This review is one of three I have planned for the day. The plan is to fly to Portland, retrieve some special cargo, then return to Houston after a few hours on the ground.
I arrived at the airport 15 minutes prior to boarding. After taking sometime to find parking (which is complimentary for veterans), I entered the airport nine minutes prior to boarding. This would have been a problem if I were checking a bag busy since I was not, I made my way to the security checkpoint.
I made it through security as boarding was beginning. After a secondary screening, I made it to gate E22 as group 3 was boarding.
I booked the following one way ticket for 38,000 United MileagePlus miles. It was not the best redemption, as some flights were as cheap as 20,000 miles, but the timing was ideal for this trip.
UA740
IAH – PDX
Takeoff: 0931
Landing: 1213 (-2 hours)
Economy Plus
Flight Time: 4hr 42min
November 25, 2025
I quickly joined the queue and was aboard the 737 MAX 8 within a few minutes. My seat, 20F, was an exit row, window seat on the left side of the plane. I paid $120 USD for the seat because I did not want to be stuck in 35B for nearly five hours. It also helped that the middle seat was open so there was additional room to stretch out.
Boarding was complete within 20 minutes. There was no hassle, no fuss, just everyone getting to their seats. The captain came on a few minutes later with the welcome announcement. He stated we would have a little over four hours in the air. We then pushed from the gate a few minutes ahead of schedule while the safety video was played.
We had a rolling takeoff, after a quick taxi, to the south. The climb out was smooth. With the vector to the northwest, I was able to get a shot of the airport. It was a beautiful day after the bad weather that passed through the area last night.
As I settled into the seat, I checked out the inflight entertainment monitor. It was approximately 10” wide.
The tray table was located just under the monitor. It could be folded down for passengers to use.
There was an old USB plug to charge devices on the bottom left of the monitor. There was a plug on the seat in front of me, to the left.
I was surprised to see the following on the monitor.
I was excited to see which “light snacks” would be served. Would it be biscoff cookies? Pretzels? Stroopwafel (I have not seen these in years on United Airlines)? Anyway, I feel this is a nice touch despite what the snack is.
I also found the next screen interesting as well. Passengers can select how they want to spend the flight. The options ranged from movies to programs for children.
On the bottom right of the screen was the Bluetooth icon. I opened it and tried to pair my AirPods.
It took me about 30 minutes of trying but I finally got them connected. I first disconnected the AirPods from my phone. When this did not work, I used the forget device feature and then paired the AirPods directly with the monitor.
At this time, the beverage and snack carts were rolled down the aisle. The snack options were pretzels, chocolate cookie and stroopwafels! OMG! This is how I knew it would be a great day. I was so excited that I asked for two.
The beverage cart has an assortment of drinks to offer including sodas, juices, water, coffee and liquor. I went with Tito’s and Sprite Cranberry.
I checked out the WiFi. It was priced at $8 USD for the entire. That is the best pricing I have seen for WiFi on an airplane. I did not purchase it, however, but used the free messaging for the entire flight while I watched Sinners.
The second round of drinks were served 90 minutes before landing, just as Sinners was ending. There was no snack cart this time.
Final Word
The flight was as boring and uneventful as one could home. We had a smooth touch down in Portland a few minutes past noon. Now, it’s time for me to rest in the lounge until my package is delivered.
