Flight UA840: MEL - LAX
I've read a few posts lately about United Airlines, particularly their Trans-Pacific flights from Australia to the USA, as I was planning such a trip myself earlier this year. For the most part, I found the blogs and posts were rather critical of United's service, particularly attacking the age of the Flight Attendants, the age of the aircraft, and the meals that are served in flight. So I thought I'd see for myself and then put my own view forward for anyone who may be interested.
I'm a pretty down-to-earth traveller, always on a tight budget and looking for the cheapest way of getting where I want to go. That's actually what led me to United when I wanted to visit my Aunty in Canada. Perusing the seemingly endless array of web-based flight searches, United consistently came up as the cheapest ride. After seeing this a few times I visited United's website, and found it very user friendly, offering the ability to fly different ways with different connections to the ultimate destination, and to find the cheapest options. I was also impressed to find they still had my information on their system from 2004, when I first signed up with their Mileage Plus Program through Star Alliance. All my mileage points had expired by now, of course, but all my info was there nevertheless.
With an 11:20 departure time, it was just on 9:00 am when I slipped into the exit from the Tullamarine Freeway, and found my way into Melbourne Airport's Long Term Parking area. It looked pretty full, but as I cruised slowly through the lanes I found a spot right opposite bus stop F. I took my carry-on bag and my laptop bag out of the car, collected my in-car phone charger, and locked it all up. The old Pajero was now officially on vacation for 11 days. Within ten minutes the shuttle bus arrived, and after four or five pickups in the car park we worked our way to the terminal building. I was inside by 9:20. Perfect!
I walked up to the International Departures area and quickly found the line for United Airlines. It was only a few minutes before my turn came around, and I explained to the guy that I’d tried to do an online check-in the night before but it failed. He assured me that it was fine – it was United’s system that didn’t work. With no luggage to check in it was only moments before I had my three boarding passes in hand and was ready to go. I wanted to shoot over to McDonald’s, get a coffee, and go outside for my last cigarette, but my guy recommended I just head down to the departure area, and assured me that once through security there would be plenty of coffee available. No smoking area though. So instead of going to McDonald’s I just went outside for that cigarette, then off to the mysterious doors that only travellers are allowed through.
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Once through the double doors I was greeted by a security guard who directed me towards another security guard to my right. The second guard checked my boarding pass to verify that I was indeed a traveller and not someone who had accidentally strayed into the forbidden zone. He in turn directed me towards the security screening area, to which I diligently headed. I’d learned from previous flights a few little techniques to speed up the screening process. I deliberately wore pants that don’t need a belt to hold them up, even though I wore a belt to carry my camera on. A rather loud and buoyant security guard was maintaining a constant spruke about moving along and keeping the flow. While slowly moving along the queue I quietly removed my boots, belt, keys, wallet, phone, coins, camera and watch and put them in my hat (except the boots). Once at the bench I placed all my gear in the tub provided, and lifted my carry-on bag and laptop bag onto the bench, lids open, with my little sandwich bag of Liquids Aerosols and Gels sitting on top of my clean underwear for easy access, and I dutifully removed my laptop from its bag. All of that was on its way along the conveyor well before it was my turn to step through the metal detector and a new device I hadn’t encountered before: a little bit like a phone booth with a revolving door, in which I had to stand on the foot marks on the floor and raise my arms. I think it was one those x-rays that raised a bit of controversy a year or two back. Personally, I don’t really care what they can see of me, especially if it keeps my flight safe.
Now that I was cleared of weapons and explosives the next test was immigration. There was a short queue with three or four immigration officers attending, so it moved along pretty quickly. We were all Lab Tested while waiting in line by one of those amazing drug/explosive detecting Labradors, and then it was my turn to have my passport checked. Moments later I was on the air side of the airport, in what is commonly referred to these days as the “Sterile Zone”. Anything you buy here, in particular things which fall into the category of Liquids Aerosols and Gels, can be taken on the flight as it is deemed to be safe. Meandering through the duty free shops I worked my way towards the gate lounge. With close to an hour before take off I had plenty of time to get myself a coffee, send a few texts to my loved ones, and have a little wander around the new International Departure Area.
