Except for Joel, we all flew through Beijing on Air China with long layovers. The first was nearly 12 hours, from 4:30 a.m. to just after 4 p.m. Normally, mainland China doesn’t allow foreigners to enter unless they get a visa costing $140 beforehand. However, several major cities have visa-free entry for a certain period, usually up to 72 hours, when transiting China between two different countries. Since we were traveling from the USA to Japan, we were able to use this special mode of entry and explore Beijing without having to secure visas or pay the cost beforehand! Air China does have a few redeye flights arriving between 4 and 5 a.m. however, so it took us nearly an hour to actually get the visas and be on our way. After entering the country, Elaine split from us because she had plans to meet up with a friend in the city. The rest of us hailed a cab, and despite Jared’s Chinese classes, Jacqueline was the one to direct the driver to take us to the Summer Palace. We picked it because it opened earlier than most places at 7 a.m., and because it was within an hours’ drive of the airport (Beijing is a massive, massive city).

Still tired from the flight, we half dozed and half watched the scenery out the cab windows. Our driver was fairly speedy though, and still got us to the palace a few minutes ahead of opening time. That was fine by us, since it gave us a chance to eat some snacks we’d brought and have fuel for the day. And when the palace did open, we were one of the first ones in! We’d have the space and flexibility to spread out throughout the park unfettered by the usual crowds. We took several photos of the ancient structures and trees as we ambled along.

We did end up underestimating how much work it was to walk around the palace though, and it wasn’t until about 3 hours and over 5 miles later that we completed the loop of the palace grounds and headed for the nearest metro stop. With 6 hours to go, we decided to head to the city center and explore Tiananmen Square and perhaps the Forbidden City. The metro ride took a solid 45 minutes through, with one transfer near the end. Our group was exhausted, and only Jacqueline’s vigilance woke us up in time to make the transfer and not end up far south of Beijing! We got off just south of Tiananmen where there was a line of tourist shops and restaurants, and we decided it would be best to eat now. Jacqueline and Jrod together managed to splice together a few dishes that weren’t too unusual for the group as a whole. We ate quickly, and proceeded onwards to Tiananmen.

The square itself is massive, and lies in the middle of four large boulevards. Instead of crosswalks, the square is accessed through underground tunnels that have security screening set up. These stations, like the ones at all subway stations, were introduced ahead of the Olympics and never went away. I’d believe that the subway ones are just to keep some people employed, but at Tiananmen they are strict about security. Armed soldiers stand spaced evenly apart in the square, prepared to quash any rebellious activity there. It amazes me that the youngest generation were never taught about the student revolutions of 1989, despite the aftermath and abundance of caution that’s in plain sight at the site itself. Key government buildings flank the square, reinforcing its significance. And at the northern exit where the square connects to the Forbidden City, lies a large portrait of Mao overlooking the square. You could be forgiven for believing that he’s still watching you. 

The rest of our visit went by pretty quickly and was uneventful. Our plans of entering the Forbidden City for a quick visit were dashed by the long ticket lines. After Jrod took a dump nearby we continued next door to the Wangfuxing mall, one of Beijing’s most upscale ones. It used to have one of the only two Apple stores in all of China, with the other being on Nanjing Road in Shanghai. Just outside the mall is a row of stalls selling food, some of which is rather unsettling. We took the opportunity to try fried scorpions, which taste like crunchier potato chips. But it wasn’t long until our flight time crept up on us, and we decided to find a cab back to the airport. I wasn’t worried about falling asleep on this point-to-point trip, but Jacqueline once again kept vigil and made sure the driver actually got us back. We passed through security easily at the airport and made it to our gate around the same time as Elaine. The flight to Osaka was smooth, and I’ll close this out with a couple amusing photos. 

This trip was a big first for me in that it was the first time I would be traveling with a group of friends. Even though I was very used to the trials and tribulations that solo travel was likely to bring, it was hard to tell in advance how well our group would do together. I wasn’t worried about this group for any particular reason, but three months prior I had visited Hong Kong with a best friend and we had disagreements and tense moments for the first time in years. So I was cautious to consider how we could make space for things to go off track every now and then and how my group members might react to them. Despite this, we still decided to plan a very rigorous itinerary and cover a lot of ground over the week we would be in Japan. I’ll give a brief summary of the flights we chose and the itinerary we built through Japan.

For the most part, flights to Japan are extraordinarily expensive from our home airport of San Francisco (SFO), especially if they are nonstop. During our months of searching, none of the nonstop flights on the San Francisco to Tokyo or Osaka routes dropped below $2000 roundtrip in economy. Even connecting itineraries were pricing out at $1200 or more. But there was one needle in that haystack: Air China. We managed to find a multi-city itinerary from SFO to Osaka, and then returning from Tokyo’s more convenient Haneda airport to SFO, both legs with long layovers in Beijing. Originally they were both going to be 11 hours for me but only 3 hours on the return for my friends, but the second one was shortened for a reason I’ll get into later. The original flights were as follows, all in Economy class:

Outbound:

Air China 777-300ER Flight from SFO to Beijing

Scheduled Departure: 1:30 a.m., Friday March 24th, 2017

Scheduled Arrival: 4:30 a.m., Saturday March 25th, 2017

Scheduled Duration: 12 hours

Layover Duration in Beijing: 11 hours, 30 minutes

Air China A321 Flight from Beijing to Osaka Kansai

Scheduled Departure: 4:00 p.m., Saturday March 25th, 2017

Scheduled Arrival: 8:10 p.m., Saturday March 25th, 2017

Scheduled Duration: 3 hours, 10 minutes

Return (for me only):

Air China A321 Flight from Tokyo Haneda to Beijing

Scheduled Departure: 7:20 a.m., Sunday April 2nd, 2017

Scheduled Arrival: 10:10 a.m., Sunday April 2nd, 2017

Scheduled Duration: 3 hours, 50 minutes

Layover in Beijing: 10 hours, 50 mintes

Return (for all others):

Air China A321 Flight from Tokyo Haneda to Beijing

Scheduled Departure: 2 p.m., Sunday April 2nd, 2017

Scheduled Arrival: 5:10 p.m., Sunday April 2nd, 2017

Scheduled Duration: 4 hours, 10 minutes

Layover in Beijing: 3 hours, 50 minutes

Air China 777-300ER Flight from Beijing to SFO

Scheduled Departure: 9 p.m., Sunday April 2nd, 2017

Scheduled Arrival: 5 p.m., Sunday April 2nd, 2017

Scheduled Duration: 11 hours

This left us with 8 nights and 7 full days to play with, starting in Osaka and ending in Tokyo. This aligned perfectly with the Japan Rail pass for foreigners, which is valid on all JR lines including certain shinkansen lines, for 7 days. We used Osaka as a base for our first 4 nights and 3 days, with plans to go to Osaka itself, Kyoto, and Nara on day trips in that order. I later decided to head up to the old Buddhist site of Koyasan on the first day, skipping Osaka. I also went to the illumination of Nabana no Sato near Nagoya while everyone else went to onsens after the morning in Nara. This was convenient for two reasons: we didn’t have to move our stuff between AirBnBs each day and we stayed near Osaka’s Dotonburi district, which has an abundance of food options in the evenings for when we returned. The next morning we went to Hiroshima and dropped luggage at our 1-night AirBnB, before heading to Miyajima that afternoon. We were able to visit the atomic peace park and museum before taking a train onwards to Tokyo, arriving in the afternoon. We split into various groups during our two full days in Tokyo, covering everything from the Tsukiji fish market to blossoms in Ueno park and a hike up Mt. Takao nearby. 

