After my trip to the United States with a stopover in Dubai, I needed to buy a one-way ticket back to Prague. Since one-way fares usually cost more than round-trip fares, I resorted to buying a ticket with miles. In this case, the same price is paid for one direction, whether the ticket is only one-way or round-trip.
The choice fell on United to Frankfurt and then Lufthansa to Prague. The movement of people between Europe and the United States was still very limited at the time. Finding affordable tickets for miles was no problem, today the situation is significantly worse.
When choosing a carrier from the big three – American, Delta and United – it’s more about choosing the lesser evil than choosing a quality carrier. Every American airline has its own little plus, but in a global comparison, the quality of services is below average.
At the airport
I arrived at George Bush International Airport around 6:30 in the evening, a little over two hours before departure. That’s not much to stand for. The only nice lounge, the Polaris Lounge, which is reserved for business class passengers only, was closed at the time of my visit. I was quite shocked that there was no one at the priority check-in counters, that check-in and security took over half an hour. Document control was quite strict. For example, Germany required a PCR test not older than 48 hours even for the transit, which was stricter than the requirement of my final destination – the Czech Republic. It didn’t help either that the attendant handling the suitcases (talking about a counter worker wouldn’t describe the job description) had no idea what Prague was or where it was located. Even in Frankfurt, he guessed as much as possible. In short, finding somewhat aware workers is difficult these days.
After a short visit to the lounge, I arrived at gate E4 of the Houston airport 45 minutes before my scheduled departure. There was a long queue waiting for another document check. There was no special line for business class passengers. So I wasted 20 minutes just to have someone (for about the third time) look at my PRC test. After landing in Prague, I had all my luggage 20 minutes after landing on the runway. Passengers can only dream about such a speed today. Not only at the Prague airport. In the summer of 2022, it is a minor miracle if the suitcases arrive at all.
Lounge
My information about the closed Polaris lounge was confirmed at the Houston airport. Which is a shame, the much simpler United Club was open. There was never much to stand for in this lounge. And excuses for the covid pandemic certainly did not improve the offer. As for food, there were prepackaged sandwiches, salads, cheddar cheese or chips and cookies. Luckily, I’d bet on a hearty early dinner on the way to the airport and I wasn’t hungry. Polaris Lounge-eligible passengers received a coupon for free premium drinks. One option was basic Moet & Chandon champagne, which is otherwise available for purchase in the lounge for $15. I had one drink and went to the gate.
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In Frankfurt, while I was waiting for my connecting flight to Prague, the lounge situation at Lufthansa was still dismal. The lounges were open, but there was still a ban on consuming anything. Because of that, there wasn’t really anything to be had in them either. Coffee, tea, water and a pretzel were available, and only on the way out of the lounge. When you try to return to the lounge and take a sip of bottled water or lousy coffee, one of the lounge guards will quickly run up and warn you. The ban is also enforced right before entering the lounge, so that maybe someone doesn’t think of just going out for a drink. How strange. Nothing can be consumed in the empty lounge, but it is okay to take it to the gat and eat it, drink it there. At least the lounge showers were open. A quick shower came in handy after a night flight.
Seat and cabin
After boarding through the second door, I turned left and quickly found my seat 4C, which was an aisle seat in the fourth row on the left side of the plane. A blanket, two types of pillows and a cosmetic bag, this time rather a bag in the colors of the American Olympic team, were already waiting on the seat. United was the official carrier of the American Olympians. But that ended with the Olympics in Tokyo. Since this year’s Winter Games in Beijing, the athletes there have been flying with Delta. The seats in business class (United calls it Polaris) are in a 2-2-2 configuration in two cabins. The front has 30 seats in 5 rows and the second has 18 seats in 3 rows. These are the older type of seats that can be found on board United planes.
United’s old business class seats are the Collins Aerospace Diamond model. For me, these are the most (space-saving) fully reclining seats, as each seat’s legroom is on the side of the seat in front of it.
