United: ORD-AUA

My United flight leaving Chicago O’Hare (ORD) was scheduled to depart around 9 a.m. I had just flown in from Newark (EWR) and had about an hour to grab breakfast. The terminal was relatively crowded with Saturday-morning travelers and my small gate unfortunately didn’t offer any empty seats. I grabbed a spot on the floor with quite a few others and dug into my fast food breakfast and Diet Coke.

The United ground staff was friendly during boarding and we were loaded up, on the runway and in the air quickly and efficiently. I was pleased the flight ended up with a few empty seats, one of which was next to me. I was more than happy to stretch out after an early start to my travel day.

My largest complaint, which possibly seems ridiculous to some, was the aircraft type. I’m simply not a fan of the Boeing 737’s overall noise level. After flying from Newark to Chicago on a much quieter Airbus, it was a jarring difference. However, it looks as if this is the only aircraft type used on United’s routes to Aruba. Once at cruising altitude, I was able to ignore the noise slightly, but I still wasn’t able to drown it out completely with my earbuds.

Lunch service was quick and painless. Since it was still relatively early in the morning, I skipped lunch, but gladly took one of my favorite in-flight snacks for later, a Stroopwafel. I nursed a vodka and Sprite for most of the four-hour flight, while watching a few episodes of True Blood, my go-to in-flight entertainment.

The landing in Aruba offered some pretty scenery and was smooth. The small airport (AUA) was definitely not the best I’d ever seen, but the immigration process was quick and a taxi was ready and waiting to whisk us away.