Trip Report: United Airlines SAN-ORD-ROA

*Follow me on twitter: @jon32wayne

March 12, 2012 / March 13, 2012

United Airlines 845

San Diego (SAN) – Chicago O’Hare (ORD)

Boeing 757-200

Aisle Seat, 12D, Economy

United Airlines 5685

Chicago O’Hare (ORD) – Roanoke (ROA)

Canadair Regional Jet 200

Aisle Seat, 5B, Economy

With spring break finally over, it was time to get back to Blacksburg and finish up my last semester of college. This is probably my last time flying to Roanoke for a while, but of course my last time through ROA was marred by a big ol’ fat delay.

I usually take the red-eyes out of San Diego since they tend to be cheaper and since I had to get back to school by Sunday. However, this time around I decided to leave on Monday and arrive in Roanoke at 11pm – no big deal since I sleep late anyway. I projected to get back home at the latest by 1200am, but things didn’t turn out that way.

I arrived at San Diego quite early and checked-in using the kiosks. This was little over a week since the conversion and check-in went smoothly. I switched my seat since at the time there was an empty middle seat, but of course on this heavy route, all the seats were filled.

I do like the power outlets in a lot of seats at SAN so I was able to use the internet without sacrificing my battery. One thing that did happen while I was at SAN was that the Boeing 787 landed as it made its way around the county. The intercom announced that the Boeing 787 was landing, which got a lot of people excited. Most of the windows were packed, so I decided to wait until I was able to snap a picture.

Boeing 787 at SAN

Boarding was chaotic. Terminal 1 isn’t that big and with everyone eager to get on board; there was little space to get in line. The new United has a new boarding procedure with zones reaching up to number 8 and as a premier member, I boarded with zone 4.

I never understood the legroom configuration, aisle seat legroom is quite narrow

I kind of regret sitting at 12D since there was no window. Even though I’m not sitting at the window, I do like having a glimpse of the outside, especially during take-off and landing. For about four hours, I didn’t have a view at all.

Yep, no window

Weather in Chicago was not good and our captain informed us that we had to wait at SAN in the penalty box for up to an hour to land into Chicago. Since all flights were affected by this our connecting flights were unlikely to leave on time, reassuring most of the passengers.

Spacious middle seat

For lunch I chose the cold Thai noodle meal and some pringles. The flight attendant asked my opinion on the noodles and I said that were pretty good. The older Asian lady next to me asked me if they were really that good. I replied saying that they were okay and not suitable to our Asian standards 😉

Window seat legroom

We arrived in Chicago O’Hare about an hour late and plenty of people were rushing to get off the plane to connect to their flights. Since I had some time, I decided to try out the middle seat and window seat since I was going to be flying a Boeing 757-200 when I fly from Honolulu to Los Angeles this summer (just needed a preview and if I should book a window seat or not).

Once at O’Hare, I checked the departure boards for the flight to Roanoke and at the time, things were good to go. An hour later I found out that my flight was not leaving Chicago until 1000pm, a two hour delay. Eventually we didn’t leave until 1045pm and landed at Roanoke at 0115am. I didn’t get home until 230am which was awful since I had class at 1100am the next day.

On board our delayed flight to Roanoke

The topping on the cake was hearing the constant hum of jackhammers tearing up the concrete outside my window while I tried taking a nap between classes. I drank so much to stay awake for my 330pm class.

Overall, the new United boarding procedure seemed a little confusing but I’m hoping that things will smooth out over time. I’m glad to say that I made it back to Premier and will be able to enjoy what little benefits I have now.

*Follow me on twitter: @jon32wayne

Mileage might be off, United is having some issues with miles

Premier 1K mileage count: 25557 miles down,74443/100000 miles to go