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Home » Reviews » Flight Reviews » Review: United Airlines CRJ-550 First Class
Flight ReviewsUnited Airlines

Review: United Airlines CRJ-550 First Class

Matthew Klint Posted onMarch 15, 2021November 14, 2023 17 Comments

a plane on the tarmac

The United Airlines CRJ-550 offers the most spacious and comfortable regional jet experience in the skies. This review covers my first class journey from Newark to Washington, DC.

United Airlines CRJ-550 First Class Review

For a background on the CRJ-500, click here. In short, it is a 70-seat jet with 50 seats. This aircraft is a way for United to fly larger regional jets without violating its scope clause agreement with pilot, meant to limit United from outsourcing piloting to lower-cost regional airlines. Although I’ve been on the aircraft before, this was my first time actually flying on it.

There’s a bit of nostalgia in flying into Washington National and I made the choice to connect in Newark for a lie-flat bed and then connect to National rather than fly nonstop to Dulles. Thus, after a long layover in the United Club in Newark, I headed to my gate to board my flight to DCA.

a screen with a picture of a building and a white building

This was in January, the day before the Biden inauguration and just weeks after the Capitol insurrection. Boarding began a few minutes early and I soon understood why: TSA agents were waiting on the jet bridge. My bags were emptied out contents closely scrutinized. I was carrying my Bible and a commentary in my bag and the TSA agent even flipped through the pages of those and looked through a manila folder of paperwork (sadly, many of the insurrectionists misappropriated Christianity so I somewhat get the concern, but I digress…).

a white airplane in a hangar

United Airlines 4433
Newark (EWR) – Washington (DCA)
Tuesday, January 19
Depart: 02:15 PM
Arrive: 03:51 PM (02:57 PM actual)
Duration: 01hr, 36min
Distance: 199 miles
Aircraft: Bombardier CRJ-550
Seat: 2D (First Class)

I boarded first and ended up having the plane to myself for two minutes as other passengers underwent additional screening.

Seats

Indeed, this is a spacious plane. First class has 10 seats, three rows of 1-2 seating plus an extra “A” seat in the row four. Each seat has 42 inches of pitch (much more than most mainline jets in the United fleet). Seat width is just under 20 inches.

the inside of an airplane

a plane with seats and a door

a row of seats in an airplane

a seat in an airplane

a row of seats in an airplane

a seat in an airplane

seats in an airplane with a sign and a door

a person's leg in a seat

Between first class and EconomyPlus are three large dual-level storage bins which can accommodate large carry-on items so no gate checking is necessary. Overhead bins can also accommodate larger bags placed on their side.

an airplane with a shelf and chairs

a plane with rows of seats

Behind that is the EconomyPlus (20 seats with 34-36 inches of seat pitch) and then 20 economy class seats, which offer 30 inches of seat pitch.

rows of seats in an airplane

The lavatory is located in the rear of the aircraft.

a toilet and sink in a bathroom

In the front, there’s also a snack and beverage station for first class passengers. It was empty on this flight but pre-pandemic looked like this:

a refrigerator with food on it

a beverage dispenser with cans in it

The point of this is snack station is that the 50-seat plane only has a single flight attendant, so first class passengers can help themselves.

Wi-Fi + IFE

In-flight-entertainment via streaming movies and TV shows were available. Download the latest version Untied app prior to departure to take advantage. Wi-Fi was also available for purchase and runs $12-20/hour.

a purple sticker on a grey surface

Service – Food + Drinks

The flight departed with only twelve passengers. Thus, despite a flight time of only 30 minutes, the flight attendant hustled to offer every passenger onboard a beverage. She was not obligated to do this, but did anyway – and I appreciated it.

First class passengers were served first and I had seltzer water.

a can of water and a cup of ice on a table

I also had not eaten lunch, but had brought some snacks from the United Club and enjoyed a nice afternoon “tapas” break.

a tray with food and drink on it

Views Out The Window

I enjoy flights to DCA from EWR because the aircraft generally does not climb above 20,000 feet. The lower altitude makes the outdoor views even more enjoyable.

an aerial view of an airport

an airplane wing and a city

an airplane wing in the air

an aerial view of a city

an aerial view of a city

an aerial view of a city

aerial view of a city and a body of water

an airplane on the runway

an aerial view of a building and a body of water

a body of water with buildings and a bridge

a runway with a monument in the background

a runway with a city in the background

CONCLUSION

A 30-minute flight was not enough time to fully appreciate this aircraft, which represents an arguably inefficient but extremely comfortable CR7 configuration. For short flights, this is a great aircraft. Even for longer flights, though, I would not hesitate to fly this jet.


