United Airlines

I flew out of LAX at 6 am July 9 2014. The flight took off at its scheduled time. The only complaint I had concerning this flight is it makes no sense to me for the airline to load the front of the plane first. It would be more efficient and there would be far less congestion in the front of the aircraft. For the flight from LAX the ground staff were very sloppy and inattentive. United has rules concerning the size allowed for carry-ons. Many passengers were allowed to bring full-size suitcases on board and of course the overhead bins rapidly filled up. I was pleased to see the staff at Dulles for my return flight were enforcing the rules and numerous passengers had to check over sized carry-ons. Charging an extra $25 for the first checked bag will preclude my flying United in the future.

My worst flight was 2 weeks ago with United. My original flight was re-routed due to delays and not being able to make my connection. My re-routed trip had a connection which was delayed several times. Several passengers requested clarity to the problem and were given vague excuses and lied to several times. When the final flight was boarding I along with several others were denied boarding as the plane provided was not large enough to accommodate all reservations. I spent that night in the airport and flew to a different location the next day. The staff were unprofessional and created nothing but frustration and anger for many passengers. The planes were uncomfortable and I felt as if we were cattle being driven to our destination. I will never choose United again.

I find that United ground crew in particular seem to delight in going out of their way to be surly (on a good day) or nasty (typically). We flew coach today but honestly it doesn't seem to make a difference. Continental was a great airline that was merged with a terrible one and since the merger we have tried to avoid United wherever possible. Old United equipment substandard IFE overall bad attitudes no matter which cabin you find yourself in. Flying United is an endurance marathon. If we fly up front I am annoyed that we spent money or miles for bad attitudes. When we fly in the back I am annoyed by horrible service inedible food (we bring our own now) and shabby cabins. It's time for the United brand to retire.

I booked a "direct" flight from Berlin Germany to Newark NJ USA and instead of being direct once we got to the airport we were told the airplane would be stopping to fuel up in Maine (obviously not for our flight but for the one after ours). Furthermore having made this trip from Germany/USA several times with other various airlines in comparison United has old planes and less amenities. Lastly there was no way to request a special meal from their website I looked and looked but the meal option was continually grayed out and ended up having to call customer service - another inconvenience.

We scheduled a flight from Dayton OH. to Boston with a connection going to Boston in Newark and another connection flying back with a connection in Chicago. Not once did we depart on-time. Newark was a disaster. We had our flight cancelled obtained a second flight but the customer service rep never suggested we try to get an earlier standby flight. Nobody called us from standby until I questioned the boarding attendant minutes prior to takeoff but managed to get onto the plane only to sit on the runway for over an hour because of a backup radio malfunction which ultimately caused the flight to be cancelled. After 7 hours we made it to Boston. Going home we arrived in Chicago and again on United's commuter connection we had another 2 hour wait while something on the plane was fixed. Service was poor especially in Newark where there were two hundred people waiting at customer service to rebook and two reps staffing the computers talking on a phone and letting a plane load of customers wait. Bottom line is that I almost could have driven to Boston from my home in Ohio and not lost much time.

I am appalled with the way I was treated by this airline. My connecting flight was canceled and no other accommodations were made for an entire flight. When I was told that I would have to stay at the airport for 10 hours for the next available seat my only option was driving to my final destination. The staff had no answers to my questions. When I went to get my baggage I was told it would be about 2 hours before my 1 suitcase would be brought to the carousel. The woman at baggage claim did not follow through and my suitcase was sent to another airport. I had to drive to get my bag from the other airport. I received nothing but frustration for all of the airlines mistakes. Terrible start to my vacation and I will never book with United again.

This week will be the last time I fly United Airlines. I made the mistake of doing a status match program after having Delta status for years simply because I thought that there was better options for flights into my business territory Canada. Today is the final straw in what has been a nightmarish year of unavoidable layovers constant delays cancelled flights and the worst customer service experience possible. I had a flight to Halifax scheduled today. I get to Newark airport for my 2 hour layover and see that my flight is leaving from Concourse A which has no lounge or other comfortable place to get work done. I take the dingy bus to Concourse B/C to use the lounge. While in the lounge I wasted a good hour trying to get Internet to work. I went to the front desk and reported that the Wifi was very slow. The lady behind the desk said that no one else had reported this then went on talking about her vacation pay hours remaining with another United employee. When I arrived in the lounge initially I asked while checking in if they were announcing all flights and was told yes. I did also hear them announce many flights but there was never an announcement for mine. I realized it was 7.05 and my flight left at 7.30. I raced to the bus to Concourse A by the time I arrived at Gate A20 was told that I would not be going to Halifax. I went to the customer care line where I stood for over 5 minutes while 2 agents ignored me. I sat there for almost 10 minutes while she typed away without saying a word to me. Finally she started telling me there was a flight from Houston tomorrow but no seats on it. I heard a passenger next to me say something about a flight to Moncton and asked the agent next to me if there was a flight to Moncton tonight. I asked the staff member to look into the Moncton flight and without saying a word she got up and walked away. Finally got onto the Moncton flight which left 40 minutes late. Again no apologies for the inconvenience to us passengers who foolishly chose to spend our money with United.

Recently flew business class with United from Narita to IAD. For my $13000 r-t ticket I got the narrowest business class seat I've ever been in. They squeeze 8 across in their 777s including 4 abreast in the center aisle. Basically an unfriendly cabin staff that showed little initiative in anticipating customer needs and were inflexible and downright rude in enforcing cabin protocol (use of first class rest rooms when business class facilities were wait listed even though the only people in first class were the second pilot and co-pilot). Food was mediocre and served with little flair.

Would not recommend anyone use this airline. Cancelled our flight and did not get booked until the following day. Lines were long in Kansas City had 2 people working. The facilities are old or not functioning. Worst travel experience ever!

On 10 July Flight 4857 was delayed 2 hours awaiting incoming aircraft. On 13 July Flight 4856 was delayed 3 hours due to mechanical on inbound then further delayed for unknown reasons. Connection in Dulles was missed and later flights to Colorado Springs were unavailable. Attempts to rebook into Denver were unsuccessful as they were also delayed multiple times into early AM hours. Travel from Dulles to Colorado Springs was rebooked for 14 July on Flight 6349. That flight was delayed and subsequently cancelled. Travel was rebooked on Flight 1694 to Csprings via Denver though downgraded from business class to economy. That flight was delayed due to crew issues so the Denver COS connection was missed as well. Travel was rebooked on 6259 which arrived in CSprings on 14 July at 10:.56pm. The gate people were very helpful but the system was unresponsive and they were basically victims as well. Having been loyal United customers for 30 years this sort of thing has become the norm over the last few years predictably unpredictable. They have lost our business.