United Airlines

Flight 914 from CDG to MCI with connection at Washington Dulles on Jan 14 in Economy class. The product featured by United is sub-standard. Of course ageing aircraft in the main leg (767) is clean and well maintained and this is the minimum you can expect from one of the largest airlines in the world. Check-in boarding operations baggage everything ok. Seats are standard. VOD is poor with very limited options and not user friendly. The music program was out of order for this flight and films not plenty. Besides on individual screens maps are not detailed and this system is less advanced than 20 years ago (I am not joking) in Asian companies. Also flight information is given exclusively in feet inches miles just if the metric system does not exist in the rest of the world! Regarding meals they are almost edible. We had chicken with some sauce (more sweet than sour) a large salad with a too smallish cup of dressing (good) and a kind of sponge cake pompously christened crumble – wrapped in a cello paper printed European quality but made in Alabama. All in a very small slippy tray complimented with picnic cutlery (100% plastic). And of course passengers have to pay 7.99 $ for one beer. Ridiculous. By the way a sandwich (not bad) was served before landing but do not expect more than water between meal and snack. Fruit juices ice creams and other open bar is a dream out of reach at United. Attitude of cabin crew very professional (attendants have apparently about 20/25 years experience) working efficiently but not cheerful (friendly skies really?) in very bland uniforms which could be copied from Railways of the 70’ Being familiar with Asian and Middle East airlines I find United well below what you may expect from such a large corporation.

United Premium Economy is a gamble it seems to be directly dependent on the type of aircraft you are flying. On a 777 the seats are nice and spacious the services (seatback entertainment) are premium and you can really feel the extra legroom making the extra charge totally worthwhile. On a 747 the opposite is true I had more room in Economy on an Airbus than I did in Premium Economy on a 747. On the 747 I couldn't even fit my very small backpack under the seat in front of me and what little legroom I had was obstructed by a large piece of plastic. The aisles were noticeably narrower as well which made every beverage service an exercise in getting smacked with a cart (not fun on a 13 hour flight). I did notice there was an extra seat in every row on the 747 which is probably were all that extra room went. Also relying on the old school movie screens meant that even if you were trying to sleep a bright light was shining in your face. On the bright side as always the crew were nice courteous and professional. Long story short though? If you're going to spring for the Economy Plus make sure you're on the right type of plane it makes a big difference.

I flew to London on the so called "Dreamliner". United is so bad they have now changed out the seats in coach to the same tiny seats for short commuter flights. United plus is not a better seat or service just more leg room which is the least of the issues unless your over 6 feet tall. Beer and Wine are now $7 each! They are free on European airlines with more comfortable seats. I used to be bothered when they cancelled direct flights from Houston to Paris. Now I don't have to chose between United and Air France!

We had truly horrible service from the first flight out to the last flight of the return trip. United booked us to fly into Newark to connect with a flight out of JFK - we got the joy of finding this out when we checked in. On the return flight from Zurich the cabin crew announced that they were short staffed due to management cut- backs. Translation in our case where we were seated near the rear of the plane is that we got one small sandwich six hours into the flight. I would have killed for a glass of water and maybe some food. Then our connecting flight to Raleigh was cancelled due to 'weather' and therefore we were responsible for our own sleeping arrangements. The 'weather' in Raleigh was drizzle. Our bags went American and arrived on time. A complaint to United was not even met with an apology. Instead they offered of a $100 voucher for future travel with them!

