UNITED AIRLINES   Passenger Reviews and Customer Trip Reports

UNITED AIRLINES customer review :  14 October 2009 by Jacob Forsyth   (USA)

PIT-SFO A319. Went in with low expectations especially considering the previous review for exact same route. I had a better experience than the last reviewer, but only just. Check-in long and slow despite this being the only United flight of the morning. As I had paid for economy plus I looked for the economy plus line - no such line. After waiting in the regular economy line I went over to the First Class desk to see if I could check-in there, which I could. Better signage is needed. Security lines at Pittsburgh were short thanks to the airport being huge and operating hardly any flights anymore. It was so nice for a change! Boarding was ok but a number of passengers either boarded with or tried to board with extremely large carry on. This is due to the fact that United now charge for checked baggage in economy resulting in some pretty audacious attempts by other passengers to try and bring the largest possible bags on board. Consequently, when I got on board there was no room for my small satchel in the overhead bins. UA's baggage policy is affecting passengers like myself who obey the limits and check bags in. Economy plus seats okay, but the extra leg room you pay for is hardly any extra to economy. Drinks (non-alcoholic free of charge) offered shortly after take off and before landing. Food for sale but didn't look appetizing. Crew did the rounds with water and generally pretty visible throughout the flight. Landed on time. Don't pay extra for economy plus it isn't worth it unless you are checking bags as you get the first two bags checked in for free.

UNITED AIRLINES customer review :  13 October 2009 by Patti Greaves   (USA)

I have flown United only, for over 10 years. Just finished a first class trip between Denver and Sydney. It was the worst food I have every been served in first class. Over cooked, fatty, no flavor, and simply not eatable. Everyone was complaining, regardless of the entree they ordered.

UNITED AIRLINES customer review :  13 October 2009 by Camelia Tobia   (Australia)

United was by far the worst airline I have flkon in terms of staff friendliness and assistance, both at check in and during the flight. Although I was travelling with a companion and had previously rung the airline to ensure we would be seated together, on check in we were not and were advised that there was nothing they could do. Once onboard the five hour flight I called for assistance and it took them over 20 minutes to respond to my request, and when they finally arrived and I asked for a pillow or blanket I was rudely informed that they did not have either, and the steward left just as abruptly with not so much as an apology. The whole time it felt like passengers were a huge inconvenience and they had no interest in making our flight a pleasurable one, despite it being announced on take off. The entertainment system was dismal and on a long haul flight from Australia to San Francisco, having to peer at a screen in the far distance is less then satisfying. All in all despite the cheap flight that it was, I will never fly with United again and would discourage anyone else who is looking for quality and comfort when travelling, particularly on long haul flights.

UNITED AIRLINES customer review :  13 October 2009 by G Lim   (Singapore)

SEA-IAD in Y+. Flight was on a relatively new A320. I arrived early at the airport and asked if I could exchanged my middle seat for an aisle. Check in agent was kind enough to upgrade me to Y+ (wonderful legroom) upon seeing my *A status. Flight was full but the flight attendants were courteous. As this was a red-eye, the only service offered were a couple rounds of drinks (but I slept a lot, so there might have been more rounds). There was no IFE, except audio (bring your own headphones).

UNITED AIRLINES customer review :  10 October 2009 by B Joiner   (Australia)

LAX to SFO. Flight in a B757 and departed around 30 minutes late. Upgraded to first which provided some, although not great, extra leg room. Minimal service even in first. Adequate but there are better options.

UNITED AIRLINES customer review :  6 October 2009 by C Farrell   (USA)

MUC-IAD First Class on 777-200. Very old interior. Seat margins dirty with lots of scuff marks, noticed duct tape on seat areas. After takeoff, learned that my lie flat seat had no power and would not move in the least. After about an hour, was able to move to a functional seat after the purser made an employee move to my broken one. Food awful. Flight attendants pleasant, but not as interested in providing service as they were in chatting in the galley. In all, should not be called First Class, but perhaps Economy Plus, Plus. Would not waste the miles or $$ again.

UNITED AIRLINES customer review :  29 September 2009 by P Baker   (USA)

Staff not very helpful or welcoming. Even on a 8 hour flight they do not provide any food or beverages for free. Even with charge they were out of meals - ie. sandwiches after a few rows served. Only chips or candies by paying unbelievable charge. This happened on both ways from Hawaii. Really spoiled our mood.

