United Airlines

[retiredusn]

Just returned from the US and all went well until I started my trip back to Thailand.

First of all United Airlines canceled my connecting flight to LA without notification then they put me on a flight to San Francisco to connect with a flight for LA to meet my international connection I was really ticked off about this time as it only gave me 35min. to reach the next airline now is when it started to really get bad after boarding all the passengers and going through the inflight safety bs they then asked everyone to deplane as they had no one in the cockpit to fly the dam_n thing (????) how do they not know there are no drivers? then they just walked away with no explanation of what was going to happen. Too make a longer story short I highly recommend anyone that is thinking of flying United to re-consider and get another airline as for me it will be a cold cold snowing day in hel_l before I or any of my friends will ever fly this airline again!!!!!

[britmaveric]

Great airline for being a yank one.

[Jamie]

Great airline for being a yank one.

Actually, I prefer NW/Delta. UA has given me nothing but problems when flying within the States. I've never had the experience of using them to fly internationally.

[britmaveric]

Flown them quite a few times over the years internationally - pretty good airline. Prefer Asian Airlines, but sometimes cost is prohibitive compared to UAL. Not to mention can't beat the Star Alliance.

[gotlost]

I have flown United for years and still do. I never have had any major problems. Yea now and then like all airlines there maybe a minor glitch. Sorry about the OP experience but that is not enough to put me off UA.

[gpdjohn]

Oh boy..I'm flying 'em in 13 days r/t to AZ and back...

I mentioned this before, last time, in LA, they didn't have a plane to fly into PHX from LA..waited like 5 hrs from them to find a plane.. had a crew, just no aircraft.

[Tim207]

I have flown United for years and still do. I never have had any major problems. Yea now and then like all airlines there maybe a minor glitch. Sorry about the OP experience but that is not enough to put me off UA.

How about changing return date due to death in the family? They had a coach seat they could offer me but it wasn't in my fare class. They wanted me to pay an extra $2000 to fly out the next morning or they could book me in four days in a seat at my original fare class. So, basically the same seat but all the seats alotted at the price I paid were full. Sorry about that, nothing we can do unless you want to wait for the seat in your fare class (and pay the flight change fee). I wouldn't have made it for the funeral anyway so I waited the four days.

I still use them because of the price and convenience but I will never forget how they treated me in a bad situation. They certainly don't get my buisness if there are any options within a few hundred dollars.

BTW: Don't check guitars.

[Tim207]

Just returned from the US and all went well until I started my trip back to Thailand.

First of all United Airlines canceled my connecting flight to LA without notification then they put me on a flight to San Francisco to connect with a flight for LA to meet my international connection I was really ticked off about this time as it only gave me 35min. to reach the next airline now is when it started to really get bad after boarding all the passengers and going through the inflight safety bs they then asked everyone to deplane as they had no one in the cockpit to fly the dam_n thing (????) how do they not know there are no drivers? then they just walked away with no explanation of what was going to happen. Too make a longer story short I highly recommend anyone that is thinking of flying United to re-consider and get another airline as for me it will be a cold cold snowing day in hel_l before I or any of my friends will ever fly this airline again!!!!!

Sorry you had a tough trip. Thankfully I am not flying United this trip. See you next month.

[beejoir]

They put me through hel_l last month on a trip to Tokyo, I will never ever fly them again, simply the worst service and the worst airline in the industry.

[MSingh]

I flew BKK - TOKYO - CHICAGO & back a few weeks ago with lots of US Domestics in between..

Only had a 20 minute delay in Tampa out of the 14 Flights i had with them during 20 days & that was the only hitch...

[noahvail]

Flew BKK to Portland, Maine in July (high season in the US) on UAL. Not a single problem, they even bumped me to Premium Economy for no charge. Good crew, and while an old plane, had been refurbished and was comfortable and quiet. Never fly on them again? They're my airline of choice at the moment - of course, if they screw up a lot, I'll look for another airline of choice for that moment (oi - why aren't the smilies working? - I may have to change forums lol).

[Gary A]

I don't think it really makes much difference which airline you choose. I have had good and bad experiences with every airline I have used. The best one has been American Airlines.

[geriatrickid]

Ok, so UAL sucks compared to some Asian based airlines. Tell us something we don't know.

Although I prefer asian carriers, I do see the looming crisis about to hit the airlines of asia. JAL is teetering on the brink of collapse, EVA is bleeding massive amounts of money which may be the reason why the booze is hidden after the 1st pass, Thai has a decrepit fleet that I hope and pray doesn't disintegrate in midair whenever I get on a flight. Even my once beloved SQ has some planes looking a bit tired as it sees lucrative commuter PAX lost to Air Asia which is also believed by some to be in the red. ANA with is crap seat configurations and food cutbacks? Korean with its legacy of snotty service? Seriously, what's left to fly anymore?

[kevindk]

. Even my once beloved SQ has some planes looking a bit tired as it sees lucrative commuter PAX lost to Air Asia which is also believed by some to be in the red.

