Everything that's good and bad about United Rolled into One Trip
My recent trip sums up all that's wrong and right about United.
Trip: SFO to Brussels - Outbound SFO->EWR (414), EWR->LHR (28), LHR-BRU (on Air Brussels)
Inbound SFO->ORD, ORD->SFO
BAD: Running late to airport but can't check in online (due to Air Brussels leg). Going to miss one hour checkin cutoff for international flight. Call up 1K line, told: "Sorry, but you'll have to pay a $1800+$250 change fee if you miss your flight.". I point out that there are loads of empty seats on the next flight, but told there is no other option.
GOOD: Got to the airport with 10 minutes to spare. Made it to the desk with one minute to spare. SFO desk on the ball, swiped my passport and got me into the system. Then they let me into GS security line so I made it to my plane. Now that's service!
GOOD: 414 and 28 on nice new planes. 28 in particular nice 777 with inseat power and entertainment.
BAD: Food not up to normal United standards.
GOOD: Lounge @ LHR was terrific.
BAD: BRU->ORD old 767, no inflight power, limited choice of movies. Not good enough for a transatlantic flight.
BAD: ORD->SFO. 737-800 Ghetto-bird. No TVs *at all*!!!!! Even in Business. Can you imagine getting stuck on a plane for 5 hours with no entertainment.
GOOD: Flight attendants were good. Great food.
There you have it, the inconsistencies in United are its problems. The product variance is amazing. The difference between the 777 (EWR->LHR) and the 737 (ORD-SFO) was amazing like a Porshe and a Kia. I still can't believe they flew a plane 5 hours without any TVs, not even the shared ones!
Programs: Marriott plat, freshly minted over entitled UA Gold.
Posts: 1,437
Can you say more about the lounge at LHR? I am booking a trip to Vienna and an option is on UA via LHR.. Is it a typical UC or more like a EU lounge with better food options beyond wrapped cheese and chex mix?
BAD: Running late to airport but can't check in online (due to Air Brussels leg). Going to miss one hour checkin cutoff for international flight. Call up 1K line, told: "Sorry, but you'll have to pay a $1800+$250 change fee if you miss your flight.". I point out that there are loads of empty seats on the next flight, but told there is no other option.
Can you also say more about the fact that you were running late and since you very possibly were going to miss your flight and didn't pop for a full fare ticket it is now somehow someone else's problem that you may be required to cough up a few extra thousand bucks because you purchased a non-refundable fare?
Isn't this exactly how it's supposed to work---Arrive at the airport in plenty of time - Check in - Get a boarding pass- Mosey on up to the gate- Sachet on down the jet-way, and plop down in your assigned seat. However, if one doesn't quite have their act together and they know that the preceding scenario ain't gonna happen because they dilly dallied too long , then why should one place the comment ---"BAD" as an experience when the passenger screwed up his grand entrance in the first place? Everyone & their uncle knows that a refundable ticket for a flight that one misses is gonna cost ya, BIG TIME, so who's to blame --- UAL???
Can you imagine getting stuck on a plane for 5 hours with no entertainment.
Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart had it worse than that. Seriously, I never count on the IFE. Even if it's AVOD, there's rarely anything on it that I want to see. Bring an iPad, a book, or a pillow.
Since there was no video, did one of the FAs do an impersonation of Jeff touting the virtues of the 787 prior to the safety briefing?
Ditto. Running late and the possible consequences are not UA's fault or problem. Sounds like you suffered no significant delays or cancellation. That's a win in my book. The rest is fluff.
BAD: ORD->SFO. 737-800 Ghetto-bird. No TVs *at all*!!!!! Even in Business. Can you imagine getting stuck on a plane for 5 hours with no entertainment.
I think you are confused with an old 767-300... I guess I could imagine the horror of getting stuck on a plane with no entertainment for 5 hours #firstworldflyingproblems... Try flying Delta, Southwest, US Airways, AA... There are plenty of 5 hour (streching) legs with no IFE. Bring a stupid Ipod...
Can you say more about the lounge at LHR? I am booking a trip to Vienna and an option is on UA via LHR.. Is it a typical UC or more like a EU lounge with better food options beyond wrapped cheese and chex mix?
It's not a UA lounge. There are 2, depending on whether you're departing on a former CO route or former UA route as they operate these flights (for now) from different terminals. In T1 (former UA routes) it's a *A lounge, in T4 they use the Skyteam lounge. In both cases there's a good choice of real food and drinks. Nothing like a UC.
Programs: Marriott plat, freshly minted over entitled UA Gold.
Posts: 1,437
Quote:
Originally Posted by star_world
It's not a UA lounge. There are 2, depending on whether you're departing on a former CO route or former UA route as they operate these flights (for now) from different terminals. In T1 (former UA routes) it's a *A lounge, in T4 they use the Skyteam lounge. In both cases there's a good choice of real food and drinks. Nothing like a UC.
Thankyou.. this is exactly the info I am looking for...
Can you say more about the lounge at LHR? I am booking a trip to Vienna and an option is on UA via LHR.. Is it a typical UC or more like a EU lounge with better food options beyond wrapped cheese and chex mix?
Not sure how much flexibility you have but when I flew to VIE earlier this year I connected in FRA. Longer TATL segment (for sleep), shorter EU segment and the LH lounge in FRA was great.
