New York Trip on United Airlines Boeing 777-300ER (SFO-EWR-SFO)

[SQfanatic]

It's been almost 3 years since I have taken an actual vacation outside of the Pacific Time zone (Only went to Minneapolis 2 years ago to vacate as the pandemic got worse in September 2020 and never went back since and only took local vacations/trips to Nevada or some parts of California since last year).

This year being 2022, that the pandemic still exists but subsiding and we are all learning to live with the virus, I decided to treat my parents on a trip to New York for one primary purpose - To see an actual New York fireworks for the 4th of July, something especially my mom was really raving for years which was always just talk but no action till I stepped up and decided to make this a trip.

Normally I don't and usually rarely post local trip reports but since my flight was operated by a United Airlines widebody aircraft 5-6 hours of a flight, I thought I decided to take an opportunity to take photos and enjoy it as it'll probably be hard to get an opportunity like this again.

When I first originally booked the tickets on United Airlines, I was initially scheduled to be on the Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner both ways, which at the time would help me get prepared for the time I start flying it on Singapore Airlines from Singapore to Chennai and vice versa this coming December. However, 3 months ago in April, I got an email regarding some time changes & aircraft changes, which was only tweaked 1 hour earlier or later and changed from a 787 to a Boeing 777-300ER, which I was still happy to fly on.

I decided to book a direct flight because all other times we went to New York it involved changing flights in different airports in risks of more time and probably missing flights as well as the pandemic to just minimize contact to contact in other airports and just take the trip on 1 plane each way. United Airlines' price was very reasonable so decided to book it.

Trip Report will start as a next post here.

[SQfanatic]

Flight: United Airlines flight UA2059
Route: San Francisco - New York (Newark/EWR)
Aircraft: N2250U (Boeing 777-300ER, 2.5 years old)
Livery: New
Date of Departure: July 2 (10:40PM), Arrival July 3 (7:07AM)
Seat: 52A (Economy Class)
Configuration: 3-class (United Polaris Business, Premium Plus/Premium Economy, Economy)

Our journey started at San Francisco International Airport during the long 4th of July weekend. It was a Saturday night and surprisingly our flight departed from the International Terminal concourse G (also known as the Star Alliance terminal). Since we were TSA Pre, security took no more than 5-7 minutes. Compared to the last time I was in this concourse G (in 2019 for Sun Country flights to Minneapolis), it has expanded with restaurants with a coffee shop, pizza, and a sandwich.



We departed from Gate G6 and saw our plane in a new livery.















Around 10:00PM, we headed to our gate and boarding started a little after 10:15PM. They called by group number only. Our's was group number 3 and we boarded the aircraft around 10:20PM.

Once boarding the aircraft, the mood lighting just awed me. Blue mood lighting on United Airlines, which was a great touch for a redeye flight. One thing that United (and probably most airlines) give is hand sanitizer not just to sanitize your hands but also for screen sanitization.

United Airlines Polaris Business Class:



United Airlines Economy Class (Laid in a 3-4-3- layout)







View from Seat 52A:





Cabin view - The seat was very comfortable despite it being in a 10-across layout. Plenty of legroom to me and my parents' expectations.



A few snippets of United's IFE. The map reminds me more of Cathay Pacific's map, though this version is a 2D, kind of more like Delta Airlines when I flew their Boeing 737-900ER from SFO to MSP on many occasions as I was working there at one point before the pandemic.



Some useful flight information. On the way back, this was a BSOD.



The crew made an announcement ensuring everyone was on board and to make sure the luggage is stored and of course there were plenty of pre-recorded announcements. as well.

After sometime, the safety video played with Rhapsody in Blue (United's theme) & the captain cut out a bit of it to make his announcement, which the flight to New York (Newark) would be about 4 hours and 30 minutes and we would be landing 30 minutes ahead of schedule.

We pushed back around 10:55PM and the taxi to the runway was around 15 minutes without any queue. We took off around 11:10PM and headed east





The seatbelt sign was turned off & most people were asleep as it was a night flight. Crew did come around to serve us snacks & drinks. I went for the diet coke first round and later (shown) had a coffee, which was pretty good.

United Airlines' wifi is by Panasonic (which their 77W's from the outside have the bubbly antenna like Singapore Airlines' 77W SWU-SNC right at the top of the 2nd door used for boarding).

