Plus Points and Pints: A London Weekend
Oct 22, 2022, 9:09 pm
#16
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2016
Location: Equidistant from IAD and DCA
Programs: UA Gold
Posts: 129
Eurostar to Brussels
As I mentioned in the introduction, I was confident in my ability to suffer through brutal travel days so I booked a 6:16 am Eurostar (idk why they didn't set it for a 6:15...) to Brussels in order to save $150ish.
Eurostar upon arrival!
First, my day started at 4:45am with the 10 minute walk to St. Pancreas. I didn't realize the extent to which Eurostar forces you to arrive as early as you do at an airport for a flight. Based on my Standard ticket I had to arrive at least 45 min before departure.
Before boarding I grabbed a coffee from the Cafe that was thankfully open at 5am.
Said Coffee and a bottle of water from the Hub. I was disappointed to learn there weren't outlets at each seat -- unless I missed something obvious.
After about two hours we arrived in Brussels. I noticed a train would be leaving for the airport three tracks over from my arriving Eurostar, so I prepared to sprint to that in order to maximize my time at the airport. I had checked my inbound flight and noticed it arrived two days before, which seemed interesting. I made the train I was hoping to and made it to BRU 30 minutes after stepping off the Eurostar. From there, fast track security was a breeze and I was feeling good.
However, after going through security I noticed a nasty immigration line. After being in it for 10 minutes I had barely moved and still could not see the front. At this point, I was starting to get worried about making my flight. I got in line exactly two hours before my flights departure and through line conversations realized a lot of passengers around me were on the 11am ORD flight and were in a significantly worse position than I was. Bear in mind, as I was slowly moving through the line I was #9 on the upgrade list for Polaris and #2 for Premium Plus with Polaris being sold out and there being one empty Premium Plus seat. The line was taking so long that at one point airport staff came through giving water bottles to people, never a good sign. After about an hour I was in sight of the immigration officers. Given it was now one hour before departure and check-in closed I checked the upgrade list and noticed two things: first, my upgrade to Premium Plus cleared so I was no longer on the hook for 8 hours of an Economy Plus window seat, and second that due to maintenance the flight was delayed 30 minutes. .
Once I made it through the line it was about 15 minutes before boarding started (once accounting for the delay) so I grabbed a snack and walked to the gate area figuring I could eat while waiting for boarding. For some reason, everyone had to trade boarding passes so I went though a secondary passport screen and received my new Premium Plus BP. At this point the gate area was a mess as at least 30 people had missed the ORD flight and were getting rebooked while simultaneously people from my flight were getting a new boarding pass. I found a quiet place one gate over and ate my snack while eavesdropping on the flight crew for my flight who were also at the same calm gate area. An additional delay was announced and it became apparent the flight would be delayed further so I headed to the Diamond Lounge. At first, I was denied entry since they said only United Polaris pax have access, not Star Gold. But on a whim I asked if they take priority pass and they said they did, so I was in.
At this point, figuring the delay would only last an additional 30 minutes I grabbed some recomposure -- espresso, candy, and water while I waited to head back to the gate area.
When I got back to the gate, it was clear the flight was going to be delayed further. At this point we were already delayed 2 hours and they had announced the engine was being repaired, so naturally there was a crowd watching the repairs go down. I decided to head back to the lounge for a shower and returned only to see them announce that some final tests were being done, and if they passed they would begin boarding. Knowing EUU261 I began rooting for an additional 30 minute delay so I could get my compensation! Also, I noticed that there were now 3 open Polaris seats and I was somehow #2 on the list. In between all the people rebooking their now missed connections (due to the delay) I asked the Gate Agent about my upgrade odds and they said they would get back to me soon. Sure enough a few minutes later I was paged and had a confirmed Polaris seat. So when I first stood in an hour immigration line I was in an Economy Plus window seat, a few hours later I was set to receive €600 and a Polaris seat.
As I mentioned in the introduction, I was confident in my ability to suffer through brutal travel days so I booked a 6:16 am Eurostar (idk why they didn't set it for a 6:15...) to Brussels in order to save $150ish.
Eurostar upon arrival!
First, my day started at 4:45am with the 10 minute walk to St. Pancreas. I didn't realize the extent to which Eurostar forces you to arrive as early as you do at an airport for a flight. Based on my Standard ticket I had to arrive at least 45 min before departure.
Before boarding I grabbed a coffee from the Cafe that was thankfully open at 5am.
Said Coffee and a bottle of water from the Hub. I was disappointed to learn there weren't outlets at each seat -- unless I missed something obvious.
After about two hours we arrived in Brussels. I noticed a train would be leaving for the airport three tracks over from my arriving Eurostar, so I prepared to sprint to that in order to maximize my time at the airport. I had checked my inbound flight and noticed it arrived two days before, which seemed interesting. I made the train I was hoping to and made it to BRU 30 minutes after stepping off the Eurostar. From there, fast track security was a breeze and I was feeling good.
However, after going through security I noticed a nasty immigration line. After being in it for 10 minutes I had barely moved and still could not see the front. At this point, I was starting to get worried about making my flight. I got in line exactly two hours before my flights departure and through line conversations realized a lot of passengers around me were on the 11am ORD flight and were in a significantly worse position than I was. Bear in mind, as I was slowly moving through the line I was #9 on the upgrade list for Polaris and #2 for Premium Plus with Polaris being sold out and there being one empty Premium Plus seat. The line was taking so long that at one point airport staff came through giving water bottles to people, never a good sign. After about an hour I was in sight of the immigration officers. Given it was now one hour before departure and check-in closed I checked the upgrade list and noticed two things: first, my upgrade to Premium Plus cleared so I was no longer on the hook for 8 hours of an Economy Plus window seat, and second that due to maintenance the flight was delayed 30 minutes. .