Originally, it was just going to be me that had to head to Tokyo’s Haneda airport in the morning. However, Air China cancelled their 9 p.m. departure from Beijing to SFO about a month after we booked. They shifted all of us to their earlier 4 p.m. departure on a Boeing 747-8 aircraft, but without changing any of our inbound flights from Tokyo. This shortened my layover to 6 hours, but also left my friends getting to Beijing an hour after the flight to SFO was due to take off. I tried calling Air China to fix this several times to no avail, so I eventually searched their contract of carriage for the clause forcing them to rebook us, and sent them an email. My friends were swapped to my earlier flight out of Tokyo within a day. I guess we just had to be more specific! Anyway, our flights out all ended up looking like this:

Air China A321 Flight from Tokyo Haneda to Beijing

Scheduled Departure: 7:20 a.m., Sunday April 2nd, 2017

Scheduled Arrival: 10:10 a.m., Sunday April 2nd, 2017

Scheduled Duration: 3 hours, 50 minutes

Layover in Beijing: 5 hours, 50 mintes

Air China Boeing 747-8i Flight from Beijing to SFO

Scheduled Departure: 4 p.m., Sunday April 2nd, 2017

Scheduled Arrival: 12:20 p.m., Sunday April 2nd, 2017

Scheduled Duration: 10 hours, 20 minutes

About a month before our trip, one more friend realized he’d be free to join us. Unfortunately, the price of our Air China flights had soared to $2000+ at this point. The cheapest price for him at that point was on Asiana Airlines via Seoul for ~$1200, but this had the extra bonus that he was able to have a long layover on his return in order to get lunch with his family. We only had to wait for him to arrive for about an hour at Osaka’s Kansai airport, and he came with us to Tokyo’s Haneda airport and only had to wait an extra hour before his flight departed. Here’s what his flights looked like:

Outbound:

Asiana Airlines 777-200LR Flight from SFO to Seoul Incheon

Scheduled Departure: 12:00 p.m., Friday March 24th, 2017

Scheduled Arrival: 5:30 p.m., Saturday March 25th, 2017

Scheduled Duration: 13 hours, 30 minutes

Layover Duration in Seoul: 1 hour, 20 minutes

Asiana A321 Flight from Seoul Incheon to Osaka Kansai

Scheduled Departure: 6:50 p.m., Saturday March 25th, 2017

Scheduled Arrival: 9:10 p.m., Saturday March 25th, 2017

Scheduled Duration: 2 hours, 20 minutes

Return:

Asiana A321 Flight from Tokyo Haneda to Seoul Gimpo

Scheduled Departure: 8:10 a.m., Sunday April 2nd, 2017

Scheduled Arrival: 10:20 a.m., Sunday April 2nd, 2017

Scheduled Duration: 2 hours, 10 minutes

Layover in Seoul: 5 hours, 50 minutes (includes transfer to Incheon)

Asiana 777-200LR Flight from Seoul Incheon to SFO

Scheduled Departure: 4 p.m., Sunday April 2nd, 2017

Scheduled Arrival: 10:20 a.m., Sunday April 2nd, 2017

Scheduled Duration: 10 hours, 20 minutes

List of Installments:

• Flights to and from Beijing and layovers
• Osaka
• Koyasan
• Kyoto Day Trip
• Nara Day Trip
• Nabana No Sato
• Miyajima and Hiroshima
• Tokyo days
• Whales of August movie bar
• Mt. Takao Hike

“You were in Munich for 1 full day, and you didn’t even spend it in Munich”? That was the incredulous question I got asked by many a coworker when I returned from this trip. It’s true that didn’t see much of Munich itself this trip, but going to Neuschwanstien, especially when it was covered with a blanket of snow, was a must for me. It’s pretty easy to get from the Munich airport to the city center if I wanted to spend a few hours on a future layover there, but Neuschwanstein required a full day to make the trip out. I also love snowy landscapes, and would much rather see the snowy mountains and evergreen forests by the castle than anything within Munich. So after an early morning stroll through Munich’s massive Englisher garden, I headed to their main train station and purchased my roundtrip ticket to Fussen. It’s a 2 hour journey out there and you have to transfer trains, but that gave me plenty of time to read and take a quick nap once I made the transfer. At about 10:45 a.m. that morning my train pulled into Fussen, and I headed straight for the ticketing office to find out my entry times to the two palaces.

Unfortunately, the slots I ended up with for both castles were already towards the end of the day. I wouldn’t get into Hohenschwangau until nearly 3 hours later, and Neuschwanstein 2 hours after that (to allow me time to walk uphill to the castle after my entry to Hohenschwangau). Normally, this would be a good time for a leisurely lunch and a quick stroll around. However, it was so deep into the off season that hardly any restaurants were operating and none of them looked good. Fortunately, I had some foresignt to pack some sandwiches and that ended up just having to tide me over until dinner that night. I still had to find some way to preoccupy myself while I waited, though. A lake a couple miles long sits at the base of the lower, yellow castle of Hohenschwangau with a path down its left side, so I started down it. I was only equipped with my running shoes, but the snow wasn’t deep enough at that point for me to worry. I set out and just decided to see where I’d end up.

It was only a few degrees Celsius below freezing, so I was surprised that this entire lake ended up frozen. The ice didn’t look that thick, but it was enough to support some of the ducks that were walking along the surface. I also tossed a couple snowfalls onto the surface to no effect. There wasn’t a trace of a breeze, and once I started walking I got total silence. That can actually be a bit unnerving, though. Every sound no matter how small drew my attention out there, and eventually it gets hard to imagine that a fall of snow off of a tree aren’t the sneaky footsteps of a wolf. That was more pronounced when the trail turned uphill from the lake into the mountains. The snow got a little deeper, but the scenery and the challenge got a lot more exciting. The trail wound up through evergreen trees and started providing better views of the lake below. Even though I was alone, there were still a few sets of feet (and paws!) I could follow. It was the furthest I’d been in solitude for months, and it was refreshing to be like that. I still had to budget time though, and after a bit over an hour I had to turn around and hike back. It helped that around now I heard something that I took to be a howl, and headed downhill a little faster than I would have normally. I even spent some time on my way down thinking about what I’d do if I did encounter a wolf, but came up pretty empty.

