Chicago O'Hare

I went to the Red Carpet Club in concourse C and got a card for the use of the WiFi in the lobby and two drink chits. The agents were very friendly and after showing my LH Senator card joking if LH knew that I was flying United today instead of LH. The lounge was more crowded than the previous Saturday, but since it was the busier time with some flights to Europe and the beginning evening with many people flying back home or to their meetings, this was not unexpected. Nevertheless I was able to get a seat and crabbed some vegetables, crackers and exchanged one of my drink chits into a glass of white wine and worked a bit on my trip report.

I left the lounge around scheduled boarding time and headed for the gate area, which was the next gate to the Red Carpet Club. As I reached the gate area, the announcement was just made that boarding will start with elite passengers followed by the rest in zones. I headed for the desk to get rid of my I-94 waiver and then to the door for boarding. There was only one passenger in front of me and he got an upgrade to Business Class at the door. The agent printed a new boarding pass and gave it to the passenger. As it was my turn, the reader refused again and it happened that I was also upgraded to Business Class. A nice surprise and my first op-up on United Airlines. With the new boarding pass in my hand I was on the way to the plane.

03 June 2009
ORD – FRA
[Chicago O'Hare – Frankfurt]
UA 940 (United); Boeing 777 (N774UA)
Gate C 16
18:22 – 09:55 [effective 18:23 – 09:39]
Business Class
Seat 15 J

At the door of the plane I was friendly greeted by a flight attendant. My seat was located in the last row of Business Class. Headphones, amenity kit, pillow and blanket were already placed on the seat. I stored by belongings in the overhead compartment after I had taken everything I needed during the flight out of it.

The flight filled with passengers and the plane was sold out completely in Economy Class and there was one seat free in Business Class. My seat neighbor was a member of the US Forces and flying to Irak.

It was of course the old Business Class, but still better than sitting back in Economy. And like I have mentioned in earlier trip reports, I do not dislike the old product that much. Sure, the seat is far away from being up to date, but still very comfortable. The condition of the plane was okay, some scratches here and there, but nothing really to worry about. From my impression in better shape than the one on my recent flight from Frankfurt to Chicago. But the Economy Cabin might always looked a bit more run down.

Pre departure drink were offered as he most of the passengers flying in Economy Class had passed Business Class. The choice we had was either a glass of orange or apple juice or sparkling wine. I opted for a glass of sparkling wine. It is a pity, that United uses plastic glasses for the pre-departure drinks. I did not remember the safety demonstration, but I assume it was shown. I read in my papers as we were pushed back and during taxiing and take off – beside the pictures I took during this time.

The captain had informed us about the flight time and cruising altitude and the weather in Frankfurt. He expected light turbulence in the first time in flight and therefore had requested the flight attendants to remain seated a bit longer than usual and he expected also light turbulence while entering European airspace near  the British Coast. Two flight attendants were fluent in German and like on my trip to Chicago translated the announcement of the captain and of the purser of the flight.

We pushed back in time and had to wait a couple of minutes before we finally rolled to our runway. We took of at 18:39 and climbed into the sunny sky above Chicago offering good views of the skyline.

Contrary to the announcement of the captain on the ground, the seat belt signs were not turned on longer than usual and ten minutes after take off the crew began to prepare the service. Menus were distributed. As usual on United Airlines the first service was a beverage service and also the assorted warm nuts were distributed. During this time the purser came around and asked passengers for their preferred meal and the second choice if the first one was not available.

Time to have a look in the menu: (click on the menue)

I assume she did it by status of the passengers, as I was among the first third of the cabin to be asked for their choice. It seems, that it did not count, that I was upgraded. I had opted for a glass of the Chardonnay and a glass of water. Another beverage round was done half an hour later and we got also offered some more assorted nuts.

A hot towel service was done prior to the start of the dinner service.

Meal Service started around 70 minutes in flight. Linen were laid on the tray tables and soon later the first course was served. The first course came with the tray and the cutlery and napkin. Rolls were also offered, but only “normal” rolls, nothing special like garlic bread or different types of rolls. But of course better than sitting in the back in Economy Class.

The first course was good, the dressing really tasty, but the vegetables and the ham were a bit dry. The salmon was okay and not too dry, but otherwise nothing special.

The service was done by cart completely, meaning the first course was brought using the card and the dirty dishes were collected by cart, both times in addition with a beverage service. However, the main course was brought individually to the passengers. The sauce was really good, spicy and it really tasted good. The fish however was a bit too dry for my impression. But as mentioned in many reports about food offerings on planes dry fish is not an uncommon problem. Refills of water and wine were done frequently during the meal service.

Trays were collected later again by cart and the dessert were offered. I opted for the cake and a cup of tea. Finally after nearly 80 minutes the meal service was finished and all items were collected by the flight attendants.

The crew was very attentive and friendly and one of the better crews I have had on flights of United so far. They were attentive and friendly, smiled and even knew which wine one had chosen. It was a Chicago based crew by the way. I was even addressed by name a few times.

Right after everything was collected the cabin lights were turned off and the most passengers tried to sleep. I lowered my seat and tried to sleep, too. I had first thought about watching a movie or work on my trip report but decided against it. I was able to get three hours of sleep, not much, but better than nothing. Regarding the arrival time, which is 03:00 Montreal time this is okay.

I woke up as we already were over Great Britain. The crew had already began with the preparation of the breakfast and approached passengers who were already awake. Since the breakfast included a plate of fruits, I decided not to skip breakfast. I opted for a cup of tea with the breakfast. Cabin light were turned on a bit later and as far as I noticed the most passengers got breakfast.

It was approximately an hour to go as breakfast was served for the remaining passengers and so the most passengers could get as much sleep as possible as they wanted and also get both meal services. Half an hour prior to landing the captain came over the microphone and gave us an weather update for Frankfurt. Like he announced in Chicago, we still were expected to arrive in Frankfurt ahead of time.

The crew began to prepare the cabin for arrival and the usual announcements were made, requesting everybody to use the lavatories before the seat belt signs were turned off and put everything back in the overhead compartments. However like on most airlines, the do-not-use-the-lavatories-anymore-policy was not enforced in Business and First Class.

We passed Frankfurt and made an U-turn approaching Frankfurt from Offenbach. We touched down and this time we had a gate, not an position on the tarmac. However, this time we arrived in the c-concourse.

After we reached the gate, it took some time before we finally were able to deboard through Business and First Class. Nobody of the crew made any efforts to stop Economy Class Passengers to invade the Business Class Cabin.

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