In terms of comfort, first class on a United Express Embraer E-175 is actually more comfortable than many mainline flights and a great way to travel either solo or with a companion.
United Express Embraer E-175 First Class Review
I fly all the time between Burbank and San Francisco on a SkyWest/United Express Embraer E-175 and never write about it, so this review is just to give you an idea of what to expect on a short regional jet flight on United Airlines.
During a fare sale last year, I booked a 70,000-mile one-way redemption from Burbank to San Francisco to Papeete in business class. That’s about as good a value as you can get in MileagePlus and well below typical pricing levels.
The lovely thing about Burbank-Hollywood Airport is that you can show up 45 minutes before your flight if you are checking a bag or literally 25 minutes if you are not and easily make the flight. The airport is neither modern nor fancy, but it’s convenient…especially when I can make it door-to-door in 15 minutes.
That said, the airport has outgrown itself. A new terminal is under development and sorely needed considering that Terminal B is now shared by United, Delta, Alaska, and Spirit. It was PACKED…
(multiple flight delays did not help)
Our flight was delayed due to runway construction at SFO forcing a slow-down of traffic. When that occurs, regional flights tend to be most heavily impacted.
During our delay I got some coffee at Jones (quite respectable for chain coffee) and dealt with rebooking options (I got protected on an Air France flight from Los Angeles to Papeete later that day).
Finally, we boarded via air stairs.
United 5887 (operated by United Express / SkyWest)
Burbank (BUR) – San Francisco (SFO)
Monday, May 13
Depart: 10:39 AM
Arrive: 12:20 PM
Duration: 1hr, 41min
Distance: 326 miles
Aircraft: Embraer E-175
Seat: 1C (First Class)
Onboard, a very friendly flight attendant named Rowena greeted us as we found our seats.
Seats
The Embraer E-175 has 12 seats in first class, which provides a respectable ratio of premium cabin seats to economy class seat, making it one of the easier aircraft to score an upgrade on (all else equal). Seats are configured in a 1-2 configuration so if traveling solo, the “A” seats are best.
First class has a pitch of 37 inches, width of 20 inches, and seats recline five inches.
There are universal outlets (no USB) in the console between seats.
My seat recline function was broken…as evidenced by post-it notes…
IFE + Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi internet access is available for $8 for MileagePlus members or $10 for non-members and a wide selection of streaming movies and TV shows are available from your mobile device via the United app.
Call it strange, but my favorite part of a trip from Southern California to the Bay Area is passing over the Apple Infinite Loop campus in Cupertino.
Food + Drink
While you might expect a meal on such a short flight in much of the world, that is not the case in the United States. Instead, a snack basket and choice of beverage are offered on flights of this length (provided it is not too bumpy…).
I’d love to see something like a bowl of mixed nuts or a small sandwich, but I do the salt and pepper almonds.
Whether here are “real” glasses or plastic cups has been very hit or miss for me on United Express. Lately, I’ve seen more polycarbonate cups rather than glass or plastic, but this flight had the same little blue plastic cups as in economy class (however, multiple refills were offered).
Lavatory
The E-175 has a lavatory in the front for the 12 first class passengers and a lavatory in the rear for economy class.
Service
I mentioned Rowena, who was so charming and also very talkative in a good way. As I like to do when I receive excellent service, I will do a separate post praising her tomorrow.
CONCLUSION
We landed in San Franciso over an hour late (but still made our connection).
I quite like the E-175, but traveling through SFO, especially on a regional jet, it quite a challenge these days. If you absolutely positively cannot be late, I’d allow yourself a lot of extra time.
I like this airplane except for the shallow overhead bin above the “A” side in first class. I make sure I don’t select seat 1A so I have space for my medium size carry-on travel backpack under the front seat.
The photo of the gate waiting area shows numerous obscenely-large carry-on suitcases .
I’ll give you a click.
Last summer I did DCA-ORD-SLC-LAX all in SKW 175-175-CR7. All my devices and batteries were almost out of juice after 8 hours. No outlets in Y!
Given the routes these planes fly, they are the one model in which I consistently get an upgrade as a 1K
I love reading about the regional jets that you fly on, however, all of your content is great. Just wondering if the plane you flew to San Francisco on had a galley? That might explain the lack of food and/or better snacks. They really should have better snacks or meals in first class. Thanks for your reports.
There was a galley, though no ovens. “Real” meals (though cold) are served on this jet on longer flights.
Alaska Air puts ovens on these same jets for its regional flights.
I used to like these planes a lot more. I feel like ten years ago they really were as good if not better than mainline. These days, at least on AA, the Wi-Fi is atrocious. I do my best to avoid them for that reason.
Good story. You got a chauffeur ride ? Are you GS ?
I think the e-175 is the best plane going on just about any airline. The configurations in both j and y just seems so much more comfortable than any 737. And creating opportunities to fly to secondary airports like Everett, WA is great.
Enjoyed flying on 175