I got to Hohenschwangau about 10 minutes before my allotted entry slot, and gathered in a lobby with the other guests. We were told that photos weren’t allowed inside, which actually didn’t bother me at all because I needed to save the battery on my phone. When it’s below freezing my phone’s battery is strained, and I didn’t have a way to charge it midway in my trip. The interior of the palace was redecorated with 19th century furniture, and was much warmer than the outdoors. In actuality though, the palace wasn’t regularly used through much of its history. For most of its existence it was just used as a summer palace. The lighter yellow color of the exterior isn’t my favorite, but there’s no denying it’s a nice palace. After the tour, I took some more time to take pictures of the exterior before moving on.

I still had about an hour after my tour to walk up to Neuschwanstein, but it was a steep uphill segment on a road that was slippery with melting snow. Even after blitzing through my earlier snowy hike, I found this climb to be tough and I was breathing hard on my trip up. One part I really appreciated though, is that the castle seemed to rise out of the surrounding mountain as I got closer. On a bright summer day I think it would stand out from afar, but against the cloudy backdrop of winter it almost blended into the sky from afar. It’s only when you get closer that the blue paneling of the rooftop and spires stands out and the castle with it. This is the castle that’s known for being the inspiration behind the castles built at the center of each Disneyland park. While those are more symmetrical than Neuschwenstein, they definitely borrow their highest central spires from the one here. Even though it’s on the castle’s exterior it’s the visual focal point, and the tip narrows like it could pierce the sky. It was clearly a castle that was built for beauty over defense, which made sense in the more peaceful 19th century atmosphere of Bavaria. As I approached it, there was no question in my mind that I’d made the right choice to come all the way out here to see it. I think anyone who hopes it will look exactly like the Disney castles could be a little disappointed, though.

Like Hohenschwangau, photography wasn’t allowed within the castle itself. This rule was relaxed for the kitchen areas, however. Despite its reputation for being the inspiration for a Disney castle, I found its interior to be decorated much more darkly than Hohenschwangau. There was a lot less emphasis on flooding room with natural light through windows, and most rooms were decorated with darker wood paneling and deep blue carpeting. The gloomy weather outdoors probably influenced my perspective, but it seemed like a pretty foreboding place to live. Still, I’m very glad that Germany has decided to restore these castles’ interiors and treated the general public to a glimpse at what life may have been like there. 

My last time budgeting exercise of the day was making sure that I caught my 5 p.m. train home from Fussen, as they only left on the hour. That still left me with some time for the gorgeous snowy mountain scenery that made the backdrop of Neuschwanstien. The most notable part is probably the waterfall that careens down the mountainside behind the castle, and despite the cold weather it wasn’t frozen over. There’s also a bridge over those waterfalls, but it closes in winter because the hike to it gets too dangerous and slippery. I had to observe it from afar, too. The evergreens were coated with fresh snow from the day before, which gave the mountain a tranquil and slumbering feeling. Of course, from the heights of the castle grounds you could also see far and away across the plains stretching back towards Munich. I took it all in for as long as I was able to before time eventually mandated that I start hurrying back towards the train station to go back to Munich. 

Visiting Neuschwanstein isn’t as easy as a spontaneous day trip from Munich, as you do have to make a reservation ahead of time and the train trip from Munich is 2 hours each way. On top of that, you’ll hardly be the only tourist coming, as the tours were full even in the depths of February when I went. I do think that a first time visit is absolutely worthwhile, however. The castles are both amazingly well preserved, and I enjoyed that they were furnished in more subtle ways than the grand palaces of European capitals. Neuschwanstein in particular is set against such a beautiful mountain. My favorite season to visit was in winter with the snow, but the most popular time to visit is in summer when the trees have filled out and the skies are likely to be a pearly blue. Either way, absolutely budget a day to visit these two castles if you have the time to do so from Munich, but make sure to plan it at least a few days in advance!

Even though I had hardly any time in Munich thanks to my Lufthansa flight being delayed, I still managed to do a leisurely stroll in their Englisher gardens. Where did I find the time? Waking up in my hostel at 5 a.m. thanks to jetlag… 

The Englisher gardens is a massive city park for Munich, situated northeast of the city’s historical downtown district. It stretches for miles along the western bank of the city’s Isar river, but I only made it into the southern section. Still, this was more than enough to appreciate some spectacularly deserted winter scenery and get a solid walk in. I started my walk at the Wombats City Hostel near the HBF main railway station, so I had awhile to walk to get to the gardens. There was a path of parks and other green spaces that I was able to mostly follow on my way there, though. There were also quite a few historical buildings along my route. I’ve always wondered about how much efficiency some European cities lose by having a walk-only or compact “old town” in their downtown core, forcing the business district to be further from the city. But I certainly appreciate that these preservation efforts have left such a beautiful space for tourists and locals alike to revel in. 

For the most part, the gardens are a vast open space. This meant that today, I was treading through fresh snow with no footsteps to guide me. That didn’t mean that there were no signs of civilization, though. In the middle of one field I found a hefty snowwoman that someone had probably built the day before. The grass uncovered near the snowwoman shows that the layer wasn’t actually that thick, so it’s possible that it didn’t take long to melt. Further along I got to what ended up being my favorite part of the gardens, a reflecting pool that was so calm that the snowy trees on the other shore were reflected perfectly. Every branch stood out, and the snow was even visible on them as a darker shadow. I spent several minutes there just marveling at how crisp the reflection of these barren trees was.

Further in, there were some manmade structures. One was a Greco-Roman style dome situated on a hill with a view of the old town and further into the park. For an outdoors structure, the colors still showed up very clearly and didn’t show much wear or tear from the harsh weather. If it was restored recently, then the workers did a pretty good job. Next was a structure that the gardens are more famous for, the “Chinese pavilion”. It’s a wooden, multi-tiered structure that looks like a pagoda top, and was built as part of hosting Munich’s 1972 summer Olympics. It was definitely a nice touch, but doesn’t hold a candle to the most stunning pagodas in Asia.

There was one last big surprise in the park, at the very eastern edge. A stream was set up that captured some of the flow from the Isar river, and here’s where things got creative. Somehow the current of the stream was bolstered into a fast moving current through a short section of the stream, and what I saw there really surprised me. A lone man in a swimsuit had a surfboard, and in the morning’s below freezing temperatures he was actually trying to catch the waves! I wondered if he was this bold only because he was good enough to stay dry atop his board. But this quickly proved to not be the case, as he fell in within a few seconds. I left to head back to my hostel, I sure hope he was able to dry off quickly after that!