I'm sad that SQ was your once beloved only. So geriatrickid, you have your new love one? share me then I may have a new affair with

Sorry for a bit off-topic. But my experience on UA was so mild, it's probably because I've been pampered too much by SQ and other Asian based airlines. And I think every airlines has its good and bad day. Some unluckily pumped in the bad time while some get appreciated for the great service on good days. I did quite numbers of domestic flights in the States, and all were with US Airways. My worst and nightmare experience was also on them.During a late evening flight from SFO to PHL, we had to connect at LAS and trouble was due to the late arrival from SFO. At LAS even though myself and other 11 passengers were allowed to exit the plane prior the rest due to our "super tight" connection ( ~ 15mins before closing gate), we realised it was a dam_n race to catch the next boarding gate. I can never forget the odd & extremely exhausted feeling when running (like 100-m sprinting race) from terminal to terminal, from gate to gate. There was a lady racing with us eventually burst into tears when she got on plane. What we did to deserve this if not their own fault making its late departure and arrival? I wondered. And no, it's not safety reason.They had to wait for a plane coming from some other planet to serve u . It's about the efficiency in management, in service and also staff attitude. So fly with your beloved while praying for a good day!

Kevin

[geriatrickid]

I'm sad that SQ was your once beloved only. So geriatrickid, you have your new love one? share me then I may have a new affair with

Ahh, but like most men agrieved by a seductive temptress, I come crawling back. Better an old girl with a few well earned wrinkles then some tart gussied up by lots of cheap makeup like TG

I make do with EVA and various star alliance carriers now. It's sort of like taking the girl from the trailer park to the school dance because you don't have enough cash to hang around with the "beautiful" people. She's a girl and gives a boy what he needs.

As bad as UA may get, it will never be as bad as US Scare. Never had to run from my UA flights into NRT. I have unfortunately nearly missed flights using ANA and TG. In the case of ANA, it's usually a legit reason like weather. My last flight on TG into NRT was late was because some hi so in 1st class boarded late with her BKK King Power bags. At least UAL and ANA would have closed the door and left the snot behind. TG would never do that to an "important" Thai.

Edited October 14, 2009 by geriatrickid

[Jamie]

Ok, so UAL sucks compared to some Asian based airlines. Tell us something we don't know.

Although I prefer asian carriers, I do see the looming crisis about to hit the airlines of asia. JAL is teetering on the brink of collapse, EVA is bleeding massive amounts of money which may be the reason why the booze is hidden after the 1st pass, Thai has a decrepit fleet that I hope and pray doesn't disintegrate in midair whenever I get on a flight. Even my once beloved SQ has some planes looking a bit tired as it sees lucrative commuter PAX lost to Air Asia which is also believed by some to be in the red. ANA with is crap seat configurations and food cutbacks? Korean with its legacy of snotty service? Seriously, what's left to fly anymore?

I wonder if any of these carries would (or can) merge seeing their financial situations.

[OriginalPoster]

Great airline for being a yank one.

Actually, I prefer NW/Delta. UA has given me nothing but problems when flying within the States. I've never had the experience of using them to fly internationally.

I've found that all the major US airlines are atrocious on domestic flights within the US but that they seem as if they are a totally different company on international routes. I can't actually think of any significant problems that I've had on transpacific flights on any of them. I think its partly because long-haul flights usually get take-off & landing priority so the keep more to schedule than do domestic flights, and partly because competition for international carries prevents them from pulling as many shenanigans on international routes as on domestic ones.

[jetjock]

Just returned from the US and all went well until I started my trip back to Thailand.

First of all United Airlines canceled my connecting flight to LA without notification then they put me on a flight to San Francisco to connect with a flight for LA to meet my international connection I was really ticked off about this time as it only gave me 35min. to reach the next airline now is when it started to really get bad after boarding all the passengers and going through the inflight safety bs they then asked everyone to deplane as they had no one in the cockpit to fly the dam_n thing (????) how do they not know there are no drivers? then they just walked away with no explanation of what was going to happen. Too make a longer story short I highly recommend anyone that is thinking of flying United to re-consider and get another airline as for me it will be a cold cold snowing day in hel_l before I or any of my friends will ever fly this airline again!!!!!

Hey 'retiredusn', I actually intensely dislike United Airlines even more than you do ! After 35 years of service to UA, I lost 60% of my pension plus many benefits when UA went into bankruptcy and elected to jetison all it's pension obligations to the government sponsored PBGC. I have to say however in all fairness that I have never understood how US airlines could successfully compete internationally with asian airlines when their labor costs are so much higher than most of their asian counterparts. Many asian airlines are not burdened with strict labor laws and powerful unions so are able to use a lot of contract workers and fire people for any reason. This is one of the reasons you see all the granny type flight attendants on US airlines compared to all the young cuties on asian airlines. Pilot pay on US airlines has been cut drastically in recent years however it is still quite a bit higher average than most Asian airlines. Most US airlines in this poor economy are currently just struggling to survive and stay out of bankruptcy so they operate with minimum staffing and extremely heavy aircraft utilization which is a setup for poor service to the flying public. I think that people traveling on any of the US airlines are going to have to get accustomed to poorer service and to the cattle car mentality unless by their actions they can convince the airlines that some people are interested in quality service and not just the cheapest cut throat airfares. To generate more cash flow, perhaps someday one of the US airlines will even come up with the idea of onboard coin operated Pay to Go lavatories.