UNITED AIRLINES   Customer Reviews and Customer Trip Reports

UNITED AIRLINES customer review :  21 November 2009 by S Neef   (Germany)

First time with United (by accident because of codeshare with Lufthansa), from Orlando via Washington Dulles to Frankfurt. First leg OK, although a little snack would have been nice. Plane seen better times. Washington to Frankfurt was where things got messy. First, after boarding we were told we would wait for passengers from a connecting flight from Orlando. Since I had been on the scheduled connecting flight from Orlando and there was another flight from Dulles to Frankfurt one hour later, the only explanation I have is that that flight was overbooked and they had to cram some of the passengers into our plane. Over 200 people were kept waiting for 50 min delay. At least they could have been serving drinks. The B777 was old - only a tiny personal TV, no AVOD and video shown came from VHS, had distortions and poor quality. Headphones had obviously already been used by other passengers (hairs, yuck!) and had a loose connection. Seats worn down. Cabin crew grumpy. Food most definitely subpar and there was only plastic cutlery and no handtowels were served. I know it is common for US carriers to charge you for alcoholic beverages, it still annoys the heck out of me to cough up $6 for a wine that is inferior to the wines I got for free with Lufthansa on the way to Orlando. Even US Airways has higher quality, and they are cheaper, too.

UNITED AIRLINES customer review :  17 November 2009 by T Humbach   (Spain)

IAD-MUC return on Boeing 777. Same old-style business seats. Too uncomfortable if you are a bit taller. Airplane arrived late from Chicago so we left with about 30 minutes delay. Seems like they were not able to fill-up their kitchen completely - eg. this time there was only 1 white wine out of the usual 2. The video system was not working well, 2 films were without sound. The headphones don't have the noise-reducing function like in other airlines.

UNITED AIRLINES customer review :  15 November 2009 by A Gebhart   (USA)

IAD to FRK in new first class. There is no floor storage. Although there is a piece of a companion seat at the end of the pod, under which one could store a small briefcase, the FA's insisted that FAA regs required everything in the overhead compartments. With BA, you have plenty of additional floor storage ahead of your seat under the full jump seat. There were a couple of small compartments to store additional items. Large AVOD system looked impressive, but froze up and FA's unable to get it working again. This is not a good sign for such new equipment. A single small pillow and blanket were provided for sleeping. The fact that the arm rests drop to give more shoulder room is a plus, but in general the seat is not nearly as comfortable for sleeping as those in BA First. Food very unexceptional and service perfunctory. The very gracious service on the Lufthansa flight which followed this one made UA's service look very poor in comparison. Having flown United, Lufthansa, and BA First class all in the last month (using miles as I couldn't pay for all of it), I definitely would have to rank United a distant last.

UNITED AIRLINES customer review :  15 November 2009 by Abhijeet Deodhar   (USA)

SFO-FRA-SFO. Traveling for the first time with my family (wife and 8 month old). Crew extremely rude. I had requested a bassinet or front seating but was told that they are already allotted. Was surprised to find that bulkheads were not given either elderly or passengers with children! I requested warm water for my child. Crew said that they could not provide warm water. So she asked us to heat the water in a paper bag which she filled with hot water at our seat! Risking the fact that the hot water could spill on to our child or the baby. We requested to store baby food in the freezer she said it is against the airline rules due to hygienic reasons.

UNITED AIRLINES customer review :  15 November 2009 by R Witt   (USA)

LAX-IAD-FRA return. Used miles to prevent them from expiring and found United punctual, efficient and friendly. Pilots and FAs came across as sincere - almost a throw back to good old times - a lot better than the grumpy NW/DL of late. Maybe I got lucky, but since I flew 4 segments and got the same treatment, this might be an organizational change. Economy Plus is value for money, especially compared with the outdated biz class on the transatlantic 777s (not yet updated like the 767s). Food edible, beer & wine for purchase on the int'l legs (a shame). Still, newspaper were provided, channel 9 worked, and seeing FAs smile and treat you well is more important than free booze.

UNITED AIRLINES customer review :  15 November 2009 by S Adlam   (USA)

LAX-FRA-LAX Business. United has improved its game. B777 service uses older cradle style seat but still comfortable for transatlantic flight. Seats in row 9 are still the most private even with a reduced incline. Food and service has improved. O'Hare remains a nightmare but FRA and LAX lounges provide excellent service.

UNITED AIRLINES customer review :  15 November 2009 by Ron Kuhlmann   (USA)

Osaka/San Francisco in Business. Having flown the majority of this trip on Thai, I was prepared to be disappointed by UA, but that was not the case. The crew was personable and attentive, meals exceptional, and experience was very positive. The flight was on a 777 with the old Business seats but they were comfortable and I slept well. IFE is dated but I watched only one film during the dinner and it was fine. I general, the flight compared favorably to others on the itinerary and was a very pleasant conclusion to a long journey.