I used their Wifi and it was pretty good and fast. There is one problem in regards to their wifi - You cannot stream YouTube videos or music, which I find annoying. I wish Singapore Airlines did bring back their time based wifi with a "Full Flight" package. I paid about $10, which wasn't too bad for posting on Instagram or Whatsapp Status. If you got the free Messaging pack, you cannot post Whatsapp statuses, which I found pretty annoying till I upgraded it.

Here are some shots I took of FR24 just for testing purposes:







Now, to the flight maps, this time without any interruptions of announcements:

As mentioned, their flight map is a 2D on the 777-300ER, but it's pretty interactive though.

Just after leaving SFO:



It zooms further and we are trekking East to New York.









Flight information, which comes later, but while coming back it was a BSOD.



Another button you can press is to have it fully zoomed to say how far you are from your origin and how far is the destination plus some landmarks. I remember we had something similar on Singapore Airlines' maps during the time they had 747-400's back in the day.



When you click night mode, you may think that this map magically makes it darker. But not so, it shows the time zones for every major city in every country. You can zoom it, which is nice.



Also, caught these as we crossed over the Mountain Time zone (past Nevada and slowly into Salt Lake City):











Sunrise as we hit Iowa:





Sunrise got brighter over Illinois as it was around 5:20AM there.





Sunrise underneath the 77W wing over Ohio.



Snacks & coffee on UA's 77W after sunrise as the crew came in with another round of drinks. Their coffee was really enjoyable. Crew were also very friendly.





Somewhere over Pennsylvania nearing New York:



The cabin sometime prior to landing:



Very soon, about 20 minutes prior to landing and during descent, the captain came back with his announcement that Newark will be cloudy with some drizzle and around 79 degrees (26 degrees in Celcius). We started descending around 6:25AM.





Banking left towards New Jersey:





We landed around 6:30AM as the landing was very smooth. It was a quick taxi to our gate (C136).



The mood lighting still remained once we disembarked. Their vocal music like "Good Time" by Owl City ft. Carly Rae Jepsen played as a boarding music. I also heard this on yesterday's trip back to SFO.

United's Economy class in a 3-4-3- layout (Seat was really comfortable to be honest)







United's Premium Plus/Premium Economy cabin:



United Polaris Business Class cabin:



Newark Airport:

[SQfanatic]

Our 3 day New York trip started. We got out of the terminal around 7:15AM and got our Uber to our hotel. You can see some parts of Downtown New York. Our hotel was in downtown New York at the Millennium Hilton New York One UN Plaza.

Some pictures of downtown New York:





Empire State Building in New York:



We got to the hotel, but after check-in, we got to know our room would not be available. After asking regarding my inquiry of being able to see the fireworks from our room and the East River view request, they said it was all booked, but they did have a nice room available for me and said people can walk steps outside just to see it. So, we dropped our bags & after looking at the breakfast price, we decided to take an Uber to have breakfast elsewhere and later came back.

After checking at least another 3 times, we still did not get our room till around 2PM EDT. Our room was 3023, on the 30th floor, which to our surprise had a great view of East River on the left side, and the city view on the right:

2 full beds, one of them my parents would sleep in and I would sleep in the other one. The beds were so comfortable and had plenty of space to our expectations. Not too big or too small, just about right.



East River view, from the left side. That is the UN building where you can buy tickets for a guided tour. I recommend it if you happen to stay around here.



City view, where you can see the Empire State Building & Chrysler building. Further away, you would see the World Trade Center



Similar view at sunset:



Similarly, here are some night shots, too:

Empire State Building in its standard night colored light on July 3 and 5 respectively.



East River & night lights

















Brooklyn Bridge somewhere in the distance




On the first day, later on, we decided to go to Times Square, which was amazing:









Around 7PM, we decided to have an early dinner at Saravana Bhavan, popular in Chennai, Singapore, and many parts of the world and the San Francisco Bay Area. We opted for a dosa and some lassi to wash it down. Compared to the one in the Bay Area (which I had more than 3 years ago last time), New York's SB is much better in quality and price:

[SQfanatic]

Post is deleted due to it being a duplicate as earlier my internet connection went out while posting this TR

[SQfanatic]

Day 2 of New York was basically Independence Day (4th of July).

