Our week in New York was coming to an end and it was time to head back home. With an 8:20p departure from Newark, we left the hotel just after 5:00p. Unfortunately, we had a major traffic jam trying to get into the Holland Tunnel and we sat for over half an hour. Though we still made it across the river and to the airport with time to spare
Booking
Just like our flight up, I booked the return portion of this flight in cash, with the total RT cost coming out to roughly $700. While a steep fare for an economy flight on the 737, at least it would help me requalify for my Star Alliance Gold status through United. Since Mrs. ATX Jetsetter and I were on separate tickets, I was happy that we were able to grab seats in the same row at booking, with her in the window and me in the aisle.
Arrival
Since we got stuck in traffic leaving Manhattan, we didn’t arrive at Newark until just after 7:00p. Thankfully, there was nobody in the CLEAR lanes and we were through quickly.
Pre-Flight
Since we had less than 45 minutes before boarding, we decided to try and grab a quick meal. We grabbed a couple of seats at Caps Beer Garden and ordered through the app. I had the chicken club while Mrs. ATX jetsetter had a spicy tuna roll and a rainbow roll. The food came quickly and while the rolls were good, my club was edible at best. The sandwich was ok but the fries were stale and cold. A few minutes before boarding was scheduled to begin we made the short walk over to C132 where our plane was waiting, having arrived from St. Martin.
Boarding
We arrived at the gate just before boarding was supposed to begin. We had agents and an airplane but there was no action. 15 minutes after our scheduled boarding time, we got an update from the gate agent that the cleaners were still onboard the aircraft and we would be ready to board in a few minutes.
A few minutes after 8:00p, 20 minutes after our scheduled boarding time, boarding began with Global Services, passengers needing extra time, and 1K members. We boarded afterwards in Group 1.
United Airlines
UA 676
EWR-AUS (Newark Liberty International – Austin-Bergstrom International)
Seat: 10D (Economy)
B737-700 (N17752)
Scheduled: 8:20p-11:35p
Actual: 8:44p-11:57p
Seat
We got unlucky with this flight as our 737 was not one of the ones equipped with seatback IFE. Otherwise, the seats were fairly standard. When we booked, 10E was empty and stayed that way up until just before departure. Unfortunately, the flight was full and we ended up with a very eccentric woman between us. She seemed nice enough at first but things went downhill fast, including her touching and tapping Mrs. ATX Jetsetter as well as reciting what seemed like the entire New Testament during our taxi out to the runway.
In-Flight
Once airborne, I connected to the Wi-Fi and continued watching 1883, the prequel to Yellowstone as we climbed out of Newark. Once we reached our cruising altitude, the FAs began service though the captain advised us that the flight would be fairly bumpy due to a storm front along our flight path. I also used this opportunity to hit the rear lavatory as I didn’t know how long it would be available.
When the FAs got to my row, things got even weirder. The FA working our side couldn’t hear the order of the lady in the middle seat so I helped order for her. She got a Sprite which was served with a cup of ice. She didn’t want the ice so instead of saying anything, she handed me the cup and waved the FA off which, in and of itself wasn’t all that strange. I guess the FA either felt bad for me or was glad that I helped her because she served me a double without having to ask. I also had to open her tray table as she was pulling and pushing on everything but the latch. It wasn’t until after the flight when Mrs. ATX Jetsetter told me the woman had moved her jacket “to see if a baby was under there” and leaned over and called “time” like a referee that we thought there was more to the story than a confused passenger.
We chugged along, bumping our way down towards Austin and the captain had the crew button up the cabin early as we were about to hit some pretty significant weather. The last 45 minutes of the flight had some moderate turbulence but things got really wild as we flew through the line of storms to try and land on the back end.
Arrival
We arrived just before midnight into a wet and chaotic Austin airport. From the looks of it, multiple flights had been impacted by the weather including many cancellations from American which led to an extremely long queue of passengers trying to speak with a gate agent. Fortunately for us, with no checked bags to deal with, we were out of the airport quickly and in our Uber headed to the house.
Summary
Overall, this flight was fine. A small delay leaving Newark, no seatback IFE, a quirky seatmate and turbulence didn’t lead to the best experience but we got where we were going safely and relatively timely. The ride was more comfortable than our United Express flight up to Newark, but that is to be expected. Thanks for coming along on this trip!
