Since I haven't done much domestic United First flying, I'm not really sure if these flights suffered from recent service cutbacks. Of course, there were no hot towels or table linens.

UA 324, SEA-DEN, 12-21-01 (Friday), 5:45pm, Boeing 757

As usual for me, I was running late to the airport, but managed to check in at the Premier counter around 4:45pm, a full hour before my flight. UA requires all passengers in SEA to get checked bags x-rayed, so once my boarding pass was issued, I was off to another line, with no Premier shortcut.

This line moved slowly, and I didn’t get my bag tagged until 5:05pm. I was then told that I had to hurry and that I might miss my flight. I wasn’t really too worried, because when I flew last week at the same time of day the C concourse had no security line, and a walkway to the D concourse, where you catch the train to the North Satellite (UA terminal).

But today was a Friday just before the holidays, and it was more crowded. The line for the D concourse looked like it would take forever, but I cleared security at the C concourse within 15 minutes and raced to the train for the North Satellite, hoping I wouldn’t miss my flight.

I managed to arrive at the gate with a few minutes to spare, and was one of the last passengers to board this full flight. Pre departure drinks (champagne, orange juice, water) were offered, and doors were closed 10 minutes early, around 5:35pm.

After the “flight attendants please prepare for takeoff announcement”, there was a request for a doctor’s assistance, and then the captain announced we were returning to the gate to get medical attention for a sick passenger. We returned to the gate and were met by an ambulance.

Since I was seated near the front of the plane, I did not really know or see what was going on, but the paramedics removed the sick passenger from the plane. For security reasons, they had to remove that passenger’s luggage, but that was quick, and then we pushed back again. A few of the passengers in First Class were staring back to watch the action, and although I was curious, I thought it was most appropriate to just mind my own business.

We now were very late, taking off at 6:40pm, but it wasn’t really a big deal since very few if any of the passengers had onward connections, because UA has cut back a lot of its late departures from the hubs.

Dinner service began shortly after we leveled off, starting with snack mix and beverages, followed by the meal service. The choices were beef stroganoff or crab cakes, and orders were taken by status, but even as a Premier I had my choice, and chose the crab cakes.

This dinner service included all courses at once. The salad was lettuce with red and yellow tomato, olives, and fresh mozzarella. The main dish consisted of two crab cakes with a chipolte sauce and asparagus. There was a warm wheat roll, served on the tray, not offered in a bread basket. The dessert was….you guessed it….caramel cheesecake.

I haven’t done much domestic F flying on United, so I am not sure if this meal suffered any cutbacks, but I really enjoyed it, especially since coach was served just beverages. Once the trays were cleared, there were only about 45 minutes left before landing in Denver, where we landed around 9:40pm.

Even though we were late (missing the hub congestion), the baggage claim area was crowded and there was a very long wait for bags. My Priority tag didn’t really help, because the bags were probably reshuffled due to the passenger’s bag that got offloaded.

I spent the next 6 days skiing in Winter Park with my family. Great snow and sunny weather – what more could you want?

UA 875, DEN-SEA, 12-28-01 (Friday), 9:35am, Boeing 757

My return flight was scheduled early Friday morning because I needed to be back at work. The 5am shuttle pickup from Winter Park wasn’t the most relaxing way to end my vacation, but I got a bit of sleep and arrived at DIA around 7:20am, which I thought would be early enough to stand-by for the 8:35am flight to SEA (I was booked at 9:35am just to be safe).

I checked in at the Premier counter and was told that I could not standby on the 8:35am flight because the security line was 90 minutes long. At DEN, there is an Express line for people without a large carryon or laptop. I didn’t qualify, so I was stuck in the general line which actually ended up taking only 45 minutes. To my surprise, no one had to remove their shoes.

I reached the concourse at 8:30am, just as the 8:35am flight to SEA disappeared from the screens. I guess I was smart to book the 9:35am flight after all. Pre departure drinks were offered, with the choices being champagne, orange juice, or coffee, and pushback was right on schedule. My seat was 6D, in the far back of First Class, but it still had normal recline.

Even though this flight continued to NRT and BKK, there was a change from a 757 to a 777 in SEA. I recall in the past the DEN-SEA portion was operated by a 777, but this was back in the pre 9-11 days.

Following a beverage service with snack mix, breakfast was served. The choices were a “hot breakfast” (described as eggs, corned beef hash, and sausage) or a “fruit plate”. Since I have had fabulous fruit plates (on transcons and international business class) on UA, I decided to give it a try. When I saw it was cereal with a small plate of fruit, I realized I had really screwed up, but didn’t bother asking to switch to the hot breakfast.

Apparently, this breakfast has been “streamlined”, and the trays were served from a cart, with the purser delivering the hot entrée portion from the galley. The hot breakfast looked like a sampler with waffles, eggs, corned beef hash, and sausage, along with a fruit bowl. My silly cold breakfast was cherrios and a plate of fruit (melons, strawberries, and grapes). Not even any yogurt. Honestly, I am not sure the cold breakfast contained much more fruit than the hot breakfast.
The flight attendant offered a bread basket with banana nut muffins, croissants, and bagels. Being in 6D, I was the last to be served, and no croissants were left, so I was greedy and asked for a muffin and a bagel. The F/A hesitated, but since I was the last passenger to be served, I guess it wasn’t too big a deal.

The cereal portion was tiny and I was only able to use less than 1/3 of the milk served. I was tempted to ask for another bowl of cereal, or a hot breakfast, but then I decided that it wasn’t really fair to give the F/As a hard time, and that it was my mistake for ordering the so called “fruit plate”.

The service was excellent. Since coach only was served beverages, the F/As assigned to the main cabin came up to help in First Class, offering constant refills of juice and coffee. The skies were clear for the second half of the flight, with beautiful views of snowcapped mountains. We flew right alongside Mt. Rainer, and then as we approached Seattle, all the snow disappeared. Landing was from the north, approaching right over downtown. I hardly ever land in Seattle during the daytime (most of my flights land at night), so this was a treat.

Baggage claim took forever, because an IAD and SFO flight had landed before us. I’m really getting frustrated with checking bags – and will continue avoiding it except for longer trips.

Overall, excellent First Class service from United, especially given that coach doesn’t see much domestic service these days. My whole issue with breakfast was just a learning experience. I just hope those great transcon and international fruit plates haven’t been streamlined, too!

I was also pleased that in spite of full flights, my upgrades (using e-certificates) cleared by the time I checked in, and now with this trip I have risen from Premier to Premier Executive, so I guess I can expect even better experiences on United going forward.