These seats are acceptable for a roughly nine-hour flight if you are traveling with someone or have a spare seat next to you. Fortunately, the latter was the case for me on this flight. While on a flight from California to Australia next to a random stranger, I would be a lot less happy with this seat. Fortunately, Boeing 787-9s are slowly but surely being equipped with new business class seats. The new Polaris seats were already introduced at the end of 2016. However, even after more than five years, not all planes in United’s colors are equipped with these seats.
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As you can see, there is not much privacy. Although I find United seats to be adequately comfortable on a short flight, they are outdated from today’s perspective. They are quite narrow and in a horizontal position the space for the legs is very cramped. The storage area under the screen offers enough space for a laptop, chargers and a case for headphones. Another storage space is located in the back of the seat behind the shoulder. There are also sockets, a USB charging port and a headphone jack. This is also where the headphones provided to business class passengers were located. I didn’t even try them because I had my own. Each seat has a 15.4-inch HD infotainment display.
After the previous flight, where was he lack of toilets, I was glad that there were three available on this one, plus the business class was more than half empty. Wifi was available on the plane. The prices were very reasonable. An hour costs two dollars (47 crowns) and the connection for the whole flight costs 17 dollars (410 crowns) without any data restrictions.
Food and drink
Shortly after taking my seat, Helen arrived with the main course menu. The menu was only verbal, no printed, and only the main course of the dinner could be chosen. Appetizer dessert or dessert was given. There was a choice of beef, salmon or vegetarian pasta. I chose salmon. No pre-flight drink, such as a glass of champagne, was offered. Each business class passenger was given a bottle of water only. Dinner arrived three quarters of an hour after departure. Everything was served at once and on one tray and seemed very “covid safe” thanks to the plastic packaging and cups. Or it could be a stray economy class meal. A salad with mozzarella, a main course (salmon) with a quinoa salad, a baguette wrapped in plastic, a plastic bowl of nuts and mango sorbet – all this on one small tray. The nuts had the strangest effect. In better times, these were served with a drink right after the flight, before the actual meal. But there is no time for that in covid times.
I had champagne and sparkling water to drink. When I asked what kind of champagne they had, I was told that it was French. What a nicely American response. I never saw the bottle because they brought it already poured in a plastic cup, so to this day I don’t know what it was. The food was surprisingly good. Mainly the salmon, which was not dried out and was perfectly complemented by the citrus sauce. An hour and a half after takeoff, all the passengers were hungry and the crew disappeared.
Breakfast was served almost 8 hours after departure. The choice was ‘quiche’ or porridge. I chose the first one, it was more like scrambled eggs with onions in a batter bowl. There were also sausages and mushrooms on the plate. There was also a sweetened yogurt, a sort of fruit compote and a croissant on the tray. I had coffee and sparkling water to drink.
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A snack was served on the short flight from Frankfurt to Prague. It consisted of a few slices of poultry ham with what looked like ratatouille, then dessert, pastry and butter. No glory, but it’s enough on a 45 minute flight. A selection of drinks were available to accompany this, including sparkling wine but not champagne. Personally, I’ve already stuck to coffee and water.
Verdict
This flight fulfilled its purpose. This was to get from point A to point B in a horizontal position. You simply cannot expect more from American airlines. Service, as understood by many Asian or Middle Eastern airlines, is simply not known by American carriers. It targets the American clientele, and its demands and manners are somewhat Buranian. When asked what kind of champagne they have, who will answer that it is French? This is perhaps clear to “business” passengers. Obviously not the American ones. Champagne would probably be a “bohemian” for you. The food at United (and other American carriers) did not resemble a Michelin restaurant even before covid, and the pandemic cutbacks knocked it down a few levels. It’s a bit of a misery that no one even tries to polish.
Flight number: UA46, LH1400
Class: Business Class
Route: Houston (IAH) -> Frankfurt (FRA) -> Praha (PRG)
Flight duration: 9h 55m, 1h
Aircraft type and registration: Boeing 787-9 (N-19951), Mitsubishi CRJ-900 (D-ACNV)
Seat: 4B, 3A
Date of flight: May 2021
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