Quick Review: United A319 Domestic First Newark-Washington DC (Dulles)
- Konrad Tillman
- Jul 9
- 7 min read
Intro
Wait, huh? Weren’t you just in Providence? Yes, and I am heading straight back.
If you haven’t been following along, the past few days have consisted of taking a redeye on United to Boston, looking after my niece, and eventually driving down to New York. However, the night before this flight, my sister had asked me to come back to Providence after I had driven to New York to pick up my niece from school. Needing to be there by 1 pm, I decided to fly right back on United, but not before first flying to Washington 😂.
It doesn’t make sense to me, even in the slightest 🤦♂️
Route- Newark-Washington DC (IAD)
Flight Number- UA1228
Seat- 3F
Aircraft- Boeing 737 MAX 9
Date- September 16th, 2024
Flight Time- 1 Hours and 9 Minutes
Price Paid- 352 USD (2 legs)
How I Booked
Ordinarily, there are many ways to get from New York City to Washington. You have the train, which takes a few hours from downtown, the bus, which is cheaper and less efficient, and of course, a plane.
Seeing as I wanted to hit 1K, and I had to cancel my flight on United back to Los Angeles that day, I decided to book a fare for 352 USD from Newark-Washington DC-Providence. The first leg to DC was in Domestic First, while the flight to PVD was in economy.
Cheap? No. However, all economy fares were 311 USD at the time, and on a Monday morning on an A319, there was no shot of an upgrade happening…
Check-In
Sleeping a grand total of 2 hours, the phone rang for the wake-up call, and I contemplated whether what I was doing was worth it. I quickly grabbed a shower and headed off to Newark from Midtown around 3 am. Ooof, I felt like a truck had run me over, backed up, run me over again, then dumped all of its stuff on top of me 😂, and then lit me on fire.
Hey, at least I treated myself to a beautiful Suburban… It’s about the smaller things in life…
Thankfully, there was no traffic, and by 3:45 am, I had arrived at Terminal A. While United uses both Terminal A and C, today’s flight would be departing A gates, which actually is more modern and efficient, just a pain in the arse to transit to from C.
There was no line for Premier Access Check-in this morning (due to status and ticket), and within minutes I was through TSA Precheck and off to get some brekkie.
Around Terminal A
For those thinking, “Why don’t you go to the lounge?” There are just two issues with that here 😅.
United Club access is only for those ticketed into “Business Class,” not “Domestic First”. Aka, this means those flying internationally, not domestically. Additionally, you can get in via the Club Card, but I am too broke to pay the annual fee 😉.
The United Club is not open at 4 am; depending on location, it can be either 5 am or 5:30 am, which is when boarding is.
Nonetheless, I spent the next hour and a half grabbing an Ess-a Bagel (not as good as NYC), and wondering whether I was going to fall asleep sitting upright in the back corner of Newark. It’s moments like this that you hate at the time, but look back on with a smile.
Terminal A is not a bad place to kill some time if you end up here. Plenty of restaurants, cafes, and a nice United Club!
Boarding
With a scheduled departure time of smack on the dot 6:00 am, I made my way over to Gate A27 around 5:25 am to see that Group 2 was already boarding. United boards by groups, with preboarding, Group 1 (First Class passengers and *A gold), followed by Group 2, and then the rest.
By the time I got onboard, there was already a bit of backlog to get on this baby bus. Welcome to flying in the United States… Even Tripoli is more efficient 😅.
The friendly FA welcomed passengers onboard with a gracious smile, and offered us a wet wipe (an insult in UK slang for those who don’t know, ha).
The Seat/Cabin
Settling into my Domestic First Class seat, feeling like the Queen of Shiva, I figured that this is actually the first time I had been on a United A319.
The Domestic First Class Cabin is laid out across 3 rows in a 2-2 configuration, totalling 12 seats. Minus the express line, this is the least amount of FC seats you will find on a United jet.
While our Ex-China Southern plane had different cabins, United decided to install a partial variant of their “Next-Gen” renovations on their A319s. Seats do not feature an IFE screen, but other than that, you can find the same concept as their 737s that have been renovated. The only difference is that the table is located next to your seatmate, instead of the other side.
Overall, a pretty quiet and intimate cabin with good legroom.
Departure
A couple of minutes after settling into my seat, the same flight attendant came around offering a pre-departure beverage with options including juice or water. I kindly asked if there was any way I could get a mimosa, as I was dead tired, and she looked at me for a couple of seconds, and said “alright” with a cheeky little smile.
We both sort of laughed after 😅
A few moments later, she came back with my delicious mimosa. UA flight attendants are the best, I remember this one from ORD-EWR not too long ago that did the same, even though they aren’t supposed to…
Boarding was wrapped up on time, at which point the captain came on, saying “welcome to the friendly skies”, and that he expected a wheels-up to wheels-down time of 51 minutes.
A few minutes early, we pushed back and made our way on the short taxi out to runway 4L for this morning's departure.
As we rocketed out of Newark on time (a rarity these days), there were some of the most spectacular views I have ever seen in my 23 years of flying. Our plane was like a silent sentinel glistening through the abyss. Wow..
The Flight
Honestly, such a short flight is uneventful in itself. Once airborne, and you pass 10,000 feet, it’s no more than 20 minutes before you descend into DC.
While there were no amenities (I mean, if someone complains about not having a Polaris amenity kit on a 45-minute flight, we might need to rethink the world as a whole), wifi was offered for 8$ for MileagePlus members, and 10$ for non-MileagePlus members (IFE available online for free). Considering it’s such a short flight, there was no need for that.
What there was a need for, was to keep my eyes glued to the window. It was honestly the most perfect view for the morning. With the sun slowly rising, a mimosa in hand, you couldn’t pull me away if you tried.
Expert tip: If you take this flight during the summer at the time, choose seat 3F for the best views!
In terms of service, we were offered our choice of drink, in which I chose a mimosa. Nothing else.
Side note: I didn’t check out the lavatory on this flight, but there is 1 lavatory for 12 passengers, which is a pretty good ratio.
Arrival
No more than 25 minutes after takeoff, with the sun becoming more yellow, the captain announced our descent down into IAD. It had been a pleasant flight, actually, and while I was sleep deprived, the mimosa was the perfect cure.
We ended up touching down 25 minutes early (wow), after a very short flight time of 43 minutes.
From there, we had a short taxi over to C25, and we pulled into our gate 18 minutes early. Talk about efficiency: gate to gate in 1 hour and 9 minutes.
Time to run, I’ve gotta pick up my niece!
Final Thoughts
Flying United Airlines was an absolute treat on their A319 from New York to Washington Dulles. Let’s be honest, though, Domestic First Class certainly isn’t worth paying much more for on a route of this length, but for 40$ more, I got a Premier Check-In, extremely friendly crew, a PDB, beautiful views, and a mid-sky mimosa. Worth it? In my eyes, yes.
With so many options from DC-NY, United is certainly a good option. Is it the best? Depends on where you live and where you are going. If you live in Queens and are going to downtown DC, I’d probably recommend flying out of LGA to DCA, but it’s all up to you.
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