I enjoyed a comfortable redeye journey on United Airlines onboard an Airbus A321neo in economy class from Los Angeles to Chicago, with an unexpected moment of sublimity after landing.
United Airlines A321neo Economy Class Review (LAX-ORD Redeye)
Despite the busy Christmas travel period, I booked these a few weeks in advance and paid only $124.49 per ticket for a G fare (Basic Economy tickets were under $100)…a far better use than 15K United or Air Canada points! Close-in tickets on this route run nearly $450 one-way regardless of flight load, so buy early.
United’s A321neo are my favorite narrow body aircraft thanks to reliably high-speed Wi-Fi (with Starlink coming) and seatback screens. I’ll go out of my way to book this aircraft versus a 737-900 or a 757-300.
LAX was hopping at 11:00 pm with many passengers traveling for the holidays.
Boarding began late at 11:30 pm.
United Airlines 1843
Los Angeles (LAX) – Chicago (ORD)
Tuesday, December 23
Depart: 11:55 PM
Arrive: 6:09 AM+1
Duration: 4hr, 14min
Aircraft: Airbus A321neo
Distance: 1,744 miles
Seat: 32C (Economy Class)
Onboard, we found our seats in the back…I had done a same-day change onto an earlier flight, so we lost our Economy Plus seats (but the 777-200 which departed a half hour later did not have seatback screens).
Seat
Economy class is configured 3-3 and stretches from row 7 to 42, totaling 180 seats. Economy Plus (extra-legroom economy) is available in rows 7-11, 20, 21, and 23-26 (but only on the DEF side for the last four rows).
Seat pitch is 34 inches in Economy Plus and the seat reclines an extra inch (3 inches instead of 2 inches). In regular economy, where we were seated, the seat pitch is 30 inches. All economy seats are 18 inches wide and have four-way adjustable headrests.
Each seat has a USB-C socket below the monitor and there are two A/C power outlets for every three seats. There are also air vents overhead. Larger overhead bins allow everyone to bring onboard one larger carry-on bag.
New Blankets
Our flight featured United’s new blankets, which are light blue instead of dark blue, and much thicker…a big upgrade over the see-through “gauze-like” blankets we’ve had in economy class and domestic first class for as long as I can remember. United does not offer pillows on domestic redeye flights.
IFE + Wi-Fi
Fast high-speed Wi-Fi internet was available for $8 for MileagePlus members ($10 for non-members). Messaging is free.
Seatback screens (10-inch touchscreen) include thousands of hours of content including TV shows, movies, music, and games. Complimentary headphones are offered (earbud style).
Food + Drink
United’s full “Bistro On Board” is not offered on late night flights. Instead, snack boxes are sold while non-alcoholic drinks and light snacks (pretzel mix, stroopwafels, and chocolate quinoa crisps) are free.
I was still Premier 1K at the time meaning I could have received a free snack box, but instead I ordered a bag of cookies:
Bakeology Chocolate Chip Cookies
Crunchy chocolate chip cookies bites made with all-natural ingredients
I never got to try them. My kids slept through the flight but ate them the next day…they loved them.
Lavatories
I did not get up to use the lavatory on this flight, but there is one lavatory in the front of the cabin behind first class and two in the rear (pictures from a previous flight).
The Zen Moment
This flight will always be memorable to me.
Flight time only ended up being about three hours and that is simply not enough time to sleep…especially in economy class. Even so, I did manage to nod off and even fell back asleep after the final safety checks before landing.
It was a quiet Christmas Eve in Chicago O’Hare. As we pulled up to the gate and the aircraft door opened, a song started playing over the PA system.
It was Rufus Wainwright singing Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah a cappella.
Rubbing my eyes in a half-awake stupor, it was ethereal.
I had never heard this song before (yeah, I guess I live under a rock) and it absolutely captivated me.
I’ve heard there was a secret chord
That David played, and it pleased the Lord
But you don’t really care for music, do you?
