FlightNurse

I figured I would write about my trip to the April FTU (Frequent Traveler University) that was held in Virginia. All I’ll say about the whole event is Meh..PM me if you want more, but I will say I meet some great people. I’ll be mostly focusing on the flights to IAD my time in DC and my flight back to PHX. I know this won’t be on the same level as a Eightback or SFO777 reports, however, I will do my best.

April 26th 2013
United Flight # 983
PHX-IAH
Departure: Scheduled 0500/Actual 0455
Arrival: Scheduled 0917/Actual 0914
Flight Time 1:57
757-200 PmCO
Seat 2B
Breakfast

Boarding started at a very rude time of 0415, boarding was through 2L, I was 4th person on board, 3rd in the FC cabin. Placed my stuff in the overhead bin, sat down and waited for 10 minutes before my jacket taken and hung up, then asked what I wanted to drink, I took OJ, which was delivered quickly. Then for the next 30 minutes nothing else was offered, really UA, the first class FA was busy looking for things in the galley, the purser was busy running from the front galley to the boarding door doing what, not too sure, but the man made roughly 25 trips back and forth. One could only hope for a much better inflight experience. While boarding the lovely lady in 1E was displaying her rudeness to most in FC.



I’m not too sure what the holdup was in Y, but one of the Y FA’s kept making the “please remember, this is a completely full flight and overhead bin space is limited, please do not stow your small items in the overhead bins, also please take your seat quickly for an on time departure.” Really, we started boarding 45 minutes before departure; does it really take that much time to board the plane?

We pushed back 5 minutes early, and since UA uses the very old terminal two at PHX, it is a short taxi, and with wheels up at 0500 on the button. The safety video ended as the plane lined up on the runway. The two Rolls-Royce engines spooled up and we were gaining speed down the runway. The 757 is one of my favorite planes, in time we were off the group, and gear up. After about 30 minutes the first class FA and Purser started the service, once it started the purser worked his tail off, coffee and juices’ were kept topped off.




Breakfast

Jeff McMuffin
Or
Cereal

I asked what kind of cereal, the purser did not know, and of course he didn’t offer to go up and find out. So I took the Jeff McMuffin, what’s to say about it.

Jeff McMuffin
Fruit
Strawberry Yogurt
After all trays were delivered the basket of cinnamon rolls or croissant were passed, only one pass was made even though I could see there was another bag of them and placed in the basket, but they never got passed around.





As you can see nothing special, however, I loved the fact that there was a wine glass on the tray… I was surprised to see this breakfast and was hoping to see something else. After breakfast, serve ended, including drinks. Meal service has gone downhill big time since I have stopped flying UA, pretty sad.


We arrived into IAH early, which was nice. A friend of mine was going to be on my next flight and I meet him at the RCC in the new terminal E, while sitting there the retro Continental Airlines 737-900 arrived, haven’t seen it before, however, and heard about it so I snapped a photo of it.



After a while we walked to gate for the next flight, I was looking forward to this flight, it would on a refurbished 767-400 with the Business First cabin.


United Flight # 1501
IAH-IAD
767-400 PmCO
Seat 4L
Departure: Scheduled 1139/Actual 1208 (ATC hold)
Arrive : Scheduled 1540/ Actual 1533
Lunch

We arrived at the gate about 10 minute before boarding time, and saw the plane.

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I didn’t take the picture of the gate lice, but man talk about getting in the way and this was a full flight. I also saw in IAH and IAD UA has lanes for each boarding group, which doesn’t happen in PHX. Boarding was called, so myself and buddy boarded (he hung in there with UA is 1K, but his upgrade did not clear) as we walked towards the plane, they used two jet ways to board, 1L and 2L, I boarded threw 1L, was greeted by a FA who had the biggest smile and welcomed me on board, passed through the galley to get the other side, the galley FA also welcomed me on board, and found my seat. I took two pictures of the seat and IEF.








