Great first flight with United (United Airlines)

Member Name: percy_perkins

Product:	United Airlines
Date:	18/06/03 (307 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great value, Polite, efficient crew, Very punctual

Disadvantages: Crew break times? Long!

I flew with my family from London Heathrow Airport to John F Kennedy, New York, back in November of last year (2002).

It was our first trip out of Heathrow as a family and we weren't familiar with scheduled carriers like United and their check-in policy. We did arrive at Heathrow for our 13:30 flight at about 9:30am (4 hours before departure). It was at one end of terminal 3 that we find United's own check-in area where you could join one long queue and check-in for any United flight.

We were greeted by friendly airline staff who guided us into the queue and welcomed us etc. I always think that first impressions are important. Our check-in agent was a friendly, British lady who laughed and joked with us, making the security procedure slightly more light-hearted than most airline staff would. She had no problems seating us together and we only needed our passports swiped to get our seats - no loose bits of paper to hand over. Nothing.

The aircraft was a fantastically clean Boeing 777. Inside it was spacious and far better than the charter airlines I have been used to in the past. We had an impressive 32" of seat pitch in economy and it felt so nice to have a personal TV and plenty of legroom. We pushed back on time, departed moments later and were airborne quickly.

The food was superb once up in the air and certainly the best I have tried over the years. All drinks were complimentary and these were offered no less than 5 times on the outbound leg of the journey.

Because of the politeness of the crew and the efficient service on board, the 7 hours literally flew by and we arrived in New York several minutes early.

Baggage allowance for the airline was average, but I never seem to meet the minimum anyway, so I couldn't complain. The flight crew and cabin crew kept us up to date throughout the flight and offered as much assistance as possible.

There is only one real disadvantage to United -
I noticed that on a 7 hour flight, the crew took at least 2 hours worth of break time each. This seems an awful long time for a relatively short flight.

At £222 return, I will certainly choose United over any other airline in the future. They are a member of the Star Alliance. I am flying with Thai in a couple of weeks and am really falling in love with the alliance.

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