Today I’m riding with United on their ERJ170 in economy up to Newark. I don’t fly the friendly skies too frequently, United’s route map just doesn’t fit my schedule very often. Today, since I’m going to New Jersey, United is the perfect choice as they cover GSP-EWR direct several times per day. It’s been a while since I’ve ridden on the United ERJ175(Review Here) but it’s been more than a year and the ERJ170 is slightly different than the 175 so I figured I’d do an update.
Bottom Line: The Untied ERJ170 is just like the ERJ175, but just a little worse. The United ERJ170 was a pleasant trip but the plane was surprisingly dirty. I like the leg room and the 2-2 seating on the ERJ170, but I was a little let down by the lack of in seat power. I’m not going to turn down a direct flight so at the end of the day I’d ride this again without question.
United ERJ170 Boarding at GSP
I arrived at GSP about 50 minutes before my departure, with Precheck I was through security in about 5 minutes. GSP does have Clear, but reciently I find Precheck faster than Clear.
The United ERJ170 was waiting at the gate to take us up to EWR. This is the first flight of the day for this aircraft.
It was soon time to board. United boards by zones starting with Group 1 for First Class and status holders and ending with Group 6 for basic economy passengers. I was in group 3.
United ERJ170 Economy Cabin
The United ERJ170 has 64 seats in the economy cabin but 16 of those are Economy Plus seats with a little extra leg room. For United, the easy way to tell the difference between the ERJ170 vs ERJ175 is the number of first class seats. The 170 has 6 first class seats, the 175 has 12.
The best part of the ERJ170 series is the 2-2 seating. There are no middle seats on the ERJ170 and unlike the ERJ145 or CRJ200, the cabin is a decent size and is even what I would call comforatble.
I found my seat on the right hand side just over the wing. The ERJ170 doesn’t have overwing exit rows so every economy seat is pretty much the same.
United ERJ170 Economy Seat Review
The United ERJ170 doesn’t have in seat entertainement, but there is wifi available along with stream to your own device options. The Erj175 has decent sized overhead bins. Not huge, but large enough that a legal carry on will fit when turned lengthwise so the wheel or handled are sideways.
This particular United Erj175 is starting to show it’s age. But honestly it’s pretty dirty. At least I have the seat next to me open.
I’m not expecting Singapore levels of cleanliness, but there’s little bits of trash and crumbs all over the place. Not just in the crevices, on the seats and floor too.
But the crevisis are also pretty full of trash and crumbs.
This plane really needs a good cleaning, or even just a light vaccuming. The seats are at least comfortable. Leg room here is better than a lot of mainline aircraft, even with the ERJ175 being considered a regional jet.
United ERJ170 Departure and Takeoff
The door was shut and the flight attendants gave their safety briefing. The good news is that we’re about 10 minutes early here pushing back from the gate.
We pushed back from the gate. Pilots added their briefing telling us that it should be just about 1:40 minutes in flight. Forecast to be a nice smooth flight and that in Newark it should be a somewhat balmy 60 degrees. Not bad for November.
This isn’t a particularly full flight, about 75% by my estimate. As always, flights to and from GSP are so chatty. We headed towards the runway. Looks like we’ll be taking off towards the southwest today.
We took off and made a big sweeping turn to the left as we pointed the nose towards Newark.
We passed through a few layers of clouds and got a few bumps, but nothing alarming. The seatbelt sign was left on though.
United ERJ170 Wifi and Streaming Entertainement
I signed into the wifi, it’s free for T-Mobile users. The WiFi on this plane is pretty slow, I’m able to stream so music, but I can’t even get a speed reading from fast.com
There’s also free streaming of on demand shows and movies. I didn’t bother with streaming anything, this flight isn’t that long and I always have a few podcasts downloaded to listen too. I was able to surf around online, albeit very slowly.
United ERJ170 Economy Drink and Snack Service
The flight attendants began their drink and snack service. In economy soft drinks, coffee, tea, and water are included.
United still has an inflight magazine. In here there is an old school fold out route map along with the service menu.
I just had a water along with the Chocolate Quinoa Crisp. It’s an early morning flight and I’m boring.
These chocolate quinoa crisps are super good but they are pretty damn small. I always want like 5 of them.
The seatbelt sign was also turned off and the pilots told us it would be a pretty smooth flight from now on. We’re above the clouds now and it’s a very nice Tuesday morning for flying.
The cabin was quiet and the flight attendant then came through and collected the garbage from the drink service. We have just over 35 minutes left in flight.
United ERJ170 Lavatory Review
There are two lavatories on the United Erj 175. One front and one rear. I used the one in the back, it’s quite large for a small plane. Better than many mainline planes(looking at you 737).
United ERJ170 Landing in EWR
With about 25 minutes left in the flight, the seatbelt sign was turned back on and I could feel us start to desend. We did get a few more bumps as we crossed some cloud layers.
The pilots came on and gave their final thank you. Told us we’re about 140 miles from the airport and that there would be a little bit of light turbulence as we approached Newark.
One last pass from the flight attendants to collect any trash leftover and then they made their pre-landing announcement.
Just a few minutes later we landed in New Jersey.
We did have to wait for a minute or two to park at the gate, we’ve landed about 15 minutes early. But we were at the gate just a few minutes later and still early according to our schedule.
United ERJ170 Final Thoughts
I love a direct flight. This United GSP-EWR route is pretty great for when I need to work in New Jersey. The ERJ170 is a comfortable aircraft, but this particular one does need a little bit of cleaning. The ERJ170 and 175 are a great ride on these shorter routes. They have overhead bins that will fit a legal carry on, the seats are comfortable, and the 2-2 seating is great as there are no middle seats. I don’t like the lack of USB or 110v Power to charge devices.
I don’t ride on United very frequently, mostly because their route map doesn’t fit my needs very well, but every time I fly the friendly sky I’m very pleased with the experience. On time and good service, what more could I want.