Nicksterguy

All -

I started a thread I guess asking this question several months after the merger, but instead of bringing that dead thread back, I wanted to start a new one WITH a little twist.

I left UA and ran over to AA. for the EX PLAT match. What a great end of the year. Unfortunately, I only re-qualified for PLAT. Still I liked flying during most of the time with AA. Due to increased flying, in September I re-qualified for EX PLAT for this year and have done so for 2014. There are many unknowns with our marriage to US, but some recent news (ie US accepting AA service levels makes me cautiously optimistic).

With that said, how are things OVERALL these days at UA? Have they gotten better? I mean I see ALL of the 'friendly skies' propaganda and the UA Smile - but are you happier now that many folks have left and things have quieted down?

Just curious.

Nicksterguy

star_world

Doesn't seem like many have left - loads are still very high, upgrade lists are still quite long, Group 1 boarding is still as busy as ever.

Operationally UA is significantly better than they were this time last year - that was the biggest complaint I had. Overall not bad - probably slightly better than AA overall but nothing spectacular.

MrHalliday

Nickster-

I haven't flown UA in some time.
I had one of those $10 tickets, but returned it.
I did use UA miles to get a ROKU 3.

None of this is relevant to your topic,
but will bump your thread.

zechariahs

I fly mostly spoke-hub-spoke (81 segments thus far) so the view from my vantage point might be different from others. It seems to me that little has changed. I can still tell the difference between a legacy CO crew and a legacy UA crew. Upgrade lists are still lengthy and group 1 and group 2 boarding lanes are huge.

After 10 years of traveling (5 on UA), I'm not thinking of switching.

WineCountryUA

As with all things on FT, you not going to get a simple answer to this. It would be better to survey the open threads and get your own conclusion.

All that will happen with a thread like this will be a retread postings of active posters claiming things are terrible to other poster claiming things are great and many in between. Not sure how that will be of any use to you or anybody else. Airlines / frequent programs are not so simple.

UA-NYC

OP - AA is still definitely better than UA, don't let anyone fool you

Better food (by a mile), better service, a "we try harder" attitude, better operations, better RJs if you're stuck on smaller planes, wifi, nicer lounges, better award chart, etc.

fastair

It's far better than last year, still not where I would like us to be though.

tuolumne

Not sure what you're expecting to come of this thread - you're going to have users come tout their party line on both sides. I'd suggest reading a few threads for yourself and coming to your own consensus.

bob_the_d

this about sums up my thoughts. my delays this year... i don't ever remember the delays severely disrupting my plans this year. i've definitely had delays, but they pad the schedule so crazily now (i think LGA-ORD is always 30 minutes padded... either that, or my flights constantly land half an hour early).

on board food definitely leaves something to be desired. i've never thought it's as miserable as other people on the board will say, but i'm definitely known in my group of friends to be the trash can that will eat just about anything.

the FA's definitely spend most of their time chatting amongst themselves. i get the minimum service, i usually end up with friendly FA's, but in my experience they still just spend most of their time hanging out in the galley gossiping. i'm counting my blessings though in that i've still managed to land smiling FA's at least.

i'm also a heavy hub and spoke flyer. i fly to the midwest a lot for work which has me route through ORD onto an RJ (usually E70's or CR7's thankfully) or take directs out of EWR (which are almost always E45's for me). i spend a lot of time in ORD because of that, because i can't stand the E45's. they can't be retired soon enough.

i've been flying the new p.s. a bit recently (most recent was two days ago and i'm at the UC now waiting for my return flight to board). i'm actually a fan of the new reconfigured planes. don't get me wrong, row 9 was pretty awesome. but in terms of what was great before (in terms of hard product) i would rather take the new reconfig's. it's much better in E+, and the new AVOD systems i actually really like. it's different than the sUA IPTE and sCO BF AVOD menus. i would also rather take the new BF seats over the old barcaloungers. opinions seem to vary on that though.

