We recently flew to Grand Rapids for a weekend on Republic Airways under United Express. In this article, we will review our flight experience to help you make a better decision if you have to fly into Grand Rapids.
Overall, our flight into Grand Rapids from Newark was pleasant from start to finish given the external circumstances with the weather. We highly recommend taking United Express to Grand Rapids.
Since we’re based out in Greater New York Area, we had to take the Long Island Rail Road to Penn Station where we hopped on the New Jersey Transit to get to Newark Airport. Our flight was a nonstop flight that took us across Pennsylvania and the Great Lakes then into Grand Rapids. It was about an hour’s flight.
Planning and Booking our Flight to Grand Rapids
Airlines Flying from the New York Area to Grand Rapids
Since Grand Rapids is an up-and-coming smaller city in the Midwest, there weren’t many nonstop flights to Gerald R Ford International Airport. Most airlines required us to fly to another hub (usually Chicago) and take a puddle jumper over to Grand Rapids.
We looked at the round-trip non-stop options and we only saw two from the New York Area Airports.
- United Express under Republic Airways out of Newark to Grand Rapids
- Delta Connection under Endeavor Air
Comparison of flight prices to Grand Rapids
There was a major difference in price between both options. On United Express, the price is below $200 for each person flying. Using Delta Connection, we would have to pay greater than $500 each for the round-trip flight.
We decided to use United Express for this flight, not only because of the flight cost but the sheer satisfaction of not having to fly out of LaGuardia Airport (also known as LaGarbage Airport).
The Booking Process for our United Express Flight
We booked our flights through Expedia. Expedia then redirected us to visit the United Airlines website where we showed the aircraft we were flying in (Embraer 175) and allowed us to pick our seats. It was a very smooth and painless process.
In-flight Experience from Newark to Grand Rapids on United Express
Flight comfort
The Republic Airways Embraer 175 was a pretty comfortable aircraft. The seats were average and the leg space was ample enough for a 6’0 adult American male.
On the day we were leaving Newark, the Northeast was about to be hit was a big noreaster storm that brought lots of rain and wind.
When the pilot came on the intercom to brief the passengers about the flight, he did mention that the flight was going to be particularly rough. He said to expect bumps and turbulence from takeoff until we pass the Great Lakes descending into Grand Rapids. They said they will do their best to find a cruise altitude that will provide clean air and a smoother flight experience.
He was right. The flight was pretty bumpy however it was still a much better experience than we had a few months earlier flying on Spirit Airlines, on a clear day.
The Embraer 175 had one bathroom at the front. People were not getting up and walking around the cabin as much (the United crowd is much better than the Spirit crowd).
Overall, the flight from Newark to Grand Rapids was a comfortable one.
In-flight amenities on United Express
Since the flight was a short one-hour flight with Turbulence, drink service was suspended. The flight attendants made numerous attempts to resume the drink service however, the bumpiness posed such a great risk for the crew and passengers that the pilot made the call for the crew to remain seated throughout the entire flight.
United flights also has “free wifi” on their travel website which you to do things like track the flight or order drinks. To have actual an actual wifi connection to the internet, you need to purchase a fairly affordable plan but with the short duration of the flight, not necessarily needed.
On-time performance
The flight departed the gate at Newark on time. We taxied to the takeoff runway with virtually no wait time.
Even with the turbulence mid-cruise, our flight did arrive in Grand Rapids on time.
Flight staff service
The flight attendants were very nice. Our interactions were very limited because of the turbulence.
One interaction to note was a mom and her young son were flying together on the son’s first-ever flight. The flight attendant went up to him and discovered that it was his first flight which got him all excited.
At the end of the flight, she brought him up to the cockpit to interact with the pilots and to take pictures in the cockpit. Kudos to Republic Airways and United Express!
Arrival in Grand Rapids
Arrival experience at Gerald R Ford International Airport
Once we arrived at our gate, the deplaning process was very quick. We walked down the jetway to the main terminal building and made our way to the baggage area down the stairs. Our plane was the only one that arrived so finding our baggage carousel was not an issue.
Once we found our bags, we made it over to the ride-share area to catch our Uber to Grand Rapids.
Ground transportation options to the Downtown Grand Rapids
The biggest gripe about the whole trip was the lack of transportation options available at Gerald R Ford International Airport.
The airport is located about 15 miles away from downtown Grand Rapids. Unfortunately, there wasn’t any rail transportation like a subway connecting to the city.
There might have been a bus however we didn’t find any information on bus transportation to Grand Rapids.
Our only option was to call an uber that took us on a 20-minute drive and dropped us off in Grand Rapids.
If you are on a budget, getting an uber or getting a rental car might be a necessary cost that you have to account for when flying into Grand Rapids.
Conclusion
The overall flight experience was a positive one. Given the circumstances of flying out of a busy airport on a less-than-stellar day to a lesser-served small airport, we were quite happy. Our biggest gripe had to be the lack of mass transportation services available at Gerald Ford International Airport.
If you’re flying from the New York area to Grand Rapids, give Newark Liberty International Airport serious consideration. Understandably, getting to Newark might be a pain, but it was a lot more pleasant than flying out of LaGuardia.
Flying United Express was great as well. The entire crew was friendly, the plane was clean, and we got to our destination in one piece. The major benefit of flying with United Express was the cost savings in comparison with flying Delta Connection. We saved hundreds of dollars per flier.
When flying into Grand Rapids, make sure you consider your transportation options when you get there. You want to get a rental car because the city is 15 miles away. If you don’t get a rental, an Uber to the city and back can get a bit costly.
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