Many of you will look at this post, and likely ask: where the hell is Quincy, and why was Jeremy there?? To answer the first part, Quincy is a city of about 40,000 people known as “Gem City” and is situated on the western edge of Illinois along the Mississippi River. It was built as a thriving transportation hub for not only rail, but also as a major launching point for riverboats. Today, it is home to many historic sites including an incredibly quaint downtown with some excellent midwestern architecture. As an answer for the second part, the city served as an awesome backdrop for our quarterly Board of Directors Meeting of AIA Illinois - where we met in the Governor John Wood Mansion. As an aside, get out and explore Illinois! This role has led me to nearly every corner of the state, and let me tell you, there is some great stuff out there! Quincy Regional Airport serves a large catchment area of the western edge of the state through the Essential Air Services act - of which United was the contract holder at the time of this flight. They flew twice daily with a Bombardier CRJ-200, a smaller version of what I flew on Delta from Toronto to New York. This route provides vital connection of passengers to Chicago - O’Hare International Airport and beyond. As you'll find later in this piece, Quincy's airport is an architectural gem as well!
Booking While the initial plan for this meeting had the Board taking Amtrak to and from Chicagoland, I had a conflict in that I needed to be in Nashville the evening of our departure to catch a Chicago Blackhawks game with my dad and our friends. Thus, out of curiosity for this flight and airport, and sheer convenience, I landed on United. It worked perfectly as well as I was able to book my dad and friends on the Chicago to Nashville leg where I’d meet them on the aircraft. Interestingly, my two leg itinerary came in less than their single leg, as such, I booked directly at www.united.com paying $138 for the full itinerary, the math working out to $68 for this particular flight. I utilized my Chase Sapphire Reserve, thus earning 3x points per dollar for a total of 414 Ultimate Rewards Points. I also earned 565 MileagePlus Miles with United. Ground Experience I’m going to come right out and confess it, since many will ask what I was thinking - this was my first time at a regional airport. Being from Chicago, I’m used to flying into larger airports on mainline jets, so I rather naively arrived over an hour before my flight, in part because Lyft service was so sporadic in Quincy and in part because I wasn’t sure what to expect. When the driver pulled up, I remarked at how interesting the building was, but also felt like I was pulling up to a hotel more than an airport. Once inside, I was immediately drawn to how interesting the space was - it is on our AIA Illinois 200 Great Places List afterall. Designed by architect John Benya, and opened in 1972, the airport was described as a tribute to space-age and jet-age travel with its intersecting circular forms and material use of green masonry, bronze, precast concrete and glass. It was honestly such a cool space and felt like stepping back into a different era - with the exception of the TSA and baggage screening equipment that had encroached on much of the space. I had plenty of time to explore the space, check out the sole cafe and use the bathroom as the United desk and TSA Checkpoint didn’t open until what seemed like moments before departure. As soon as the desk did open, a single agent was ready and excited to help in printing my boarding pass - she was incredibly friendly and clearly took pride in her job. Minutes later, it was announced that TSA was open for our flight. I made my way over to some incredibly friendly agents who excitedly blurted out “we’ve got a PreCheck!” However, as soon as my pass was scanned, I was informed that I’d been selected for secondary screening, so as soon as I passed through the standard process with my PreCheck Paper, an agent gleefully wheeled out the explosives cart to test me - all of the agents joined in. In a matter of minutes we were done, I had a cool TSA Badge sticker for my collection, and I was into the single gate boarding area. Boarding The Gate, or Boarding Area as the area after security was called, at Quincy Regional Airport is quite small - a room with typical airport style seating and a boarding kiosk. Once through, I realized how light the load would be on this flight as there were about 5 of us in the boarding area as I watched our aircraft land on the runway just beyond the windows. Moments later, the same United agent came into the boarding area from the ramp to let us know that our aircraft had arrived and we’d be boarding momentarily. She then went back outside to push the airstairs up as the CRJ-200 finished its taxi. To my surprise, the inbound flight was quite full with passengers and baggage. Once everyone was off the agent came back inside and announced a boarding call for United 5121 to Chicago over the PA - quite funny given we were all just feet away. From there, she welcomed PreBoard Passengers, United Global Services Guests and Premier 1K Members - as all five of us stared at her. She then invited any active duty military in uniform - as all five of us now looked around at each other. After a brief pause, she called for Premier Platinum, Premier Gold and Star Alliance Gold Passengers. Then Boarding Group 2 for Premier Silver and Priority boarding - as we all again looked around. Following another brief pause, Boarding Group 3 was welcomed aboard - at which point one gentleman in Economy Plus boarded and the rest of us stared at each other once again. Finally, the agent called for Boarding Group 4 where all of us stood up and were warmly thanked for choosing United and shown the door for our quick walk across the apron and up the stairs into the waiting aircraft. A friendly flight attendant checked our passes and directed us to our seats. If you were laughing at all in the description above, you’re not alone… It was absolutely hilarious in person, and I truly felt as though I was sitting in a real life SNL sketch! Don’t get me wrong, I love the commitment to systems, but in a world where only five passengers are in the entire airport, it seemed a little unnecessary, let alone comical. Seat & Cabin Our Bombardier CRJ-200 was arranged in a typical 2-2 all Economy layout. With the exception of one row of Economy Plus at the front of the cabin, all seats featured 31” of pitch and about 17” of width - a little different than on Delta's larger CRJ-900. I will say though, that this plane was tight: I’m short and I barely fit my head in the window seat and I also had a hard time fitting my duffel in the overhead bin - regular roll aboard carry ons will have to be gate checked. The cabin was also quite dated, but comfortable nonetheless. Food & Beverage Given the duration of this flight, I didn’t expect any food or beverage service beyond water to be present; however, our flight attendant made her way through the cabin taking full drink orders and served each passenger a bag of pretzels! This was more than sufficient for our less than 45 minutes in the air! Amenities & Service There were virtually no amenities on this flight, as is the case on most regional aircraft, beyond the inflight magazine. WiFi was not available, and as such personal device entertainment was not on offer, although I believe United has now updated the fleet to present these offerings. While this flight was relatively routine, the service really was excellent. While comical at times on the ground, TSA and the United agent were pleasant and cheerful and once onboard the aircraft, the pilots were warm and welcoming, but here’s the real kicker: the flight attendant greeted us all by name when taking drink orders. Yes, for real! Now granted, there were only five of us onboard, but this was truly an extra step that made this flight memorable - major kudos to her here. Arrival We had a long line up for our descent into Chicago, which was enlivened by the flurry of twinkle lights and holiday decorations as viewed from above. We were on the ground and at the gate 30 minutes early. Unfortunately, that’s where the good news ends: I was prepared to meet my dad and board our flight to Nashville, but instead turned off airplane mode to a message from my mom that my ill grandfather had taken a turn and the end was near. Once off the plane, I made a beeline to the nearest United agent to explain what was going on and ask what to do for the flights - I didn’t want them holding and waiting for us, or thinking I’d booked a connecting flight for the lower fare and flagging my account. Instead of advice, or a solution, I was met with the following question from the agent: “Well, do you have a death certificate yet?” I almost burst immediately into tears and moved on to another agent who was equally unhelpful, but at least explained all of the fees for both mine and my dad’s cancellation. Quite a difference from the Southwest Agent who asked if she could give me a hug after seeing how anxious I’d gotten while trying to get home to a new job amid a snowstorm, but I suppose I should’ve known not to expect Southwest heart from good ole United. Ultimately, I called United Customer service to get a credit for my dad's flight and opted to "walk" from my ticket. Final Thoughts Ultimately, this was a pleasant flight - I landed early, saved a ton of time over Amtrak, and had friendly service in Quincy and onboard. However, the experience I had on the ground at O’Hare and the complete lack of compassion or care was enough to permanently turn me off to United. While I still prefer them over American, I turn to them only if absolutely necessary - quite a contradiction to Ian’s fanboy status as shared on his recent United Economy Plus Review! Normally, I would use this last line to say whether or not I’d recommend this flight, but United no longer flies this route - it was recently replaced with Cape Air and their new Tecnam Traveller aircraft! I hope to fly the route with Cape Air and report back, but I’d also like to plug how enjoyable Amtrak was: it was clean, quiet, and -almost- on time. Factor in the lower cost, and it’s the clear winner here. 
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