United Airlines

Not Verified | I am writing about the terrible experience I have been having with the United Airlines customer support team. I recently booked our honeymoon trip through a travel agency. This trip has a total of 5 flights, 3 with United Airlines and 2 with Swiss Air. When going to Swiss Air's website I was able to upgrade my two flights from economy to premium economy on one and business class on the other. When going to United's website I could only upgrade 2 out of 3. Upon calling your tech support now over 6+ times and also getting my service request escalated, I have received 6 different reasons and solutions. All their reasoning made no sense and their solutions did not work. They even suggested I contact my travel agent and upgrade the class of seat for each flight. But that is insane since I already paid to upgrade 4 of the flights directly and I would essentially be charged double. When I was told I could upgrade the final flight it was with United airline miles, but not cash ? This is where I draw the line. I would have to purchase 40,000 United miles plus $1000 in cash (which I find humorous that they can take cash in this sense but not the other) all to be on a seat waitlist. But I have confirmed with customer support that the premium economy section has plenty of open seating right now and that was the section I wanted to upgrade to. It seems like United Airline’s wants cash customers to pay to upgrade but in my situation I cannot? The other issue is if I purchase United airline miles + cash, all I can get now is put on a waitlist even though there is abundant open seating ? Would you spend your money on miles and hope all the good seats are not purchased by the time they release these seats? I wouldn't! Because if the seats are sold out by that time then I would be screwed twice. If United does not appreciate customers who book their airline through a travel agent, and worse place restrictions on purchasing upgrades directly on United to the customers that do use a travel agent, then may I suggest you remove United Airlines from allowing travel agents to book your flights ! After my July/august booked flights I will never fly United Airlines !

✅ Trip Verified | Cramped seats, poor beverage/snack options, expensive bag fees. Employees are helpful, but United is not properly managed. Choose a different airline.

✅ Trip Verified | I was rebooked on this flight to SFO because I had missed my connecting flight on SQ in Singapore. I flew CI to TPE to catch this flight. United Polaris class is the flagship product of UA. Seats are full flat seats with blanket and duvet from Saks Fifth Avenue. Unlike SQ where the cabin crew comes around to set up your bed, you have to do this yourself on UA. The amenity kit provided is a fabric waist pouch that contains the usual items. Some may like it, some may not. Personally I would prefer a proper zippered toiletries pouch which can be reused for personal toiletries and medications. Lunch service was served on a single tray. I had the beef short ribs and it was surprisingly good considering that steaks served on flights are touch and go. Before landing crepes was served for breakfast. Wifi was available for a fee. The service was efficient - not overly rushed and not overly pampering. There was a mixture of American and Taiwanese crew on board. In summary, despite what has been said about UA in the media and on social media, it was a pleasant experience.

Not Verified | I have never experienced so many delays with any airline ever. Flight delayed on the way out and flight delayed on the way back. This is highly unacceptable as they have a whole wing of the airport and they can’t move to a different gate. Disgusting, disgraceful and disappointing. Now I won’t be home in my own bed until 4am.

Not Verified | We arrived to the airport at LAX with plenty of time as it is typically very busy there. We expected to fly out on time and get to our destination by 5:30 P.M. local time in Hawaii. That however, did not happen. We got delayed for 6 hours with no explanation other than there was a problem with our plane and we needed to wait for a new one to come in. That also, did not happen! We were told to board our plane at 6:15 P.M. and then told to get back off the plane as there was some issues. We then got delayed some more. They offered a $15.00 coupon to use, but we all know that does not get you anything in an airport. We finally boarded our flight at 7:45 P.M. and left into the air at 8:30 P.M. We should have already been sitting on a beach or checking into our room, but that did not go as planned. We landed in Hawaii at 12:30 A.M. local time. United offered nothing in return. I have called now 3 times and was referred to a website to submit a claim that takes 14 days to process. The air in the flight did not work! The WIFI on the flight did not work! The seats were packed full and it was SO hot! One of the most uncomfortable flights I have taken to date. I will avoid using United anytime I can as this seems to always be the issue. Multiple delays and no explanation to the customer. The rep at the counter was rude to any one who had a question. We had waited ALL day in an airport and were obviously frustrated and instead of helping she basically had no care for the amount of time United had wasted of our trip. When you pay as much money as I did I expect to be able to use my hotel room for the full amount of time that it was booked. I technically did not even need a room for the day of flying there as we did not get there until after midnight. I really hope that in the next 14 days United will step up and return at least the money I spent on the flight there as my husband and I both took off work to just sit in airport instead of being on our vacation.

✅ Trip Verified | I experienced the worst flight on United airlines this week. I avoid budget or discount airlines but after flying United, I think they may be a superior experience. The flight from Baltimore to Denver is 4 hours. We checked in for both flights exactly 24 hours in advance. Both times we were seated in the last row of the plane. The seats are more upright than any other seat. The lines for the bathroom were continuous. All six rows ahead of us had young children or lap babies, which on a long flight led to lots of crying, as one would expect. We were aware that booking economy meant no carry on luggage, only a personal item. But being in the last row of the plane, the outer wall curves inward and did not even allow for a small piece of luggage. They announced that they had limited food for purchase and it we wanted something we should let the flight attendant know. I did so (as the galley was right behind us). She said we would have to wait. As we were last served, there was no food left. We were traveling with my 86 year old mother. She could not get a boarding pass online, she had to check in at the gate for some reason. She got the last row of the plane on the outgoing flight also. On the return, even the ticket agent could not get her a seat and we had to wait in line at the gate to get her a seat. We are members of their frequent flier program, though they do not fly many nonstop routes from Baltimore, we do not fly with them often.After this trip, it will be my last choice of airlines.