If not for jetlag, I would’ve slept until waking up to catch the train to Neuschwenstein and missed these gardens completely. I’m really glad that jetlag worked the way it did, and allowed me to see how gorgeous these gardens were in a fresh coating of snow. Aside from the surfer, I didn’t see anyone else roaming around on my early morning expedition. The calmness of the reflecting pools and river scenery that I came across were perfect for relaxing, despite my early wakeup. It was a great reminder, too, of just how much a fresh coat of snow can completely transform a landscape and create a totally different experience. Residents of Munich sure are lucky to have such a dynamic, large open space within their city limits!

My original flight itinerary had me spending two full days in Munich, with a morning 9 a.m. arrival giving me most of the sunlit hours on my first day. However, a cascading de-icing delay in Boston meant that I didn’t actually arrive at Munich airport until nearly 2 p.m., meaning that it was nearly 3:30 by the time I’d gotten into the city and settled at my hostel. I quickly took stock of my options, and focused on finding anything that would be open for another couple of hours. I ended up settling on the city’s Deutsches museum, which featured lots of exhibits on science and industry. Much of it focused on the development of ships throughout the last couple centuries, starting from wooden ships with massive sails to coal powered ocean liners and the expansiveness of travel that they introduced until aircraft took to the skies. It was pretty interesting to compare staterooms then to the seemingly cramped staterooms of modern cruise ships, to see that we really have a lot more room now than we used to. (But dropping the soap hasn’t gone away as a major problem for passengers!)

The museum closed at 5 p.m., but the daylight hadn’t faded just yet. So I wandered next into Munich’s preserved old town, and eventually ended up in the central square of Marienplatz. Even though it had snowed a few inches that morning, all the snow had already been cleared into piles and the streets of old town were dry. The most impressive building there is the old town hall, which is built in the old Gothic style and definitely shows its age with the soot stains on its columns. There was a clock tower off to the side of the square that looked like it was much more recently built (or refurbished). Perhaps the newer looking buildings were less lucky in the WWII bombing raids than the older ones. Some further wandering took me north to the opera house, which was lit up nicely against the dusk. As the sky darkened, I headed back to my hostel to set up dinner plans with a college friend I had studying in Munich. 

For dinner, my friend picked a convenient restaurant in the old town where he liked the food. Being in Munich, I felt compelled to order a beer and ended up with a Schneider Weisse. Having studied abroad in Hungary two years ago, I also couldn’t resist ordering the goulash as a starter. My breakfast on Lufthansa had been nearly 9 hours ago and I was starving. Enough so that I felt like I could finish both that, and a plate of pork belly with sauerkraut and fried bread. The goulash was warm and thick, and it was gone within minutes. I paced myself a little better pairing my wheat beer with the pork belly, and really enjoyed the both of them together. The dipping sauce for the pork belly was rich and slightly sour, and drew out the juices in the pork belly even more. From prior visits to Central Europe I’ve learned that I get tired of the cuisine after a week or so, but it’s really wonderful in small doses like this! Mostly, it’s the lack of vegetables that eventually gets me.

We still felt like talking after that, so we headed to the Hofbrauhaus, one of Munich’s largest indoor beer halls. Too late we noticed the traditional Bavarian band playing, and chose a table in the corner of the hall so we could actually hear each other speak. I dug myself a slightly deeper hole by ordering an entire liter of the Hofbrauhaus’s dark Dunkel beer, especially after my previous half liter. At least it meant more time to catch up with my friend before we parted!

My second dinner was after returning from Neuschwanstein, after 8 p.m. and after nearly a day of eating only a couple cold sandwiches. Once again, I compensated for that with quite the hefty meal. I opted for another traditional Bavarian restaurant, and decided to go with a Paulaner wheat beer this time. I decided to get the goulash again, since I had no idea when I might be back to Europe. And I picked a dish of meatballs and potato mash for my main this time. Seeing as I had a few extra euros, I also threw in a glass of riesling to wash it all down. Drinking beer and wine together can be a bit of a faux pas, but what was I supposed to do with only the one meal left?

So, it goes without saying that I didn’t have much time in Munich overall, certainly less than I would have liked. Still, a lot of special moments can happen even on a short trip like this. The exhibits on the development of ships to ocean liners in the Deutsche museum was fascinating to me, and the Munich old town packs a lot of eye popping architecture into an easily walkable space. I got to experience absolute solitude on a winter morning in Englisher gardens, which I wrote about separately. Most importantly, I got a rare chance to catch up with my friend who’s pursuing graduate studies here and share a couple lovely meals. There’s no replacement for being able to see someone meaningful in the flesh, and after months of video calls I think we can mostly agree that they’re a far cry from the real thing. When borders reopen, we’ll embrace moments like this again and appreciate them for being the remarkable circumstances that they are.

To be honest, I was less excited to fly business class on Lufthansa’s A350 the day of than when I initially booked it. That’s because when I made the booking, all I knew was that the A350 was new for Lufthansa and I assumed that meant a newer business class product as well. Well, I assumed incorrectly. Lufthansa installed the same 2-2-2 across seats that they have on the rest of their aircraft. This meant I actually would’ve been in slightly more spacious seats if I’d booked on either a 747 or A380 aircraft, but a less optimal booking is sometimes the cost of taking advantage of good fares. I would still be on a brand new aircraft, and with a whopping 48 seats I figured I might have a fair chance at getting an empty seat next to me. I actually ended up being wrong there too, because a couple months ahead of my flight, the seat next to me was already taken and the cabin was more than half full. I moved myself to the very last row of the plane, knowing that passengers tend to assign their seats from front to back. But a couple weeks out the cabin filled up entirely, so I resigned myself to having a seatmate. Having spent so much time in economy though, that’s far from a deal breaker for me.

As someone on the slimmer side, I found Lufthansa’s seat to be plenty spacious enough. Some of the other passengers were significantly more hefty, and I noticed that they filled up the entire width so that’s something to be mindful. The seat and the paneling is in a really drab gray color, which is only punctuated by a clean white headcloth with the golden Lufthansa logo. A large and colorful pillow was waiting at each seat, but that’s the only one you get. The blanket is wrapped in plastic and was warm enough. Note that this means you’ll be sleeping directly on the seat, since there’s no sort of bedsheet. That didn’t bother me at all, though. The inflight screen was pretty large for the size of the seat, and is situated right in front of each passenger. There’s a pretty tight ottoman to the right of my screen, but both my feet fit there. There was space below it for my backpack, which I appreciated as there was no other storage space for it. The pouch with the inflight magazines and a small drawer below that is really the only storage space the seat gets. On a daytime flight, I can imagine how this would make it hard to be productive and organize everything you need to work properly. Overall, it didn’t make a great first impression and it’s still the least comfortable lie flat business class product that I’ve tried so far. 

