Quick bonus post: EWR-RIC!

After clearing customs in Newark, I made my way to the United Club in Newark’s C gates.  I’ve been to this one a few times now.  It’s in a hexagon shape, around the food court, which makes the lounge feel open and airy.  However, it doesn’t have a great bathroom situation, and seating can be a bit hit-or-miss. 

When I arrived at the lounge, a bouncer was there but didn’t really know the correct questions to ask me to see if I had access.  He asked if I was a member (no), then where I was going (Richmond), and I added I had gold status.  He said that it doesn’t give me access, and I reminded him, “it does when I’m coming off a flight from London”. He then moved out of my way, and I was scanned in instantly and given a Polaris amenity kit from the Olympics time, which was a blue string bag. 

I grabbed a cup of water and some pre-packaged snack and found a spot at a table beside the big interior windows.  I ate my burrito and sandwiches leisurely, since I had some time to kill.  

I had been watching the upgrade list for this short flight to Richmond for a few days, and it kept moving around wildly.  Within a couple hours of the flight, it finally settled to having 2 empty seats, with me at the top of the upgrade list.  I got a text that my upgrade cleared about 2 minutes before boarding began, while I was in line for a smoothie.  I wasn’t carrying with very much, so I boarded last.

I’ve had a lot of flights in CRJ-700/EMB-175 first class seats, and they’re very comfortable for a short flight.  I love having the single aisle/window seat.  The complimentary premier upgrade was interesting because it effectively meant that I had the same type of seat for both flights.  Service on this short flight was limited to just drinks, which is pretty standard for such a short flight in the US.  In Europe, however, I would get a light meal.

Given how short this flight was, especially in comparison to the previous flight, giving it a score doesn’t seem necessary.  But I’ll give it a quick one: the lounge was standard (3/5), the single seat was standard for this type of plane (4/5), drinks only gets a 3/5 (boosted because of pandemic-related issues), the service was fine (4/5), and WiFi and video streaming was available (3/5). Overall, this flight gets a 17/25, which is a pretty middle-of-the-road score for a perfectly normal short flight.