Placed my items in the overhead bins and settled in myself, so first off, I haven’t been on a UA wide body in a while, last time was a 767-300 with the weird forward and backward facing J cabin, I like this config better, but it is a very tight space, the seat width seems to be about the same as Y seats, I also wish the power ports were not behind you which is very odd and hard to get to while sitting in the seat. After everybody boarded the front cabin, the front door was closed, which was a very nice touch, this kept people from walking through the cabin. It took about 10 minutes before the FA came to row 4 to ask what we wanted to drink, took our order and left, I still have my jacket, the FA came back with drink (Rum and Coke) and then asked if he could hang my jacket. Just like the first flight, that was the only drink service we had on the ground, even though we were held on the ground for 28 minutes (post push back). While boarding was going on, I played with the IEF and was impressed with the selection of moving, and TV shows. On the ground I was watching Alice in Wonderland, typical Tim Burton movie, he had to take some peyote while writing and directing the movie.

FlightNurse

Once airborne the crew was lax in the start of service, what I found interesting was, the front cabin crew were very senior, the two FA serving the passengers had to be in their 60s, the galley FA in his 50s, and the front crew were male. The FA’s in the back were young, say 30 something and younger. When the FA took our drink orders he also asked if we wanted a pillow and blankets. I declined them, however, when my drink arrived so did a pillow and blanket.






Once drink service was done, the FA asked if I like to have a Cheeseburger for lunch. I asked if there were another selection, and was informed no, but it came with Chicken Tortilla soup, so I guess Cheeseburger and Chicken Tortilla Soup was only boarded? Odd never before had this happen, so I watched the service some and everybody got a Cheeseburger.




Once again, I’ll throw this out, the Chicken Tortilla soup is by far the BEST soup UA serves, and for someone who has lived in the Southwest all of his life, it really does come close to being one of the best I have had. The burger itself wasn’t bad, but the bottom bun was soft and bottom bun was sort of crunchy. Overall not a bad lunch, but I thought it was odd though that the tray came with a glass of water. I wasn’t asked if I wanted another drink with lunch. By this time I had started the second movie, Skyfall, growing up I was a huge Bond fan, to this day, Goldfinger is my all-time favorite Bond Movie. I enjoyed this movie; I missed it in the theaters because of work. When the lunch trays were picked up, again, not asked if I wanted another drink. About an hour before landing warm Chocolate Chip Cookies were handed out, again, not asked if I wanted something to drink, but I rang for the FA, on his way back I asked for glass of milk. However, it took roughly 15 minutes to get it, so I ate the cookie before it got too cold.




With the hold in IAH we arrived in IAD 7 minutes early, and did the taxi thing to the gate. I found it interesting that in the front cabin where two uniformed pilots, and a couple of 1Ks in the back, So why would UA placed to pilots in the front cabin and keep 1Ks in the back? My buddy in the back stated that there were 15 or so uniformed FAs in Y+.


Over all I was NOT impressed with the level of service I received on these flights, not too sure why the FA’s are not proactive in the drinks, now the crews I had were CO crews, never had I had this problem on UA before the merger. I’m glad I jumped ship for US, as you will see at the end of this report.


The FTU was in Virginia at Tyson’s Corner, a typical business park, nothing really to write home about, I ended up staying an extra day in DC, so on Sunday I went from host hotel to the Crown Plaza (The Hamilton.) This is an older (really older) hotel; however, the level of service is incredible. Check in was a breeze, I was upgraded to “Club Level” on the 12th floor. The rooms were, nice, even though it had two beds I would call it cozy. Again, the level of service was incredible. Threw my bags on the bed, and out the door I went, I wanted to explore DC, The Hamilton is a few blocks from The White House, so I ended up walking over there, what I found was, doesn’t matter what your political party, seeing The White House in person gives you a sense (well at least me) of pride for this country. Here are some photos of my first walk.

FlightNurse

After a two and half hour walk, I was getting hungry so I fired up my one of my favorite iPhone apps called, “Around Me” and found this staple of a place that has been in the same location for 12 years, it has won many awards and it was only a block from the hotel.