Some morning views to start out the day from the room:




City view from the room:



A few of these were taken at the Fitness center:













Unfortunately, due to July 4th fireworks, the hotel would be closing the fitness center & all other amenities early (except the bar & coffee shop) for safety reasons on July 4th evening itself.

We skipped breakfast and had lunch straight at Adyar Ananda Bhavan, probably one of the best restaurants. I opted for the tamarind rice & gobi manchurian which tasted very homely:





At some point after, we took a Roosevelt Island Tram, which only has 2 stops (kind of like a gondola in Lake Tahoe) and we could see great views of the Queensboro Bridge & the skyline:





We headed back to the hotel as they were closing many parts near FDR drive to bring in the fireworks. Sometime closer to sunset, we could see some barges lining up:



It started getting dark, and I met a friend who also joined us for the fireworks. We went around one of the parallel streets in New York and grabbed a New York pizza from Slice, which was pretty good for a snack. I recommend it:





Later around 9:30PM, we got to watch the fireworks from our room come from many barges lined up around East River. It was such an unique experience my parents & I and my friend will never forget:

[SQfanatic]

Day 3 in New York and started our morning with a coffee from Illy (a coffee shop inside our hotel):





We had the cappuccino, which was pretty good, definitely better than the coffee. Despite it being $7, it was worth it.

At a much later point, we decided to try breakfast at the hotel's restaurant (Ambassador Grill):

We opted for the waffles, french toast and scrambled eggs alongside with coffee, which were pretty good. But it was pricey ($85 total depending on how many items you'd buy), but it was great nonetheless.



Our last day was a packed day - It consisted of going to the World Trade Center (the actual observatory is closed on Tuesdays & Wednesdays), so we went around the Westfield Mall & later took a New York subway to Battery Park:

WTC & mall pictures:

Williamsburg Bridge in New York:





Brooklyn Bridge in New York:





World Trade Center observatory:



Memorial fountain mentioning the names of those who died in the 9/11 attacks:







Outside & inside the Westfield Mall:





For the first time in a long time (probably more than 20 years), got a chance to ride the New York subway and it was very convenient. We rode it from WTC to Battery park (short ride) and from Battery Park back to Grand Central (15-20 minutes) but quicker than traffic. It was only a 10 min walk back to our hotel:













Battery Park:











At some point later in the day, it got a little humid and rained a bit but we went to the UN Building for a guided tour. The nice thing is it's right across from the hotel.

One thing to note. You can buy tickets online, but there's a place across the UN Building where you have to show some QR code and get some wristband & some sticker and then go to the tour. The tour was pretty comprehensive as it covered many aspects about the past wars and we got to look at some of the rooms where leaders from different countries come and talk about many political items.









Our last and final stop of the trip was the Empire State Building in New York. Our views were basically the 86th floor and 102nd floor but also it took us to the 80th floor, something I did not also expect as every trip we only went to 1 or 2 floors as part of the tour:

80th floor views shrouded in low clouds and drizzle closer to sunset:













86th floor views:

















102nd floor views:

[SQfanatic]

Flight: United Airlines flight UA1101
Route: New York (Newark/EWR) - San Francisco
Aircraft: N2251U (Boeing 777-300ER, 2.4 years old)
Livery: New
Date of Departure: July 6 (3:40PM), Arrival July 6 (6:42PM)
Seat: 39A (Economy Class)
Configuration: 3-class (United Polaris Business, Premium Plus/Premium Economy, Economy)

The trip was coming to an end yesterday as we were heading back home to SFO in the afternoon. Like a couple of days ago, we were also on United's Boeing 777-300ER on the way back. We reached New York (Newark) Airport around 1:40PM and got to TSA Precheck. This took around 10 minutes but we were in the airside with plenty of time.

Newark Airport airside:





The gate our flight was departing from (C126) had a very bad view, in fact no window to actually even view the aircraft. But it did have the new livery and was a 2.5 year old aircraft like when we went.



Newark's Terminal C is pretty nice. Since there was plenty of time to spare, I decided to get a Dunkin' Donuts on the way back as it's something you should opt to get when in the East Coast. There's also a few but not too many in the West Coast (luckily there happens to be 1 walking distance to my house).





There was another SFO flight on UA next to us at gate C125, which was supposed to depart at 2:10PM, but got delayed at least an hour. It did depart 30 minutes before us. However, our flight was on time without any issues.

