kensiltra

I had a week long work conference in New Orleans (NOLA), Louisiana at the downtown convention center. Due to schedules, United was the "best" option based on cost, times, etc. I left early morning on Tuesday out of a sleepy GRR (as usual), I think I avoided 3 people by using TSA PreCheck. I had 3D on the miserable RJ145 which I made a mental note not to do again as there is no storage for bags as it is a bulk head! Luckily this flight is under 30 mins most times so not too bad!



Arrived in ORD with plenty of time to spare so ran over to the United Club to kill a couple of hours, the ORD clubs are pretty nice this one was no exception, very roomy and modern and some decent food choices including a hot egg dish!


Grabbed 2A to MSY, plenty of leg room, the 737-900s are a really nice aircraft. PDB of water was offered as catering hadn't yet arrived, had there been would have been a full PDB offering and flight attendant made up for it once we were in the air. This flight was advertised as a "snack" flight but actually wasn't too bad (apologies for the blurry photo). Consisted of a fresh scone and fresh fruit and actually both were pretty fresh and tasted good.





Flight arrived about 20 minutes early so that was a nice change of pace, I actually have to say United's been improving dramatically on this front the past 6 months or maybe they are just cleverly padding their flight times so it seems that way?

I grabbed an Uber to the Hampton Inn New Orleans Convention Center hotel. My Hilton status was recognized and was upgraded to a 1 bedroom 2nd floor suite. I was pretty impressed with how nice this was especially for a Hampton, it actually rivaled some core Hilton properties! Very nice large windows/light, open/airy room, full kitchen.









My conference was at the New Orleans Conference Center literally across the street! The conference ran from Tuesday to Thursday.


Did some sightseeing with the limited time I had, that's the one bummer with conferences you never really have enough time to see the sights and/or you are so tired that you can't.





I did swing by the Creole Creamery one night for some really good ice cream!


Like all good things though it came to an end, got up Friday morning had a leisurely breakfast and grabbed an Uber back to MSY. LONG security line at concourse D, luckily PreCheck got me through in a few minutes although TSA was VERY disorganized, especially with all the laptop concerns lately.


Back on the friendly skies, notice the large left deviation we had to do to avoid weather!

The flight crews on this flight were the older BUT nicer United flight attendants. A PDB was in my hand within minutes and the entire flight I never went without a full cup, very attentive group. Another 737-900 so plenty of room.

The difference in services between flights on United is crazy, coming down did not have a PDB or warm nuts on this flight I had a PDB and warm nuts before our "snack" shortly after takeoff!

The "snack" was actually a pretty decent small meal, had a chicken wrap, fresh fruit and a chocolate for dessert. Key thing was everything was fresh and had decent taste for what it was!


Had a short connection at ORD so just enough time to get to the gate for more RJ145 punishment. Flight from ORD to GRR was VERY rough the entire time in the air but we did land on time, thanks United!



Overall loved New Orleans as this was my first time there, we will actually be going back in November of this year for a family wedding so will have more time to party/explore than what I did this time. United actually seemingly has gotten better, the food for what it was was not bad, flights ran mostly on time and good flight attendants, I still like Delta a bit better.

brewdog11

Thanks for the TR! Always nice reading TRs about my home city--especially those written by people who enjoyed it. NOLA is still like no other.

Did you happen to catch any of the monument drama while you were there?

I smiled when I saw the pic of the Creole Creamery. I'm guessing you didn't take the Tchoupitoulas Challenge while you were there (eight scoops of ice cream, eight toppings). Did it with a friend and had a... let's just say "interesting" experience. Needless to say, I did not make it and became very familiar with the curb outside. He made it, and exercised his gloating rights.

kensiltra

I did not actually catch any of the monument drama while I was there, heard about it on the news and some locals casually mentioned it; both sides have some strong opinions that is for sure! Made for some interesting conversations at the bars though.

I did not take the challenge, 2 scoops in a bowl was good enough for me.

I did enjoy NOLA, definitely is unique. Did not get to French Quarter or any of the happening spots as I was either busy or extremely tired. Our trip later this year will be all about the party side of NOLA and a wedding thrown in so looking forward to that side.

MSYtoJFKagain

You mentioned taking an Uber from the airport. Did you have to relocate outside of the terminal to grab it? I haven't tried taking them recently with all the taxi lobby issues.

kensiltra

They do have a designated transportation center (by baggage pickup 6) where I had to meet the Uber driver but beyond that there was no special things needed or "work arounds" like when I go out of Orlando and have to do pickups at the local Hilton
The Uber App also gave good info about what was required.

MSYtoJFKagain

That's great news!

I had given up with the back and forth that Uber was doing with the city. I'll be using them when I get in later this week.

Cheers!

CHOPCHOP767

Thanks for the report, kensilstra. My experiences with UA's domestic F of late mirror yours; continuous improvement the dark $mi$ek days. Also, wow, looks like a nice Hampton Inn. Glad to see Hilton is investing in modernizing that brand.