UNITED AIRLINES   Passenger Reviews and Customer Trip Reports

UNITED AIRLINES review :  21 August 2009 by I Dementiev   (USA)

I was flying from Sacramento to Oklahoma City. I was supposed to fly from Sacramento to Denver (flight 410) and take a connecting flight form Denver to Oklahoma City. On the fight from SMF to DEN our flight was delayed for 40+ minutes because of technical problems. Because of that delay, I missed my connecting flight from Denver to Oklahoma City, which was obviously not my fault. As a result, I spent 9 hours at Denver airport. Boarding staff was not helpful at all - I felt like a piece of trash being kicked around from gate to gate. They would send me to gates B89, B60, B39 and so on. It seemed like no one wanted to deal with my problem.

UNITED AIRLINES review :  18 August 2009 by Carole Guerard   (Canada)

An overnight flight from LA to Boston with no pillows or blankets! Throughout the flight the attendants were sleeping I suppose. Because after the drink they served us at departure I had to wait a long time for a glass of water nearly at landing.

UNITED AIRLINES review :  17 August 2009 by T Beveridge   (Australia)

SYD-SFO-YVR return. I did not expect the quality of service one gets from Qantas, but the trip cost $1,875 per head rather than $4,100 in economy class. The aircraft were fine, everything worked and no bits fell off. There is room for improvement on the cabin staff area. Drinks $6 each. On a a value for money basis, UA were fine - no complaints. Do not make the mistake of comparing UA to Singapore, Cathay, Qantas or Virgin, as you will be disappointed.

UNITED AIRLINES review :  15 August 2009 by Lisa Heschong   (USA)

SMF to ORD. United Airlines staff are well trained to follow rules, but not to solve problems. I just got bumped from another UA flight, because I arrived a bit too close to the cut off time. It turns out I could have walked on board with my two bags, but wasted 15 minutes first having to go through the computer check in, complete with three attempts at upgrade sells, before I was finally allowed to ask my question to a real person, who then was more interested in telling me the check-in rules than how I could get on the plane. By then, I'd legitimately missed the flight cut off time. I counted eight UA employees wandering in and out of the check out area, chatting, sipping coffee, but only one belleagured agent trying to help the passengers. When I fly Southwest, every employee acts like they are personally empowered to help you, and amazingly, there are very few problems or delays.

UNITED AIRLINES review :  14 August 2009 by W Mackee   (USA)

SFO-JFK PS Premium Service flight. Not as slick as Virgin America or JetBlue, but not as cramped. The economy plus seating throughout has made the 757 almost humane. On this flight we were in Business - comfortable seats, good work space. Pre-dinner cocktail and healthy wine pours of not terrible wines. Food neither awful nor memorable. There was an abundance of service. Aside from one sour, disinterested flight attendant, this flight was almost enjoyable. PS is a good product, and hoping that UAL doesn't decide to muck it up.

UNITED AIRLINES review :  13 August 2009 by M Simons   (UK)

LHR-IAD-MCO-LHR. Checked in online day before. Bag drop queue took longer than regular check in but seats as requested. B767-300 which had seen better days - small seatback TVs , very limited choice. Crew very senior and not very friendly. Transfer through IAD a breeze - 20 minutes. I asked the immigration guy where the queues were, and he said it was luck as an early flight in. Transfer onto a new airbus - premium economy and quite a few spare seats. Very comfortable and pleasant and friendly steward. Flight back luckily checked in on-line. Advised by screen prompt that the domestic flight was delayed and we would not make the connection. Worryingly the screen prompt also stated there were no alternative or standbys available. After a number of calls I was finally offered a route via Chicago if I could get to the airport in 45 minutes - luckily I could! Initially they stated we would not be able to sit together and would have seats allocated at the gate. As I paid for the economy plus upgrade in advance I was assertive that I expected to have E+ seats. The check in agent was surly and rude, gate staff more pleasant and accommodating, and managed to seat us together in E+. ORD- LHR another 767-300 - my wife's seat was falling apart (which they fixed with tape) and the entertainment system was the small screens again with poor sound quality. The cabin was also terribly overheated - a breeding ground for germs in the current climate! All in all a real mixed bag!

UNITED AIRLINES review :  10 August 2009 by R Taylor   (UK)

I booked a return flight from LHR to IAD. The flight out of LHR was overbooked and we were not given confirmed seats until boarding. I had booked this flight well in advance and had expected to be allocated seats on check-in. The return flight my wife and I were allocated seats at check-in but not together. I queried this with the assistants at the gate and was informed that the seats are pre allocated and that they would try to seats to enable my wife and I to sit together. So the question I want answering is if a couple book a flight well in advance, why are they not allocated seats together.

