If you’re going to get up early for a flight, you’d better get beautiful sunrise views such as this one over Chicago! Photo by: Evan Berman

To start my trip to Eastern Europe, I flew from Charleston to Seattle. In case you were wondering, my sense of geography is pretty good ;), I headed to the Emerald City to take advantage of a terrific deal to fly Turkish Business Class from Seattle for just 31,500 miles! While I prefer Delta and American, I ended up choosing United for a couple of reasons, as you will see.

This flight review is part of the Eastern European Experience. For more information on this trip, follow these links:

Intro

Flight: United Economy Class B737-800 CHS-ORD-SEA (This Article)

6 Hours in Seattle

Centurion Lounge, The Club SEA, and United Club: SEA Lounges

Flight: Turkish AIrlines Business Class B787-9 SEA-IST

Istanbul Airport’s Famous Turkish Airlines Business Class Lounge

Flight: Turkish Airlines Business Class B737 MAX 8 IST-BUD

2 Days in Budapest

Dining in Budapest

Hotel: Ramada by Wyndham Budapest City Center

SkyCourt Lounge, Plaza Premium SkyCourt, and Platinum Lounge (Schengen): BUD Lounges

Flight: Lufthansa Economy Class A320-200 BUD-MUC and A321-200 MUC-ZAG

24 Hours in Munich

Starkbierfest Munich

Hotel: H+ Munchen (Wyndham)

Lufthansa Business Class Lounge MUC

Flight: Croatian Airlines Economy Class Dash 8 and ATR 72-600 (Twin-Prop Plane) ZAG-SPU-ZAG-SJJ-ZAG-BEG

2 Days in Split, Croatia, the Beauty of the Adriatic

Delicious Food in Split

Hotel Vestibul Palace in Split, Croatia, a Small Luxury Hotel of the World (Hyatt)

Primeclass Lounge ZAG

6 Hours in Zagreb

Wine Tasting and Learning about Croatian Feelings

2 Days in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Restaurants in Sarajevo

Hotel Aziza Sarajevo (AABooking)

Business Lounge SJJ

Air Serbia Premium Lounge and Business Club: BEG Lounges

Flight: Swiss Airlines Economy Class Embraer E190-E2 and A220-300 BEG-ZRH-LJU

2 Amazing Days in Ljubljana, Slovenia

Food Scene in Ljubljana

Day Trip around Slovenia: Postojna Cave, Predjama Castle, Bled Castle, and Lake Bled

Hotel Emonec Ljubljana, Slovenia (Rocketmiles)

Flight: Air Serbia Economy Class ATR 72-600 and A319-100 LJU-BEG-SKP

1.5 Days in Belgrade, Serbia

Restaurants in Belgrade

Hotel: Hyatt Regency Belgrade (Hyatt)

3 Hours in Skopje, North Macedonia

Primeclass Lounge SKP

Flight: Wizz Air Economy Class A321-200 SKP-MXP

14 Hours in Milan and Monza, Italy

Hotel de la Ville Monza, Italy, a Small Luxury Hotel of the World (Hyatt)

Sala Montale and Emirates Lounge MXP

Flight: Emirates First Class A380-800 MXP-JFK

Conclusion

Before I get into the reviews of each flight, I’d like to share some thoughts on the differences between Economy on United, on American, on Delta, and on low cost carriers (LCCs). United:

• Like American, United only provides airline lounge access to those travelling internationally in business or first class if you do not have a credit card that offers their lounge access. While LCCs have no lounges, Delta SkyClubs are available to those with AmEx Platinums (only 10 visits day per year starting in 2025).
• On average, I’ve found that service is best on Delta, United is really hit or miss (the Newark FAs are terrible while those based in other hubs are quite pleasant), and American is more consistent than United but worse than Delta (The gap is narrowing between Delta and the rest). Overall, my 6 United flights this year have featured great service! Service is famously absent from most LCCs and of course no US carrier holds a candle to the incredible Middle Eastern and Asian carriers such as Emirates, Qatar, and Thai.
  • I recently flew to and from Guam on United (Honolulu to Guam and Guam to Tokyo). Their service was significantly better than the mainland crews– I believe that the legacy United service is much better than legacy Continental service, which would explain the unpleasantness of Newark crew. The same can be said for legacy American Airlines being superior to US Airways (which is in turn better than America West, which essentially took over US Air).
• As is typical with US carriers nowadays, meals are mostly a thing of the past on flights less than 3 hours long. You might get some pretzels, cookies, or chips and water, but that’s all! 🙁 All 3 legacy carriers follow the same rules here (American is even serving Biscoff cookies now, long Delta’s signature feature). At least the meager snack is free, unlike on LCCs.