Since I was one of the last to board after taking pictures of the empty lounge in Boston, I was welcomed onboard pretty early and offered an amenity kit and pre-departure beverage. I selected champagne as always, and sipped away as we waited to start taxiing. Our departure had originally been delayed until 10 p.m., then 10:30 as the aircraft took off late from Munich because of a snowstorm there. However, that meant that enough snow had fallen that our aircraft had to be de-iced. And since our delay put our departure later than the SWISS, Turkish, Emirates and Qatar aircraft, we had to wait behind them for de-icing. So my pre-departure beverage turned into a second. And a third… I took the chance to browse the menu as well and decide what I wanted in advance, since I always try to be an “easy” passenger on full flights like this. An hour later we finally started getting doused by de-icing fluid and I finished my last glass of champagne, to get ready for takeoff. Our aircraft had other ideas, however. Just as the pilot announced the end of the de-icing process, the A350 lost electrical power. We sat in the dark, and the pilot instead announced that we’d have to wait until power was restored, and then de-ice again because we would have been waiting for too long. Seeing as the lights were out, I reclined my seat and passed out instantly. Our takeoff roll out of Boston woke me up, and I checked my watch on the way out. We hadn’t managed to leave until nearly 1 a.m., a delay of nearly 4 and a half hours. 

As you’d expect on such a short transatlantic hop, flight attendants came around to take dinner orders as soon as the fasten seatbelt sign was off. Because the delay had stretched on for so long, the cabin was dark and nearly all the other passengers were asleep. I was tempted to just fall asleep myself, but I wanted to experience the meal service and wrap up the movie that I’d started on the ground. Because of the sleeping passengers I got my first pick of main as the crabcakes, which I’d taken a risk on by sitting in the back. My FA even remarked that that was their most popular main, and they’d probably be out if more of the passengers had decided to dine after takeoff. Some cashews, water, and another glass of champagne was brought out while the rest of the meal prepared, and I downed these pretty quickly. Enough time had passed that I was hungry again, even after the Chinese New Year’s banquet at my friend’s place. When the food did come, it was all at once. Bread also came from a basket, and I slathered it in the butter provided. The appetizer was polenta with salad mix and dressing, which was nice and healthy. I also really enjoyed the crabcakes, since they came out hot and crispy and tasted pretty strongly of crab. The bok choy and the rest of the vegetables were overcooked, but not to the point of being inedible. The pasta and cream sauce were delicious as well, and I was glad I’d stayed up to enjoy it. I chose the Riesling on offer to go with my meal, and it paired perfectly with the pasta and crab. I was tired enough that I skipped cheese and dessert to sleep, though.

I slept all the way until an hour before landing, which is about the most possible. That ended up being about 4 and a half hours, which I was more than happy with. Historically, I’d rarely got any continuous sleep on eastbound transatlantic flights in economy, so this was a huge improvement. I requested breakfast from the first crew member that passed me after I woke up, and left to freshen up in the bathroom while it was prepared. I also took the opportunity to take a picture of the amenity kit provided, a pretty dinky zip-up pouch that I only kept for the memory and not utility. There wasn’t anything remarkable about the lavatories that I saw. Now that it was daylight outside, I took a couple pictures of the seat in bed mode before returning it upright to eat. To be honest, it looks like a glorified ironing board to me. I think I’d still be able to sleep well in it if the cabin is quiet, but this time I’m not sure if I was just so tired that nothing would have woken me up. You could also recline the seat to various degrees if you wanted, so it was easy to lounge. It’s still one of the most exposed seats I’ve ever seen, though. In the last picture of this section, you can even see that my seatmate’s forearm barely fits on his half of the center barrier. 

Breakfast was pretty quick to come after that. There’s no options to customize it, probably because they have to serve so many passengers in such a short time. One of the upticks here is that Lufthansa has fresh, pulpy orange juice. That’s much more refreshing and helps a lot more to wake up than storebought brands, in my opinion. However, my flight attendant lost his balance a bit when handing it to me and some of it sloshed onto my left pantleg. He smiled and apologized, but then… left. I cleaned up the mess with my napkin and wasn’t too bothered, but he could’ve been a lot less lucky with a more critical customer. I got the dark coffee as well to help wake up, but it was too strong and I didn’t end up finishing it. As far as food goes, there was a cold loaf of bread, a small tin with cheese and salami, and a small bowl of fresh fruit alongside a larger bowl of muesli. I definitely wish there was a hot option, but I understand why there isn’t. It was late enough to already be morning in Boston’s time zone, so I was hungry again and finished everything. There was only about a half hour left of flight time after I finished, so I just flipped to the airshow and watched that and the window views until we landed in Munich, about 4 hours later than scheduled. Deplaning and customs were quick when I landed, and I was off to the Munich city center by 2 p.m., just 20 minutes after touchdown.

My initial impression of the seat and product were disappointing, since Lufthansa chose such a cramped and old business class product to install on such a new plane. The cascading de-icing delays also didn’t help, although these are out of Lufthansa’s control. I was a bit miffed to miss most of my day in Munich, but passengers who misconnected their noon flights to India or the Middle East were going on tirades before landing about how they’d be forced to spend the night in Munich now. So, I guess things could have certainly been worse for me. Over the course of the flight though, I came to appreciate the product more. This was bolstered by the meal services, both of which were great except for the snafu of spilled juice. And that’s something that I assume is just a one-off. I also slept the maximum amount possible on this flight, despite the seat not looking that comfortable in bed mode. Lufthansa’s A350 had the worst hard product out of any lie flat seats I’ve flown, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to avoid it in the future and there are other business class flights that I’ve gotten far less sleep on. The food was also well chosen and executed, and I’d put both the dinner and breakfast in the middle of the pack as far as inflight business class meals go. Should Lufthansa’s business class be a bucket list item? Absolutely not. But it’s not worth a layover and hundreds of dollars more to fly another airline, if they provide the most direct or cheapest routing for you. Just bring your own seatmate with you for best results, as you’ll be in close quarters together!

