United Airlines

Our last series of flights (from the UK to the USA and also within the USA) were quite simply the worst travel experience we have had in over 30 years of being regular international and national travellers. Staff in the business class lounge were unhelpful badly informed and unfriendly. Flight was delayed and we were initially held sitting on board for several hours. Then had to de-board and a few hours later the flight was cancelled. We had to exit through the baggage hall. Despite having a lot of baggage and having already been assured we could leave our checked baggage with United staff one member of staff told us "we won't look after this anybody can take it and it's not our responsibility and then decided to insist we take our bags out immediately. The hotel United put us in was dreadful. Put on a fight the following day. We used air miles to upgrade to business class: United's configuration of the new extra-slim business class seats is awful. 2x4x2. Paying business class and being stuck in the middle with no dividers between two people you don't know? Hardly classy treatment! Seats are so thin that anyone with broad shoulders will be very uncomfortable. One of the internal flights in the USA was so cold that everyone sat shivering in their overcoats. At every airport in the USA staff were at best ungracious and unfriendly. Everything was too much trouble for them. United has also downgraded its Silver status so that now you only get one free bag not two. It is very sad to see the appalling way that United Airlines' service has plummeted.

FLL to EWR to SFO. UA1024 for the EWR leg firstly the pilot taxied too close to the corner and got stuck in snow. Solved that with a pull out and then the fun started. Pilot came on and said we are rerouted and he doesn't have enough fuel but that he is protesting with the tower. Over an hour later we are at a gate being fuelled. The gate agent refused to assist me in finding another route home since 2 hours had passed and I was certain I'd missed my connection in SFO. No hotel because they said the delay was due to weather not incompetence. The new customer focus they speak of is a facade. Flight was Feb 21. SFO has comfortable chairs but not to sleep on.

I'm currently sitting at the gate for my United flight at LAX. A gentleman came out of the gate off of a flight obviously in a hurry and quickly asked where the connecting flight for Newark was. The staff here looked at him like it was the most inconvenient question in the world. They closed the doors for the tarmac before all passengers were inside which left them outside knocking on the door. Not one member of the staff let them in so an airline customer opened the door which set off an alarm. Again the staff did nothing and let the alarm go off for minutes. Definitely not impressed not to mention every time the gal came over the loud speaker she sounded like se had no clue what was going on. She kept getting flights confused and putting out wrong information. I will make sure I don't fly with them again.

2 flights Feb 14 and Feb 17 LAX-SFO both last about 1 hour. Check in was a breeze though the process within LAX domestic wing can be a bit testy. Full flight on both ways with only drinks service given on economy. No entertainment system just some random loop of Olympic commercial. Flight attendants are organized and accommodating. Storage was a bit tricky and always a pain since all pax are not checking luggage so it gets full leg room is quite cramped even though I'm only 5'8''. Landing was good and was out the airport within 10 minutes. first leg was delayed 1 hour due to late turn around of the plane pilots were very informative throughout. Flights used ancient 737 and 757 on this leg so it can get stuffy. It wasn't bad but wasn't spectacular either just something that will get you from point a to b without much fuss.

0 for 3! United Airlines failed to depart all of my flights this week on time by greater than an hour. Two of which were in excess of 2 hours. This resulted in my decision to cancel my last leg (which I was going to miss anyway) with them and drive 5 hours in the middle of the night to get to my destination. I didn't want to take the risk of staying overnight and not getting home. Apparently they don't have any concern for their customers and their timelines. Probably won't fly with them again.

PSP-Houston-Washington-Ottawa. Arrived 1 hour and 45 mins prior to departure. In PSP they had 3 flights (Denver San Fran and Houston) all leaving within 30 mins. They had 3 attendants each flight left without people who were left in line because of the counter delays. Staff were less than helpful. No organization no communication. We got to the gate with 5 mins to spare. On the Houston - Washington segment they arrived with time left on the inflight movie - so no one saw the ending. I will not use United again.

Really simple flight from Los Angeles CA to Newark NJ at 11.30pm then a connecting flight from Newark NJ to Boston MA (1.5 hrs buffer). Total time should have been 6-7 hours. Problems started in Los Angeles when the gate person told us that there was a mechanical problem on the plane. Many people had connecting flights and so a long line formed. One person was at the desk creating new boarding passes. For some reason it took him about 10000 keystrokes to issue each pass. Two hours he issued a total of two boarding passes. The line became exceedingly long and then he called in a manager who whispered in his ear then left. Another associate came in talked to the associate at the counter and walked away. Flight arrives late and then I have to wait 7 hours for another flight to Boston. Total travel time ended up being over 17 hours. Horrible experience inept customer service.

Flew FRA-EWR and IAD-FRA last week and I have to confess: flying United is like blind tasting every-flavor beans. Their website and mobile app are an atrocity then again the flights were absolutely fine. The 15+ years old B777s with refurbished 3-3-3 cabins are way more spacious than many of the newer planes though 31" seat pitch in coach feels borderline cramped. IFE screens are tiny but the AVOD selection is downright impressive. Unlike previous trips the staff were courteous attentive and efficient. Even the meals were rather delicious as far as airline food goes. There was plenty of drinks throughout the flight frequent updates from the crew and we even cut down a 40min delay to an on-time arrival to FRA - altogether an enjoyable travel experience.

YWG-ORD-FLL-ORD-YWG. Check seemed more complicated than other carriers but did manage to figure it out. Left YWG on-time. Arrived into ORD more or less on time. Had 50 minutes to get to next gate which was miles away. Got to the gate with about 10 minutes to spare. 4/7 of my group members got seats. Three were put up in a hotel for the afternoon and the closest United could get them to FLL the same day was to fly to MEM. They arrived in MEM only having to drive 13 hours to get to FLL. They were fairly compensated that was the only good part of the outbound trip. On the way back check in was a breeze as it was deserted. Ended up getting to the gate with about 2 hours to spare. Plane was delayed about 25 minutes aggravating but didn't lose any sleep over it. Got into ORD a couple minutes late. My connection to YWG was supposed to be 40 minutes but our plane which was coming in from SAV was 4.5 hours late leaving thus delaying us 4.5 hours. I was insulted as we only received a $7 voucher. The only shop that was open was a McDonald's which was in the American Airlines terminal which was miles away. Winnipeggers don't have much choice in air travel but I will do my best to avoid United in the future.

LAX-JFK EWR-LAX. Pros: two helpful ground agents and warm friendly lounge staff at LAX. Decent IFE and comfortable seat for the 5 hour flight. Cons: Too many to mention but mainly staff attitude about everything. Even the simplest task is completed with a sigh and a roll of the eyes. I've never experienced boarding a flight before while the crew talked amongst themselves and literally ignored passengers boarding - not even a request to show boarding passes. I've honestly never been tested with such consistent disdain by employees of a company to which I'm paying a considerable chunk of money. It got to the point where I just smiled to myself with amusement at their unprofessional and frankly useless and unhelpful manner. I only flew UA as a code share with AirNZ but can honestly say I will never ever waste my time or money again.