✅ Trip Verified | This was the worst flying experience I have ever had! I booked business class directly through United airlines because I have a medical condition that requires I sit as close to the front of the plane as possible. My ticket one way was $3888. When I arrived at the airport, it seemed like there was some confusion they thought I was supposed to be there at 7am but I had my itinerary and it said 10:35am, the agent said everything was fine and said they couldn’t print my ticket until my next leg. When I got to the international airport they printed my ticket - I again was assured I was in business class, she even put a sticker on my boarding pass saying express lane. It was a 30 min walk through the airport, during the walk I realized I was in row 35 - which is clearly not business class ! The agents at the desk were extremely rude - I ended up in the last seat with 3 toilets behind me and the seat did not recline. To add insult to injury to girl next to me said her ticket was $800, United refuses to refund my money or even let me speak anyone in their customer care department- and they had the nerve to give me 12500 points which is equivalent to $130 dollars.

Not Verified |   Booked my roundtrip flight, got my confirmation number, receipt and itinerary and called them a few days later because I noticed my first and middle name showed as one name on the reservation. They told me that just how their system displays the name. Got my credit card statement about a month and a half later, no charge from UA. Called them again. They say I don't have a ticket. At this point, I'm supposed to be travelling in 2 weeks and at no point was there an indicator that I did not have a ticket. I had the reservation number plugged into the UA app on my phone and all of my reservation info was there with a countdown for departure. If I didn't check my credit card statement, I would have never known that I didn't have a ticket and would have showed up to the airport with no ticket/boarding pass. Customer service rep tries to help me book a new ticket but only books me a one way, when I had a roundtrip reservation and I ended up paying more for the new flight than I was going to for the original; Original was about $650 and I ended up paying around $820 for the new reservation. And the reason they gave me for the error with ticketing was that it didn't take my credit card because the charge was in US dollars and I had to explain to their rep that I was shown the price in USD and was paying with my USD amex and the website told me that the transaction was successful. I only accepted the re-booking because of where I lived there wasn't another option for a flight to JFK on the same day around that time. The other flights were much too early and I had to go to work earlier that day. Filed a complaint and was told that someone would get back to me within 30 days which they did NOT. And when I was rebooked, my confirmation number was not changed so I had ZERO confidence that I had a ticket because I had already been sent all of this exact information previously! Called them back a few times to confirm that I had a ticket of course because the airport is one of the few places where showing up when you're not supposed to be there is a problem! All they've offered me to date is a $50 voucher toward an "eligible flight" with them when I had to spend over $100 of the cost of the initial flight to make up for their mistake. I will also say getting to their customer service team was also a pain and I felt like they were purposefully misunderstanding me when I wanted to file a complaint. They kept telling me that if it had gone through, I would have gotten a receipt and itinerary which I did get. I kept trying to explain that even if there was an issue with the ticketing system, because, as they say, I do NOT have a ticket, my confirmation number should not be valid and working on their website and their App. My major complaint was that at no point did anything in their system that is accessible to me indicate that I did not have a ticket for my flights. They kept giving me long winded customer service apologies, interrupting me as I explained my issue. And I was even more frustrated because I had already called them and spoken to them about this booking and they didn't tell me "by the way, you don't have a ticket". What made it finally make sense to someone was me explaining that I would have gone to the airport and would have ended up making a fuss for a boarding pass for a flight that I had a receipt and itinerary for, but I hadn't been paid for because I wasn't charged and would therefore have no right to a ticket.

Not Verified | Flight delayed multiple times, until over 2 hours. We missed our connecting flight, despite it was also on United. They told they would get us a hotel room, but they made for the departing city. Then after another hour in line, they then stated too close to boarding and we would have to address when we get to destination. When we finally get on the plane, the steward seems more interested in talking to other steward than helping us. From now on, even if i have to pay more, I won't fly United again.

Not Verified | When I tried to check in online, I received a message that it was not possible to do so and to see an agent at the airport. At the Cancun airport large signs tell you to use the check-in kiosks, so I did what I was told, even though I knew I had to see an agent and that check-in at the kiosks would not work either. When I tried to reach the counter, I was stopped by a United employee (the "INTERVIEWER" as it said on the back of his T-shirt) who asked me what was wrong. I told him my story, but he obviously thought I was too stupid to use the machine. Then he tried to check me in at the machine and was told it was not possible. His immediate response was: "Your ESTA was cancelled!" He scared me and put me in a lot of distress and did not listen to me when I told him that my ESTA had worked on my inbound flight. He was clearly on a major power trip. After what felt like 15 minutes he finally let me go to the counter where my boarding passes came out of the printer as soon as the lady working there had entered my details. The flight from Cancun to Newark was okay, they gave us a soft drink and a snack and the flight attendants were friendly. The international flight to Frankfurt however was a completely different story. I have never experienced a more disorganized and poor inflight service. After 2 hours in the air, food service started, which was of an incredibly bad quality. The drinks cart started after the meal service, which in my case (seat 59B) meant that I was served the first drop of liquid 2:45 hours after taker off. After a rushed transfer through Newark I was thirsty and exhausted, but the two flight attendants I talked to refused to give me anything to drink since they were "doing meals". During the entire 7-hour flight the drinks cart came around exactly once. In the morning they started the service too late, so that the drinks cart did not reach the rear section of the cabin. Why did the crew start distributing meals before serving drinks? The two ladies serving my section clearly hated their jobs and they hated their customers. One of them literally threw the sandwich in my direction. The ticket was cheap, but I'd rather pay more in order to avoid that joke of an airline.