Welcome to this short new series of flight-report's. This series would contain two short US domestic flights.
Trip Overview:
As I was going to head to New Jersey for a short weekend trip. As going from LaGuardia or JFK to New Jersey can be a pain during rush hour so the only option for me was flying United to EWR or using the regional train. It was interesting that a round-trip IAD-EWR-DCA ticket was cheaper than the regional train so I decided to fly on United for this weekend trip. It would be my second time flying United after flying with them from LHR to IAD on their 757-200 aircraft last August.
Flight routing
- 1UA 2250 Washington Dulles to Newark ( Economy ), Boeing 737-800
- 2
Route Overview ( WAS ( IAD/DCA ) - EWR ):
Most of the US carriers operates daily flights from the greater Washington area (IAD,DCA,BWI) to JFK or to LGA but the only carrier which operates flight from this area to Newark is United Airlines. They operate several daily flights between DCA to EWR and IAD to EWR with a mixture of their Boeing 737-800, Airbus A319/A320 and their regional aircraft.
Pax for this flight
Domestic First: %60-65
Economy Class: %70-75
ONLINE CHECK-IN
Online check-in was quick and efficient via the United mobile app as seats were pre assigned and frequent flyer details were already inserted.
An upgrade to EconomyPlus was offered for $9 which would change nothing for this short flight. Also an upgrade to Domestic First was offered for $90. And the most needless offer was the PremierAccess for $71. It's not the price worth for Priority boarding and fast-track security.
Boarding pass for the flight
A nice point about United is that they clearly state what they would offer on their flights at their website.
That day, I decided to go to the airport with the bus service offered by the transportation authority. The bus has several stops in DC and eastern Virginia. A shot from Rosslyn, VA that morning
The bus stop is located in front of the subway station.
That morning, there was something wrong that the bus arrived 30 minutes ahead of schedule. The original bus that would serve that line had an accident so it took a time that the replacement bus to arrive. The bus was empty as there were only 7 passengers onboard.
WASHINGTON DULLES AIRPORT - IAD
The main building as I arrived to the airport. I had directly headed to the West Checkpoint as I didn't have any checked luggage. This checkpoint was cleared within 5 minutes as there was almost no-one using the checkpoint.
FIDS after the checkpoint
There is no AirTrain service to gates D so shuttle buses are running with short intervals.
A shot from the shuttle buggy.
Some shots from the buggy
This UA 737-900 would serve UA 641 to Boston
As I entered the D concourse, there were ads to promote the United Club lounge. As lost my Star Alliance Gold status in 2015, I didn't have access to lounges.
That's why, I had my breakfast at Dunkin Donuts & Healthy Gourmet which was near to our boarding gate.
GATE AREA & BOARDING
The boarding area was well organized and had enough seating for passengers. Free phone chargers were present at the gate as United doesn't offer power for their Economy customers onboard most of their 737-800 aircraft including the one I would board shortly.
This United 737 was parked to the gate next to our aircraft.
Our aircraft was parked at gate D29 which is located at the end of the terminal so this was the only shot I could get.
This Delta 737-800 was pushed back for his flight to Salt Lake City.
40 minutes before scheduled departure time, boarding started with priorities respected. I was one of the first ones to board from those passengers in Group 3.
This aircraft was equipped with Directv & Wi-Fi
UA 2250 - WASHINGTON DULLES AIRPORT TO NEWARK LIBERTY AIRPORT
After being welcomed by the crew, I had directly headed to my seat.
Seat:
The seat was OK for a short flight like this but the legroom wasn't that good. Compared to American Airlines this seat was less comfortable.
Each seat was equipped with a personal IFE screen which only featured Directv. The regular IFE system ( movies, TV shows … ) weren't installed and there wasn't any route map.
A small remote for the inflight screen was present.
Old overhead panel
View from the window
Directv was free before takeoff as I watched the first half of the Chelsea - Manchester United football ( soccer ) match.
