United Airlines

San Diego to Detroit via Houston. This was the return leg of the trip we started on December 25th. Of the 4 legs we had, only 1 leg was our family of 5 kept together. Usually my youngest minor child (13) was placed somewhere else on the plane apart from the rest of the family. Having purchased these tickets in February 2015, I find it very hard to believe that the flight was so full at the time of purchase that my family couldn't be kept together. United had my $3000 for 10 months before the flight as I paid at the time of booking. Then, when we arrive in Houston 18 minutes early,we sit on the runway waiting for our gate to be cleared. Then when the gate gets cleared 10 minutes later, they decide to change gates. What should have been a 1 hour layover is now down to a race to go from terminal c to terminal b. We double check the Airport Board to make sure we have the right gate and that the plane is on time. We do, and it says it is. We race to B76 and stand there. And stand there. Finally 10 minutes after we were supposed to start boarding we are told that the flight is delayed because they are short 1 Flight Attendant. 10 minutes later we are told the Flight Attendant for our flight called off sick, after we were told that the flight attendant was on the ground. This process continued for almost 2 hours, while they "searched" for a flight attendant. The time was continually bumped by 15 minutes, then a half hour, never really allowing any of us an opportunity to go get food, even though many of us had not eaten since breakfast. On top of all this, I was originally scheduled to go from San Diego to Chicago to Detroit, and the airline changed my flight without my knowledge 2 days before we departed. Because of the airlines delay I was forced to rent a car in Detroit as my arranged transportation couldn't meet us after a 2 hour delay. This cost me an additional $100 as it was a last minute car rental on a holiday. I find the lack of customer service, the unfriendly seating of a family of 5 in 3 different sections of the plane to be unsatisfactory. Once United Airlines have your money you are at their mercy and they do not care. This will be the last time this family flies on United.

Los Cabos to Newark return with United Airlines. The flight was on time, new plane and comfortable seats, but the problem is that in a 5hr 30min flight you had to pay for food - food was also very expensive, and there was not enough food for all the passengers, so I bought the last two snack that very tasty chips and disgusting nuts. Flight attendants took more than a hour to serve everything. On the return flight EWR-SJD, when we got to the airport staff told us that the flight was canceled, but it wasn't. On the flight the same issue, food for purchase on a 6hr 30min flight - another problem was you had to pay for your baggage. On both flights there was no entertainment. Flight attendants friendly and did their job professionally.

I flew United Airlines to Houston for Christmas and was very pleasantly surprised with the service. Flying business class was not that much more than economy and the food was good, the seats were comfortable, and throughout the 4 hour flight the flight attendants came through constantly to ensure we had everything we needed (and cheerful no less). As a final good note, my checked bag was the first one to come out in baggage claim which showed the small attention to details to people flying in business class. I have had some bad experiences with United in the past, so I am hopeful that this experience is a sign that things are improving with this airline.

Houston to Frankfurt. Onboard one of the flights that were hit by the server breakdown on 28th December. As a result of the delay, missed my connection from Frankfurt to Delhi. Ground staff were left completely helpless and could do nothing about it. However, the crew did a marvelous job, were polite and made it hard for me to believe I was flying United Airlines. Seated on 1A, the flight attendant for that section was one of the most polite and attentive cabin staff I have come across. Seats were good, very comfortable and had a good sleep. New Entertainment system was impressive, with the touch screen remote control (similar to Turkish's 777-300ER). Even though the flight was delayed by over 3 hours, Lufthansa was kind enough to divert us to London and then to Delhi.

Birmingham UK to Orlando via Newark. Having pushed back from the gate we were told that a fuel pump had failed so rather than return to the gate and let us wait for the repairs in the lounge they parked us on a stand away from the terminal (Cheaper that way). Two hours later we finally left Birmingham. We noticed a 'Check Pilot' leave the flight deck to sit behind us for the flight to Newark. As we approached Newark the 'Check Pilot' re-entered the flight deck. He must have made either the Captain or First Officer nervous because we came in way too high and had to abort the landing, so around we went again by which time we had no chance of catching our flight to Orlando. The Captain informed us that the aborted landing was due to 'wind'. Yeh right, don't insult your passengers intelligence! On the ground we went to the United desk to get seats on the next flight down to Orlando. Desk clerk informed us that although we had four 'first class' seats booked and paid for, there were only three first class seats available, therefore one of the party would have to take a seat in 'coach'. OK these thing happen but we would obviously get a refund of the difference (about $250). That was in March 2015 - we made the claim in April 2015 on our return to the UK. Our travel agent received an offer from United of $100 and chose to make up the difference because of the trade we give him. We are still waiting for the refund from United! I travelled regularly between Birmingham UK and Jacksonville FL when the company was Continental with no problems. Since United have taken over, the airline is a disgrace. Having had a rubbish flight from London Heathrow to San Francisco on United a few years ago I was dubious about flying with them again. My doubts were well founded. Never again! The senior management should be looking for other jobs, preferably not in the airline industry.

