Once I secured my precious cargo, it was time for us to make the journey back to Texas for Thanksgiving. The one way from Portland to Houston will consist of two segments: PDX-SFO-IAH.
The outbound segment to Portland was in Economy, while our return segments will be in First Class. I booked the flights for 84,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points, approximately $1500 USD if paid in cash.
UA2615
PDX – SFO
Takeoff: 1938
Landing: 2126
First Class
Flight Time: 1hr 51min
November 25, 2025
I assigned Nicholas and I seats 1A/1B on the left side of the aircraft. The bulkhead seats are my preferred seats on any aircraft. There is a bit more room at the bulkheads than any other seat in Economy or First Class. Since he was little, Nicholas always prefers the window seat.
The hard enclosure around the headrest and the mini-divider between the seats are some things I had not seen on a United flight. These additions may be older because I have not flown them in some time.
The approximately 15” monitor was mounted to the bulkhead while the remote was attached to the center armrest.
Right next to the inflight entertainment remote was a universal plug and USB-C port.
The last thing that stood out about the divider between the seats was the massive drink tray. It could pass as a tray table on some other airplanes.
Speaking of tray tables, it could be found in the outboard armrest. Passengers can use it halved or whole.
Boarding was efficient, much like the first flight. I found it strange that the flight attendants did not offer predeparture drinks even though there were three of them standing in the forward galley.
The captain made the welcome announcement and informed of chop during climb out so the flight attendants will be sitting most of the flight. The safety video was played and we began our pushback five minutes early.
The choppy air lasted 45 minutes. At this point we were about to start our descent. The flight attendant came through the first class cabin to take drink orders. I asked for Tito’s and Sprite, it was served in a proper glass.
The snack basket with the same offerings as my previous flight was brought around. I grabbed two more Stroopwafels.
The flight attendant working the first class cabin hustled for the 20 minutes where she was able to provide service. Drink orders, snacks, refills then Nicholas wakes up and she gets him a drink and a snack. Wow! Such a fantastic job.
Final Word
The 90 minute flight to San Francisco was sketchy for the first half due to the turbulence but once that settled down, everything was fine. Again, I would like to shout out the flight attendant working the first class cabin. She could have phoned it in and prepped for landing. Instead she chose to take care of us and it was greatly appreciated. Thank you ma’am.