UNITED AIRLINES review :  10 August 2009 by S Verbeeck   (Belgium)

BRU-IAD-YUL-IAD-BRU, a decent fare for the flights. Since I'm 6'7" I was a bit worried that I wouldn't be able to get a decent seat in the plane, since I live near BRU I stopped at the airport and went to the ticketing desk where I bought E+ access. With seat 17G giving on the outward journey I had a good place onboard B772 to IAD. Onboard they offered free newspapers, the IFE was the old tape system. The seat next to me was kept free. My next flight was codeshare flight on AC Jazz and this is the biggest mistake I made. The plane was a tiny CRJ and I was issued a window seat - in a CRJ not a pleasant seat. The lack of service, wrong information, refusal of changing seats in an empty plane were to much. Fortunately my flight back from YUL was an EMB170 from UAX. I lost my E+ seating on the IAD-BRU sector but they gave me an exit seat.

UNITED AIRLINES review :  9 August 2009 by S Birkett   (UK)

Economy from London to San Francisco return and quite enjoyed the experience. The staff were laid back, friendly and unobtrusive. The food was reasonable, with meals/snacks served at regular intervals. Drinks offered regularly and able to go get drinks when we wanted in between. Entertainment reasonable with some good films. We picked UA because they were the cheapest.

UNITED AIRLINES review :  8 August 2009 by A Gurevich   (USA)

Seattle-Narita First Class Boeing 777. Check in done on line, and I proceeded right to the Red Carpet Lounge. Seattle lounge is for Business and First Classes with no separate areas, and adequate. It's quiet, has no windows, and a very minimal selection of food. The configuration on the 777 is with sleeper beds, but the set-up is quite old. The only place this presents any issue is in the entertainment system, which continues in First Class to mostly be mini-DVD tapes. The service and food were fine, and my only negative comment is that, when I asked if there was a power outlet for my computer, I was told there was, but that I needed a separate power cable to use it. When I asked for one, I was told I had to buy one from the on-board duty free - US$130! Considering the cost of a First Class ticket, it is quite something, even given the economic condition of airlines, that United does not provide a power cable in First Class.

UNITED AIRLINES review :  8 August 2009 by John Maley   (Australia)

SYD-SFO-LHR. Very efficient boarding to new First Suites. Impressed with food and friendly and efficient service. San Francisco is such a pleasant airport with friendly immigration officers - unusual for the USA. Easy transit with efficient and pleasant lounge where I had a shower and given a nice toiletry pack to use. Older 777 from SFO, slight delay in getting away due to a technical problem but they kept us informed. Great, friendly cabin crew. I was very pleasantly surprised with the overall service which was made good by the efforts of staff.

UNITED AIRLINES review :  8 August 2009 by Ron Kuhlmann   (USA)

SFO/BOS/SFO, out Y class, Back F class. Unable to use upgrade on the outbound and found it to be typical with minimal service and indifference from the crew. The return however was very good. I have used upgrades elsewhere and found that the service in First can be just as poor as in Y, but this time that was not the case. We had a considerable delay on departure from BOS but ground staff kept passengers advised and updated on the situation. Onboard there were additional announcements and apologies that were well done. The food was quite good - a delicious chicken sandwich and the staff were both attentive and friendly. Overall, the flight far exceeded expectations and was a plus in the UA column.

UNITED AIRLINES review :  8 August 2009 by Paul Chandler   (UK)

Have recently done a transatlantic + a couple of internal flights on United / United Express and found them to be better than anticipated. The breakfast on the early flight from London Heathrow to Chicago was pretty good and cabin crew were polite & attentive. One of the British ones deserved special mention as she gave up her meal to a passenger whose veggie meal had not been loaded. The internal flight from Chicago to Green Bay was only on a small regional jet and given the short flight time only water was offered which was not a problem. Flight attendant did seem to be very bored when doing the pa's etc. Return flight from Appleton a couple of weeks later was a little late in departing and no service was offered (was not expecting any given the short flight time). Food onboard better than anticipated - often the food from the USA to europe is not as good as the other way but the pasta dish offered was fine. Again cabin crew were polite and attentive. United seem to have made it a policy to have a couple of British cabin crew on each transatlantic flight - perhaps I was just lucky as they certainly made the difference. The inflight entertainment system on the 767's is getting very out of date now when compared to the 777 of United and other airlines and the audio on my seat was not working.

UNITED AIRLINES review :  8 August 2009 by David Howe   (Canada)

United Express Ottawa to Chicago, nice, well kept aircraft (CRJ) and very hard working FA. Old 757-200 Chicago-Miami. Needed refurbishment but very clean. Crew worked very hard and were delightful. Plenty of leg room, but they need to stop charging for baggage to encourage passengers to check their bags. Snack boxes for sale were excellent with interesting high quality contents. While certainly not the United of 25 years ago, I still think it is superior to many of the other US main carriers. It was efficient, clean and very friendly.

UNITED AIRLINES review :  8 August 2009 by Jay Sitlani   (USA)

AMS-IAD on B767-300 in Business Class. Their new Business Class seat is excellent - lie-flat, good cushioning, great IFE screen with a good choice of movies and other entertainment. Seats are 2-2-2, so you do have to clamber over your seatmate to get aisle access if you're seated by the window. Service standards quite good. Cocktail service is accompanied by warmed nuts, the meal service is acceptable though predictable, and service, while not exactly warm and fuzzy, is professional.