Location: LAX and LHR. UA Gold MM, HHonors Gold, Hyatt Gold Passport, Best Western Platinum, SPG Gold, Hertz #1 Gold 5*, Avis Preferred
Posts: 2,022
Quote:
Originally Posted by LilAbner
Can you also say more about the fact that you were running late and since you very possibly were going to miss your flight and didn't pop for a full fare ticket it is now somehow someone else's problem that you may be required to cough up a few extra thousand bucks because you purchased a non-refundable fare?
Isn't this exactly how it's supposed to work---Arrive at the airport in plenty of time - Check in - Get a boarding pass- Mosey on up to the gate- Sachet on down the jet-way, and plop down in your assigned seat. However, if one doesn't quite have their act together and they know that the preceding scenario ain't gonna happen because they dilly dallied too long , then why should one place the comment ---"BAD" as an experience when the passenger screwed up his grand entrance in the first place? Everyone & their uncle knows that a refundable ticket for a flight that one misses is gonna cost ya, BIG TIME, so who's to blame --- UAL???
I think his point was that he was unable to do OLCI because of the Air Brussels flight. That's something that airlines need to sort out.
He might well have been running late precisely because of trying to do OLCI. One can spend quite a while at the computer before getting to the point where the system says it can't do what you reasonably expect it to do — in this case, check him in for the other two UA flights. Very frustrating if you've not been there before.
The fact is he called and asked to be checked in for those flights and they said No. That's not reasonable either, given that the reason he called was because of the clunky computer system.
BAD: BRU->ORD old 767, no inflight power, limited choice of movies. Not good enough for a transatlantic flight.
I don't mind this cabin at all, in fact it's one of my favorites - 2-3-2 is perfect, and the seats have quite possibly the best padding and dimensions of the fleet. I could care less about "on demand" video - see how far that gets you in the 787 seats...The 767s are like heaven's own after sitting in those.
My recent trip sums up all that's wrong and right about United.
Trip: SFO to Brussels - Outbound SFO->EWR (414), EWR->LHR (28), LHR-BRU (on Air Brussels)
Inbound SFO->ORD, ORD->SFO
BAD: Running late to airport but can't check in online (due to Air Brussels leg). Going to miss one hour checkin cutoff for international flight. Call up 1K line, told: "Sorry, but you'll have to pay a $1800+$250 change fee if you miss your flight.". I point out that there are loads of empty seats on the next flight, but told there is no other option.
GOOD: Got to the airport with 10 minutes to spare. Made it to the desk with one minute to spare. SFO desk on the ball, swiped my passport and got me into the system. Then they let me into GS security line so I made it to my plane. Now that's service!
I swear there are two separate companies inside United that love to set out challenges and obstacle courses for each other to jump over. It makes you wonder if there are inter-station/inter-departmental rivalries being played out like some sort of role-playing game:
Dispatch: "Hehheh, let's see how those ......s handle *this* (sends daily SFO->FRA off for D-level maint. 90 mins before departure)".
Desk Agent: "ha!, that old trick !?!? Well, let's see, I'm a Level 47 GA with a +2 to Route Repair..."
GM: "Okay, so Dispatch succeeds in sending off N374UA to D-Level maintenance, but N117UA is currently occupying the only hangar slot that can do a D-level. You'll need to move it out of maint. before you can move N374UA in"
DA: "I use my Scroll of Obscure SHARES Knowledge to requisition N117UA for UA 900 and then Invoke Supervisor to add one to my success pool"
GM: "Hit enter 5 times on your terminal to check your success. "
DA: "w00t!. Move that plane over to gate 102 please "
Can you also say more about the fact that you were running late and since you very possibly were going to miss your flight and didn't pop for a full fare ticket it is now somehow someone else's problem that you may be required to cough up a few extra thousand bucks because you purchased a non-refundable fare?
See: Flat tire rule
Quote:
Originally Posted by trekwars2000
I think you are confused with an old 767-300... I guess I could imagine the horror of getting stuck on a plane with no entertainment for 5 hours #firstworldflyingproblems... Try flying Delta, Southwest, US Airways, AA... There are plenty of 5 hour (streching) legs with no IFE. Bring a stupid Ipod...
Every 763 has IFE... sCO has been operating dark 737s for years.
Programs: UA 1K, Marriott Platinum, Enterprise Exec
Posts: 6,738
Quote:
Originally Posted by 1P
I think his point was that he was unable to do OLCI because of the Air Brussels flight. That's something that airlines need to sort out.
He might well have been running late precisely because of trying to do OLCI. One can spend quite a while at the computer before getting to the point where the system says it can't do what you reasonably expect it to do — in this case, check him in for the other two UA flights. Very frustrating if you've not been there before.
The fact is he called and asked to be checked in for those flights and they said No. That's not reasonable either, given that the reason he called was because of the clunky computer system.
I doubt he was running late due to not being able to do that - not a FTer
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*The ones that missed: EWR-SEA/SAN/LAX, SFO-EWR (x2), PHL-SFO/ORD and IAD-SEA
I left for SFO at 6am for a 10am flight with a pre-meeting at 8am.
There were major problems on the bay bridge so everyone was delayed by 2+ hours (15 mile backup all the way to Pinole if you know the area!), this is why there were so many seats available on the later flights (people canceled).
If there were a few seats available on the later flights then the $1800+change fee is quite justified because United could have sold those limited tickets rather than giving them to me. But given the flights were half empty, it seems like gouging.
I've heard about the flat tire rule, but never seen a pointer to verbage. Does it apply to everyone or just 1Ks?
Jet'Dillo and I agree. Its like two different organization. The gate agents were the total opposite of the phone operators, they were alert, accommodating and customer focused. The way they caught my passport and in one hand, transferred it to the other and then swiped it was poetic beauty!
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