Once I made it through the line it was about 15 minutes before boarding started (once accounting for the delay) so I grabbed a snack and walked to the gate area figuring I could eat while waiting for boarding. For some reason, everyone had to trade boarding passes so I went though a secondary passport screen and received my new Premium Plus BP. At this point the gate area was a mess as at least 30 people had missed the ORD flight and were getting rebooked while simultaneously people from my flight were getting a new boarding pass. I found a quiet place one gate over and ate my snack while eavesdropping on the flight crew for my flight who were also at the same calm gate area. An additional delay was announced and it became apparent the flight would be delayed further so I headed to the Diamond Lounge. At first, I was denied entry since they said only United Polaris pax have access, not Star Gold. But on a whim I asked if they take priority pass and they said they did, so I was in.
At this point, figuring the delay would only last an additional 30 minutes I grabbed some recomposure -- espresso, candy, and water while I waited to head back to the gate area.
When I got back to the gate, it was clear the flight was going to be delayed further. At this point we were already delayed 2 hours and they had announced the engine was being repaired, so naturally there was a crowd watching the repairs go down. I decided to head back to the lounge for a shower and returned only to see them announce that some final tests were being done, and if they passed they would begin boarding. Knowing EUU261 I began rooting for an additional 30 minute delay so I could get my compensation! Also, I noticed that there were now 3 open Polaris seats and I was somehow #2 on the list. In between all the people rebooking their now missed connections (due to the delay) I asked the Gate Agent about my upgrade odds and they said they would get back to me soon. Sure enough a few minutes later I was paged and had a confirmed Polaris seat. So when I first stood in an hour immigration line I was in an Economy Plus window seat, a few hours later I was set to receive €600 and a Polaris seat.
Last edited by jbar91; Oct 22, 2022 at 9:15 pm
Oct 24, 2022, 7:11 am
#17
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2016
Location: Equidistant from IAD and DCA
Programs: UA Gold
Posts: 129
United Polaris BRU-IAD
UA 951
Seat 11D
Departure: 3:53pm (scheduled 12:00pm)
Arrival: 6:20pm (scheduled 2:30pm)
Flight time: 7:45
By the time I got on board I was curious to see how service would be. I suspect some of the crew were hoping to connect home, and like the passengers would be dealing with misconnects. On top of that, they are only human and also sat around for 3 hours.
I was among the first to board with 1K, so got lots of people watching in during boarding......
PDB of sparkling wine. Polaris angles are weird, featuring my neighbors iPad. As an aside, the sparkling wine was incredible, but that might be the delay talking
Both the beef and pork looked pretty good. While on the ground the FA came around and took orders and I selected the beef as my first choice and pork as my backup.
45 min after takeoff the drink cart came through and I selected a glass of red (CA Pinot) and a sparkling water.
15 minutes later I received my tray. Service was better than anticipated given the scenario but would have been nice to get a refill. The beef cheeks were absolutely incredible!
After my tray was taken, I got an hour or so power nap in.Then I browsed the movie selection but was uninspired, so stuck with what I had downloaded. First, Rings of Power season finale with some snacks from a basket the FAs had set up.
Then, Irma Vep on HBO Max.
I have Caps (Washington Capitals -- DC's NHL team) season tickets and they had a game the night I arrived at 7pm. Due to the delay it was a little iffy on if I would make it, but I decided to caffeinate anyways.
About an hour before landing we got our snack. I chose the vegetarian option and it was delicious!
The little packaged brownie thing was basic but tasty.
Beautiful golden hour view on arrival to the gate.
We got lucky and got gate C2 which meant a short walk over to the people mover. Thanks to global entry and no checked bag 15 min after deplaning I was in the car headed to Capital One Arena.
I ended up missing the first 15 minutes of the game, but the Caps came from behind to win, a great end to a great weekend. Thanks for reading!
UA 951
Seat 11D
Departure: 3:53pm (scheduled 12:00pm)
Arrival: 6:20pm (scheduled 2:30pm)
Flight time: 7:45
By the time I got on board I was curious to see how service would be. I suspect some of the crew were hoping to connect home, and like the passengers would be dealing with misconnects. On top of that, they are only human and also sat around for 3 hours.
I was among the first to board with 1K, so got lots of people watching in during boarding......
PDB of sparkling wine. Polaris angles are weird, featuring my neighbors iPad. As an aside, the sparkling wine was incredible, but that might be the delay talking
Both the beef and pork looked pretty good. While on the ground the FA came around and took orders and I selected the beef as my first choice and pork as my backup.
45 min after takeoff the drink cart came through and I selected a glass of red (CA Pinot) and a sparkling water.
15 minutes later I received my tray. Service was better than anticipated given the scenario but would have been nice to get a refill. The beef cheeks were absolutely incredible!
After my tray was taken, I got an hour or so power nap in.Then I browsed the movie selection but was uninspired, so stuck with what I had downloaded. First, Rings of Power season finale with some snacks from a basket the FAs had set up.
Then, Irma Vep on HBO Max.
I have Caps (Washington Capitals -- DC's NHL team) season tickets and they had a game the night I arrived at 7pm. Due to the delay it was a little iffy on if I would make it, but I decided to caffeinate anyways.
About an hour before landing we got our snack. I chose the vegetarian option and it was delicious!
The little packaged brownie thing was basic but tasty.
Beautiful golden hour view on arrival to the gate.
We got lucky and got gate C2 which meant a short walk over to the people mover. Thanks to global entry and no checked bag 15 min after deplaning I was in the car headed to Capital One Arena.
I ended up missing the first 15 minutes of the game, but the Caps came from behind to win, a great end to a great weekend. Thanks for reading!