Boarding commenced as scheduled around 3:10PM thought the ETD changed to 3:55PM because they were waiting for a few people connecting from a Boston flight. We only departed 9 minutes late, so it wasn't too bad.

The captain came in with an announcement saying the flight time would be about 5 hours and 15 minutes leading to an on time arrival into SFO. There was also some turbulence after take off due to some unstable weather and storms before cruising into more smooth weather.

United's Polaris Business Class:



Wing view from seat 39A:



Flight route today:



Economy class cabin:





Pushback & engine start around 3:49PM:






We proceeded to the runway and took off around 4:10PM:









Banking over New Jersey:







Over 38,000 feet where we encountered some turbulence over Ohio.



United coffee & snacks again. The crew came twice and were very friendly like the last flight on the requests




BSOD, where the actual flight information did not show. First I thought it was just this seat then my dad's seat had the same problem. Then, when I was walking around the cabin, it was a problem in every seat.



Turbulence at that time in Ohio:



United's Wifi price ($10) and it's time-based. Messaging is free on Whatsapp. If your intention is to post a Whatsapp status, don't expect that will work unless you buy ACTUAL wifi.







Lavatory visit:

Very clean lavatory overall. You can tell like most airlines, United takes sanitization and cleaning very seriously. Very cool sink as well.







Some flight maps & information:



Destination information (like terminals and such):





United's Relax mode on the IFE:



Cruising somewhere over the Rockies:



FR24 from United's Wifi:





Somewhere around Utah:



Another mode where we can see how far we are and what's the distanced traveled plus some known landmarks and how far they are. Similar as I said to Singapore Airlines's 747-400 back in the day when it had something similar. I haven't seen any other airline with something like this (I think Delta had it, can't remember)



Soon about 20 minutes prior to landing, the captain came in with an announcement we'd be touching down closer to 6:25PM and reaching our gate a few minutes after. We were on schedule.

Over the Sierra Nevada Mountains nearing California:





Flaps retracting:



San Francisco Bay:



Dumbarton Bridge:



Somewhere past the San Mateo Bridge:



Smooth landing overall:





Taxiing and parking at gate F22 (End of the trip):



Disembarking at San Francisco Airport Terminal 3:





Actual shot of our plane as Newark had a very poor viewing area:

[SQfanatic]

Final thoughts?

A very good flight on United and very neat to fly a widebody international aircraft on a transcontinental route as a rare opportunity/treat. I really enjoyed the seats & was able to sleep when I needed to. It was definitely a full flight and service was very prompt.

One thing I guess is pretty common & standard amongst most carriers is that headphones are available by request only (Singapore Airlines has a headphone counter where you can take one before boarding). When we asked for headphones, the crew gave us 3 when my mom only wanted it.

The crew were very friendly on this route. They really take cleaning of the aircraft very seriously and hand the sanitizing wipes for us, which is really nice. Similar to Delta and probably most carriers too. They gave twice or sometimes 3 times to ensure we had snacks/drinks and well fed as needed during the flight. All my encounters were very positive. They even sad goodbye & happy 4th.

I've flown United transcontinental a couple of times and they are pretty good too just like Delta is. I wonder how they are for an international route (like say to India nonstop).


One question: How can I make the photos larger? PostImage doesn't work & tiny pic is out and I want to do it in such a way that it does not involve creating an account and make it better quality. I will fix them, but in the meantime please enjoy this trip report.

[RedEyeflight]

Hi SQfanatic, thank you for this very detailed TR. Glad to see healthy loads on UA transcon warranting a switch to the 77W.

Your TR also made me realize how much I miss NYC. Happy you were able to enjoy the city!

[SQfanatic]

Hi SQfanatic, thank you for this very detailed TR. Glad to see healthy loads on UA transcon warranting a switch to the 77W.

Your TR also made me realize how much I miss NYC. Happy you were able to enjoy the city!

Hi RedEyeFlight,

You bet! First off, great username handle as I took a redeye flight out of SFO a couple of nights ago.

Yeah, I agree, the loads were definitely healthy transcon. Initially all their SFO-EWR flights were a mix of 757, some 767, 772, and one 787-10. It was only April they made these changes due to a lot of expected demand as forecasted for Summer, lots of folks will be traveling during especially the peak and during holidays. The other reason I feel is because well, China & some parts of Asia are closed (i.e. Hong Kong) and instead of keeping their 77W idle, they decided to use a widebody for a transcon rotation like SFO-EWR and ofc USA-Europe flights.