UNITED AIRLINES customer review :  28 September 2009 by G Dallas   (UK)

Honeymoon to Honolulu starting from Manchester, to London Heathrow-San Francisco-Honolulu- Maui return. The only problem was anything to do with the United Flights. United staff appear not to care and are rude, unhelpful, scruffy and make the flying with United experience what it is -awful. The seating and allocation is a joke, the food is very poor even on the long legs, the entertainment is tragic and ancient - United seem to have no interest in their passengers. The only normal sections of our flights were when United had nothing to do with them - flying BMI and GO. The choice for the future is simple, any airline as long as it is not United. Having flown on most of the major airlines and many of the not so major airlines for forty years plus in all classes, United win hands down as the worst airline I have had the displeasure to fly with. They have proved to be even worse than Aeroflot.

UNITED AIRLINES customer review :  28 September 2009 by David Maler   (France)

San Francisco - Paris via Chicago. Horrible experience checking in in SFO, no staff available, not competent and unfriendly. It took us 2 hours to get to the gates, flight delayed, endless queue to customer service desk to reschedule a flight. Aging transatlantic Boeing 767 - personal overhead lights out of order - all alcohol purchases for purchase and clearly overpriced. Food very average, very poor quality overall.

UNITED AIRLINES customer review :  28 September 2009 by S Jones   (UK)

MAN-LHR-SFO-HNL. I booked the flights to Hawaii in May of 2009 based solely on the fare offered by United. Other benefits of the flights were the relatively short connection times in both London and San Francisco. The cabin crew did seem overworked and a few could have been more agreeable; but generally they were on the ball offering us plenty of refreshments (although I begrudge paying for wine/beer on transatlantic routes) and the food, whilst somewhat paltry, was adequate. In fact one of the Cabin Crew noticed our vegetarian meals were particularly small and made a point of bringing us an extra sandwich each! Of our six flights, five departed on time and all arrived as scheduled. Legroom was very much limited and the LHR-SFO aircraft were somewhat tired. But I didn't ever feel as if safety had been compromised and the £500 we saved by flying United over BA was out to use by staying at higher end accommodations in Hawaii - isn't that what makes a good vacation in the end? I would fly United again - they got us there safely and on time but if you want AVOD and all the extra's then maybe United are not for you.

UNITED AIRLINES customer review :  24 September 2009 by Jim Henderson   (Australia)

Pittsburgh - San Francisco Economy.- My wife and I went in with very very low expectations of this airline and thankfully we did. Check-in was long and atrocious with a very indifferent almost hostile attitude dished out by staff. My wife and I booked our flights together online, however we were not seated together and told to "take it or leave it" - no apology what so ever. Despite paying for a full fare economy ticket we were slugged with an extra $60 in baggage fees as United do not accept luggage free of charge anymore as part of your fare. Flight left 40 minutes late with no explanation or apology and food and beverages can be obtained for a fee on board. Flight attendants don't care and it is best not to approach them as you may be abused from disturbing their leisure time in the galley. What an airline, I can't believe it has got to this state of affairs! Never again, not even if it was free.

UNITED AIRLINES customer review :  22 September 2009 by Qn Wasi   (Netherlands)

SFO-Chicago-Toronto: On the longer leg, seats that convert to flat beds. The seats are back to back so that half the passengers fly backwards. I found this no problem. Good entertainment system. The breakfast was a disaster. A soggy croissant and a few pieces of fruit on a 3.5 hour flight are not quite enough. The second flight was cancelled without so much as an apology. Two hours wait in the lounge. No internet access and you have to pay all drinks other than tap water. Ground staff arrogant and unhelpful. On the flight proper business class seats (with less leg room) but no food other than a bag of pretzels.

