United Airlines
Economy Class
IAD-DXB (Washington Dulles – Dubai Internationl Airport Terminal 3)
UA 976 – Economy Class (L)
6:35 PM – 5:25 PM + 1
Oct 4, 2012
Booked: Boeing 777-200
Flown: Boeing 777-200
We made it into the gate area during Boarding Zone 6. The United Maze dragon took issue with Ms World Traveller 73 using the Premier Access lane, despite both our Star Gold Statuses. Somehow with all the boarding pass switches, the status did not carry over to the latest boarding card. Despite her Star Gold Card in hand, the United dragon started to refuse boarding Ms World Traveller 73 the priority boarding lane. “We only go by what’s on the boarding pass.” she squaked… And “You weren’t here when boarding zone two was called” Ms WorldTraveller 73 protested, and protested enough that the gate dragon relented pretty quickly. Her skill of talking back to the carry on dragon police appeared to be easily carried over. Despite the mild embarrassment at a scene starting to develop, maybe it’s been a while since I missed a boarding zone call, but strange that boarding at your convenience seemed to miss so much common sense here – especially with a Star Gold Card in hand.
Passing through the backward facing Business First product...
This had to be the longest flight that I had ever taken, at 13 hours and 20 minutes in duration. On board I was happy to see that United had upgraded their entertainment offerings to a full Advanced Video On Demand system. The system actually had a whole stack of movies, and it was actually better than the Lufthansa entertainment system in First Class on their Airbus 330 that I took in May. It made the time pass by really quickly.
Once underway, a beverage service was offered, along with a small dinner. Romaine Lettuce Salad with Tomato, Honey Dijon Dressing, Indian lamb tips with wild rice and a triple chocolate brownie. They're getting creative with the USA credit card promotions however. They snuck this one in there . . .
Duty free was offered on board, but restricted soley to Dubai bound passengers. Passengers to Doha were not permitted to buy any on board liquor due to legal restrictions of bringing in alcohol into the country.
The second service was a quick fast food snack. I didn't quite know what to make of it. Breakfast? Lunch? Either way, it went down quickly. I was pretty hungry and there wasn't a lot of choice!!
Thankfully avoiding Iranian Airspace in a US flagged carrier. . .
On arrival, we had a brief 90 minute stop in Dubai Terminal One. We proceeded through a security check and went to go find the LH Senator Lounge. Unfortunately at 4 PM, the lounge was closed (operating hours 1800-0900hrs), and there were no real alternative available to us as Star Gold. Instead, we viewed the massive duty free in Terminal One. Anywhere with a gold coloured palm tree that's indoors is a bit strange to see, but most eyes were on the shopping. At least for MsWT73...