To recap, while I fly Delta and American much more frequently than United, I had a chance to fully evaluate these flights compared to my experiences on AA and UA. My full comparison on the pros and cons of each airline deserves its own article, but in short, I was happy with the relatively nice shape that the United B737-800 was in. The service, though minimal, was pleasant and I did not notice much of a difference compared to short-haul flying on the other two airlines. That’s high praise coming from me!

CHS-ORD:

Flight Info:

Route: CHS-ORD (Charleston, South Carolina’s Charleston International Airport to Chicago, Illinois’ O’Hare International Airport)

Date: Wednesday, March 15, 2023

Flight: UA 2333 (United)

Plane: Boeing 737-800

Seat: 35A (Main Cabin Window)

Upgrades: N/A, no Star Alliance Status

Est. Departure: 6:20am EDT

Taxiing: 6:22am EDT

Takeoff: 6:25am EDT

Gate: C17 (Main Terminal)

Est. Arrival: 7:35am CDT

Touchdown: 7:15am CDT

Arrived at Gate: 7:31am CDT

Gate: B14 (Terminal 1)

Pricing:

Flight: I booked a one-way flight from Charleston to Seattle for $166.69. The time of the flight was so early because I needed to be in Seattle for a flight leaving at 7:30pm PT and I hoped to explore the city before the long international flight!

Earnings: 380 Avianca LifeMiles and 833 AmEx Membership Rewards Points (5x on Flights using the AmEx Platinum Card)

Booking:

I booked on United’s website after searching for flights on Google Flights. I played around with the dates and this was the best option. In the price section, I booked these flights for $166.69 but the price shows at $263 here. What’s the deal? I originally booked the flight at the $263 price point, but the price went down. I tracked the prices and when they reached $167, I cancelled the flight and rebooked. This is a great strategy to consider– booking a flight is not always the end of the story!

As mentioned above, I have no status with United Airlines so I was in main cabin seating and needed to pay $30 to check my bag.

Lounges:

My home airport is CHS and I have visited and reviewed the only lounge, The Club CHS, many times. This time was a bit different as I arrived very early in the morning. The normally reliable menu featuring biscuits and gravy and a terrific Bloody Mary was not available at this early hour. instead, there was a small buffet set up. I opted for some potatoes and a cheese omelette. The potatoes were not very good but the omelette was surprisingly tasty!

Charleston International Airport is quite small and you are never far from the lounge to your gate, no matter whether you are flying from A, B, or C Gates. I headed directly to the lounge after clearing security and I spent 40 minutes there until heading to the gate to board at 5:54am.

Recap:

This was an early morning flight and I am not an early riser. With the flight scheduled to depart at 6:20am, I arrived at 5:10am. I dropped off my checked bag (which weighed at exactly 50lbs!) then breezed through security in 3 minutes. After spending time in the lounge, I boarded the plane at 5:59am and the boarding was completed at 6:06am.

Boarding started at 5:40am EDT on the dot and was complete at 6:06am EDT (when I boarded at 5:59am there was nobody in line!). It pays to fly early! The flight was mostly empty especially in First and Economy Plus.

It was a smooth ride and we got in 20 minutes ahead of schedule. That being said, there was a logjam on departing flights from Chicago- O’Hare and we sat at the runway for a while before pulling in a few minutes ahead of schedule.

The 737-800 we flew has a setup of 2-2 seats in First and 3-3 in Economy. The legroom is certainly better than the small regional jets but nothing compared to business/first class.

Meals:

As is typical on shorter US flights, there was no meal service provided. There were snacks and water on offer, though I chose to sleep through it.