I have been a consistent critic of United Airlines when they have deserved it. But check in at Tokyo Narita for this itinerary was wonderful, especially since I was combining two reservations (Tokyo to Los Angeles and Los Angeles to Traverse City via Chicago) and the agent didn't have to check me through. Flight out of LAX was delayed but a very helpful agent at the Customer Service counter rebooked me, found my luggage in the system and rerouted it. It was a long day but everyone I dealt with at UA was helpful and courteous. Sometimes one gets out of these interactions with UA personnel what one puts into them.

United Airlines is the absolute worst airline and their staff at SFO mirrors how they operate as a company. I booked my flight to cancun a few weeks ago and was flying out yesterday morning. Upon arrival, the plane was overbooked with 120 passengers and only 100 seats. I was of course the odd person out. I was rebooked this morning for a flight out, same time and same flight number. Woke up at 4:30am to take the train to SFO and arrived to find out the flight was cancelled. At this point, I am finished with United Airlines and done with this horrific mess of a situation. I talked to an agent to cancel my roundtrip flight and tried to search for my checked bag (which I checked for my original flight yesterday). Turns out that despite promising me that my bag would not leave to Cancun without its passenger, it ended up going yesterday morning on the overbooked flight. Now I sit here, with my holiday travel plans destroyed and a lost bag. I have to go back to SFO for a 3rd time tomorrow or Friday to pick it up. They ruined my new year and hopes of an exciting vacation.

By far the worst experience I have had with an airline. Flying United Airlines from Melbourne to Mexico through LAX, the flights were delayed for 6 hours. Had a similar experience on the way back and United lost our luggage! The customer service is rude and unhelpful. While waiting in the long line for customer service at LAX I overheard one of United's customer service agents joking about how she directed one customer to take the long way around the airport to intentionally cause him grief. My advice is to do anything you can to avoid flying with United Airlines. The small amount of money you may save with them is not worth the trauma. This is an airline offering the poorest quality service they can get away with.

Newark to Atlanta. I am so disappointed with the service United Airlines provide. The customers service reps at Newark are so rude and disrespectful. There were only three reps working and I was sent to two different lines and had to wait in the lines at least 2 hours and I was more than early for my flight. No one informed me that my flight was cancelled. I didn't get a call email or text. I spent 90 dollars for a cab. Her words were "oh well that's not happening tonight" and "your flight is non refundable so". I ended up having to choose a different airline. I've never had such an unpleasant experience. United Airlines workers are of no assistance and have the worst attitudes when you need help.

Pittsburgh to London via Chicago. I am American, but live in the UK, so I make frequent trips to the US with my 6 year old daughter. I make an enormous effort not to fly any US carriers when I travel because the inflight experience is on average materially worse than virtually any other airline I know of. United however takes the cake as the worst. The reason I write this review is not because we were stranded overnight somewhere or held up on a tarmac for hours on end. I write this review because of the simple, every day occasions where United flight attendants and staff make flying unpleasant. On one flight, I sat with my sleeping daughter in my lap, call light on, for about 20 mins just to request a cup of water. I finally get the attention of a flight attendant, and she boldly waves me off and never comes to offer assistance. On my last flight, the flight attendant was so impolite at my request for 3 beverages between my daughter and me, I wondered if she was personally bearing the cost of the drinks. Today, I'm connecting through Chicago, and my minor daughter and I are not sitting together. At bag check in, they couldn't reseat me. And at the gate, I swear the steward took pleasure in not being able to do anything to reassign our seats. Instead of offering apologies, he blankly stared at me and repeated - word for word - a useless statement that I'd have to ask for assistance on board. Not only did this leave my 6 year old daughter crying, but after asking 4 people already, I'm to believe that the crew on board are going to do anything? It seems reasonable that United Airlines should be able to ensure children aren't flying alone; but even if they can't, you'd think their staff might not be so put out by their own jobs that they're wholly insensitive to the distress they're causing passengers. If anyone at United - or more importantly, the unions - is reading this review, it might help to prepare your employees for a career in public relations, or perhaps train them in being less hostile to paying customers.