I try to avoid flying United when I can but as I was with Continental I sort of inherited their frequent flyer program. So my review is of a recent flight this last summer but also of their frequent flyer plan which unless you are a Business flyer I would avoid. It's almost impossible to move up to Gold with them. I flew 50K miles flew on them 4 times but failed to spend 5000 dollars on their tickets because I live overseas and usually fly Turkish and claim the miles because I thought they were in the same alliance which it turns out isn't really true - at least not for United. The flight we took was from London to Houston. Cancelled because it's United and we were placed on a flight to NYC in an effort to get us to a flight that connected to Texas which we missed so then they put us on a flight to Chicago so that they wouldn't have to pay for a Hotel etc ad nauseam. Funnily enough our flight back to London from Texas had one leg cancelled because it's United and they told us to drive from Austin to Houston but that's another story altogether. The plane we were on from London to NYC was just about clean enough my gluten free meal was gone because it's United (My flight had been cancelled and my meal with it) and the entertainment system was down because it's United. Needless to say I am now with the FF program of Turkish Airlines and will never fly United again unless it's impossible due to US monopolistic practices. Don't fly United.

LAX-MEL - B787-8 - Overall a good flight. Equipment changed from a B787-9 to a B787-8. Not too disappointed since it was still a Dreamliner but the change to the smaller aircraft had the consequence that a baby was moved from the forward business class to the 3 Business rows in the mid-section. A baby on 16 hrs flight - not recommended. Flight departed from LAX 1.5 hr late. Basically waited on board for 1.5 hrs. Everyone had already boarded so we were in this plane for at least 17 hrs. Flight uneventful new Dreamliner is a really great airplane large windows very airy cabin. Seat is good except that not every seat has direct aisle access. Inflight Entertainment great good selection of movies TV shows. Service was attentive (above usual United average) Food was decent. Unfortunately United does not supply their Business customers with Fast passes for Melbourne Airport Immigration so waited almost 1 hr to get through on top of the 1.5 hr delay. All in all a great plane and can recommend if you are traveling to Melbourne.

I am currently sitting on the flight that was supposed to depart at 6.05 am from NY to Dayton. It is 6.40 am and we have not taken off. We have been sitting on the plane for almost an hour due to "maintenance issues." I am not going to make my connection and this is after the exact same issue on the flight I took to NY. I was sceptical to book a flight with United based on anecdotal experience with friends and family but now I am experiencing it first hand on both legs of the trip. The first flight of the day and it is delayed? It is evident how United does business. By the way no word on when we are leaving.

Flying now United Airlines round the world starting from Europe. Never again on a UA flight unless it is the last choice. They started me on a feeder flight from Oslo to Frankfurt only to tell me that they pushed me 24 hours on their flight to Chicago because they simply cancelled the flight that day. I did not accept and got across with Air Canada but ended in Toronto rather than USA. Had 5 internal flights in the US scheduled time seems an approximate time not a target for UA. I boarded in Washington on UA803 via Japan with same flight number going to Singapore. After boarding we sat excess 15 hours in the plane awaiting for UA to finish their maintenance. Arrived Tokyo only about 40 minutes late but was told too late to board the 803 flight to Singapore. On arrival I had a good 30 minutes and only hand luggage. Tough luck same flight number means 2 different airplanes on the two legs and no margin to be late crossing the Pacific. 6 hours waiting with shifting to Haneda. Business class and Star Alliance Gold card means nothing to UA's level of service. Never UA again.

I flew from San Francisco to Managua and the overall value and service was typical for United. United has the worst food and in-flight entertainment in the industry. The flight attendants want to serve you food immediately after the flight begins so they can chatter in the forward and rear galleys of the airplane. Low fat potato chips and cookies are not a snack they are the lowest cost food options that you can offer your customers. United Airlines overall is of the worst carriers for inflight services in the airline industry. I was in Business/First and they wanted me to pay for both the internet and DirectTV why don't you just consider me a customer that hates your airlines and that will avoid you at all costs.

Newark to Fort Lauderdale on 13th January 2015. Flight on time and aircraft clean. Decent seats with good legroom in premium economy. What lets them down in the complete disinterest and discourtesy of their staff from check in and throughout the journey. No smiles no interaction no welcome on boarding just generally no customer interaction at all. I am a silver member and frequent flier with BA and their staff are far far superior in terms of customer interaction at all points in the journey. Overall not a bad airline at all they just don't live up to their logo "Fly the friendly skies".