Originally I booked Economy on UA but later upgraded it online to First as it was only about another $100.
UA depart from T3 at SFO. They have their own 'Premier Access' check-in area.....it's not particularly premium though as you have to check yourself in, weigh and print your own bag tags using the kiosks. No checked baggage fees being in First and you are allowed 2 x 32Kg bags each.
OK so it is a bit of a novelty printing and attaching your own bags tags but it still doesn't feel very premium overall. The agents then take your bags and attach priority tags. If they are doing that why not print the bag tag as well? Anyway, the agent seemed quite impressed with me as I'd also removed one of the small stickers and stuck this to the side of my case and commented that I'd done that before (in case you are not aware those small stickers are there in case the full size bar code tag gets ripped off during your bags journey through the airport).
TSA was the usual TSA in any US airport. First pax do get fast-track. Shoes off, lap-tops out, iPads in blah blah blah you know what it's like. I know it's been said countless times before but it still never ceases to amaze me how much stuff people carry on with them when flying domestically in the US. It only took a few minutes to get though security. Full body scanners so everything out of pockets otherwise you get a red do not pass go sign. I've got it down to a tee now. Watch off, belt off, handkerchief out of pocket, pockets emptied, MacBook out and shoes off.
It's a fair walk to the gate area from security. The United app and my PassBook boarding pass told me to go to gate 89. Had some time to spare so grabbed a coffee and a muffin and sat down and relaxed, though I had to move a few minutes later as a rather smelly person came and sat next to me - how nice
I've noticed with all US airlines, that pax start congregating around the gate entrance some time before the flight is actually called. UA actually have a good system in place where they have boarding lanes 1 through 5 (I think) and your boarding pass states your boarding lane based on where you are sat. First use lane 1 and are called after pax needing extra time and then any military.
Now that is where I do think US airports and US airlines have the edge over UK airports where basically there's very little (if any) acknowledgement for our armed forces and I really do think there should be as they do thoroughly deserve getting that little bit of extra service as a way of saying thank you.
First pax where called and so off down the jetway. I was in 1F so the font row. First soon filled up and it was the usual fight for over-head locker space as it is on all US airlines now. The flow of pax boarding soon calmed down to just a trickle and before long the door was closed.
The safety video was played (seat back screens in all seats or screens on the wall in my case with it being a bulk-head) and we pushed back on time and then just stopped and waited....and waited some more. The captain came on saying that they where just checking with base as they thought they may have loaded the wrong catering carts and there was a very slim possibility that we may have to go back on stand to re-load the correct ones but he was very hopefully this wouldn't be the case....though of course it was and so we had to be pushed back onto stand and wait for the carts to be swapped out. Pushed back again and the crew made an announcement that as a way of an apology they would be offering free access to the normally paid for DIRECTV IFE service, apart from in First of course where it's free anyway.
Quite a long taxi to the runway and a long wait before taking off. SFO is set-up with 2 sets of crossing parallel runways so I guess we where waiting for the other set of runways to clear? You could see the stream of incoming aircraft landing on the other set of runways. It's always fun to see 2 aircraft taking off or landing in parallel at SFO. There was another UA A/C taking off at almost the same time as us on the other runway parallel to ours. By now we where about an hour late.
The cabin service soon started, the see-through curtain between Economy and First was closed lol and drinks orders where taken in First. A snack basket was also offered in First (twice) during the flight. Cookies, crisps or nuts etc.
The flight time was 1 hour and 14 minutes with the usual bumps and turbulence caused by the warm air updrafts as you get close to Vegas. Landed and was soon on stand at T3 (the same one VS and VX use)...and oh boy, what a walk to baggage reclaim, feels like you are walking to the strip!! bags soon coming off and I was outside jumping in a cab a few minutes later. Picked the cab option this time over a shared ride and last time I did a shared ride it took nearly as long to get to the Palazzo as it did to fly SFO>LAS. At the Palazzo again this time.
Overall just a 'meh' flight with nothing or any of the crew really standing out with all the usual domestic flight service shortcuts VX are trying hard to get anyway from. I will use VX again if I do this route as they win hands-down.
Regards
James Mitchell
James Mitchell
