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Upon arrival at PWM, I queued up in the First Class line but was ignored by the lone check in agent who served several coach passengers while I waited. Therefore, I decided to move to the coach line. I find that CSRs at UX stations don’t really acknowledge 1K status and are really short staffed (similar issues @ EGE). I was a bit pissed off, but didn’t complain to the agent, out of fear he would harm my reservation, and, no, I’m not going to write a complaint letter either, because this really isn't a big deal.

Today’s CRJ-700 to IAD had 51 passengers in Y, and 3 in F. The F cabin was quite spacious and comfortable – especially given how empty it was. Personally I would burn 500 milers for CRJ trips to get the more comfortable seat, given that I can normally snag exit row seats on mainline equipment. Scheduled departure time was 1:50pm, and boarding was quite chaotic because there was only 1 agent, so she took our tickets, set us in a holding pen, then released us to board. We pushed back a bit late to finalize some paperwork, but then were put on ground hold until 2:45pm because of weather in Dulles.

This Mesa-operated flight offered drinks in plastic cups and pretzels – the only “F” thing about the service were several refill opportunities and a more comfy seat. We landed IAD late at around 4:15pm, so I made my 4:55pm connecting flight with plenty of time to spare.

Of course, the 4:55pm IAD-SEA flight is UA 917 which SeaTigger likes to keep talking about. We held at the gate for about 20 minutes to board late international connections, and water was offered as a pre departure beverage.

After takeoff, service began with drinks and mixed nuts, followed by the main meal, with the salad and main dish presented on one tray:

To Begin

Fresh seasonal greens with tomatoes and Parmesan cheese
Honey Dijon dill vinaigrette or ranch dressing

Main course
(vegetable selection: green beans with almonds)

Oriental braised short ribs of beef with carrots and baby bok choy
Steamed jasmine rice and black sesame seeds

Roasted breast of chicken with shallot and balsamic demi-glace
Oven-roasted sweet potatoes and sautéed baby spinach with lemon

Mixed nut crusted mahi mahi with saffron tomato sauce
Garlic mashed potatoes with chives and baby bok choy with red peppers

Dessert
Ice Cream with sundae toppings


The salad was nicely presented, with thin slices of parmesan and a mixture of red and yellow tomatoes. I went with the mahi, which wasn’t the best choice – it was quite tough and not too flavorful – but the sauce and vegetables were excellent. Interestingly, wine glasses weren’t on the trays, which meant no wine was served with the main meal unless it was your primary beverage. But the Chilean Merlot and the Fetzer Chardonnay didn’t look worthwhile anyway.

The ice cream was served rock-solid cold, and was a mix of coffee and vanilla flavors. While I love coffee ice cream, I wanted to sleep on this flight (still jet lagged and had dinner plans on arrival), so I was only able to eat the vanilla.

I then went to sleep. It doesn’t seem like there was any pre-arrival service, but I stopped at the galley for a can of mineral water. Overall this was a solid transcon in F, but nothing too special. I usually like UA’s SEA based crews, but this one didn’t blow me away.

onedog

This is what the Mrs. usually tells me when I am fuming in the line because of how slow it is moving.