I stated off with a Bass Ale, which was excellent





Hand Cut steak Tartar.
Grain Mustard Aioli, Fried Capers, Toasted Brioche





Never had steak Tartar before, and I have to say, I could get use to eating it, however, like Fore Gras it had a richness to it that would prevent me from eating this on a regular basis, but it was excellent.


Carolina Frogmore Stew,
Mussels, Clams, Poached Shrimp, Arugula Pesto, Sweet Corn, Steve’s Collards, Seafood Andouille, Spicy Shellfish Broth





I thought this was good, could have been better, wished for more clams and shrimp and fewer mussels, and the broth wasn’t really spicy.


Seasonal Crème Brulee





The flavor was Pina Colada and I have to say this was horrible, the custard was over cooked, it had the best crust I have never had on a crème brulee, however, being overcooked I only had a couple of bits and stopped. The manager was very apologetic and asked if I wanted something else on the house, I declined as it was getting late about 930 and I was getting tired. So over all on a scale of 1-5 I would give the atmosphere a 5, but the food was 3. This is what I posted on YELP.



So the following morning, got up went to the lounge for the typical IGH continental breakfast, wanted to start the day early, my flight back to PHX was at 1510, but I wanted to do more exploring and wanted to head over to the Air and Space Museum at the Smithsonian. The metro station was one block from the hotel (McPherson Sq) but it was raining, I asked the front desk if they had umbrella to rent, and they did, however, the one remaining was broken. So I walked up to CVS and bought one. Walked to the metro station bought a ticket, and started the adventure of what is known as the Metro. Now to be fair, they have a wonderful system, and very efficient but DC is also spending 5.5 Billion on enhancement to it too. Once I got passed the gates, I had to figure out which side of the tracks am I supposed to be on, since one side goes towards Maryland and the other to Virginia, and I wanted the one towards Virginia. I missed the sign and went down the wrong stairs then had to go to other side, no biggie, however, I there was a gentlemen who was yelling and waving hands, I thought for a minute if it was Eightback but it wasn’t.

Once I got to the correct side of the tracks, it was an easy ride to L’Enfant Plaza stop. This was a one block walk to the Air and Space Museum. However, when I got close to the Museum there were people standing at the entrance, than I saw this sign, which made my heart sink.




It’s only 845am now, so what I’m going to do in DC, it’s raining and over cast… Well, I went and played tourist what else! I walked, and walked and walked, and took some interesting photos, and here they are.

FlightNurse

It was time to head over to the Air and Space Museum since it was 1045am. For an aviation junking one can spend HOURS here, and I was in heaven, however, I looked at my watch and realize I need to move it, so the last half of the Museum was done very quickly. It appears my partner and I will be in DC in early Oct, which means we will be going back and spend the right amount of time, I also want to the see the Native American Museum.











Went back to the hotel, took a shower and checked out, taxi ride took just under 40 minutes to get to IAD. Now, I was slight puzzled with United mobile app, I was able to check in and print my boarding passes, but they never showed on the mobile app, was this because I was connecting to a US flight? I reprinted my boarding passes (didn’t have access to a printer at the hotel.) But from the time I arrived at the airport to arriving at the gate took me all of 20 minutes. When I arrived at the gate, I could see the Air France A380.






My flight was delayed by 5 minutes, waiting for the crew to arrive, as their inbound flight was delayed. After waiting 20 minutes boarding started, and once again, gate lice galore even though there were separate lines for each boarding group.


United Flight # 741
IAD-ORD
A319 PmUA
Seat 2A
Scheduled Departure 1510/Actual Departure 1528
Schedule Arrival 1610/Actual Arrival 1600
Refreshments* (when I booked this flight it was a 737-900 and a snack was to have been served, however, in Jan it was downgraded to a 319 and refreshments.)

Boarding went find, the FC FA, was took a while to do the PDB, and when I was asked, it was an open bar, I just took a coke. My jacket was taken right away, but this was the only drink service on the ground. So nothing else to report, snack basket passed around a couple of time, and more drinks (much better than my previous UA flights on this trip.) We landed early and off I went to my connecting US flights.