Since my flight to Munich had been pushed back until 10:30 p.m., I took my time at my friend’s Chinese New Year’s gathering and didn’t end up at Boston’s Logan airpor until about 8:30 p.m. It had already started snowing outside, although the snow wasn’t sticking at first. Since Boston isn’t a hub of any US carriers, nearly all of its international flights are once daily flights that are operated by other nation’s airlines. There weren’t too many other flights leaving as late as my new Lufthansa departure, so security was a breeze and I was through in no time. The one thing I did notice is that all of Boston’s sports championship banners were hung up by the security checkpoint. There are so many that it felt like overkill and a bit snobbish. But, hey, I guess they did earn them (and like to remind the rest of the nation whenever they can)

I did feel a bit wistful holding onto my boarding pass, as this marked the end of the wonderful Business Class fare that I’d found the previous Labor Day. Nevertheless, I was excited to check out what Lufthansa’s outstation lounge here would look like, compared to the lounges I’d seen in Frankfurt and Munich. Well, my first impression turned out to be very crowded! Despite the short security lines, a Turkish Airlines flight to Istanbul and SWISS to Zurich still had to depart. The passengers from these two flights, and the full cabin of 48 from my Lufthansa flight, meant that there was hardly a seat in the lounge. I made the best of things by snapping photos of the dinner buffet spread. Surprisingly, it was left mostly unattended and I had no trouble getting clear shots. I could understand the low interest in most lounges (especially United clubs), but each of the lounge’s departing flights were short red eyes to Europe. I assumed more passengers would want to eat in the lounge ahead of their flights, but that’s not what I saw happening. 

Eventually, I settled at the bar because that’s where the open seats were. I ended up being really glad I did. Despite the packed lounge, the bartender wasn’t particularly busy and was up for chatting. I learned pretty quickly that even though Boston is a Star Alliance outstation, several high profile customers come through. I happened to walk over when he was chatting with another waiter about John Kerry’s visit the previous week, which surprised me. I asked him how he usually interacted with a famous guest like that. Of course, he told me that you try your best to treat them like any other passenger and not draw attention to them. He did have a couple more stories about celebrities that had passed through, although most weren’t up for chit chat and wanted to head straight to the more private section of the lounge that was partitioned off for First Class. I started off drinking by just asking the bartender to make me something citrusy. I should’ve been more specific, because I ended with a screwdriver heavy on vodka with a sprig of mint… It certainly helped time fly as the delay and conversation stretched on, but I wish I’d stuck to sampling the wines and bubly. I picked a glass of prosecco afterwards, and retreated to one of the armchairs now that the SWISS flight had left and some were open. Thankfully, by the time I’d finished the prosecco the boarding process was about to start.

It was only after boarding was called that the lounge naturally emptied out. This lounge is awesome in that there’s a staircase from one exit that leads straight to the departure gate that Lufthansa uses! Since there was a line I could monitor though, I felt fine taking my time on pictures of the now-empty lounge. Most of the seating was single occupant armchairs, with a few couches and taller chairs scattered here and there. All are a medium beige color, which isn’t my favorite but is a typical color for Lufthansa lounge seating. There were some wooden screens up and pictures of German forests and mountains, which is a touch I appreciated. Near the bar and buffet are a set of dining tables that were also mostly in use throughout my stay. I guess everyone else had just hit the buffet ahead of me. Lastly, there was a section earmarked for First Class, but the extra layer of privacy seemed like the only thing differentiating it from the rest of the lounge. I certainly wouldn’t pick Boston as the starting point of a First Class trip rather than the Lufthansa First outstation at JFK, or the Star Alliance First Class lounge at LAX.

I was expecting Lufthansa’s Boston outstation to be a bit more skimpy than its counterparts in Frankfurt and Munich, but I was surprised by how many services the lounge offered. The bartender was a huge plus for conversation (and I hope he does better on the rest of his drinks), which I think is important especially as a solo traveler. About half of the buffet spread looked good to me, which means I don’t think there’s a risk that travelers will leave hungry if they don’t want to. I guess they undershot their ultimate estimates of how packed this lounge might get, because I was surprised that it ended up filling completely by the time I’d arrived. Once I did get to a seat it was really comfortable, and I especially appreciated the chance to charge my electronic devices before boarding. Given the choice today, I would probably pick either the JFK outstation lounge or an airport with a United Polaris lounge for my next flight in a Lufthansa premium cabin. However, if I was departing Boston again I would leave a little extra time to enjoy this lounge again.

My layover in Boston was initially going to be just a daytime one, arriving at 9 a.m. and departing at 8:30 p.m. that evening. However, a schedule change caused me to arrive the evening beforehand instead. My friend was situated in a high rise near TD Gardens, and insisted we wake up for the 6:30 a.m. sunrise since he had a clear shot over Massachusetts Bay. I agreed, although I slightly regretted this after I was unable to fall asleep until nearly 3 a.m. Nevertheless, I woke up right on time and we wandered up to the roof, where the wind was blowing and it was below freezing. We were lucky that we timed our arrival so well, since I don’t think I could’ve stood out there for longer than 5 minutes in my pajamas. I was so tired that I fell back asleep on the couch almost as soon as we got back downstairs.

I woke up for good around 9:30 a.m., in time to get on the Red line towards MIT. I still had a few friends that hadn’t graduated yet at this point, and I’d planned a 10 a.m. brunch with one of them. She’d found a diner near campus, so it was nice to pay college prices for this meal. They had chicken and waffles on offer so I got those, in anticipation that they’d fill me up for the rest of the day. After we parted ways I met up with a math friend I’d made back at my high school, and we’d kept in touch even after his family moved to Mississippi. It turned out that he’d just gotten a graduate school offer from UC Berkeley, and it just so happened that I needed to fill an upcoming vacancy in my apartment there. Crazy how these connections sometimes just come together perfectly! We did the walk from the MIT to the Harvard campus, a nice stroll which I remembered fondly from my visit 3 years ago. Instead of the 7 feet of snow I’d encountered last time though, there was no trace of it today. We got Boba at Boston Tea Stop, a visit I ended up regretting slightly. I remembered their Rose tea being really wonderful when I visited 3 years ago, good enough that I actually made the trek up on my last day to get another cup! But this one was pretty disappointing, since it tasted strongly of artificial sweeteners, the rose petals on the top were gone, and the pearls themselves were soft and mushy. Ah well, sometimes it’s just best to let those memories be… One of my highlights actually ended up being an albino squirrel we saw squatting on a tree near the Harvard quad. 

After my college visits, I took the T downtown to the Boston Common. I hadn’t actually ventured into the city at all when I’d visited 3 years ago, so this was a first for me. The commons were pretty drab though, with all the grass withered from winter and all the trees had lost their leaves. There were plenty of statues dotting the Commons though, as you’d expect from such a historic city. After taking the time to read all their inscriptions, it was time for something else

My friend had invited me back to a Chinese New Years’ celebration back at his apartment’s rooftop for dinner before my flight, so I didn’t have time for an extended visit anywhere. But one place was timeboxed especially well for my schedule, and that was the Boston Tea Party museum. It’s built near the city’s eastern docks, and features a restored ship that looks similar to the ones that might’ve carried tea back in the day. The tour takes you onboard the vessel, where you can see what the crew lived like during their 6 week transatlantic voyage. Lastly, you also got to see crates similar to the ones that the tea would have been carried in. I was surprised to learn that they could be extremely heavy, even into the hundreds of pounds. So not only did the American Revolutionaries (or vandals, as the English would have labeled them) have a lot of gall carrying out that act, but they also had to be extremely strong and work as a team to dump all of that tea! A short video presentation covered some of the other history behind the tea party and the Intolerable Acts that followed, in addition to the restoration process for the ship. All in all, it was a nice tour, although it was definitely more geared towards schoolchildren that were still learning about the Revolution itself. 

