It seems that overcrowded lounges aren't just a VS speciality - UA are refurbishing their Red Carpet Clubs at IAD, and as a result, it meant that everyone on the C-gates was trying to cram into the the lounge by gate C17. It was absolutely packed, though I think we weren't reduced to standing up, everyone managed to get a seat. There was also another Club down in the D-gates which was open as well, but miles away from my next gate (C16), so I decided to stay put.
Grabbed a seat to wait out the time before my connecting flight, had some cheese and crackers, and a couple of Sam Adams beers.
There's not really much else to say about the UA RCCs, they are generally quite conservatively decorated, sometimes to the point of being dull when compared to a VS Clubhouse for example. At least they offer somewhere comfortable to sit which isn't the regulation 'Federal' grey decor with that black naugahyde seating you find in most US airport terminals.
It struck me what a curious bunch our Transatlantic cousins are. Almost everyone seemed to either be bashing away on a laptop, or jabbering into a cell phone, or wearing a headset. Very few people seemed to be kicking back and relaxing, even though the weekend was upon us! Even outside of the lounge, there were a good few people waiting in the terminal that were sat on the floor next to a power socket with their laptop out. Just a different approach to work, I guess.
My flight wasn't showing a delay, so I headed upstairs to the gate area, stopping by the Borders to pick up a DK guide for Australia (my next big trip), to find that there wasn't any sign of boarding yet, but there was a crew waiting around at the gate area. Looks like a delayed inbound aircraft, and it was. But, 'Don't stray away from the gate,' said our comedian gate agent, 'the aircraft will be here in about 15 minutes, and when it does arrive, we're going to turn it straight around and send it back out. Don't go away.'
Interestingly, despite this being a United Express flight, I didn't have to trek over to the 'cargo shed' G gates. We had a proper gate, with a jetway.
Sure enough, the inbound aircraft (Embraer 170 N653RW) arrived about 5 minutes before our scheduled departure time, disgorged it's load of passengers, and about 5 minutes after the last passenger came up the jetway, we started boarding. The agent had decided to abandon the usual boarding sequence, and just let everyone load in one go, because it would probably help get the plane away on time, so we all piled down the jetway, and it actually didn't seem too chaotic.
I settled into my seat, 2A, in the small (6 seat) First class cabin. This is a single seat, so both a window and and aisle. The only downer was that the overhead bin above this seat is relatively small, so my carry on was under the seat in front, but the legroom was generous, so no problems there. The overheads on the opposite side of the aisle were much larger, being able to fit most reasonably sized roll-abords. There was a bottle of water resting on the seat arm of all the First seats as well (which you don't get on 'mainline' United First).
In the main cabin, because the aisle isn't 'off centre', the hatracks are the same on both sides, and deep enough to take most bags.
All the seats on the aircraft were covered in a high-quality, very soft, grey leather - a much softer finish than the leather used on the UCS seats, and seemed very comfortable. The First seats at the front had pull-out drink tables, on the end of the armrest - rather small actually, could have done with being slightly larger. There was also a rather flimsy tray table concealed in the seat arm.
Pre-departure drinks were offered once everyone was settled, just water or juice for now, and post-departure drink orders were taken while we were still on the ground.
Finally, we shut the doors, and pushed back at 1745 local. Only 20 minutes late, not bad considering the delay on the inbound aircraft, and taxied out to runway 19L for departure, which was slightly delayed by a radar coverage issue requiring increased spacing between departures (probably due to local weather, it was rather blustery), though this reportedly cleared up again just before we departed.
Quite a long takeoff roll, apparently because we'd loaded a lot of extra fuel, because there was a 200 knot headwind predicted, which would add almost an hour to our journey time. We popped through the thin cloud layer over the airport - I really like the speed effect as you do that, you definitely notice how fast you're going as you break through the top of the cloud layer, and we climbed up to our cruising altitude of 34000 feet.
The windows on this aircraft are quite large, something you wouldn't expect on a small regional jet - especially if you've been used to the tiny portholes you get on the Canadair RJs. They are also positioned nicely at eye height, meaning you get a great view. It does have a tendency to grow a covering of tiny ice crystals during the flight though, so everything looks a bit 'sparkly'.
Cabin service was provided by two flight attendants, and the whole thing seemed a bit like a 'Mom and Pop airline', as the entire crew referred to each other by first names over the PA in announcements, but the service seemed pretty good.
I had a couple of nice strong G&Ts. It's a shame that even in First class on these RJs, your drink comes in plastic, and the only food offered in First is a 'snackbox' of junky pre-packed, ambient, long-life food, especially when the small galley up front is capable of more. There was even a tiny oven capable of heating 8 meals. So, UA could actually offer a better meal service on these flights, it just seems that they don't want to. It's pretty sad that they sell the First class on the 'explus' RJs as a 'real' domestic F service, when it isn't. I certainly wouldn't pay the money for it, and I'm glad this was on an upgrade. Normally, on a domestic flight of this duration (about 3 hours), you would get some sort of meal in First.
The place airlines really seem to be short changing their pax is on flights from the US to Hawaii. They are long flights, about 5 to 6 hours from SFO/LAX, and 9-10 hours from ORD/DEN, and yet there is no food service offered from the West Coast, and only a simple food service from ORD/DEN. Despite these flights being as long as some real International sectors, these are domestic configured aircraft, with poor IFE options, and a rudimentary First product (no sleeper seats, very simple recline, no foot/leg rests). But that's a different discussion.
The E170 was a comfortable enough aircraft, though the ride was a little bouncy and jumpy in the turbulence we encountered, though probably to be expected for the size of aircraft.
After a while we started to descend into the Dallas area, hot towels were offered in the First cabin and there were more lights and towns now visible out of the window, and we circled around the airport to set up for final approach into Fort Worth. We landed at 2045, almost an hour late, and the taxi was quite long too. DFW is a huge airport, and probably about the size Heathrow should really be to handle what we ask of it each day! It's the size of a large town, and we probably could never give up that sort of space in the UK! They have recently upgraded their international facilities as well, and want to attract more international flights. I wonder if this should be on VS wishlist of places to serve? I think you can only fly American direct to DFW from the UK. I guess there's more chance of ORD starting up again first, despite that market being well served already.
Despite the bag claim being about 30 seconds walk from the gate, it took over 15 minutes for the bags to come out. I'm guessing that with the flight being late, most of the UA handlers had gone home, leaving just a skeleton staff behind - DFW isn't a major airport for UA. The terminal we arrived at (the 'B' terminal) seemed very, very quiet, not many planes, and most that were there were parked up for an overnight stop. The Dallas market is somewhat dominated by AA (our of DFW) and Southwest (out of Love Field, which is closer to the downtown area).
The funny thing was the weather. It was exactly the same as what I'd left behind in the UK some 15 hours earlier!
It wasn't a bad flight, the plane was comfortable, and a big step up from the smaller RJs, probably as comfortable as a 737 or A319, but with about a third less seats. Inflight service was friendly if unremarkable, and the delay in the baggage at the Dallas end was the worst bit. The inflight delay couldn't be helped, the airlines can't control the weather!
