolutely revolting. They smelled like a combination of urine and air freshener. There was hand soap all over the sink-top area, and used paper tissues littered around the small floor area. It was something of a shock after my flight with Air New Zealand where flight attendants were in the lavs every hour to ensure that they were sparkling and fresh. Nothing against United, as it is my favorite airline – but they could possibly work on this.
After that, it was onto the in-flight entertainment selection. Sadly, all of the movies I had wanted to watch were on the last flight (“How To Lose A Guy In Ten Days” and “The Hours”)...of course, I had already seen both of them, but it was better than the return selection.
So I thought, “Well, why not just watch Ben Affleck and Colin Farrell in tight leather suits on United Cinema 1? I don’t actually have to listen to the audio, I can just check out the eye candy!” Sadly this thought was shot down by the head flight attendant who explained that channel one entertainment would not be available!
Therefore, it was onto Plan B: “Confessions of a Dangerous Mind”, which actually turned out to be a nice two hour distraction. I have to note that I was intrigued by the fact that the seatback monitors could be pulled forward – I was under the impression that all of the video screens in United Economy couldn’t be adjusted that way!
After that, I listened to some music for about an hour while staring blankly at the Airshow map, drifting in and out of sleep.
Approximately two hours prior to landing at JFK, a final beverage service was provided, with the United snackboxes. I absolutely love those things – I think they’re so attractive (they have the same designs on them as the menus for United First and United Business), and they always have something rather tasty inside of them!
I had a Pepsi (gotta say, I love the fact that United’s serving Pepsi now!) with my snackbox, which included a ham & cheese sandwich on a roll, with a bag of potato chips (or crisps as the Brits like to call them...), and a chocolate bar.
The food provided enough of a distraction for me that, by the time the flight attendants were collecting the boxes and leftover garbage, we were preparing to decend into JFK.
United did provide a brief arrival video regarding the customs & baggage collection process at JFK’s Terminal 7.
However, as usual, customs at Terminal 7 was a complete mess, due to the fact that a British Airways 747-400 had arrived from London as our aircraft had arrived from London; therefore, it was a complete fight between the BA and United ground agents who were handling customs to see who could get their customers through customs first. Oy vay...
I have to say, it seems like BA is trying to take over this terminal. I’m sorry...they can have Heathrow Terminal 3, but BA is certainly not the sole proprietor of JFK Terminal 7!!
Baggage arrived after a five minute wait. But I’m sure since most people had to wait in customs lines, they didn’t have to wait there for long anyhow!
Here’s a breakdown of my experience:
Check-in 10/10: Well set-up “nook” for United’s check-in at Heathrow Terminal 3. The wait was not long at all!
Departure Airport 6/10: I suppose if you’re the airport with the most international carriers in the world, you can’t have the best airside set-up. However, the security set-up was absurd, as was the fact that you have to walk through gaudy duty free shops to get anywhere!
Aircraft Seating 9/10: Comfy enough – nice Economy seat!
In-flight Entertainment 8/10: Certainly a broad range of in-flight entertainment; however, just 5 channels of movies, 3 of short subjects, 20 audio channels – and Airshow. No interactive entertainment, or recent news programming.
Flight Attendants 9/10: Very helpful, efficient, and friendly on this fully-loaded flight.
Meal 10/10: Perfect service for Economy Class.
Arrival Airport 7/10: United’s gotta stake its claim before BA and its oneworld cronies take it over! Bright and clean – but very confining.
Jul 6, 2003, 2:59 am
#3
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2002
Programs: Mucci des Hommes Magiques et Magnifiques
Posts: 19,097
Terminal 7 is owned by BA, they have spent alot of money making the terminal as nice as it is. I think they would prefer to get the place back to themselves plus some of their oneworld partners, as soon as UA's lease runs out.
Jul 6, 2003, 9:56 am
#5
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: Agoura Hills, CA USA
Posts: 2,662
I recently flew BA from JFK-LHR and I noticed that the UA international passengers had literrally very little info on their flight gate, and overherard several of them concerned because they were waiting with othe BA passengers for their flight to LHR. Little did they know that their flight was taking off from a different gate....