United to Edinburgh

I thought they were retiring their 757s. Guess not. 🤷‍♀️

They're phasing out the 757-200 but keeping the larger 757-300.

This is typical schedule United has had since about 2017-ish from Boston U.S.A. Other airlines fly directly out of Philly, Newark, and other US or Canadian airlines year round. Thank you for the reminder!

All airlines suspended flights to Edinburgh during the pandemic. United's are the first flights announced that will be reinstated.

This is great news! I remember when I could take an American flight from Chicago to Glasgow. it was my go to flight--lots of golfers.

We're on that same itinerary/plane in late May. Yes, United is retiring all the 757s and replacing them with much more efficient single aisle planes in 2022-23, I believe. I've flown that plane many times before and frankly, its awful for long haul intercontinental flights. Let's hope that volume from the US to Scotland is high enough this summer that they fly something more appealing, ie a 767 on that route.

Thanks for posting this info. I was not aware there was a seasonal nonstop flight from Ohare to Edinburgh. I always assumed if I wanted to go to Scotland my best option would be through London. As I’m still new to travel, I am more comfortable with nonstop flights. Thanks to you posting this info., I’m looking at planning a trip to Scotland next year flying directly to Scotland.

I’ve been relying on the info. from this site to see where I can fly nonstop from Ohare to Europe, but it does not include any of the seasonal flights.

https://www.flychicago.com/SiteCollectionDocuments/O%27Hare/MyFlight/INTLnonstops.pdf

Do you know if there is a way for me to see what seasonal flights are offered at Ohare?

is a way for me to see what seasonal flights are offered at Ohare?

Have a look at their Wikipedia page https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O%27Hare_International_Airport#Passenger

Ramblin, thanks so much!! That is exactly what I was looking for.

I was looking at this nonstop flight in early June, but it vanished for the month (as of this week). Looks like it is back on for July.

KL, that’s not good. It definitely looks like they changed the availability of the nonstop since I last looked. I’m not planning on going until May/June 2023, but I don’t want to get stuck with a connecting flight. I may have to think of another destination that has more reliable/frequent nonstop service. Thanks so much for mentioning that!!

I was booked on the direct flight from Chicago to Edinburgh on May 14th, but it was just changed last week to include a stop at IAD. I'm not thrilled, but there are no better options at this point in time. Crossing my fingers it will change again between now and then.

Laurie, it’s so crummy that the airlines can do that!! I hope they change back to nonstops for you. This has scared me away from Edinburgh for next year. I’m looking at Dublin instead as aer lingus has nonstops from ohare. I’m probably the only one who plans trips around where I can get a nonstop flight. 😊

I was booked on the direct flight from Chicago to Edinburgh on May 14th, but it was just changed last week to include a stop at IAD. I'm not thrilled, but there are no better options at this point in time. Crossing my fingers it will change again between now and then.

@Laurie - When an airline changes your flights, generally they switch you to an alternative. You do not have to accept that alternative -- and in fact, you can just ignore their notification, you do not need to respond to it and formally "accept" it, but you can indeed fly on their offered alternative. Until you formally accept their offered alternative, you should be able to negotiate an alternative that you prefer. So (unless you have already accepted their alternative), you can indeed hope for (and search for) a better one. If you see something you like better, call them, give them the details, and ask to be put on it. It should not matter if your preferred alternative now would cost more if purchased, they should put you on it as long as there is space available. Be nice, be polite, but you do not have to accept the first alternative that they (actually their computer program) offered you.

Good luck.

Unfortunately, they really don't have a better option at this point. We're considering changing to a flight out of ORD that changes in Zurich or Brussels, but they both land several hours later than our original flight did. The upside would be a longer overnight portion of the flight, giving us a better shot at getting some sleep.

We still have a free one-time change available, but we're holding off until a little closer to our flight date, in case they add a better route. In the meantime, we're hoping that they add the nonstop to EDI back into the mix.

Either way, we've been waiting for this trip since our original September 2020 trip was cancelled, so we'll just be thankful to be there!