Now that I was cleared of weapons and explosives the next test was immigration. There was a short queue with three or four immigration officers attending, so it moved along pretty quickly. We were all Lab Tested while waiting in line by one of those amazing drug/explosive detecting Labradors, and then it was my turn to have my passport checked. Moments later I was on the air side of the airport, in what is commonly referred to these days as the “Sterile Zone”. Anything you buy here, in particular things which fall into the category of Liquids Aerosols and Gels, can be taken on the flight as it is deemed to be safe. Meandering through the duty free shops I worked my way towards the gate lounge. With close to an hour before take off I had plenty of time to get myself a coffee, send a few texts to my loved ones, and have a little wander around the new International Departure Area.
Flight One: Melbourne To Sydney, UA840
My ultimate destination was Nicholson’s Point, Ontario, Canada, so quite a few people were puzzled when I told them I was flying to Newark, New Jersey, USA, some 622 kilometres away to the South. When I first started pricing this trip, I looked at flying into Toronto, just a two and a half hour drive from Nicholson's Point. The best fare I could find that went almost directly to Toronto was with United Airlines, travelling from Melbourne via Sydney to either Los Angeles or San Francisco, then on to Toronto. United had an even cheaper fare travelling to LA and then to Toronto via Newark, New Jersey. That looked interesting, except that there was a seven hour connect time at Newark. Knowing that Newark was an easy day’s drive from Nicholson’s Point I figured it would be quicker to get off at Newark and drive, and nearly be there by the time the next flight took off. So I checked the price of flying to Newark only, and it was nearly $400 cheaper than going on to Toronto. Well I’ll drive for a day for $400 any day of the week - even allowing for the extra fuel and so on, I would be better off. The only snag was that I would be arriving in Newark a little after 9:00pm, which is not a good time to be starting a 600 kilometre drive. Plus I wanted to enjoy the road trip. In daylight! If I waited in Newark for the next flight I would arrive in Toronto at about 6:00am. Allowing for Immigration & Customs, finding my car and so on, I would be away from the airport around 7:00 – 7:30, putting me in Nicholson’s Point around 10:30 – 11:00a.m. if I had a break along the way. I calculated that if I had a hotel just outside Newark and left early enough, I could be there around 1:00 – 2:00p.m., and I would have had a good night’s sleep in a proper bed, not some seat in Newark Airport. I found a hotel for $72 about 30 minutes drive from Newark Airport. Decision made. Save a few dollars, and incorporate a bit of a road trip.
The first flight was Melbourne to Sydney, a short hop, making it a good re-introduction to flying after six years on the ground. When Group 4 boarding was called I made my way to the steadily moving queue, handed the lovely young lady my boarding pass, and was directed down the air bridge to the waiting 747-400 that would take me to Sydney’s Kingsford Smith Airport. I was carrying my hand luggage, laptop and coat. At least I thought I was until I went to load my hand luggage and coat into the overhead locker, and realised I didn’t have my coat! Now this coat was one my wife had bought me in 2005 to replace the one that I had left in Ireland, so the thought of losing this one was simply unbearable - I would never hear the end of that one! My seat was 60J, the very back one on the starboard side, so I made my way past the incoming passengers to the door, and explained to the Flight Attendant what I had done. My coat had to be in the boarding lounge area, and I was pretty sure where it would be. The Flight Attendant was a very jovial, slightly round, middle-aged woman who told me I wasn’t allowed to leave the aircraft but she would get someone to come down and have a look. A couple of minutes later a younger woman appeared from somewhere and escorted me up the air bridge to a point where we could see the boarding staff up the top, and she told me to go up and see them. I wouldn’t be allowed back into the boarding lounge, but I could guide the staff up there. Once at the top a young man in some sort of uniform asked me where I had left my coat. I directed him towards the area where I had last been wandering and remembered having put my baggage down to get my boarding pass out. But just as he was taking off in that direction, a female colleague spotted my coat where I had first sat down to drink my coffee and send some texts. Mission accomplished!
So with coat securely in hand I thanked everyone profusely and happily wandered back down to my seat. I chose this particular seat from past experience, because the last three rows on the sides of a 747 have only two seats due to the curvature of the fuselage which doesn’t leave room for a third. The aisle seats are in line with all the others, so where the fuselage tapers in towards the tail, there is a very useful gap between the seat and the wall. This gap can be used for putting things like a laptop, a coat, or simply for more space to sprawl. And in the back two rows that space can also provide a sizeable bit of extra legroom. Being at the back means you can recline your seat as far back as it will go, without being a nuisance as there’s nobody behind you. The down side is that it seems to be a pretty noisy spot, copping all the engine noise, and of course you’re usually about the last one off the plane when you arrive.
