The Boeing 787 Dreamliner

I've been meaning to blog about this because we actually went and saw the dreamliner a long time ago, way back when it was being developed and we were visiting seattle.

That's so far back that I don't even think we were on facebook yet (which I guess really isn't that far since I can't find much before 2008 on our facebook profiles).

I finally got a chance to ride a 787 Dreamliner on my last flight to China!

Boeing describes the 787 as being a "superefficient" airplane with "exceptional performance" a "suite of new technologies" and a "revolutionary design."

I'm the first one in my family to fly on a 787, and probably the first of nearly all my friends to fly on one, so here's my take on it:

Pros
It's brand new - everything is clean and works!

Windows - 65% larger, and they have a "dimmer" which is awesome. Basically you can dim your window so it's dark, but you can still see out of it. I thought this was really cool at first because you actually have the feeling that you're on a plane (because you can see the clouds outside) and you're flying the whole time, instead of just during takeoff and landing (after which you usually close your window shade).

Humidity and altitude - The cabin is pressurized to 6,000 feet, over 2,000 feet lower than any other commercial plane. That's just a few hundred feet higher altitude than Denver.
Humidity is almost twice as high as a normal plane.

Cons
Window dimmer - even though it seemed cool at first, if the sun is directly in your eyes it's still annoying. On a flight to China you are basically chasing the sun, so I had it in my eyes for enough of the flight to make it a nuisance.

Overall, I loved it! I didn't really realize how much of a difference the altitude and humidity made until my next time on a normal plane and could notice that I was considerably more uncomfortable.

I was in United's "businessfirst" cabin, so I didn't get a chance to check out the cool new seats in coach...but I'm okay with that.

As a bonus, I got two free souvenirs! A 787 deck of cards and a 787 passport holder. Pretty cool.