UNITED AIRLINES customer review :  22 September 2009 by Dianne Hoffman   (Australia)

On Monday 14th September at approx. 6 a.m. I checked in to flight UA 440 from Albany (via Chicago) to Los Angeles. I was confronted by a male check-in clerk who said I had to check-in myself. As I am an elderly person I asked if I could have assistant. He reluctantly helped me but his attitude was both intimidating and confrontational. I asked if my bags could be sent through to Australia from Albany and when I gave him the V Australia flight number he said it could not be done. (I knew it could be done as I had called United prior to my arrival at Albany and was told my bags could be checked right through to Australia). When I told the clerk this he again said it couldn't be done and I should have got the information in writing as he couldn't just take my word for it (not sure how I could have done that when I got the information over the phone). I finally found an old baggage tag which must have given him more information re V Australia and he finally accepted that my bags could be sent through to Australia from Albany. The point is why are United Staff so unhelpful, why do they go out of their way to try to intimidate passengers? Its as though they are doing you are giant favour and you have to put up with any behaviour they give - and to top it all off, he sent my bags on to Sydney instead of Brisbane (in Australia) but luckily the V Australia staff at LAX went out of their way to resolve the problem. Maybe United staff could take a few lessons from V Australia staff in attitude and customer relations!

UNITED AIRLINES customer review :  22 September 2009 by Ian Oliver   (Finland)

SFO-FRA. Onboard the service for an overnight flight adequate, though charging for alcoholic drinks is a bit much. Economy plus seating is bearable. IFE has a good selection of films, however B777 aircraft showing their age and don't match up to some Asian and European airlines. We couldn't see any difference between Economy Plus and Economy other than a couple of inches extra legroom - certainly United Airlines economy plus is far below the standards of say, BA and not worth the extra charge. United are not child or family friendly so don't expect any small gifts/toys for the children. Special children's meals seem to be impossible to obtain. Also be very aware of United Airlines baggage policy - it seems that they have a 25kg limited per case and 2 cases per person but can show absolutely no common sense if you have a family with one 26kg case and will charge accordingly (150 USD). United will offer boxes to transfer contents but charge 11USD cash for said box and then a further charge to take the now additional baggage. It is worth asking for a supervisor or higher if you get caught with a seemingly endless list of baggage issues at check-in. United's on-line check-in has problems if you have a connecting flight with another (but same alliance) airline. Pushchairs (strollers) can be taken to the gate but expect confusion from the gate-staff regarding whether it should have been tagged/checked.

UNITED AIRLINES review :  19 September 2009 by Betty Sims   (UK)

LHR-IAD-MCO return. Upgraded to extra legroom which made a difference and probably made the flights seem better than they were. Who devised the 2-5-2 seating? That is very odd and not particularly nice for some stuck in the middle of the row of 5. Flight from LHR to IAD on time, food ok, crew good but entertainment shocking. Flight IAD to LHR on time, food diabolical, crew poor - very disorganised, trolleys not loaded properly and no final cabin check for landing with seats declined and a couple of tables down. Entertainment again shocking. Would not want to be doing those internal flights very often as found them lacking quality in aircraft and crew.

UNITED AIRLINES review :  19 September 2009 by David Hargreaves   (UK)

LHR-SFO return B777 First Class. LHR check-In and security quick and efficient. T1 Lounge an improvement over T3 but lacks any natural light. B777 configuration is now feeling aged compared to other carriers. Service and food were good - friendly cabin crew were attentive. SFO Check-In as quick but Security Lines not as well organised. International Lounge is a little dated. Service as good on return flight, food choices a little heavy for overnight flight. Arrivals at LHR a breeze, 40 minutes between landing and leaving airport.

UNITED AIRLINES review :  18 September 2009 by Carl Mee   (UK)

My wife and I had a total of 6 flights with United - the first, and last time I will choose to fly with the company. London to Chicago the stewardesses were unhelpful, food was appalling). I pressed my call button 3 times during the flight and not once did anyone come to my assistance. 4 different attendants even walked past me when the light was on. The internal flights were okay (Chicago to Vegas, Vegas to San Fran, San Fran to Oahu and Kauai to LAX), and the baggage was looked after and arrived at our destinations with no issues. The flight home from LAX was the most uncomfortable and irritating flight ever. The heating changed from being freezing cold to sauna hot literally every 30 minutes for the entire 10 hour flight. Appalling customer services, cramped conditions (we were in the centre of the 5 row in a 777) and very poor in flight entertainment (no facility to pause your film or choose when to watch it). Absolutely the worst long haul airline I have ever had the misfortune to fly with.