My ride to Sydney was a 747-422, tail number N128UA, built in 2000. This aircraft had a "tail strike" incident when taking off from Sydney in 2010, and had to dump fuel over the Pacific and return to Sydney for inspection. A few days later it was flown to South Korea for heavy duty repairs. It's probably a good thing that I wasn't aware of that prior to this flight.
Take off was pretty well right on time, and with what I estimated to be less than a hundred passengers on board the plane seemed almost empty. The seat beside mine was empty, which meant I could sit pretty much anyway I liked within the confines of my seat belt. A clear morning offered a good view of Melbourne as we took off in a northerly direction then turned North East, revealing the whole suburban spread out my window, with Port Phillip Bay glistening in the background. Melbourne and Port Phillip soon gave way to the Dandenong Mountains, and then it wasn’t long until I couldn’t tell where I was. After about half an hour the cabin crew came round with drinks and pretzels. I’m not a fan of pretzels, but it was something to do. I was still trying to figure out where we were when I noticed the coast line, and a bit of suburban build-up happening. It seemed like no time at all since take off, and we were already approaching Sydney. To my delight, the wind must have been from the South, and our 747 had to fly up the western side of Sydney and do a right turn to approach from the North, giving me a terrific view, albeit a little hazy, of the Harbour City in all its splendour. Such a pity my camera doesn’t cope a bit better with haze and aircraft windows!
Touchdown was at 12:25 pm and we quickly but smoothly taxied over to the terminal, pulling in beside what I assumed was the next 747 that would take me to Los Angeles. The plane I was on would go on to San Francisco later in the afternoon. The flight from Melbourne had been very smooth and delightfully quick, and a good warm-up for the long haul ahead. I’m a bit of a nervous flyer, and not having flown since 2007 I was more than a little apprehensive about the whole thing. There are some aspects of flying that I quite enjoy: the exhilaration of take-off, the spectacular views of the land below, or the tops of clouds that you never see from the ground. Ironically, I actually enjoy the landings, even though it is theoretically the most dangerous part of the flight. Perhaps it’s because the flight’s just about over.
Flight 2: Sydney To Los Angeles, Also UA840
Take off was pretty well right on time, and with what I estimated to be less than a hundred passengers on board the plane seemed almost empty. The seat beside mine was empty, which meant I could sit pretty much anyway I liked within the confines of my seat belt. A clear morning offered a good view of Melbourne as we took off in a northerly direction then turned North East, revealing the whole suburban spread out my window, with Port Phillip Bay glistening in the background. Melbourne and Port Phillip soon gave way to the Dandenong Mountains, and then it wasn’t long until I couldn’t tell where I was. After about half an hour the cabin crew came round with drinks and pretzels. I’m not a fan of pretzels, but it was something to do. I was still trying to figure out where we were when I noticed the coast line, and a bit of suburban build-up happening. It seemed like no time at all since take off, and we were already approaching Sydney. To my delight, the wind must have been from the South, and our 747 had to fly up the western side of Sydney and do a right turn to approach from the North, giving me a terrific view, albeit a little hazy, of the Harbour City in all its splendour. Such a pity my camera doesn’t cope a bit better with haze and aircraft windows!
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This was the first time I'd seen Sydney from the air, and it really is quite a sight. Unfortunately a bit of haze and a slightly dirty window mean it's not a very sharp picture. You can just make out the Harbour Bridge and Opera House in the distance.
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Touchdown was at 12:25 pm and we quickly but smoothly taxied over to the terminal, pulling in beside what I assumed was the next 747 that would take me to Los Angeles. The plane I was on would go on to San Francisco later in the afternoon. The flight from Melbourne had been very smooth and delightfully quick, and a good warm-up for the long haul ahead. I’m a bit of a nervous flyer, and not having flown since 2007 I was more than a little apprehensive about the whole thing. There are some aspects of flying that I quite enjoy: the exhilaration of take-off, the spectacular views of the land below, or the tops of clouds that you never see from the ground. Ironically, I actually enjoy the landings, even though it is theoretically the most dangerous part of the flight. Perhaps it’s because the flight’s just about over.