UNITED AIRLINES customer review :  12 November 2009 by T Humbach   (Spain)

Munich to Washington in Business Class Boeing 777. Fortunately Business was not fully booked, so the seat next to me remained vacant. Nevertheless - old generation seats and the seat is just too small/short. Seat is not equipped with 110AC Power plug. So if you run out off battery that's it. And they don't have any adapters. The 1st flight attendant I asked even answered in a very rough and aggressive way. Inflight video-system is also old-fashioned. You are not free to choose when to see a film as you can do in other airlines. Food was OK and we arrived ahead of time.

UNITED AIRLINES customer review :  12 November 2009 by B Sedgwick   (USA)

My wife and I got our bags at each destination after one stop each way. The food and drinks were what we expected : complimentary drinks but the food cost $ so we brought our own. Note - max sized carry-ons should be stored above because they won't fit under the seats (I was not aware as we don't fly very often). Most attendants and staff were friendly and helpful.

UNITED AIRLINES customer review :  10 November 2009 by J Decety   (USA)

ORD-Washington Dulles-Buenos Aires. All flights on time. The new business class seats on Boeing 767 are pretty good for sleeping. FAs efficient, but they do not make you feel welcome as on other airlines I use to fly (eg. Swiss, Singapore, Lufthansa). The food was good. The IFE is poor in terms of selection.

UNITED AIRLINES customer review :  9 November 2009 by J Aaron   (USA)

SFO-SYD-LAX Business. We initially checked in online, but did not print our passes. Lounge in SFO old and depressing. Two drinks per person. Food only basic snacks served in disposable bowls. Flight delayed, but repeatedly told the lounge would not stay open past its normal time. Both inbound and outbound flights in upper deck great. Much less of a cramped feel than downstairs. The flight attendants were fantastic - had many years of experience on the route and were happy to be there. Food served efficiently, special meals were pretty good. FA's told us we could try regular menu if special meals were not to our liking. Snacks left out during the night included sandwiches and sweets in addition to left over nuts and desserts. Frequent water runs through the night. IFE was good, but more selection would be appreciated. SYD lounge, run by Air New Zealand, was very nice.

UNITED AIRLINES customer review :  29 October 2009 by M Lin   (USA)

ORD-LAX-ORD. Large crowds at checkin at Chicago. Plane left on time, almost full, no food. Seat needed repairs. So so service. On the return I arrived a bit late at the airport and was told that there was no seat. Wait isted to next flight but it was overbooked. Wait listed to third flight and got on (but about 30 on wait list were left behind) another full flight. Waiting areas at LAX all looked like they had never been cleaned. This plane also looked as it required repairs to the cabin. The trip was overpriced, when all of the extras were added on, and a big step down from what United offered even 10 years ago. Looks like the focus of management is money and not customer service.

UNITED AIRLINES customer review :  29 October 2009 by Tien-Lun Yao   (Germany)

My first long-haul travel two years ago on UA from NRT to BKK was not great experience which I expected. Testing the comfort and entertainment options of the new Business Class Suites was my intention - seats great but missing some space for notebooks to stow. Entertainment system only works in Economy Class but not in First and Business Class. Crew was not well prepared to this situation. Just to apology and to give such a voucher was not the right help if you are unprepared for such a situation. I had to request several times before the purser was willing to discuss with me (Waiting time since first request: about 30 minutes). United Airlines do not serve any snacks or something between the meals. Crew was nice but compared to other airlines they are missing somehow a passion and cordiality you experience with other airlines. After this experience I really have no reason to fly UA anymore, especially not in Business Class.

UNITED AIRLINES customer review :  29 October 2009 by C Mak   (USA)

Business Class SFO-HKG. The addition of new business class lie-flat seats was encouraging and made sleeping possible. However, the seat was very tight and one could barely move while sleeping. United used economy class blanket for business class and it was not comfortable. There was no compartment to store anything. The food was terrible - worse than many Asian airlines economy class food. The entertainment system was great with a gigantic screen. The flight attendants were responsive and smiling.

UNITED AIRLINES customer review :  24 October 2009 by Ed King   (USA)

First trip in 5 years on United after my wife took them from Chicago to Paris (they missed their own connecting flight and would not help her in the least - the person at the desk simply told her they were closed). We purchased tickets 2 months in advance (couldn't assign seats), arrived 2.5 hours before the flight and the kiosk couldn't check us in. After talking to someone in India (their kiosks have phones on them) we were checked in and not sitting together, the person in India said we needed to talk to the person at the counter who referred us to the person at the gate who said to come back in 30 minutes (just before boarding). Coming back in 30 minutes she said she couldn't do anything since they were boarding -- but for $90 upgrade to economy plus they could seat us together. The final kick was, the row I sat in had 2 empty seats together.