The Details

• Flight: UA3729
• Aircraft: CRJ-200ER
• Class: Economy
• Seat: 8A
• Route: Indianapolis (IND)-Chicago O’Hare (ORD)
• Distance: 224miles
• Duration: 43min
• Departure: 9:52AM
• Arrival: 9:35AM

The Preflight

I was going on vacation with my father for the first time in over six years and we would be flying together with KLM in business class from Chicago to Amsterdam and then Stockholm. We planned to meet together in Chicago and I had to position myself from Indianapolis. I booked a separate one-way United ticket which would give me over six hours at O’Hare to safely make our onward Europe flight.

The United flight was departing from IND Terminal 1 at 9:46AM. I arrived at the airport at 8:10 in the morning, an hour prior to boarding, to find no one in line at the United counters. TSA was equally empty on this Monday morning.

The inbound flight from Chicago landed at 9:11AM. Boarding commenced 10 minutes later at 9:21 exactly on time. This was my first time flying onboard a CRJ-200ER and I was excited to try another aircraft type. The CRJ-200ER, registration N446AW, was operated by Air Wisconsin on behalf of United Express. She was delivered to Air Wisconsin in June 2003 and had been flying with them ever since.

Due to the size of the overhead bins, all carry-on luggage had to be gate checked. Only personal items were allowed onboard.

The Flight

The CRJ-200ERs operated by Air Wisconsin, feature a total of 50 economy seats arranged in a 2-2 configuration. There are no business class or Economy Plus seats available on board these aircraft.

I was seated in 8A, in the single exit row of the aircraft. Each seat was narrow at 17 inches wide and had 31 inches of pitch. The exit row maybe had an additional inch or so in pitch.

Due to the narrow fuselage of the aircraft, I felt very cramped in the window seat with my elbows touching the wall. The narrow armrest separating the two seats was definitely not enough for both the large gentleman next to me and me.

There was a simple tray table at the seat along with a literature pouch. The legroom was unrestricted.

Upon boarding, each passenger was given a sanitizing wipe by the lone flight attendant serving the aircraft. Boarding was completed at 9:40 and we pushed back three minutes later. The taxi to runway 23R took nine minutes and soon we were off towards Chicago.

There was a quick service on this 40-minute flight with a snack basket followed by water or coffee. Snack options included Stroopwaffles, pretzels, or Biscoff cookies.

After cruising at 20,000 feet for just a few minutes, we began our descent into Chicago

It was a beautiful day and I had majestic views of downtown.

We landed at 9:35AM on runway 27C. The taxi to gate F11 was quick for O’Hare times at just 11 minutes. Thanks for the ride!

Since I had seven hours until our scheduled departure time onboard KLM to Amsterdam, I first decided to check out the United Club in the F concourse at O’Hare. Located on the second floor, it was a nicely renovated space with large windows and a decent food selection. The centerpiece of the lounge was a long bar with a variety of drinks.

Behind the bar and along the sides of the lounge were a variety of sofas and tabletop chairs. Each seat had USB ports and 110V outlets.

Lunch was brought out at exactly 10:45AM. Hot options included meatballs and soup. There was also a cheese board along with croissant sandwiches and wraps.

Other snacks included trail mix, fruit, cookies, and brownies. There was also a build-your-own salad bar and chips.

Besides the bar, drinks options included two espresso machines, filtered coffee, and lime-cucumber-infused water.

I enjoyed a Bloody Mary and spend a few hours doing work until my dad’s flight arrived at 12:50PM. I met him at the gate before making our way to Terminal 5.