Finding a return from Atlanta was not as clear-cut as choosing my American flight out. I could have flown American in coach on the nonstop using miles, but that was too late in the day. I also didn’t want to leave super early since… well, Atlanta. This was at the tail end of the most recent TSA funding disaster, so security lines had me nervous that I’d just have to go the night before and establish a primitive camp in the airport. So, I transferred some Chase points over to United, because for 15,000 points I could fly via Houston mid-morning, and that seemed like a good way to go.

All indications were that security lines weren’t too bad that morning since the president had recently decided to pay TSA workers directly, but would I trust that? I would. And I probably should have trusted it even more than I did.

After dropping off the rental car, I got to security an hour and a half before departure. That was about an hour more than I needed. There was no line. At all. Don’t believe me?

I have finally did the work to allow Touchless PreCheck on United, so I went through that line which was manned by a TSA agent. Some of the more basic ID checking was being done by a combination of TSA and ICE agents. At least, there were a lot of them milling around, so I think a couple of them may have been actually doing something productive… maybe.

I walked to the far end of the T gates where United has their nicely renovated banjo hanging off the end. I had no idea this even existed, but it is an open and airy space.

My United app kept me updated as I sat there trying to do a little work in the gate area. When it was time to board, I realized I was in group 3… and there weren’t a lot of people in any group on this flight. It was shockingly empty.

United 1012
March 31, 2026

This was on an A319 that United acquired during the pandemic, and it has the United Next interior onboard. You wouldn’t have been able to tell this airplane was 20+ years old, because it looked spectacular on the inside.

I was unwilling to pay for Economy Plus or Preferred Seating, so I trudged past empty row after empty row until I found my window at the back. There would be nobody else in my row on this flight. Oh, did I mention it was empty?

We pushed back just about on-time and had a short taxi to the runway for departure. We took off to the east and then circled around past downtown. Just as I was about to take a photo of the city, a thin layer of clouds got in between us. Drat.

I had started watching Roofman on the in-seat video while we were still on the ground, and my Beats headsets effortlessly connected to the bluetooth. I was, by the way, greeted by name on this flight.

Then, my row went dark. The system rebooted in my row only, and it took away precious minutes for me to try to finish this movie on the relatively short flight.

Annoyingly when it started back up again, it did not save my place in the movie. (It did, however, automatically reconnect to Bluetooth.)

The flight attendants came through with drinks and snacks as we cruised southwest toward Houston. There wasn’t much for them to do with so few people onboard.

When it was time to descend, I could see a layer of cumulus clouds down below which, thanks to the long approach from the west, we sat in for some time. Those things really have the ability to toss you around. Here was a short break with a view of… something.

The girls in the row behind me were so anxious about it that they clapped aggressively on landing. We taxied for about 7 hours to get from the northernmost runway all the way down to gate C36, but we were still at the gate 15 minutes early. I had time to kill, so once we got to the gate, I got off and went for a walk.

Oh sure, I could have just followed United’s very helpful app directions (and text message) guiding me to my connecting gate, but it’s not often I go to Houston.

So I figured I’d walk around. I went from C over to the E concourses further east, then I backtracked a bit and crossed over to D on the north side. There, I cruised by a checkpoint where ICE agents were standing around doing absolutely nothing. I really don’t understand why someone thought this was a good idea.

After cruising D, I walked further west to the other side of C and found my gate. This airport is so big, and it really does feel like they cobbled together these terminals in a random fashion. I did see the new gates being built west of the existing C though. I’m sure that’ll be nice and help bring United’s operation into a smaller footprint. (Do they leave B when that opens?)

Once I got to my gate, I took notice of the seating areas. They had a lot of different types of seating including comfortable chairs, workspaces, and more. You could also order food and have it delivered to you. I liked it a lot, but fortunately, my walk meant I didn’t have too much time to kill anyway.

Again I was in group 3 for this flight, and when they called me, I boarded with another relatively light load — though nowhere near as light as the first flight.

United 2460
March 31, 2026

This was on a B737-9 MAX with the United Next interior. You really don’t think about it, but that airplane is so long. I was again way in the back, and it felt like I had walked back to the D concourse by the time I got there.

I took my seat, and the middle stayed open. Good, good, we were off to a good start.

The pilots came on and were absolute rock stars on the PA. First, they said thanks to Sage and someone else who were two little kids who had visited the cockpit during boarding. I’m sure those girls will remember that forever. Then, they apologized and said it was just generally a bumpy day and the flight attendants would need to stay seated for awhile. That’s no fun.

We pushed back on time and taxied to the runway, and then we sat. According to the pilots, apparently the rampers did our weight and balance work but didn’t sign off on the paperwork. It was a shift change, so they had now gone home. The ops team was desperately trying to get a hold of them, so they could sign off on the paperwork. I appreciated the transparency, but also… what the hell?!? After a 20 minute-or-so delay, it was cleared up.

We got into the air and after being lightly battered by those cumulus clouds, we climbed up to altitude and hoped for the best. The pilots said we would go to 30,000 feet and see if the ride was ok. It started that way, and the flight attendants got up. It took quite some time for their service to get to my row since they started at the front. But that’s ok, because now I was watching Marty Supreme.

And then my row rebooted itself again. Once seems like a glitch. Twice on two different flights feels like something I’m doing is breaking the system. If anyone at United needs to test my Beats, just let me know and I’ll be happy to go fly somewhere exotic and help you out.

Once we got to West Texas, the seatbelt sign came on again and the flight attendants had to sit down. We were sitting in between cloud layers almost the entire way back to LA from West Texas as I saw our ground speed tick lower and lower as winds stiffened. It did smooth out for awhile, and the flight attendants came through with water refills for those who needed it before it was time to sit down again.

Once we got to California, the weather had really started to move in. We were sitting in a high overcast and the flight attendants were told to button up early. The bumps picked up significantly, and it felt pretty sporty there in the 10,000 to 20,000 foot range on descent. Then again, it could have just been because I was in the back of an absurdly-long B737. That tail can really swing back there.

It smoothed out once we got closer to the ground. We planted on the runway and had a short taxi back to Terminal 8. Even with the delayed departure due to weight-and-balance, we blocked in only one minute late.

Other than the weirdness around weight-and-balance paperwork and randomly-rebooting screens, this was a good experience. The United app really is so good, and it does overlay the entire experience. I’m not sure why others haven’t put as much into that effort. And those big screens were certainly nice to have on both airplanes. Service was friendly, bins were big… for coach this was all I could have asked for.