We recently flew from London Heathrow to New York Newark, and although it was the usual painful United experience, I thought it would be worth telling you all more about it.
Airline: United
Route: London (LHR) – New York (EWR)
Flight: UA28
Aircraft: Boeing 767-300
Class: Economy
Depart:10:05
Arrive: 13:10
Duration: 8:05
Krisflyer Miles Earned: 3440
Unlike my regular blissful jaunts on Lufthansa and Swiss Air, United is never blissful. It is, 90% of the time, very painful. That other 10% of good was from the kindness of one United agent managing to get us on an earlier flight and giving us a fast track card for immigration at the other end when we were in a rush to get a connecting flight with another (non Star Alliance) airline.
The issue we have every time with United is the unfriendliness of the staff and the poor quality of the food. The planes also always feel ancient, and the entertainment options are limited.
Our journey started at Star Alliance’s Heathrow Terminal 2, and after once again experiencing the beauty of the United Heathrow Lounge (it truly is one of my favourite lounges), we made our way to the boarding gate. The boarding process was quite slow but eventually we were in our seats and ready to go.
The television screens were very old and there was an extreme lack of entertainment options compared to Singapore Airlines, but at least the flight isn’t too long. 8 hours is manageable with a few decent films.
As usual the food was terrible and I didn’t eat much. Luckily I’ve learnt from previous experiences, so took my own snacks on board. The rest of the flight was pretty uninteresting, and we landed only a few minutes late at Newark.
After a 45 minute taxi ride, we made it to Midtown Manhattan ready to begin our long weekend in NYC.
Some of you might question why I still fly with United when I dislike them so much. The reason is you currently still get Krisflyer miles per mile flown, rather than the amount you spend. I try and fly with Virgin Atlantic to the USA usually, but sometimes the flight times and prices just aren’t right so I have to settle for United.
Let us know in the comments if you’ve flown with United and what you think of them!