United Airlines

The United Airlines Boeing 737-800 seat comfort is tragic for anyone larger than a small child. At first they seem like modern standard sseats: pitch 31, width 17.3 and a 3" recline. But when that passenger in front of you reclines, tragedy ensues. I was on a 4-1/2 hour flight from Houston to Vancouver. Air rage, I nearly lost it. Never again will I book a flight with this 737-800. Or so I'd like to think. It amused me to realize that now that the airlines have finally installed power in nearly all of the economy seats you can no longer hold anything larger than a tablet or a phone, and they don't need to be plugged in. Putting a laptop on the miniscule fold-out table? I truly despair. They've got us where they want us and we can do nothing but squawk into our lukewarm beer.

United Airlines used to be my favorite but this is no longer the case. The new slim seats are one of the worst experiences I have encountered. What they do not tell you is that you need to be a size 6 for women and for men no larger than a 34. Literally you are a sardine in plane. I could not move, stand or go to the bathroom without having 2 rows move. The table tray is smaller than an ultrabook computer. I flew from Tampa to NJ and my legs were numb at the end. PS. I am a size 8. Apparently, I need to lose weight if I want to fly United and also get an isle seat, so I can stand most of the flight.

Booked travel and paid for economy plus. Checked in for return flight and was bumped from economy plus. Called customer service and spoke to manager - attitude sucked and I quote "you should be greatful that is the worse that has happened to you". I guess the new United Airlines customer service classes are screw the customer and repeat over and over company policy on booking flights. Annoy the customer to the max until they hang up. Do not offer to refund or make any accommodations - once again screw the customer.

Horrible experience with United Airlines. I bought my tickets online only to learn of the new(er) policy that I have to buy a seat, too. The "complimentary" seats were taken, so I had no option other than to hope a free seat became available or buy a seat for an additional $54.

On my flight from Chicago O'Hare to Buffalo, a short flight, I enjoyed United Airlines EconomyPlus which offered extra legroom, and a window seat all to myself. Service was basic and I was offered a complimentary can of Sprite. Inflight Entertainment was DirecTV, which was useless to pay for on an hour flight. I ended up dimming all the screens in my row due to the nuisance it caused. The slimline seats were a little uncomfortable, I wouldn't want to sit in front of an exit row, because those seats do not recline.

It would be so easy to fill this with expletives on how poor the United Airlines flight service and quality was during this flight. In simple terms and ease to understand when you fly United Airlines you go back a decade in air travel at minimum. In this day and age of advanced in-seat entertainment United Airlines have chosen to disregard the traveller and still use the large bulkhead screens. When asked if I would like a drink I replied "Yes please - Gin&Tonic". Would I like the whole tin of tonic? "Yes please" (at the same time thinking is she smoking pot - of course I want the whole tin, isn't that normal)? Tonic opened, gin opened and handed to me - of course with a smile. "Can I have your credit or debit card please", "Why?" "To pay for the drink Sir - Luxury drinks including spirits and wine are extra charge". Consequently both the G&T made their way back to the trolley - less of a smile now. Can I have a ginger ale in replacement please? Tin opened, drink poured and rest of tin back on the trolley. "Can I have the tin please?" "No Sir - that's for other passengers".

This layout would seem comfortable but it wasn't. In fact it was horrible. No legroom, horrible IFE, and an unpleasing position. I was put in the center seat of the middle section. Recline wasn't too bad and neither the width. But because United is using that personal entertainment thing they should at least add power outlets to keep your device charged throughout the flight.

We recently flew on United Airlines as a family with a child. We preselected the seats during purchase. But upon check in (I meant both legs), we found out the selected seats were taken away from us and instead we were assigned random middle seats spreading through the aircraft. This means our child was forced to be seated with strangers. I immediately called and was told it was United's protocol to seat family together, especially those with children. Unfortunately the gate agent informed us, there was no seats available that she was unable to put us together. I need to make it very clear, there was no airplane or equipment change, at least none that I could detect, and the flight was on time. I thought this was an isolated incidence that we were so unlucky to have this occurred on us on both legs. But we met another family that was traveling on different route and dates, they had the similarly but worse experience. They printed the boarding passes the day ahead. Only found out they were assigned random middle seats during the curbside luggage check in. Their small child was forced to sit with strangers during an 8 hour flight.

While the seats are comfortable, the entertainment box takes up a significant portion of the underneath space in the foot area in front of you. Also the seat supports will block your left leg from seats A-C and your right leg on seats D-F. Lastly, the protective strip on the floor is particularly uncomfortable when sitting in seat positions C or D.

SFO-HKG yesterday. We had a really nice flight on Economy Plus - seats were comfortable with good legroom and good width (I'm 5"9), food was delicious and service was really good. Snacks and drinks available throughout the flight in the galley. Although there were not any personal TV's, a few movies were played on the overhead screens. We were seated in 21A and 21C, therefore we had a good view of the TV's. A flaw with United is the movies they show everyone on the overhead TV screens. I was shocked at amount of explicit sexual stuff in the movies, and adding onto that - theft, crime, violence, lots of kissing - in the movies they show. There were toddlers on the flight, and lots of children/teenagers that mostly were on a school trip. As a teenager, I was appalled by the entertainment shown to everyone - I believe that United should choose the movies that are shown carefully. Despite this, the rest of the flight was enjoyable.