UA146 EWR-LHR

March 13th, 2023

Posts in this series:

Introduction - A Long March To China

Review - United Airlines Business Class B767-400 Newark to London Heathrow

Review - EVA Air Business Class B777-300ER London Heathrow to Bangkok Suvarnabhumi

Review - Thai Airways Business Class A350-900 Bangkok Suvarnabhumi to Chengdu Shuangliu

Review - JW Marriott Singapore South Beach

Review - Singapore Airlines Business Class A380 Singapore to London Heathrow

Review - United Airlines Business Class B777-200 London Heathrow to Newark

Check-in:

To kick off my trek to China, I arrived at New York City’s landfill an hour before my scheduled departure of 11:55PM. I initially thought that I was pushing it with timing, as it turned out though I could’ve left another 15 minutes later.

The agent who helped me at United’s premier check-in was a fun one. The kiosk asked for document verification, and he said “you probably know the rules better than I do” and proceeded to swipe his badge without even looking at my passport. Within a minute I dropped off my bag and was through security.

Lounge:

With 30mins to spare before boarding, I wandered to the Polaris Lounge, which interestingly I had never been to before. The universe, United in this case, had a different vision for me. As I showed up to the reception, I was told the lounge had been closed for the evening. While I wouldn’t be telling my therapist about this traumatic experience in our next session, I do believe it’s reasonable for a hub airline to operate its lounges until the last flight departs.

So there I was, sitting at the gate area, like that guy in 55B (sad face emoji). Actually jk, that guy would be standing next to the podium ready to board with wheelchairs and active military.

Boarding:

Boarding was relatively on time, however, I found United’s pre-boarding process to be missing the point. There were five groups before group 1 was called, as if the gate agents didn’t already have enough going on, and the travelers weren’t already a clueless bunch.

We had a pretty light load with economy emptier than business. At first I had the seats behind and next to me unoccupied, but moments before the boarding door was closed two upgraded passengers showed up. I only knew they were upgraded because they complained to the flight attendant that their kosher meals weren’t transferred from economy to business.

Surprising to myself as well, but this was actually my maiden trip in the Polaris business class. To be honest I wasn’t wowed by the interior, not to mention 767s are pretty tired planes to begin with. I recall seeing pictures of the new cabin online a few years ago and thought it looked rather swanky. Maybe a little ambient lighting would help, just like most of your dates ;).

Awaiting at my seat were some Saks bedding, an Away amenity kit, a pair of rather flimsy headphones and a bottle of Dasani. Slippers were available upon request, however, pjs were not available given the short duration of this flight.

As soon as I sat down, the very friendly flight attendant came over to offer a welcome drink. I chose the champagne, knowing United was serving Duval-Leroy, which I quite like.

Our pushback was delayed for about an hour, as there were snafus with catering and baggage, then we had another small mechanical problem. While on the ground, the purser announced over PA that menus weren’t loaded onto our plane, and the entree options for dinner were described as short rib with gravy, chicken breast and a turbot fillet with beurre blanc sauce. Little did I know I wouldn’t be getting a menu for any of the flights on this trip…

Inflight:

30 minutes after take-off, service started with a hot towel. I wasn’t expecting it to be served on a towel dish but I feel like if I manifest enough times it will eventually happen.

I’m keeping a tab on how long each step of the service took because I think it’s important on a short overnight transatlantic flight like this. 10 minutes after towels were recycled, I was brought some mixed nuts and apéritif, which I stuck with champagne.

An hour into the flight, dinner was served. I went with the turbot option because it couldn’t possibly be dryer than an airplane chicken, and if I had a dollar for each short rib main course I had on a US airline I’d move up two tax brackets.

To my delight, the fish was delicious. I’m not saying it’s Le Bernardin hiramasa because look at the damn thing, but the texture and flavor were both quite excellent. To accompany the main course were an okay salad and some yummy pretzel and garlic bread.

After the table was cleared, I quickly reclined the seat into bed mode for some shut-eye, as it was well past 2am New York time.

I decided to skip breakfast and woke up as we commenced descent into Heathrow. It was a gorgeous day in London with endless visibility, so I enjoyed the view on our way down.

On Arrival:

We safely touched down at LHR around 35 minutes behind schedule. The flight itself was pleasant enough - the service was prompt and friendly, and the hard product was decent. In my experience United has generally been consistent. It’s certainly not here to change your life, but you can’t find much to fault either. I think it sums up quite well when I say the most memorable aspect of my United flight was it served San Pellegrino. But I don’t necessarily mean it in a negative way.

From there, it was a rather lengthy layover in Heathrow until my Eva Air flight to Bangkok.