FlightNurse

US Airways Flight #192
ORD-PHX
A321
Seat 2D
Schedule Departure 1710/Actual 1728
Schedule Arrival 1859/Actual 1825
Dinner


Boarding, the gate lice were out in force, once on board, jacket was taken away quickly and first PDB served, Jack and Coke. My seatmate flew out to ORD the night before and had this crew and he told me they were awesome. Once boarding was done and working on my second Jack and Coke, we pushed back and waited (ATC hold.) Once on our way, the FC FA, Kim, was outstanding, keep the drinking flowing, had a great attitude and really did a first rate job.





Appetizer
Mozzarella Ball
Sun Dried Tomato
Salami slices
Provolone cheese slices

Salad
Mix lettuce with olives and parmigiano reggiano and a balsamic vinaigrette


Main Entrée’s
BBQ Chicken with Mash Sweet Potato and Southwest Melody of veggies and black beans

Or

Mushroom Ravioli’s in a tomato sauce.

Herb roll

Dessert
Carmel Cheesecake with Carmel Sauce





Overall great meal I’m not much of a wine drinker so I didn’t have or look at the wines. My only complaint really was the portion size of the main course, I wish there would have been bigger, but the food was very good and tasty, better service and food then what I got on UA. Hot towel was passed was given on the IAH-IAD flight as well as the ORD-PHX flight. The meal on the US flights is pretty much what is served when a meal is served; the FA’s are usually for the most part friendly and very outgoing. Kim informed me that May 1st is the first day of both east and west crews able to fly together; she is hoping that things will go smoothly.

FlightNurse

In PHX the Sky tram is completed well the first phase, PHX is going to be using a tram to get people from terminal to terminal and from the light rail to the airport. So the first phase goes from the light rail station to the east economy parking lot to terminal 4 and back, so on this trip I had my partner meet at the Sky Tram terminal by the light rail station, a lot of people went from terminal 4 to the east econ parking lot, and only a few went to the end. I was impressed with the ease of use, so here are a few photos I took while on it, it passed right over Southwest gates, I was surprised to see an Air Tran 737 with the southwest planes.

dat4life

Is the new UA getting that desperate, and pulling 40 y/o aircraft out of the desert?

The dinner service on US actually looked pretty decent. Thanks for the pictures of that! There aren't many pics of US meals floating around. Granted, I don't spend much time on the US forum...yet

Anyways, thanks for posting!

FlightNurse

Opps I fixed it.. One could only wish it was a 727....

I fly US 50% of the time and the food is much better than that on UA.

rob_flies_ua

If your flight number, aircraft type, and picture of the lady in first with her feet on the bulkhead are all accurate, then your first flight was actually a PMUA crew. Seems like perhaps some confirmation bias here.

fieldeng

Nice report. I learned something reading it in the AroundMe app. I'll have to download that.

Also nice to see pictures of US Air food. Like dat4life, i don't spend much time in the US forum. Soon I suppose..

FlightNurse

From what I remember, it was a CO aircraft, as well as Crew, since they were IAH based.

rob_flies_ua

UA 983 is a PMUA flight number; all of PMCO's 757-200s have lie-flat seating in first class, not domestic F seats; color scheme in the photo is PMUA color. They've been moving aircraft between hubs a bunch since the merger closed, and it's not uncommon to find PMUA flying out of legacy CO hubs or vice versa.

Hartmann

It was a PMUA aircraft and crew. UA has been moving crews around the network and recently had a large number of pmUA crews change their base to IAH.

SFO777

Great report and great pics, FlightNurse!
Those UA meals look absolutely pathetic. In contrast, that US meal looks pretty good. You've got me feeling better about the US/AA deal. Thanks for posting.

FlightNurse

no problem I was just shocked at the lack of service that happened on UA, no drinks after meal service... Oh well, as I wrote, I made the right choice to go to US, and now it will be AA.