It's been 3 years since I actually flew a Boeing 777-300ER, and glad to have done it transcon even if it wasn't a 787. I never really post TR's on domestic routes, only international routes. But since the flight was operated by a familiar widebody on a different airline, I thought I had to just take pics and savor as much as possible as it may be difficult to get an opportunity like this again.

Yeah, for us it's been 5 years since we been there. The last time we went was kind of unexpected since we could not attend a major religious function due to a family member in India who passed away and nothing at that time was refundable. That time we always had to change flights at an airport and that became a hassle due to time, layover, sometimes rushing or even almost missing a flight. A direct flight this time did not cause any issues and all our flights were on time, which was nice. New York is a great city, no doubt and there were some parts like UN Building which we knew nothing about till we stayed around there to see the fireworks.

Just happy I could make my parents happy and that everyone could enjoy a very unique view of the fireworks. Definitely enjoyed New York and all the days I was there, it was not humid, it was hot but more like California hot (they said its due to lower dewpoints when it's continuously sunnier). If you get a chance, definitely go ahead and visit NYC. I'm thinking next time in the future would be a Fall month (maybe November where it does get a little bit cold but not as bad, maybe same as the Bay Area in that month alone before the real cold comes in December).

I'm hoping that the next time I go to Newark, it will be on a widebody. It'll also do great because when flying UA or any Star Alliance carrier for that matter, you do earn KrisFlyer points when you do enter your KF information. Also, the next time, since I know a little bit of New York now, probably if I stay in the same place, I likely won't be taking a redeye, but we'll see.

Thanks for viewing & enjoying my TR.

[yflyer]

Very nice TR, SQfanatic! I hadn't realised that UA's new 777's had 10 abreast in Y -- not my favourite config, although other aspects of UA service look good e.g. $10 wifi and modern IFE. Wonder if US airlines will ever go back to serving complimentary meals on long domestic sectors. On a 5 hour sector like this, I would have had to bring food on the plane, or bought something onboard, to stave off hunger.

Great pics of New York. I miss the place, and hope to have the opportunity to visit again some time soon!

[SQfanatic]

Very nice TR, SQfanatic! I hadn't realised that UA's new 777's had 10 abreast in Y -- not my favourite config, although other aspects of UA service look good e.g. $10 wifi and modern IFE. Wonder if US airlines will ever go back to serving complimentary meals on long domestic sectors. On a 5 hour sector like this, I would have had to bring food on the plane, or bought something onboard, to stave off hunger.

Great pics of New York. I miss the place, and hope to have the opportunity to visit again some time soon!

Thanks yflyer.

I realized it, but at first was kind of dreading the 10-abreast config on another 77W after the last time we flew CX's 77W in 2018/2019 that my mom really didn't find their 10-across comfortable at all. Honestly, I was surprised both my parents found the seat comfortable and I don't think it was too bad either. Part of me wonders how the 787-10 9-abreast would have been if I flew that instead (that question is still valid for my December trip from SIN-MAA-SIN). Funny thing was we thought of bringing food on the redeye since we ourselves don't even eat dinner till at least 11PM (or later) but my mom rejected the idea and made us all eat dinner before leaving for the airport (at 7PM we ate dinner). But at the airport, had kind of a heavy snack (egg & cheese sandwich which was pretty good). However, I have done that a couple of times when living in MSP when flying back to MSP on Sun Country or even Delta flights and it wasn't a bad decision.

The Wifi was pretty good, just wish like other carriers it would allow us to stream video and music. But very reasonable price. About whether the US airlines will go back to that, not sure and I don't really expect it to happen that easily, but we'll see.

Thanks very much, I really liked visiting it again and staying in downtown this time made it very convenient to cover the main places we typically see and the UN building which we saw for the first time just because our intention was to stay there to see the fireworks from the room and avoid crowds. If you ever get the chance, definitely visit New York again. I would suggest apart from the Empire State Building & Times Square, try to cover the UN Building (they give guided tours) & the World Trade Center. You also can't go wrong trying a slice of New York Pizza and a cheesecake.