Also, there was a mobile entertainment system present which was free but there was no internet during whole the flight so inflight wi-fi didn't work, such as the route map.
Before the free Directv session shut down, several ads were shown about the paid Directv session.
But, I was lucky to see Anthony Rüdiger's wonderful goal.
When boarding was complete, there was a notification on the screen trying to convince passengers to buy Directv access for this flight.
Then, the safety video was shown
Delta A319 heading to the runway for his flight to Minneapolis
And this United Express E45 would operate UA 4957 to Portland-PWM
Again, Directv ads were shown
The terminal before we took of.
Here we go
Loudoun County after takeoff
Brambleton, VA
Last view of IAD
And, we are over the clouds
Lansdowne, VA
Internet was not available after takeoff as I mentioned before.
The free Directv session has closed shortly after takeoff and ads started running at personal screens.
Snack
Maple wafers were offered by the crew shortly after takeoff. The crew gave me two packages as the first one she gave was almost empty.
The only drink offered for this flight was water.
A photo from our cruising altitude.
IFE
As the internet didn't work and the screens asked me to swipe my card, there were options at the seat pocket to entertain passengers.
Starting with the United Explorer credit card flyer
The safety card
The Hemispheres magazine - Some parts of the magazine including the route map were ripped off by previous passengers
Information about the IFE system
United fleet
EWR terminal map
40 minutes after we took of, we started to descend.
Arcola, NJ
Rutherford, NJ
East Newark, NJ
Red Bull Arena
Ironbound, NJ
Some tall buildings, couple miles away
I-78
First view of EWR - The home of United
And we had landed 23 minutes before scheduled arrival time
Terminal B
A view after we left the runway
An IKEA store was visible
This United Express aircraft had landed just after us.
AI 77W and SQ 359ULR. I wish I could fly one day the world's longest flight
As an UA 767 was taking off, this Emirates 777-300ER has arrived from Dubai
More United aircraft
N33714 waiting for his flight to Mexico City.
United Express E70 getting ready for his flight to Indianapolis
And we had arrived to gate C75.
Service vehicles which would prepare this aircraft for its next flight.
After we had parked to the gate, this AA 738 was visible.
Also as, this EK 77W taxiing to his gate at Terminal B.
NEWARK LIBERTY AIRPORT - EWR
After arriving to terminal C in EWR, this report has came to an end.
Thank you for reading and hope to meet you in another report.
Thanks for this FR.
The aircraft was clearly an ex-CO one judging by the seat.
I really like the cabin look with those blue tones but the seats are indeed not that comfortable.
UA usually had the best fares out of the DC area simply because they have so many seat to fill.
Hi KL651 and thank you for stopping by,
-The aircraft was an ex-CO aircraft ( N24211 ) and the seats were not the best but they were definitely better than some other US domestic product seats offered by other airlines.
- Even though, this aircraft is one of the oldest in the UA fleet, the blue tone doesn't make you feel that you are in an old aircraft at the first glance which is great, but the age of the plane was clearly visible by looking to the overhead panel.
- I was first surprised when UA offered this fare to me but then I realized that most of the passengers onboard this flight had onward connections from EWR and probably due to the time of day ( Saturday morning ) there wasn't many passengers willing to fly. Another interesting would be fact that, the changing fee for this flight was expensive than my round trip ticket. Also, I have realized that UA has the cheapest tickets for most domestic routes from the Washington area (excluding Spirit from BWI).
Thank you for your comment and take care,
A nice read through your report. Is it possible to turn off those personal tv screens? I find it completely tedious for a carrier like United to advertise so much...
Hi ThomasDutch and thanks for stopping by,
Unfortunately it's not possible to turn off those screens until a credit card is swiped and the brightness can't be adjusted too. There was an off button on the remote but it didn't function. As you said, it's annoying to see that much ads onboard especially if it's not a low cost carrier.
Thanks again and take care.