After a couple weeks of flying primarily on Oneworld carriers, we’re on a Star Alliance one to start the week.
United Airlines has been a feature in Auckland, New Zealand, since the 1980s, with the airline deploying the 747-100, 747-200 (both via Honolulu), 747-400, 777-200ER, and the 787-9 from San Francisco, along with the 787-9 from Los Angeles for a brief period of time. Currently, United flies its most common 777 variant to the Land of the Silver Fern during the Northern Winter season, when traffic between the U.S. and New Zealand is at its peak, and the 787-9 in the Northern Summer. With the route set to switch over to the Dreamliner in the next month or so, we jumped at the chance to grab a flight to Auckland on the Bigfoot.
Server: Solo
Airline: United Airlines
Aircraft: Boeing 777-200ER
Origin: San Francisco International Airport, San Francisco, California (SFO)
Destination: Auckland Airport, Māngere, New Zealand (AKL)
Flight Number: UA917
Route: KSFO-NZAA
Seat: 7L (Polaris)
Time En Route: 12 Hours 13 Minutes
Walking to the boarding area for Gate G10. Our aircraft tonight is a Pratt and Whitney PW4000-engined 777-222ER, delivered to United in December 1997. She’s been with UA her entire career, flying long-haul routes to Europe and Asia, with the occasional Hawaiian or South American turn.
Taxiing by the E Gates on our way to the runway. United’s flights to Australia and New Zealand are some of the latest departures for the airline at SFO, and ours is no exception. We’ll be getting airborne at almost 11 tonight for a roughly 12 and a half-hour journey to Auckland. Our seat on this aircraft is fairly typical for Polaris on United’s 777-200ERs, being modern but not cutting-edge. Nevertheless, it should be more than suitable for our flight.
Takeoff from Runway 28L as the big PWs make their distinctive growling sound. In the far distance is Oakland San Francisco Bay Airport, with the lights of what’s probably a FedEx 767F or 777F on final approach. The Bay Area is some of the most congested airspace in the world, and it’s a small miracle that OAK, SFO, and SJC keep commercial traffic from conflicting, to say nothing of all the general aviation and corporate aircraft.
Climbing away from the California coast. The engines are throttled back to climb thrust, and the deep growl that permeated the cabin is a dull hum. We have our seat reclined and are ready to enjoy our post-takeoff snack. Due to how late we departed, we had dinner at the airport, so we will not be sampling the dinner menu on this flight.
About an hour out of San Fran, it’s time to get some sleep. We were provided with a comfortable-looking Saks Fifth Avenue pillow and blanket to keep us warm as we cruise over the Pacific. Seems to us it should be a smooth, uneventful flight that we’ll pass a lot of asleep.
Waking up somewhere south of the Equator, still a few hours out from Auckland. The pillow, blanket, and bedding turned out to be as good as they looked, providing us with excellent, uninterrupted sleep. These late-night departures are usually the best for getting sleep, since not only are we usually tired, but so is everyone else, which means cabin noise from anything besides the engines, seatbelt signs, and announcements from the flight deck is kept to a minimum.
Coming over Waiheke Island in our final descent. The island is a popular vacation destination known for its beaches and wineries, and is going to be a place we’re visiting the next time we’re in New Zealand. It’s somewhat for Auckland what Catalina Island is for Los Angeles and like Catalina, it has a small general aviation airport, although it’s not as well-furnished as AVX.
Morning arrival in Auckland. It’s a beautiful day here on the North Island and we’re glad to be back.
Because we arrived about 20 minutes ahead of schedule, we had to wait on the taxiway for a few moments for our gate to be available. Now we’re finally taxiing by the International Terminal to our gate. The taxiway wasn’t exactly boring, though, since our window is facing the runway, allowing us to see a solid 10 minutes or so of arrivals and departures.
Off the airplane at Gate 15 for a 2-day stay in Auckland. United’s 777-200ER business product, while not a world-beater, is still a decently solid product. The seat and amenities are very good, the service is above average, but the breakfast we had on this flight was somewhat lackluster given the price point of Polaris. However, it remains a solid option overall and we’ll likely be back in it before too long.
also really good photos