Flight 2: Sydney To Los Angeles, Also UA840
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| My next carriage being loaded and prepared for the big jump across the Pacific from Sydney to LA |
At Sydney airport the plane that I had suspected would be taking me to Los Angeles was a Star Alliance 747 – I figured it was probably a stand-in for the one that had the bump a few days earlier at Melbourne Airport. We had arrived a little ahead of schedule, and because we came into the terminal through the gate next to the one I would soon be leaving from, there was plenty of time to get a coffee and send a couple of messages. Boarding was called on time and this time the passengers were much more numerous. I didn’t actually do a count, but there didn’t seem to be many empty seats on this flight.
Time Since Leaving Home: 6hrs 30mins.
This Star Alliance 747 was N121UA, which belongs to United Airlines (United being a founding member of Star Alliance) and was delivered to them on April 22nd 1999, making it just over fourteen years old. I see this as a perfect age for a 747 – old enough to have had any wrinkles ironed out, but still nowhere near being past its prime. Sort of like a thirty five year old tradesman. We pushed off from Gate 60 pretty much on time, and with a big load and full fuel tanks, N121UA took a long, roaring charge down the runway. One of the things about the back seat is that you’re at the end of a very large, very long shaking stick, so you tend to feel every wiggle and tremor as the aircraft powers into take off at full throttle. We took off in a southerly direction, giving me a glimpse of the coast of Southern New South Wales before we banked left to tackle the Pacific Ocean. Once the coast disappeared from view there wasn’t a lot more to see. I spotted a couple of cargo ships below, and one other aircraft which was probably heading into Sydney or Melbourne, and endless miles of Pacific Ocean.
I had booked 60J right through to LA, and this time I had a lady beside me. Shelley was about 50 ish, and was an Australian living in Kentucky. She’d been back to Australia for something to do with her son’s university enrollment, and a couple of days ago had received the terrible news that her husband, in Kentucky, had passed away. We talked a little for the first half hour or so, and then she settled into reading a book, and I settled into the window.
Going by the itinerary the Trans Pacific jump was going to take about thirteen and a half hours, but the captain said it should only take twelve and a bit, which was a small relief. I had pre-developed a strategy for dealing with the long haul, which in the past I have thoroughly hated. I had read in some reviews that the flight attendants serve dinner about two hours into the flight, which would be about 4:00 – 4:30 Melbourne time, and by my calculations, it would be nearly dark. I had decided to split the flight into three hour segments. In the first, I would look out the window, perhaps write some notes, take some pictures, or whatever I could think of to keep my mind occupied until the meal came around. By the second segment it would be dark, and I took a couple of DVD’s to watch on my laptop, which would take care of the bulk of that segment. After the movies I would try to sleep as much as possible, which would hopefully take me into a good portion of the third segment. And finally, in the last segment there would be breakfast, and perhaps a view of the California Coast before long.
This Star Alliance 747 was N121UA, which belongs to United Airlines (United being a founding member of Star Alliance) and was delivered to them on April 22nd 1999, making it just over fourteen years old. I see this as a perfect age for a 747 – old enough to have had any wrinkles ironed out, but still nowhere near being past its prime. Sort of like a thirty five year old tradesman. We pushed off from Gate 60 pretty much on time, and with a big load and full fuel tanks, N121UA took a long, roaring charge down the runway. One of the things about the back seat is that you’re at the end of a very large, very long shaking stick, so you tend to feel every wiggle and tremor as the aircraft powers into take off at full throttle. We took off in a southerly direction, giving me a glimpse of the coast of Southern New South Wales before we banked left to tackle the Pacific Ocean. Once the coast disappeared from view there wasn’t a lot more to see. I spotted a couple of cargo ships below, and one other aircraft which was probably heading into Sydney or Melbourne, and endless miles of Pacific Ocean.
I had booked 60J right through to LA, and this time I had a lady beside me. Shelley was about 50 ish, and was an Australian living in Kentucky. She’d been back to Australia for something to do with her son’s university enrollment, and a couple of days ago had received the terrible news that her husband, in Kentucky, had passed away. We talked a little for the first half hour or so, and then she settled into reading a book, and I settled into the window.
