The final leg of our trip home is a United Airlines ERJ145 in Economy. A very boring review of an ERJ145 is not exactly what I was looking forward to when I planned this trip, but we don’t live in DC and I need to get home. United has a direct flight between IAD and GSP so that’s what were riding on tonight.
This is booked as a separate ticket from our KLM flight so I wanted plenty of time between flights. This is another un-protected connection and I didn’t want to have issues again. Because we had about 5 hours to kill, we went to the Udvar-Hazy museum to look at some planes. I’d highly recommend taking the bus over if you even have just 3 hours to kill. Udvar-Hazy is close, free, and awesome.
Anyway, let’s get into this ERJ-145 review.
In This Trip
1: European Vacation: Delta One 767-400 Business Class Flight Review DTW-LHR
2: European Vacation: ITA Airways Economy A320 Review LHR-LIN
3: Hotel Review: Moxy Milan Linate Airport
4: Hotel Review: Hotel Indigo Verona – Grand Hotel Des Arts
5: Hotel Review: Hilton Molino Stucky Venice
6: Hotel Review: Moxy Milan Malpensa(MXP) Airport
7: Finnair Review: Airbus A321 Europe Short Haul Economy Flight Review
8: Hotel Review: Hotel Indigo Helsinki Boulevard
9 : Flight Review: KLM 737-800 European Business Class HEL-AMS Report
10 :Flight Review: KLM A330-300 Business Class Amsterdam to Washington Dulles Report
11 :Flight Review: United Airlines ERJ145 Economy Washington Dulles to Greenville Report
11.1: IAD Airport United Express Boarding
11.2: United Express ERJ-145 Seats
11.3: United Express ERJ-145 In Flight
11.4: United ERJ145 GSP Arrival
11.5: United ERJ-145 Final Thoughts
IAD Airport United Express Boarding
After clearing security we headed to the Ax gates. This is where the bulk of the United Express flights leave from.
I’ve flown from and reviewed these gates before. There are lots of flights leaving from only a few gates, some gates are even handling more than one flight as there are no jet-bridges.
We soon boarded and went outside to find our plane. There are a series of outdoor hallways that lead to the various planes, there are plenty of people to help you find the way.
Here’s a great example of two planes leaving from the same gate at IAD. We’re the one on the left, the right is going somewhere else. There’s an agent at the door to check boarding passes to make sure we’re on the correct plane.
Our United Express ERJ-145 waiting to take us to GSP. We left our baggage plane side and boarded up the ramp. I do love when there’s no jet-bridge, all boarding should be done outside.
United Express ERJ-145 Seats
We found our seats on the right side of the plane. On the ERJ-145, the seats are arranged in a 2-1 configuration. The 2 seat side is great for people traveling together and the single seat side is perfect for solo travelers.
The leg room is fine, but this is a small regional jet, so don’t expect anything amazing.
No in seat entertainment. These planes don’t fly long routes and are pretty spartan.
We were soon all boarded up and ready to go. This isn’t a particularly full flight. Mostly seems to just be college students heading back home.
The Ax gates here at IAD are a United Express outpost so there are lots of ERJ-145s hanging out.
United Express ERJ-145 In Flight
We soon pushed back and we’re on the way to the runway. It’s late and we’ve been traveling for nearly 16 hours at this point. I’ve very tired and ready to be home.
Our ERJ-145 took-off and headed South to GSP.
There’s nothing particularly remarkable to say about a United ERJ-145. There was a beverage service offered, but we both declined. Again, just want to be home.
It was a somewhat clear night so got to see some nice little towns outside the window. Val took a nap as we continued our journey to GSP.
United ERJ145 GSP Arrival
And on the ground 75 minutes later here at GSP. Like I said, very boring flight.
And finally into the terminal here in Greenville.
United ERJ-145 Final Thoughts
Much like all 50 seat regional jets, the ERJ-145 is a means to and end. It’s not particularly comfortable or amazing, but it will get you home. I think I prefer the ERJ-145 to the CRJ200, but really that’s not a high bar to cross.
This whole trip was fun, but a little stressful, especially dealing with international restrictions and then being denied boarding. I’m glad to be home because we are just exhausted. All in, the ERJ145 does it’s job but don’t expect anything amazing.