> Read More: Exploring United’s Swanky New CRJ-550 “Luxury” Regional Jet


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About Author

Matthew Klint

Matthew is an avid traveler who calls Los Angeles home. Each year he travels more than 200,000 miles by air and has visited more than 135 countries. Working both in the aviation industry and as a travel consultant, Matthew has been featured in major media outlets around the world and uses his Live and Let's Fly blog to share the latest news in the airline industry, commentary on frequent flyer programs, and detailed reports of his worldwide travel.

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17 Comments

  1. Bill n DC Reply
    March 15, 2021 at 4:14 pm

    Cool for the planes. I did not know of the Airforce 1 thing at National Harbor 🙂
    BTW our house is in one photo since we’re 6 blocks east of the Capitol on Constitution Ave
    Also BTW, we’re doing a staycation at the Willard to use up an Ambassador weekend cert before expiration 😉

  2. Ryan Reply
    March 15, 2021 at 5:41 pm

    I don’t get the logic of United’s move with these aircraft. Why not use 50 seat aircraft?

  3. Matthew Klint Reply
    March 15, 2021 at 5:42 pm

    @Ryan: The 50-seat aircraft are aging, customers hate them, and they miss market share when American and Delta can offer first class connections on regional flights. While United would prefer to just use these seats in a 70-seat configuration, the pilot scope clause prohibits this.

  4. A Reply
    March 15, 2021 at 6:46 pm

    The runway where Air Force One is parked looks tiny. I can’t imagine how a 747 can take off from a runway that looks like it’s barely three times its length. But I’m just eyeballing from the picture. Am I missing something?

    • Matthew Klint Reply
      March 15, 2021 at 7:49 pm

      I thought it was real too the first time I saw it, but it is a replica:

      https://liveandletsfly.com/air-force-one-replica/

  5. askmrlee Reply
    March 15, 2021 at 7:42 pm

    (sadly, many of the insurrectionists misappropriated Christianity so I somewhat get the concern, but I digress…). – Haha. But no, it’s standard for security to flip through a bible or any other book to make sure that it really is a book.

  6. Ken Reply
    March 15, 2021 at 9:16 pm

    That solo 4A seat looks appealing, but do you know if it has full recline, given the barrier behind it?

  7. Alec Reply
    March 16, 2021 at 1:28 am

    Was recently on a UA E175 from Aus-lax and it had the last few rows of economy (I think just on one side) missing. Never seen this before, is it something with the scope clause?

    • Matthew Klint Reply
      March 16, 2021 at 2:34 am

      Pilot scope clause issue.

      https://liveandletsfly.com/united-embraer-175-seats/

  8. Paolo Reply
    March 16, 2021 at 5:06 am

    I dislike these planes and it brings back memories of their forerunners: the smaller versions flown by United ( including the Washington- NYC shuttle) and Ansett Australia.
    So cramped and uncomfortable, and not a great experience in any remotely adverse weather.

  9. Shawn Reply
    March 16, 2021 at 12:20 pm

    Matthew, are you aware of any plans by United to bring these CRJ-550s Out West?

    • Matthew Klint Reply
      March 16, 2021 at 12:34 pm

      Sadly, no plans (to my knowledge).

  10. Shawn Reply
    March 16, 2021 at 5:44 pm

    Back when I was able to fly, this was an aspect of United’s route plan that made me jealous.

    It’s still the top choice to serve my hoped-for LAX-CIC route once United gets around to implementing it. 😉

  11. carletonm Reply
    March 17, 2021 at 12:04 am

    Nice that the departure screen had the name of the airport right (Washington National). Normally though for such a short flight the train is time competitive, center city to center city, and the Acela trains even have a proper first class, with drinks and a meal included. And, you get time to work, rather than moving through security, waiting to board, a short flight, debarking, getting into the city …

    of course if you are making an airline connection, then flying makes sense.

  12. TH Reply
    March 25, 2021 at 7:22 am

    Insurrection? Lol, funny…

  13. Alex Alterman Reply
    March 5, 2022 at 3:40 pm

    Why do you keep saying a 30 minute flight when the board say the flight is 1:30 minutes. I’m about to board DCA -Newark and it too says 1:30 minutes.

    • Matthew Klint Reply
      March 5, 2022 at 6:36 pm

      Taxi time…padded schedule.

      You tell me how long you were in the air…

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