Going by the itinerary the Trans Pacific jump was going to take about thirteen and a half hours, but the captain said it should only take twelve and a bit, which was a small relief. I had pre-developed a strategy for dealing with the long haul, which in the past I have thoroughly hated. I had read in some reviews that the flight attendants serve dinner about two hours into the flight, which would be about 4:00 – 4:30 Melbourne time, and by my calculations, it would be nearly dark. I had decided to split the flight into three hour segments. In the first, I would look out the window, perhaps write some notes, take some pictures, or whatever I could think of to keep my mind occupied until the meal came around. By the second segment it would be dark, and I took a couple of DVD’s to watch on my laptop, which would take care of the bulk of that segment. After the movies I would try to sleep as much as possible, which would hopefully take me into a good portion of the third segment. And finally, in the last segment there would be breakfast, and perhaps a view of the California Coast before long.
After about an hour in the air the crew brought around drinks and pretzels. Shelley was focused on her book so after the nibbles I took my pad out of my laptop bag and started writing some notes. I felt a little like having a snooze, but didn’t want to at this point, as I was hungry and didn’t want to miss out on the meal which would hopefully be served pretty soon. Plus sleeping now didn’t fit into my Long Haul Comfort Plan. It was still daylight, and I was feeling quite comfortable. I found the leg room surprisingly adequate, and even better when I put my feet down beside the seat in front of me. At 3:55pm Melbourne time (and I had no idea what local time would be at that point) dinner was served. The choice was braised beef or pasta, and not being a huge fan of pasta I predictably chose the beef. The beef was braised to melt-in-the-mouth tenderness and had some sort of couscous sprinkled over it and next to it, with peas and corn in the same tray. As I touched on earlier, I’ve read a lot of moans about United’s food but this was delicious. Next to that tray was another with a mixed salad of lettuce, fine julienned carrots and what looked like purple cabbage, accompanied by a little tub of Italian Dressing. A nice wholemeal bread roll and some spreadable butter topped off the first course. Dessert was a nice mix of chopped peach and pear, topped with a soft sugary mix almost like dry custard. All in all it was a good feed, and if I were scoring it, I’d have given it 8/10. I really don't know why people complain about United's food. Perhaps they are used to dining in fine restaurants, and expect the same sort of gourmet cuisine everywhere they go. To me, my reason for being there had nothing to do with the food. I needed to get to Canada, and the food along the way was incidental. I was paying just $1245 return to get from Melbourne to Newark, and for that money I would have been happy with baked beans on toast!
The sun was setting rapidly behind us as we raced towards the darkness, and I was hoping to get some photos or even video of the day-night line which I’d seen once before over central Australia heading for Singapore. A clear, dead straight line on the ground, dark on one side, light on the other. But it wasn’t happening today. Perhaps because of the clouds which now covered the view of the ocean below, or perhaps because our line of flight wasn’t the right angle. But by 4:30 it was dark, dinner was history, and there wasn’t much to be seen outside. I jotted a few more notes for a while, and then pulled out my laptop from under the seat in front of me, and began watching National Treasure.
At about 7:45pm Melbourne time the crew brought round a little snack consisting of a bread roll with cheese and something else I couldn’t make out, a Tim Tam biscuit and a coffee. By 8:30 I’d finished watching National Treasure, and started watching National Treasure 2, but my battery ran out about twenty minutes into it. I had brought a spare battery, but I couldn’t be bothered fishing it out of the bag and changing it over, so I packed it all up, and drifted off to sleep.
Over all the flight was quite smooth, with just a little turbulence not far out of Sydney, and some heavier turbulence that woke me from my not so blissful slumber later on at night. Judging by the time I think it was somewhere near Hawaii. At 1:30am Melbourne time the breakfast trolley rolled out, and we had a choice of eggs or fruit. I had the scrambled eggs with spinach purée and a croissant with butter. And, of course, a coffee. The egg was reasonably tasty but a little bit on the rubbery side, but I guess this is an unfortunate consequence of eggs sitting for ten or more hours on an aeroplane. Certainly nothing to complain about. The spinach gave a contrasting taste and texture, and the croissant was a beautiful finish.
We should have arrived at LAX around 3:10am Melbourne time, but by 2:30am the mountains of Southern California were in sight, poking their heads up above the clouds. The weather was quite overcast, and we dropped out of the clouds over Crenshaw and West Century Boulevards, only about five miles from the airport. Touchdown at LAX followed less than two minutes later, at 2:43 am Melbourne time, 9:43 am Los Angeles time, minus one day, of course.
Time Since Leaving Home: 19hrs 13mins.
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| Crenshaw & West Century Boulevards, at about 1700 feet on landing approach |
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| The San Diego Freeway which runs North-South on the Eastern edge of LAX |
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Keith B Hamilton
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