By Shawn Gallagher
Good afternoon from Chicago O’Hare International Airport! I recently flew United’s Economy Plus to Boston on one of their new NEXT cabin interiors.
This was in fact my first time flying United since I was a little kid in elementary school. As a frequent American and Delta flyer, I just simply never had the chance or reason to fly them. Having heard good things about their new NEXT cabin over the past year, I thought I’d finally give it a try and write about it.
Let’s go to the airport.
Ground Experience at Chicago
The airport was quiet on this Saturday. After getting dropped off at terminal 2, I headed straight to TSA which had little to no line.
My flight left from Concourse E, at gate E6. Unfortunately, I was not impressed by this United section of O’Hare. Much of O’Hare feels outdated to me (terminal 3), and this area was no different.
This was nearly a full flight. The gate area was very busy.
Parked a few gates down was a United plane with a Continental Airlines livery. I flew Continental a couple of times as a little kid to Guam.
This was my plane. N37281, a 21 year old Boeing 737-800 delivered back in December 2003!
I did like United’s information screens at the gates. There was a lot of useful info shown.
Boarding
For some odd reason, I was in boarding group 2. Group 2 comprises Premier Silver members, Star Alliance Silver members, and United credit card holders. I don’t have status with any Star Alliance airline, nor do I have a United credit card. I also did not purchase priority boarding. Economy Plus passengers board beginning in group 3, so I genuinely have no idea how I ended up in group 2.
United, if you looked me up and gifted me priority boarding, thank you! (😂)
Boarding began 40 minutes before departure. As you can see in the above photo, the terminal was way too small to handle our full 737. A huge crowd had formed around the gate prior to boarding.
United has 6 boarding groups compared to American and Delta’s 9. This means each boarding group is huge. Everybody crowded the line once group 2 was called.
This does make me think about United’s boarding versus American and Delta’s. I’ve always thought that 9 was too much, but there’s also something to be said about how having more boarding groups can possibly better organize everything.
If United can figure out a better way to organize the crowd bunching, I think they can perfect their 6 boarding groups.
Related: What is the point of priority boarding?
Onboard the New NEXT Cabin
I walked past the 4 rows of United First. Maybe it’ll be cool to do a comparison post of United, American, and Delta’s First Class at some point this year.
Related: Delta Air Lines First Class review, Boston to New York on the A220
We were all handed sanitizing wipes upon boarding. This seems to be a staple on United flights, which I found interesting. Airplanes are quite disgusting, so these are nice to have. I also always carry a small bottle of hand sanitizer with me whenever I travel to stay clean.
I got to my seat 11F. Window seat, as always.
I immediately noticed the IFE screens, which are the biggest feature of these newly refurbished cabins. Although many airlines began doing away with these IFE screens on domestic aircraft, United has begun to bring them back. They’re up to an interesting battle with Delta to be considered America’s premium airline.
Another feature of these NEXT cabins is the new, larger overhead bins, which can accommodate more luggage.
2 universal power outlets are under the seats in front. Sorry for the out-of-focus photo.
Legroom was plentiful in Economy Plus. 34 inches of pitch, compared to 30 or 31 in regular economy. I had no issues as a 6’1/183cm guy.
It didn’t bother me since it was just a 2 hour flight, but my recline was stuck.
We pushed back and departed Chicago on time.
Inflight
The seatbelt sign stayed on for a bit after takeoff due to rough air out of Chicago.
The IFE system had a big selection of movies and TV shows. You definitely won’t get bored on a longer leg.
I also was impressed by how smoothly these screens operate. It was for sure one of the best performing IFE systems I’ve ever used.
These screens are also Bluetooth compatible! I tried it out with my AirPods Pro 2, and it was great. I didn’t have any issues connecting or anything with the sound.
In addition to the IFE, Wi-Fi was also available for purchase. Messaging was free, and streaming cost $8. My recent American Airlines flight from Boston to Chicago had Wi-Fi going for a whopping $24, so United definitely wins in the entertainment department.
We got a drink and snack service after the seatbelt sign was turned off. I got my usual choice of apple juice.
The snacks were a bit confusing. Some of the snacks being passed around seemed to be ones for purchase, while some others were free. I usually don’t get the snacks anyway, so I didn’t bother with it.
The sun began to set as we approached Boston.
The weather in Boston was poor, and we descended into thick clouds.
Concluding Thoughts
I thought this new NEXT cabin was fantastic. From the great IFE system to the large overhead bins, the passenger experience is much better when flying this interior.
Delta often likes to see itself as the premium airline of the United States. However, these newly refurbished NEXT cabins are definitely an attempt by United to go to battle for that title. It’ll be interesting to see how they evolve as an airline as they continue to roll out these new cabins and make improvements to the passenger experience.
All photos taken by the author.