[travel] Dear Lazyweb

[inulro]

How bad are United Airlines, really?

There's a flight even cheaper than ANZ and it gets to LA mid afternoon.

Comments

[girfan.livejournal.com]

My first ever international flight was via United. It was fine to the UK but flying back to the US was one of the worst experiences (if not the worst) I have ever had when travelling! Even though they screwed up my return totally, not only did I not receive an apology or any compensation, they wouldn't even deliver my luggage to me (I was put on a different flight from the one I originally booked and my luggage arrived 8 hours before I did!).

The second time was better both ways but an internal flight was terrible (also a United plane) which I could only compare to riding on a very old National Express bus.

If given a choice of airlines, I will always opt for any non American company. We had a better service and experience on Air India!

[inulro.livejournal.com]

You can never judge an airline's international flights by the quality of its internal flights. AC internationally are ace; within Canada they suck as much as they ever did.

[girfan.livejournal.com]

I still think the United flights I took (international) were nowhere near as good as any European carriers. Personally, if I'm going to be stuck in a plane for 8+ hours, I want the flight to be more than acceptable, even in economy.

I would only fly United if I won the flights or was given them or if I wasn't flying economy.

[inulro.livejournal.com]

The seats in all cattle class transatlantic flights are pretty much the same these days, and all the excellent service etc in the world don't go far if the kid beside you is poking you in the arm every 10 seconds for 6 hours and having regular meltdowns (ie my recent otherwise excellent flight to TO).

As a founding member of the Poverty Jet Set, I can't afford to care about much beyond "will my flight get there reasonably on time with my luggage". Especially since the advent of ebooks and having all the BBC pocdasts downloaded onto my phone. For the rest, that's why the Flying Spaghetti Monster invented painkillers.

[girfan.livejournal.com]

Part of the problem I had with the second time I flew United to the US was the fact that my luggage was put on the next plane and I ended up sitting at the airport waiting for the next flight in to get in. Unfortunately, the people giving me a ride from the airport had to wait with me. No apology from United-I had to pester the woman at the counter until she called to find out what happened to my luggage.

Never had a problem with British Airlines like the ones I had with United. In fact, British Airlines has been near perfect every time I have flown.
*shrug*

[zotz]

I've had people moan about them to me, but as far as I can remember they were fine when I used them.

[inulro.livejournal.com]

Someone on The Other Place just replied about cancelled flights leaving you stranded. That's the kind of thing I care about, not the quality of the food or entertainment.

[zotz]

Sounds fair. I don't actually remember the food or entertainment - the seat was as comfortable as I expected for steerage and the flight left and arrived on time. That which you mention is indeed probably more pressing.

[inulro.livejournal.com]

Those are the metrics by which I go too. I have a bad habit of forgetting to order the veggie meal, which (especially if you fly on the carriers of any Spanish-speaking country, which I do from time to time) may well be inedible anyway, so I never get on a flight without enough trail mix and energy bars to keep me going for the length of the flight. As to in-flight entertainment, I save long books for the uninterrupted reading time.

Cancelled flights and lost bags concern me.

[silentq.livejournal.com]

I generally try to fly United inside the US as they're affiliated with Air Canada. I prefer them over American and now USAir. I feel like they're better at communicating changes and updates, and I haven't been stranded with them (unlike Northwest, who I don't fly with any more).

[inulro.livejournal.com]

I avoid flying within the US at all costs because almost every single horror story of delayed/cancelled/re-routed flights I've heard from my well-travelled circle of acquaintances are about internal US flights.

Northwest are still going? I've only flown them once, after 9/11 when Canada 3000 went tits up during my trip to TO and the travel agent had to find me an alternative way to get home. I was dreading it, and on the initial leg to Detroit the plane was ancient, but the transatlantic flight was fine.