If you recall from my report about EY9 recently, our flight arrived early in the morning (roughly 7:30). Our layover in Chicago was about 7 1/2 hours which was just enough time to catch an early train 
into the city for some breakfast 
, go see “the bean”, visit the observation deck at Willis Tower, and a little bit of shopping 
. I will definitely be back here for a more lengthy trip in the future but for now, that day will sufice. The baggage service office personnel at United were so kinda as to let me keep my suitcase there while I was gone so I didn’t have to haul it across the city.
Flight Information
Airline: United Airlines (UAL)
Aircraft: Boeing 737-724
Registration: N24706
Aircraft Age: 27.8 years (1998 built)
Depature Airport: Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD/KORD)
Departure Gate: E3 (Terminal 2 (E Concourse))
Departure Runway: 28R
Seat: 11F Economy
Arrival Airport: Jackson Hole Airport (JAC/KJAC)
Arrival Gate: 9
Arrival Runway: 19
Flight Time: 3hrs 14mins
Altitude: FL380 (38,000 ft)
Speed: Mach 0.78
Overall Rating: 8/10
. Once I got back at 1:00pm, check-in went quick as I was able to beat the rush of European bound passengers and TSA went just as smooth! Although our flight was departing from E concourse in terminal 2, I got through in T1 for an opprotunity to see Ernestine the Brachiosaurus 
which has been an icon in United’s terminal since the late 1990s! I also went over to c concourse to see the rainbow tunnel 
and get a few pictures of heavies before heading over to our gate!
Upon getting there, our beautiful 
737-700 was pulling in from Raleigh-Durham. This 1998 built -700 was originally delivered to Continental without split-schimitars and transferred to United during the 2010 merger. This aircraft, of which United has 40, are the workhorses for their hubs are ORD, IAH, EWR, and IAD, flying a mix of heavy demand domestic routes and international routes across the caribbeean, Mexico 
, Central America and South America. Included in this is Jackson which sees the type from all 
hubs mentioned above.
Boarding started promptly at 3:20 and despite the flight being 100% full, we pushed back right on time at 3:52. But here comes the bad news – because it’s O’hare, we taxiied for 25 minutes and departed late at 4:25 
. As is another normal practice at ORD, aircraft on 28R takeoff midfield to leave space for 28C and 28L arrivals to cross without disruping the flow of departures. For our domestic flight it was no issue and we rotated with about 3,000ft to spare. I counted multiple heavies using what seemed like every inch of runway to depart from midfield 
.
The -700 is United’s smallest active variant of the 737 family, and is configured with 126 seats across 12 first class, 36 economy plus and 78 economy 
. Our seat had the usual - a universal power outlet, directTV that is beyond old , 30" inches of pitch 
and 2" of recline, and wifi which was discounted for myself and all other Mileage plus members.
I had to get some emails done for school and apply to jobs which led me to purchase the wifi. It was nothing special but was also pretty quick given the age of the airplane.
The climb 
out of Chicago 
was nothing very special given how absolutely flat the mid-west is; corn fields 
are only so interesting until they aren’t. One thing that was very annoying and I blame only the aircrafts’ age is a that all the announcements 
were static’y and very loud. It was annoying at first but I got used to it after a bit. I got settled and turned on BBC on the ancient TV 
but ultimately just listed to spotify and worked on my ski resort in mincraft 
.
We reached our cruising altitude over Dubuque Iowa; the 11th biggest city in the state, and soon the F/As came through with their first of 2 drink services and food. I went for mango 
pineapple 
AHA , 2 stroopwaffles beause they are delicious, and a “takeoff” snack box which is part of United’s onboard bistro menu which cost $10. It was quite filling and include salami, crostini’s, gouda cheese 
spread, flatbread crackers, fig spread, cashews, and a hazelnut wafer 
! Up in first class, full dinners were served, and the smells coming from up there were immaculate!
The sun set 
about 2 hours into the flight as we flew over Rapid City, SD which is home to the black hills and Mt. Rushmore! Not too long after this (roughly over Gillete Wy), the second service started which was water 
, juice 
or coffee 
and United’s complimentary snacks - I went with an OJ, 2 more stroopwaffles and a mixed bag of chips and pretzels 
. By this point the exaustion from traveling for nearly 48 hours had caught up to me 
Got a decent 40 minute nap in, and woke up as we were flying over Jackson Lake 
on approach for the ILS. Over the years, I have seen this view probably 200 times and I will never get bored of it .
As is expected with Jackson given the short runway and high elevation, the landing was horrific 
followed by the brakes getting slammed on. We survived though 
and it was a short taxi past the new FBO to gate 9 at the terminal.
The night we got home was the night that United started their new winter schedule with 4 night arrivals (the others being SFO, DEN and EWR), which was accompanied by Delta’s E175 from Salt Lake City. Once we deplaned, it was pretty quick to get my bags, and… my parents were awaiting my arrival with Lilly and Yoda 
which put a massive grin on my face 
!