It goes like this
The fourth, the fifth
The minor fall, the major lift
The baffled king composing HallelujahHallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, HallelujahYour faith was strong but you needed proof
You saw her bathing on the roof
Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew you
She tied you to a kitchen chair
She broke your throne, she cut your hair
And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah
It’s a cold and its a broken Hallelujah…
CONCLUSION
My kids were also asleep and poor Claire Marie fell asleep leaning against the carry-on bag and then curled up on the floor in the baggage claim area…oy. We spent the day resting before our connection to Copenhagen.
I really like the United A321neo and while part of me feels I’m too old for redeye flights, I keep going back to them because they represent a remarkable efficient use of time, even if it comes at the cost of sleep.
But that Hallelujah moment after landing? Serendipitous.
I also would have enjoyed it if they played Rufus’s father’s big hit: Dead Skunk in the Middle of the Road.
Augustine looks more sophisticated with the shorter cut.
Absolutely. Little boys look so cute with short hair because you can see their faces. Augustine in particular.
I think the “In This Post:” section needs a formatting fix…
Fixed! شكرًا
Great rendition by Rufus and 1500+ singers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGRfJ6-qkr4
If possible, I would highly like to recommend that you listen to Leonard Cohen’s famous song “Hallelujah,” which appears in both his studio and concert recordings.
Sincere respects to the dear memory of Leonard Cohen (“The patron saint of sorrow and redemption”), a fervent admirer of both Los Angeles and Montreal.
TRAVEL
Loving you, flesh to flesh, I often thought
Of traveling penniless to some mud throne
Where a master might instruct me to plot
My life away from pain, to love alone
In the bruiseless embrace of stone and lake.
Lost in the fields of your hair I was never lost
Enough to lose a way I had to take;
Breathless beside your body I could not exhaust
The will that forbid me contract, vow,
Or promise, and often while you slept
I looked in awe beyond your beauty.
Now I know why many men have stopped and wept
Half-way between the loves they leave and seek,
And wondered if travel leads them anywhere
Horizons keep the soft line of your cheek,
The windy sky’s a locket for your hair.
– Leonard Cohen (1934 – 2016) –
I’ve found the 900 on UA to be superior to the Airbus garbage. Too bad UA is relying on the foreign trash rather than good old American engineering.
Shh, shh, shh… just eat your deep dish….
An easygoing red-eye from Tinseltown to the Windy City aboard one of Us 66 A321neos, which have an average age of 1.1 years.
*Corrected Comment*
An easygoing red-eye from Tinseltown to the Windy City aboard one of UA’s 66 A321neos, which have an average age of 1.1 years.
I flew this plane on the same redeye route (LAX-ORD) in late-October 2025. I liked everything about the plane except for the lack of seat padding. I found my hamstrings alternating between going numb and painful muscle spasms. I wish United would add more seat cushion padding to their seats. Each time I drifted off, I was awakened by my legs complaining.
“but the 777-200 which separated a half hour later did not have seatback screens).”
the 777 did what?????????
*Departed*
Agree wholeheartedly, Augustine looks much more handsome, and grown up, with shorter hair.
Lovely Claire Marie picked 2 dangerous locations for a nap ;-). The 4 wheeled carry-on ,while she was sleeping/leaning on it, could easily have started rolling, causing her to fall. And had the luggage cart been bumped and/or started rolling while she was sleeping with her head on it’s wheel, she could easily have been injured. (During my ER doctoring career I put stitches in many people with far LESS weird/unusual causes of injury.)
Re: “done a same-day change onto an earlier flight, … but the 777-200 which separated a half hour later” maybe some typos, maybe should be “done a same-day change FROM an earlier flight … but the 777-200 which DEPARTED a half hour later”.
Correct. Thank you, Doctor!
Interesting illustration of priorities. I like seatback IFE, but I’d never give up E+ for it. Especially for transatlantic travel.