United Airlines

Horrible experience. I made the mistake of booking United for the short 40 minute trip from Doha to Dubai (United has a daily Washington DC-Doha-Dubai flight). Security at Doha airport for this particular flight was exhausting with United staff fingerprinting passengers taking off shoes etc as if we were going to the US instead of just Dubai. The plane was a tired creaky old B-777. Flight attendants whose average age was nearly 60 were grumpy and rude. Only a stale bagel was served. Definitely one of the worst flight experiences I had ever to endure.

BOS and MCI and again from BOS to YYT. Overall a below average - average airline. Gate staff and flight attendants can be surly but occasionally a helpful and attentive one can be found. I generally will not fly United unless they are significantly cheaper or have markedly better connections/flight times than everyone else.

LAX to Quebec City Canada. May 22 and 28 2014: What a nightmare full of delays and lack of updated information so I a 77 year old grandmother had to run from one end of an airport to the other to catch a plane sat in airports for many wasted precious travel hours. The movies on board were horrible choices. I hope to never need to fly United again in my life. And I have done a LOT of traveling.

ORD-DCA and BWI-ORD. Overall the experience was very good. All flights departed and arrived on time and all employees were friendly. The trip was through a tour so the price or value cannot be determined. Security on Monday at O'Hare was very crowded so be sure to allot enough time. Boarding was organized and most bags were checked at the gate because the overhead bins would have been to crowded. The seats on board were very comfortable and recline was decent. The plane was an A319 that has not been reconfigured with the slimline seating. Crew was very nice and efficient and Inwas given an entire can of apple juice. We arrived at National Airport on time and the bags were very fast to come off of the carousel. The airport is very convenient to access downtown DC. Return was at BWI which is only 20 miles outside DC however traffic was a nightmare and it took almost an hour to get there. Gate agents at the airport were very friendly and efficient. Security is very smooth here and the airport is overall pleasant. Boarding was quick and the flight was operated by a 737-900ER. The seats were comfortable and no one bought the direct TV. Recline wasn't much which made sleeping difficult but I was not in economy plus. The crew on board were nice but not as good as others. The flight arrived on time and bags were quick to come out of the carousel. United seems like they are beginning to overcome merger issues now.

We travelled to NY 28/5/14 with United Airlines and from the minute we went to check in desk we where treated with courtesy. The staff were both friendly and helpful. Once on the plane we again had the same experience. The food was ok and served hot. The choice of films etc was great and to have the chance to charge your devices was very handy. On our return we were due to fly with a different airline but we missed our flights. The other airline couldn't care less and said we would need to pay $1300 each to get home. We decided to go over to the United desk to see if they could offer any help. They went above and beyond to help us get on another flight with a different company for no charge.

May 21 Denver to Los Angeles: The A320 was having mechanical problems which delayed departure by over an hour. Meantime a violent thunderstorm/tornado warning further delayed departure until we were 2.5 hours late leaving. Needless to say our connection to Hilo HI was way gone before we arrived. We were bumped from one customer service desk to another. The line at Gate 71 never moved for an hour. Children were tired and screaming while the customer service reps mumbled useless statements waited for phone returns and after an hour declared we had no hotel or meal compensation because DIA coded the departure as late due to "weather". If the plane had been ready at departure time there would have been no delay. The rude and helpless reception at Los Angeles resulted in several of us sleeping in the airport all night missing a full day of reserved vacation time a change in destination from Hilo to Kona a change in car rental arrangements and a long drive around the island instead of 30 miles as originally planned. The scene at the customer service desk was hellish and I was prepared to see any one of the passengers leap across the counter at the inept and uncaring mumbling representatives. I will never travel on United again.

June 3 EWR-SFO Economy on a new 737-900. We departed two hours late due to a storm and flight crew distributed water and was generally helpful and good humored. These planes offer standard economy seating not as comfortable as other planes United flies. Bathrooms are extremely tiny and cramped. As opposed to a wide variety of seatback entertainment on UA's 757s from JFK to California this new 737-900 offer no entertainment options at all a major disappointment on such a long flight. These planes may be perfect for a 1-2 hour trip but not for a transcontinental journey.

London LHR - Newark EWR. Boeing 757-200 quite old and it was visible everywhere as cabin looked shabby. Cabin crew ok but limited their service to distributing food collecting trays and that's it. Small portions paid alcoholic drinks torn inflight magazine. Nothing special there are much better options on this route.

We flew UA893 SFO to ICN on B747 on 29th May 2014. Flight was delayed 2 times - captain rejected the first plane due to technical issue and the replaced plane returned to gate after found technical glitch while taxiing. Overall almost 5 hours delay. The captain tried his best to kept us updated on the delays. Instruction of allowing passengers to leave the plane during the delay was not clear resulted in passenger wandering around the bridge area. Cabin crew changed after the 2nd delay which turned out to be a plus point to us. Original crew serving the upper deck was grumpy the replacement crew (original crew gone probably due to extended hour) was fantastic provided one of the better quality service to a almost fully filled business class cabin. The plane was old and there was sign of dirt especially around the edges of the window frame. Seat itself was comfortable. It is weird to see UA cramping 2-4-2 seat in business class. Food was delicious. Inflight entertainment was average. For the price paid UA has exceeded our expectation.

ORD to LHR in a fully refurbished 767-300ER. Efficient and helpful check in. Nice lounge was very busy but had nice atmosphere and nice bar tenders. Boarding efficient. Very good seating notwithstanding 6 abreast and good cabin ambience. Some pairs of seats are backwards facing but not a big issue. Professional and helpful crew who were well organised attentive and efficient - a real surprise. Very good choice of wines and OK food but nice desert and very good cheese plate. Seat in sleeping position was good and nice large pillow. Big screen noise reduction earphones and OK programming with mostly American content. Many language options. Luggage return quick. Overall very impressed and would consider better than transatlantic AC and LH flights taken in previous 3 weeks.