I’ve reviewed several United 737 flights in the past as they are everywhere. Today we’re riding on United’s 737 Max 8. These are among the newest in the fleet with the newest interior options. The 737 is United’s most common aircraft with more than 500 in service and they have a few hundred more Maxs on order. The 737 family of aircraft are a real workhorse for United. If you’d like to check them out:
United 737-700 First Class Review(Old Cabin)
United 737-800 Economy Review (Old Cabin)
United 737-900 Economy Review (Old Cabin)
United 737-900 Economy Review(New Cabin)
United 737 Max 9 Economy Review
I lived in Cleveland for a while, I also flew in and out of Cleveland a lot during that time, but it’s been several years since I’ve been to Cleveland Hopkins. In a previous time, CLE was a hub for United and Continental, unfortunately those days are gone. The good news is that CLE does still have more routes than other sized midwest cities, but it’s not nearly as well connected as it once was. United has several daily Orlando to Cleveland flights, and we’re riding on one today.
Bottom Line: United’s 737 Max 8 is nice enough for short flights, but in economy, the seats are a little tight. The in flight entertainment is modern and excellent. I just wish they would use a more comfortable seat with a little more space.
Orlando Airport Check-in
I do not like the Orlando Airport. Too crowded, poor layout, and generally just unpleasant. Nothing I can do but try to get through it all. We were dropped off curbside and headed to the bag drop.
We’re actually checking a bag today, a rarity for us, but we needed the space on this trip. Here at MCO, you can avoid the line if you check your bag in the app and then head to the curbside drop-off. This is a real time saver. Getting through TSA is usually a bit of a shit show here at MCO, but it wasn’t too bad today. Precheck is a real time saver but as usual, Clear had a longer line that Pre-check.
United 737 Max 8 Boarding
Our 737 Max was waiting at the gate to take us up to Cleveland. The Max can be distinguished by it’s different wiglets and chevrons on the engines. Little gloomy outside today.
Boarding was on-time. United boards by zones so it’s a pretty straightforward process, but this being Orlando, there’s a lot of infrequent flyers around.
We made our way onto the jet-bridge with our boarding zone. Could use a little bit of a window cleaning.
United 737 Max 8 Economy Cabin
The United 737 Max 8 has 96 economy seats arranged in a 3-3 configuration. The cabin itself is pretty nice visually, but like all 737s, feels a little narrow. The front 1/3rd of the economy cabin is Economy Plus seating with extra legroom. Behind the Exit Rows is regular economy.
The large overhead bins are great for storing lots of bags, they are very tall so a carry on bag fits sideways like a book on a book shelf. They only downside is they are somewhat low and obstructive when in the down position.
United 737 Max 8 Economy Seats
The leg room in the standard economy seats is adequate, but the seats themselves are a little short. To give more room, they shorten the base so there’s not much support under your butt and legs.
Val and I are really lucky today, there’s no one in the middle seat between us so we have an entire row to ourselves. Even small seats feel huge without a middle passenger.
Overhead is the standard modern Boeing panel. There’s a light and air vent for each passenger. The problem is these air vents just don’t put out a lot of air. I’m not one to usually get too hot, but I do like the older style better.
United 737 Max 8 In Seat Entertainment
One area that the United 737 really shines is the in seat entertainment. It’s very good. The screens are responsive and the selection of movies and shows is vast.
There’s even the option to use bluetooth to connect to your headphones. For some reason I always struggle to make this work. This time was no different, I ended up just plugging my Sonys in using the 3.5mm jack.
In each row there are 2 universal power ports that can be used to charge devices. There’s also a USB port on each monitor that can be used as well. United has done a good job with adding power to their planes.
United 737 Max 8 Departure and Takeoff
With all the passengers on board, the door was closed and the flight attendants gave their welcome announcements.
We pushed back from the gate right on time and then made our way to the runway as the safety video was shown on the in seat monitors. We’re sitting just behind the wing so these seats are a little loud.
After a quick taxi to the runway we tookoff into the cloudy sky. It’s not unusual this time of year for Orlando and central Florida to be grey and overcast.
We made our turn towards Ohio and I settled into my seat for this 2.5 hour flight.
United 737 Max 8 In Flight
I put on a Christmas movie and sat back to try and get some sleep.
We quickly climbed above the clouds and it was a beautiful day for flying, nice and smooth.
United 737 Max 8 Drinks and Snacks
On longer flights, United offers a buy on board program. They also offer complementary soft drinks and snacks.
United buy on board menu.
United drinks, complementary and for purchase.
I just had water to go with my Chocolate and Quinoa Crisp. I freaking love these things. Without a doubt, they are the best snack on any flight.
Outside it looks like the clouds below have cleared up. The seat-belt sign has been off for most of the flight, very smooth trip.
United 737 Max 8 Lavatory
United has 3 Lavatories on the 737-8. Two in the rear and one in the front. This is one in the rear. They are quite small, even the sinks are tiny and a little hard to wash hands in. It was clean enough but nothing spectacular.
I headed back to my seat. This flight is mostly full, maybe 10-15 empty seats in the economy section.
United 737 Max 8 Decent and Landing
With about 22 minutes left in the flight, the pilot came on and told us we’ve begun our decent into Cleveland. He then asked for the flight attendants to prepare for landing.
They came through and collected anything left over from the beverage and snack service, along with other trash.
Looks like it will be just a little cloudy here in Ohio when we land.
The seatbelt sign was turned on and the mood lights were set to blue as we approached CLE.
As is pretty typical with Cleveland, we overshot and passed over the lake before turning back towards the airport.
As we approached, we got a nice view of the lakefront.
We touched down into Cleveland just a few minutes early. Looks like the weather is going to be really nice, especially for this time of year.
United 737 Max 8 Final Thoughts
United has a ton of 737s flying around and the Max 8 is very representative of the experience for the most part. It’s not particularly exiting but it get’s the job done. United does a good job with the in seat entertainment and I love the chocolate snacks they provide. With that said, the seats are pretty tight and the bathrooms are very small.
I wouldn’t avoid riding with United on the 737 Max 8, but I certainly wouldn’t go out of my way to ride on it.