Rush2112SFO

A few times a year I travel from SMF to IAD on UA and usually take the only direct flight between SMF and IAD, otherwise I go through SFO.

Usually the aircraft is a A319 or more recently A320 but for my flights in December the aircraft is listed as a 757.

So I assume UA pulls the slightly larger aircraft from different routes to meet holiday travel but from where? Does United use the 757 on business-heavy routes in North America that don't have high volumes of holiday travel? I read they are used for trips to Hawaii but of course that is also a very busy holiday destination.

I paid for "premium seating" (up-sell during online ticket purchase) so I will be in F. There are 24 seats in F on the 757 so it will be busy up there! I think I would prefer the smaller cabin on the A320 but I am not complaining. I also thought I might have had a better chance for an upgrade but then I had to laugh. This lowly UA "Silver" does not see many upgrades.

The only times I remember flying on UA on the 757 recently has been on the p.s. flights between SFO and JFK. Too bad they don't use that metal for my flights!

Are they pulling these 757s out of the desert or someplace for the holidays?!

RobbieRunner

Anything airworthy is possible I suppose, although you do wonder where they dig some of these out of mothballs from, eh?

I remember about 25 years ago during a major holiday, I boarded a US Air flight from Pittsburgh to somewhere very small - tiny airport. This was during Reagan so times were booming and airports were jam packed beyond capacity.
The plane was right out of the 50's or 60's. It even had Grayhound Bus or Amtrak type luggage RACKS over the seats. No storage bins, just racks with elastic cords to hold your carry-on.
Obviously we made it or I'd not be here typing this. But I must say the age of that plane was honestly concerning. I remember glancing in the flight deck (heck, that plane was so old, let's call it a cockpit), and seeing very plain old instruments and worn off green paint on the panels. The yokes looked like something Howard Hughes himself would have grasped during a test flight.

Today? Who knows. Chances are, at least you would get a plane that had overhead luggage storage bins!

Ocn Vw 1K

Rush2112SFO, as the best place to get a discussion of your questions will be the legacy United forum, I'll move it there. Ocn Vw 1K, Moderator, TravelBuzz and United.

Rush2112SFO

Well if sand and a gila monster falls out of the overhead bin when I open it then I will have to rethink flying at Christmastime again.

Do they really pull in oft-used planes for the holidays? I guess I will have to note the tail number and look up the plane's history BEFORE the cabin door closes.

Thanks. I am still finding my way around this Flyertalk world. ^

mduell

They're downgauging other routes or increasing utilization.

Another factor to switch to a 757 from an Airbus may be range; lower probability of a diversion caused by higher than forecasted winds with the longer legged aircraft.

Kurt

They do change-of-gauge a lot during the holidays. Last Friday (day after Thanksgiving) I was surprised to see our scheduled A319 turn into an A320 LAX-DEN (I have found that downgauging is much more common, and liable to end unhappily). I had confirmed using a CR1; this might have affected my decision to deploy that upgrade instrument on that particular flight. But four passengers probably got an upgrade they would not have otherwise.

Rush2112SFO

I picked seat 1A so if they switch back to the smaller gauge at least my seat will not change and since I paid for the up-sell at least I know I will be in F no matter what.

If I see empty seats in F I will also know I paid for an upgrade I could have received for free but I did not think there was much chance of that happening.

Barring any weather problems on the East Coast hopefully it will be smooth sailing. I am a bit apprehensive traveling at Christmastime. It has been years since I have traveled at that time of year.

I just wonder what routes are under utilized at Christmastime where they could borrow a 757 to stand in for an A319 or 20.

Your assessment beats my thoughts of them dusting off an aircraft that has been sitting in the desert for the past year. Do they really pull those in at that time of the year?

I saw some pictures of a bunch of CO metal in semi-retirment in Kingman AZ but not sure if there were any 757s in the retirement field.

RandomTaiwanese

although a nice number to have on the boarding pass, row 1 on the 757s have much less legroom than other rows. just kept that in mind. (i had 1A,1B,1C,1D in a row on all 757s =p)

Kurt

I would grab row 2 if it is available. Row 1 on the 757 (especially 1E and 1F) is pretty much intolerable.

Rush2112SFO

Seatguru made it sound like there was more room in 1A&B.

I moved to row 2. Thanks! ^