This flight review will be a bit different than my normal reviews, focusing more on an extended flight delay and how I passed the time than the seat and features itself of the United Airlines Boeing 757-200 in business class, which I’ve reviewed here.

United Airlines 757-200 Business Class Review (EWR-ORD)

After landing from San Francisco, I had a bit of time before my next flight boarded and retreated to the Polaris Lounge, where I enjoyed an Aperol spritz and a cappuccino (with apologies to my Italian readers for having a cappuccino  at 17:45).

When you travel in Polaris on United, you have same-day access at all airports, so I had access on the outbound in San Francisco, during my connection in Newark, and theoretically upon arrival in Chicago, though as you’ll read we ran into a delay and arrived into ORD too late for that…

I was savoring my drinks in the lounge and therefore boarded last, showing up to board just before boarding cutoff as the clock approached 6:35 pm.

United 254
Newark (EWR) – Chicago (ORD)
Tuesday, May 19
Depart: 6:50 PM
Arrive: 8:38 PM (actual 10:40 PM)
Duration: 2hr, 47min (actual 4hr, 50min)
Distance: 719 miles
Aircraft: Boeing 757-200
Seat: 1F (Business Class)

Walking down an empty jetbridge, I found my seat in row 1F…I was indeed the last passenger to board and the door shut behind me.

It’s rather hard to get pictures of a cabin when the cabin is full, but I took a few when we landed in Chicago (remember, you can read about all the bells and whistles of these seats in my prior review).

I tend to choose row one on this aircraft because there’s a bit more room for your feet:

We pushed back on time, but the captain came on shortly thereafter announcing that thunderstorms in Chicago had to led airspace closures and we’d be sitting “for a while” awaiting a new “wheel’s up” time.

There were some collective groans, but I was thankful for the lie-flat seat even on this rather short 719-mile flight.

We sat…and sat…and sat. I leaned my seat back and went to sleep, managing to nap for a bit.

Outside, it was very busy, just like any evening at Newark, only we were like a pawn stuck on the chessboard, boxed in and unable to move. Still, it was fun to watch all the aircraft out my window:

During the delay, the purser offered each business class passenger a Biscoff cookie.

A lot of time passed, but we finally took off in darkness, with an apology from the captain even tough it certainly was not his flight there was bad wether in Chicago.

It also wasn’t his flight that the Wi-Fi didn’t work, but it was just another reminder how unreliable the Wi-Fi is on Untied on aircraft not equipped with Starlink or at least Viasat Wi-Fi. Panasonic is a disgrace when it comes to Wi-Fi.

Having awakened from my nap, I had a glass of seltzer water with a lime and some almonds and chips.

It’s a shame there are no meals on this flight, especially because it turned into a four-hour flight, but I enjoyed a bag of the new Pop & Sol almonds and cashews that are part of the economy class buy-on-board menu.

I thought about going to back to sleep, but then I started watching Nuremberg, a phenomenal 2025 film starring Russell Crowe as Hermann Göring and Michael Shannon as Justice Robert Jackson. #transfixed

And eventually I arrived in ORD…only 17-hours late (this flight was only two hours later).

CONCLUSION

My day was over by the time I boarded so the lack of the internet did not bother me as much…I also cannot blame the weather delay on United. So was it a good flight? Well, not exactly, but a two-hour flight turned into a four-hour flight and at least I got a nap and got to watch a great movie enjoying some salty snacks. There are worse things in life! I do appreciate a lie-flat seat on a domestic flight, even on the old United 757-200.

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