I left the Tea Party tour with a lot more time than I thought I’d have, so I took a very scenic route back to my friend’s place near TD Garden. First was the mix of older concrete skyscrapers, and the newly minted glass towers that stood next to them. Skylines like that are common the United States, unlike newer cities in Asia where most skyscrapers are entirely modern. I did a quick walkthrough of the Quincy Market, but I didn’t feel like eating anything there. 

My main stop took me to the Old North Church, famous as the structure from which Paul Revere hung his lanterns to  warn of British regulars. After he signaled their route, he left on horseback to warn the villages of Lexington and Concord about the impending British arrival. The church itself still held strong to its Protestant roots, with understated decor and lots of plain white paneling for the most part. Unlike most churches with their rows of pews however, this one had individual stalls for each of the families that attended. There was more attention to detail paid to the organ and chandelier in the back, although these still didn’t go very overboard. Despite being outsized by much taller buildings today, the church’s steeple still maintains its stateliness of before, and you can imagine the single lantern glowing from the top, piercing a dark and stormy night. The Old North Church ended up being my favorite visit of the day.

All things considered, I ended up being really glad that I’d chosen to layover in Boston rather than Chicago for United’s Polaris lounge, or Newark in order to fly a premium service aircraft that way. I got to catch up with some dear friends, and fill out my Berkeley apartment for what ended up being another couple of years. I also had the chance to venture into Boston itself and explore a city that I hadn’t been to for over a decade. It brought back memories too, of the trip I’d taken 3 years ago to the day during the Snowmaggedon period. I have to say, I really missed the globs of snow that piled around Cambridge and the snow flurries that swirled around me during this trip. I’ll just hope that someday I get the chance to experience that again. In the meantime, I’d absolutely recommend Boston as a daytime layover destination.

Becuase the fare I was booking was so cheap it wouldn’t last, I only gave myself a couple of minutes to decide on a routing from San Francisco back to Munich. One consideration was to try to route through Chicago, which had United’s only “Polaris” lounge for Business Class customers at the time. I could also fly back on the 777-300ER from SFO in the Polaris seats, or fly via Newark so I could try United’s “premium transcontinental” service on that route. But at the time, both the Chicago and Newark to Munich routes were operated by United 777-200s which were 8-across in business class, and aging A340s flew to those cities from Lufthansa. One option stood out as particularly interesting to me, though. I could route via Boston, which would still put me on a 757-200 with lie flat seats and the “premium service” offering, and transfer to a Lufthansa A350-900, which was a new aircraft for them. The flights were also both redeyes, leaving me with 11 hours to see friends in Boston. Just like that, my mind was made up!

In the months before my flight though, the departure time moved up from the original 12:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. This was problematic for me because I’d picked the original flight to arrive in Boston at 9 a.m., when my friends would have woken up and been able to meet for brunch once I got into the city. My new flight had a 5 a.m. arrival, and I was not keen on waiting around the airport in the extra early morning hours. One of my friends offered to host me the night before if I could make it then, so I called United and they were able to switch me to a 1:50 p.m. departure, and 10:30 p.m. arrival, for the day before my onward flight to Munich on Lufthansa. I’d miss an afternoon at work, but would start extra early in the day to make up for it.

In an interesting turn of events, business class actually boarded last for my flight to Boston, since the flight staff needed extra time to clean the cabin. That wasn’t a great omen, but ended up being a non-issue. I chose seat 3E, an aisle seat in the third out of 4 rows so I wasn’t too close to either galley, and because I’d rather have my seatmate bother me for aisle access rather than having to do that myself. The flight was completely full, but my seatmate slept most of the way to Boston like I find that most of them do. I was sort of prepared to do the same, as I’d dressed in my EVA Air pajamas with a light jacket, but among the better-dressed passengers in business class I ended up feeling a little out of place. I picked pajamas because I’d found it hard to fall asleep in dress clothes on my previous United business class flight, but after these two I settled on wearing a polo and jeans on most business class flights, with pajamas packed away if I wanted to sleep for the stretch.

Now let’s go over the virtues of the seat. It’s angled slightly away from the aisle, so you’ll be less privy to everyone else’s business, and you have to turn less to see out the window. It came equipped with a single pillow and United’s plush duvet blanket for sleeping, although it did lack the thinner sheet that you’d put over the seat. Magazines were in a pouch to the right of my seat as well as the entertainment controller, but I still used the touch functions to control it. There’s a quarter-circle plastic divider that provided a little separation from me and my neighbor, and neither of us lowered it. The headrest was more than comfy enough, so I used the pillow for extra back cushioning. The entertainment screen’s directly ahead of you, and there’s an ottoman below it that looks small but was spacious enough for both storing my backpack underneath it and stretching both feet onto it. The amenity kit was present in a small metal tin dedicated to the recently retired 747, on a tray just below the screen. On a panel to the side of the seat were a few extra controls that allowed it to lean back and also turn into the lie-flat bed mode as well.

Despite our delayed boarding, a flight attendant still found time to do the pre-departure drinks. I pick the bubbly whenever it’s available, and today’s sparkling wine was pleasant enough to sip on while we taxied to the runway. I have to say, I absolutlely loved their napkin designs! The Pyeongchang Winter Olympic games were happening in South Korea at the time, and United was helping to ferry our athletes to and from the games. It was an impressive addition to the product, and shows that small designs like these can leave a meaningful impression on passengers. The pre-departure sparkling wine was still in a plastic cup, but I’m not one to be a stickler for glass in business class. It does all taste the same…

Since we had a lunchtime departure, that was the meal being served after takeoff. Here’s where I ended up being especially glad that I didn’t opt for a redeye in the end, where I would’ve gotten a snack at best, and probably would’ve turned it down to maximize sleep anyway. United had partnered with the Trotter project for their transcontinental flight menus, and that’s an indication to me that they’re at least trying. Given the mediocre to abysmal food on my flight back from Frankfurt, I was eager to see if United would do better this time. The menu certainly seemed promising! All the usual spirits were available, in addition to United’s new signature Moscow Mule. And at least on paper, the menu also looked much more appetizing than before. The only choice was of a main course, but an appetizer, salad, and the sundae dessert would all be served. Given that I’d be arriving in Boston too late to get anything for dinner, I was looking forward to eating a lot for this lunch!