Sleep:

I had gotten up at 3:45am and needless to say, I was a bit tired. I slept for the majority of the flight and woke up mostly refreshed. While United’s Boeing 737-800 does not offer the most comfortable seats in the world, when you’re tired, you’re tired!

Experience:

As I mentioned, I slept for the majority of the flight. During the time when I was awake, I was grateful for such a smooth ride on our way up to Chicago in March. This is certainly not always the case! We landed roughly 20 minutes ahead of schedule, but we gave that time back by waiting for the line of departures. In the end, we pulled into the gate 4 minutes early. O’Hare is a hectic place and I had to change terminals in just under 2 hours. With only 1 Priority Pass Lounge in the airport (in the International Terminal), I headed to the gate and got some work done while I waited for my next flight.

ORD-SEA:

Flight Info:

Route: ORD-SEA (Chicago, Illinois’ O’Hare International Airport to Seattle, Washington’s Sea-Tac International Airport)

Date: Wednesday, March 15, 2023

Flight: UA 748 (United)

Plane: Boeing 737-800

Seat: 36A (Main Cabin Window)

Upgrades: N/A, no Star Alliance Status

Est. Departure: 9:07am CDT

Taxiing: 9:10am CDT

Takeoff: 9:25am CDT

Gate: C18 (Terminal 1)

Est. Arrival: 11:48am PDT

Touchdown: 11:29am PDT

Arrived at Gate: 11:37am PDT

Gate: A10 (Main Terminal)

Lounges:

While O’Hare is one of the busiest airports in the world, it is severely lacking in the lounge department. A stronghold of both United and American, there are plenty of lounges for each airline. Unfortunately, the only Priority Pass or AmEx lounge is in the International Terminal E, not connected to the rest of the airport. It is also a poor excuse for a lounge. Since I do not have access to American or United lounges, there was nothing to do other than sit at the gate and wait.

United states that International Business Class Passengers on United flights may access a United Club or Polaris Lounge at any airport on the same-day (i.e. Departure, Connection, or Arrival). However, Star Alliance Business Class Passengers (I was flying Turkish) may only access these lounges at the departure airport. That is, the airport from which you fly Star Alliance Business Class. As such, I would visit the United Club in SEA, but not here in ORD. I was not impressed, so don’t worry about me missing anything! 😉

Recap:

I got off the previous flight at 7:40am and had a bit over an hour before the next one left. I opted to head straight to the gate and get some work done. There were no lounges that I could access readily available and the plane was very full so I wanted to ensure I had the luxury of placing my backpack in the overhead bin.

Boarding started at 8:26am CDT and was complete at 8:54am CDT. The plane was almost totally full, a marked difference from the previous flight.

We did not fly very high, which meant that the views from outside the plane were incredible! I was glued to the window and loved the views of the Rocky Mountains as we headed west!

This was a Boeing 737-800 as was the previous flight. The layout was again 2-2 in First Class and 3-3 in Economy Class.

Meals:

Once again, there were no meals on this flight. I enjoyed the tasty pretzels and some water and looked forward to arriving in Seattle where I would get the chance to have real food!

Sleep:

After getting a quick nap in on the way up to Chicago still in darkness, I was content to look out the window at the beauty of the Rocky Mountains and as such did not sleep on this flight.

Experience:

Unlike the previous flight, I did not sleep on the way to Seattle. Luckily, I wouldn’t be spending the night so I was not “Sleepless In Seattle!” 😉 The beauty outside of our country was unmistakable but along with that came turbulence that is to be expected when flying over mountains. As we landed in Seattle, we were treated to the beauty of a sunny Pacific Northwest day– what a treat!

Customs:

There was no customs involved as these were both domestic flights.

Recap:

I purchased a one-way flight from Charleston to Seattle for $166.796. After flying across the country, I landed in Seattle just before 11:45am PDT. As my next flight was not until 7:30pm, I took advantage of the rare beautiful weather in Seattle. I headed to the Centurion Lounge for lunch and drinks while I caught up on work before heading into the city. Next up: the recap of my brief time in Seattle!