Flight Review: United 737-700 Washington Dulles to Chicago O’Hare – First Class

The Flight At A Glance: 

Booking:

Before I go into review details: I am currently on a road trip, traveling from Chicago through Oshkosh (stand by for airshow review), Yellowstone, Vancouver, Seattle (with a Boeing factory tour and museum visit (hopefully), stand by for even more reviews), and finally to Portland. I will not be reviewing national parks and such (as this is Air Travel Analysis) though stand by for reviews of other aviation flights and events that I will be doing. 

While booking the flight, we were originally going to fly economy class, as we usually do. However, I always run a comparison between economy and first while adding up all of the extras that we would pay for in economy and compare that to the business class price. So it turned out that first class for all of us was really only around $40 more expensive than economy plus, and as we would be going on a long road trip, we needed a lot of heavy luggage which came without additional charge in first class. So, we booked first class on a 2 hour flight, and it actually (I think) made sense financially. 

Pre Flight:

We got to the airport and went straight to check in. As our flight was leaving at around 11am, and not many United flights leave at that time, the United section of check in and Terminals C and D (United terminals) were empty. So check in was fast and with TSA Pre-Check, we got to Terminal C very quickly.

Alaska Airlines Airbus A320s

Mobile Lounge

Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 787-8 and a United Airlines Boeing 767-300ER

A Government (I think) Boeing 767-300 and an Omni Air International Boeing 767-200

We gained access to the United Club only due to my mother’s United Club Card, as first class passengers traveling domestically on United do not have lounge access unless they have a United Club membership, United status, or are connecting to an international flight. I personally find it ridiculous that first class passengers on domestic flights do not have access to United Clubs. I had a couple of mini bagels (which were all right) while enjoying the view of the tarmac. 

United Club

United Boeing 757-200 Heading to London-Heathrow in a Star Alliance Livery

Emirates A380

United Regional Jets in Terminal A

JetBlue Embraer E190 in JetBlue’s Speial Blueprint livery

Avianca Airbus A321

The Same United 757-200

Around 10 minutes before boarding, we started heading towards our gate. Boarding went extremely smoothly, and soon we found ourselves in a United Boeing 737-700.

The Flight:

This 737 had United’s new signature interior with their new(ish) first class seats. I love that their new seats don’t just recline; the seats also move in a forward movement to basically cradle the passenger. This makes the seats extremely comfortable when reclined. After Group 1 boarding, the flight attendant came around with pre-departure drinks in United’s signature blue cups. Around half an hour after I got on the airplane, we started pushback and taxied to Runway 30, and we soon found ourselves on our way to Chicago.

United 737-700 First Class Seats

Seatback

United 787-8

A JetBlue Embraer E190 and an Avianca Airbus A321

Mobile Lounges

British Airways Boeing 747-400 in a Oneworld Livery

A United Boeing 767-300 and an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 787-8

After takeoff, I helped myself to the Personal Device Entertainment selection. For those of you who don’t know, with Personal Device Entertainment, you can stream movies and TV shows to your device or laptop through wifi for free via (in this case) the United app. I watched the movie Paddington 2, which I found to be great. My only complaint was that I didn’t get to finish it due to the short flight time. *cry* In United First with the new seat, there is a tablet holder for a phone or tablet in the tray table (see photo below).

Personal Device Entertainment Selection

Fold Up Tablet/Phone Holder

Unfortunately, due to the flight time of 1h 50m, there was no meal offered on board. We were only offered selections from a snack basket, where we could each take two items. In the snack basket, there were chips, pretzels, bananas, Oreos, and gummy bears. I opted to take pretzels and Oreo cookies. If you ask me, this would be acceptable in economy class, but for first class, just a couple snack bags are definitely not acceptable. On a flight this length in Europe or Asia, you would probably get a full meal in First Class. Not in America, I guess. 

Pretzels and Oreos

Soon enough, we were approaching Chicago, and had a good view of United’s HQ, aka the Willis Tower. Also, we parallel landed next to a Kalita Air Boeing 747-400, which was really exciting (maybe only for me). We landed on runway 27L in Chicago. After we got off of the runway, we needed to taxi to a waiting point because our gate was still occupied. 

Kalita Air 747 First Spotted

United 757-300

United Short Haul Aircraft

Marina in Chicago

Chicago Skyline

Chicago Skyline (again)

Kalitta Air Boeing 747-400 and the United HQ (Willis Tower)

Landing in Chicago

United 737-700

ANA 777-300ER

We then quickly exited the aircraft and headed over to the baggage claim area, where our bags showed up 10-20 minutes after we deplaned. Next, we took a shuttle bus over to the rental car pickup, where we got our rental car. We the started to drive over to the EAA Airventure in Oshkosh (review tomorrow). 

To Conclude:

On the one hand, the service wasn’t exactly very premium, but on the other hand, we didn’t pay a price for a very premium service. It really wasn’t that much more expensive than economy plus, but the service wasn’t much better than economy plus. So basically, we got what we paid for. I was honestly expecting a bit better meal service, with at least a non-packaged snack. So was I satisfied? Yes. But is first class on 2 hour flights on United really “first class”? Definitely not. I ended up satisfied with the flight because it was on time and the seats were pretty comfortable. Do I recommend taking first class on United on a flight this length with a price not that much more than economy? If you want a comfortable seat or need the extra baggage allowance, I do recommend that you take first class on a flight similar to mine, if the price is right. However, if you really don’t need a better seat or extra baggage, don’t take first class, as it really won’t have superior service to economy.