Ok this is the return portion of the travel, which happened to be more eventful than the previous red eye. May 12 UA# 1517 CMH --> ORD 4:00 pm 4:15 pm B737-300 No Reg.Seat 9E Ch. 9 ON all the way. I got to the check-in counter a bit later than the normal 90 min minimum requirement. There was no line in the check-in area so that was a breeze. Got to the security section for the B gates area and went through the special security section for "qualified" pax. It was nice until I got to the x-ray machine where I requested the screener to hand search my camera. He wouldn't bother. So I asked the same thing to the MP that was standing next to him. MP said something about the film speed and I refused the agree on that with him. So he asked the screener who was closer to me to hand him my camera case. The screener didn't even bother moving and they started to argue whose job it was to hand search the camera. While the MP and the screener were arguing I felt really "secure" about the post 9-11 procedures. It took them 15 mins to stop arguing and find someone who would hand search my camera case.. While I was walking to gate B11 for an on time boarding I took a look to Southeastern Md-80 pushing back from one of the gates at the B concourse. It looked sharp, even better than the pictures at Airways a month ago. As I was walking to my seat I saw the ID of one of the F/As on the floor right between row 9 and 8. I took it to her and she was happy that I returned to her. The F/O was standing next to her and I asked him if we would have Ch. 9 on. He said "affirmative" and I was a happy camper walking back to my seat. We pushed back on time but the captain announced on the P/A system that we had a 55 min ground hold for the flow control in ORD. That was longer than the scheduled flight time. We waited at the penalty box behind the AA gates and when it was about 30 minutes into the waiting period we transitioned to the penalty box right by the approach end of 28L. After the 55 min past the hour we ended up taking off on that runway. Initially cleared to 5000 feet, Columbus Approach handed us over to Indy Center which told us to climb to only 17,000 feet. Due to some light turbulence the pilot requested higher and FL220 was the highest we could get. As soon as we were about to switch frequencies for another controller at Indy Center, we were told we were cleared direct FWA, direct Kokomo and had to hold over Kokomo VOR with 5 DME legs as published. This clearance was given to us at 2133 Zulu time, and the "expect further clearance time" (ATC way of saying 'hold until this hour') was 2200 Z. That meant about 30 mins of hold and we ended up holding 17 mins. Once we ended up talking to Chicago Center ATC told us to expect O'Hare One arrival and expect Runway 27L. It was a pretty crappy day in O'Hare with ceilings at 500 feet and visibility down to 4 miles. Chicago Approach and Center frequencies were so busy and a USAirways flight constantly missing the ATC calls didn't help either. Landed much later than the expected arrival time and taxied off to gate C2. May 12 UA # 949 ORD --> SEA 4:50 pm 7:02 pm B767-300ER This was the original flight that was going to get me to SEA but due to late arrival of the incoming flight I ended up taking the following flight. UA 449 ORD --> SEA 7:25pm B757-200 N513UA Seat 31A I guess United doesn't do ant automatic booking for the missed connection. So I had to wait in line for 30 mins to change my reservation. After 30 mins and seeing that the huge line wasn't going anywhere I called the airline on their 800 number and I asked them to rebook me for the 7:25 pm flight. When I went to the gate B7 and told the agent that I was on the previous flight and called the 800 line I was told that he didn't have any records on flight 449. I was put on the standby list.. After some waiting period I was left with two choices : 1. Accept the seat 31A and be exposed to low seat pitch or 2. Take the 9:15 pm flight and wait in ORD another 2 hrs. I decided to take the earlier flight and be done with it. This flight used to be a full meal flight in 2001 but not it is reduced to a "snack" flight. Turkey and cheese sandwich, a bag of M&Ms and Doritos chips and a choice of drink was the gourmet meal. Put my headsets on and went to sleep with Ch. 9 playing music of ATC to my ear. After almost 4 hrs it was time to descend to SEA area and we landed on runway 34R with a slight tailwind of 180/5 KTS. OVERALL : 1. United's service in some areas improved in the last year or so. 2. No matter how much they try to be on time ORD is a zoo when it has low ceilings or some TS activity in the vicinity. 3. If it's not going to guarantee me an economy plus seating which is a great idea why should I pay $100 more per roundtrip in my upcoming SEA-BDL-SEA trips. 4. I looooveee Ch. 9 5. ANR headsets rock in noise canceling. 6. Am I trip reports too long ? :) :)