Seeing as the flight time was due to be only 5 hours due to strong tailwinds, service started less than a half hour after takeoff. I kicked things off with my first moscow mule, since I was done with work for the day. It came with a side of salted almonds and cashews in an aluminum tin, and another one of those Olympic napkins that I kept as a bookmark for awhile. It was good to see the mule appear in a proper glass as well, complete with the lime wedge. The rest of the meal kicked off after that, and even now I think I’d still put it as one of my top 5 business class meals ever. 

The appetizer was a couple slices of cold duck with a dash of potato salad, and while I wish the duck had been warm and crispy this still tasted agreeable. The arugula, watermelon and feta salad was light and refreshing, and the accompanying bottle of olive oil was the perfect touch! Soon after these arrived I got to pick from the bread basket. Since I was heading to Germany I picked the pretzel bread, and when it’s fresh it’s my favorite even above garlic bread! The butter paired great with this one, and I especially appreciated that the butter wasn’t frozen solid like it sometimes is. 

Next was the main of steak, which I was both excited and curious about. Most business class travelers and especially bloggers love to bemoan the quality of steak on a plane, to which I’d say just avoid it if you’re picky about how it’s cooked. But with the right sauce the meat can be tasty and flavorful, and the right accompaniments can also do wonders for the dish. Today’s was a perfect example. It was cooked through, but not so badly that it was too chewy. It had some flavor on its own, and the chimichurri sauce really helped bring it all the way to life. What I really enjoyed about this one was the trio of sides: the beans, extra chimichurri sauce, and mashed sweet potatoes. I got to mix and match these with the steak, and it was a delicious combination that changed with every bite. Of course it would be great if the steak could be a juicy medium rare too, but this was nothing to complain about in my book. I paired it with whatever red wine was on offer, although I ended up switching back to mules for the rest of the flight.

Of course, at the time each of the three main US carriers offered ice cream sundaes as part of the dessert offering on and off. Since I’d missed the cart (or it wasn’t available, I can’t remember) on my flight out of Frankfurt, I was looking forward to trying it this time. It’s definitely the area where United seems to make the most effort with regard to their meal service. They roll out a cart with the vanilla ice cream already scooped out into individual cups on the bottom shelf. On the top are all the extra add-ons available. Today’s included whipped cream, strawberry sauce, chopped nuts, and both chocolate and caramel syrup. There were also small brownies and fruit on offer, but I didn’t feel like either of those. I ended up trying a bit of everything: both syrups, strawberries, and a candied cherry on top. I also got a cup of black coffee, but I ended up regretting that as I couldn’t sleep until nearly 3 a.m. that night and I don’t think I can blame it completely on the jetlag. The sundae cart was definitely a neat experience to have, and if I was a regular flyer I could see it being something I’d look forward to. I think it’s definitely helped US airlines still stay distinguishable and attractive to customers here, although I have no idea whether the sundae would be a selling point anywhere else. 

Since I was hoping to sleep once I got to my friend’s place, I spent most of the rest of the flight awake watching movies. The two I got through were the recently released Avengers: Civil War movie, and Thor: Ragnarok. I sipped at Moscow mules throughout these, and went through another three by the end of the flight. Even though high altitude usually lowers one’s alcohol tolerance, I haven’t personally found that to be the case. Perhaps part of it for me is that I don’t move around much and get booze flowing around my system, and also that I don’t use my brain much on these flights so I don’t notice any cognitive decline as much. Anyhow, I felt just fine when we landed at Boston and proceeded to take the T trains to my friend’s place near the Celtics’ stadium. 

So, what did I think of United’s premium service, and is it worth choosing over other domestic routes with a lower standard of service? I certainly thought it was, and the meal in particular was much better than I would’ve expected on any route besides these premium ones. You won’t see the sundae cart anywhere else within the US, at the very least. The guarantee of a lie flat seat, even after an aircraft swap, is also a very high selling reason that I can see for these flights. I always see a lot of passengers sleep through them, and I believe the flatness of the seats plays a big role in facilitating that. I’d absolutely pick them again for this route.

Most United elites out there have probably been disappointed by how hard it actually is to get into a United club. United’s own Star Alliance Gold elites don’t get access when flying domestically, and not even a domestic “first class” ticket will get you in. Rather, United encourages you to purchase a club membership to the tune of $450 a year in order to gain admittance. To my surprise, thousands of travelers find that cost worth it and purchase the membership. However, in order to have parity with their partners, United still allows Star Alliance Gold status holders with their other alliance airlines to access their club lounges. At the time I held Gold status with Singapore Airlines, so I was allowed in before my United flight to Boston. The check in agent actually rejected my business class boarding pass to Boston before I pulled out my membership card. I found it pretty funny that even the higher paying business class passengers are denied from these lounges on domestic trips.

Right at the entrance, there’s a beautiful ceiling fresco featuring some of the animals in various constellations. There’s a clock above it to tell the time, which is a nice touch. There are also a few model ships like the one above on display at the entrance, which were fun to look at on my first visit. That’s most of the decoration in the lounge, however.

Domestic United clubs tend to be pretty short on food options, and that was definitely the case here. There were apples, bananas and oranges on display, but nothing beyond that. There’s usually a vat of clam chowder and some sort of bread on display, but I didn’t get them pictured. They have a machine that makes coffee, including a very fluffy cappuccino. Since I was looking forward to having a hearty meal on the plane, I skipped the food here this time. But I’ve sprung for coffee and some fruit on other days when I was due to fly in Economy class. 

There’s all sorts of seating in the main areas of the lounge, from bar stools and countertops to couches with views of the apron and United’s domestic terminal. Even though it’s a hub lounge, I’ve never seen the seating fill up during the few times I’ve been here. 

One of the best parts of this lounge for extended stays however, is the presence of a cluster of workstations that’s separated by the rest of the lounge by a quiet corridor. It’s easy to miss at first, but because it’s so quiet and gets very little foot traffic, it’s easy to be incredibly productive here. I’ve had a couple really solid afternoons of work before boarding flights to other places. Honestly, the workspace reminds me more of UC Berkeley’s desks in their underground Main Stacks library. I guess I’ll take that bit of nostalgia as a bonus.

So, is the United Club worth a stop if you have access? I find it more comfortable than the terminal, and some seat is usually guaranteed, so I’ll usually enter if I have time. However, I wouldn’t arrive at the airport early for it unless I thought I’d be more productive here than anywhere else I might work that day. I’ve come here early for say, noon flights where it wasn’t worth the detour to the office for being able to see coworkers that morning. And one key to productivity is snagging one of these desks. It isn’t impossible to be productive without it, but it does get considerably harder for me. I also stop by here to give my electronics some extra charge, rather than scouring the terminal for a port. And if I’m willing to choke down a banana (I hate bananas), then I’ll also stop to pick up a couple of those. All in all, I wish they’d improve the food offerings here, but that’s really my only complaint about the lounge, as it’s solid overall.