the overall attitude though is something that does really bother me. as others have mentioned, most of the time i really just don't feel that "can do" attitude that makes a customer feel like the company is trying hard. it just kind of seems like the front line employees just kind of do whatever it takes to accomplish the bare minimum that's required, and that's it. if it requires a lot of thinking or effort, they'll just pawn it off and won't help out. i mean i've definitely encountered GA's and CSR's who have bailed my ... out of a huge bind, but i'm confident it's the exception, and not the norm.

boarding is still a mess, but at least with the airports with space for five physical separated lanes, it's less of a CF than it was before. groups 1 and 2 are still half the damn plane if you fly out of a hub, which is still incredibly annoying. i also found it laughable that GF boards with 1. i was flying SFO-ICN in BF a couple weeks ago and got to talking with this person standing behind me in line. it turns out that his seat in GF is paid. i thought it was absurd that a passenger can pay that much money and still have to put up with being the 80th passenger to board.

operations are getting better than before. i definitely feel the cuts. but my upgrades still clear at what i feel is a reasonable rate (even as a regular flyer out of EWR), even after february MP miles will still be less crappy than skypesos... i guess the changes and cuts just haven't gotten to the point where it's pissed me off so much that i want to switch to another airline. i hate to say it, but the route network is just way too convenient for me.

i did try EXP a couple years ago thought and it was pretty great. personally i'd say if AA is getting you where you need to go and you're happy with EXP, stick with it. it won't be better as a 1K. just my 2c.

KenInEscazu

I don't think it requires reading many threads here to see that the overall satisfaction level of UA flyers is deteriorating. Full disclosure: I am a UA 1K who has requalified for 2014, and currently have no plans to leave.

Things that are common complaints:

1. Devaluation of the once great award redemption mileage requirements. This will have no impact on domestic-only pax, but those who like to use *A metal for TATL, TPAC and intra-Asia took some major hits. I'm not opining as to whether this was or was not a good business decision, but rather on its impact on the attitudes of those affected.

2. Increasing use of RJs on longer and longer routes. UA is often trying to compete with RJs where every other carrier relies exclusively or predominantly on mainline craft. Add in the fact that UA's RJs are some of the worst in the industry, and it's only natural that for those who fly those routes, trying to remain loyal comes at a cost of significantly reduced levels of service.

3. Etched into the fine print along with the M+ program devaluation was the removal of northern South America from CPU and RPU availability. While this affects only a small percentage of UA pax on a regular basis, for those affected it is a major blow. Copa may save their loyalty, but not often without adding schedule inconvenience to avoid the damage.

4. The addition of difficult-to-plan Premier Qualifying Dollars to status qualification has many unsure if their prior travel patterns will result in the same level of status benefits going forward. Certainly some will be downgraded in status with this move, and it's probably a necessity with the now massive numbers of elites competing for the same benefits, but it doesn't take the sting out of the punch for those who will lose their treasured status levels.

5. The loss of US is going to leave a gaping hole in many destinations in the SE USA. Inconvenient RJ routing will be required to reach certain destinations where US once filled UA's void. There has been no indication to date that UA plans to increase service or add a partner that will alleviate this pain.

6. Although not yet widely used, UA has installed carry-on baggage sizers at all ticket counters and gates. Many traditional carry-ons "may" be force checked as UA starts to use these sizers, but their presence seems to be only a threat at this point. The result is uncertainty every time one boards a UA flight. "Will today be the day they check my bag against the sizer dimensions?" The sizer for the personal carry on is too small for a 15" Macbook Pro, for example, to fit in any laptop case. This has many of us wondering what we will do when/if they start strict enforcement. Those who can travel light seem to like this looming change, while those who need more carry-on capacity don't.

7. While both UA and CO had good reputations for front line service personnel prior to and after the merger, reports of rude to abusive treatment are on the rise. IMHO, this is the result of increased customer dissatisfaction wearing down the staff's ability to not take it out on passengers as a whole. Add the Filipino and Indian call centers' common inept staffing, and customer service has definitely declined in recent months.

These are specifics, but there are other more subtle infractions that are often seen as insulting to date loyal passengers. Smisek's "Changes I think you'll like," seems to have set up an endless opportunity for one-liners as few of the changes we've seen are actually liked by many. Another UA executive referring to their Premier passengers as "over-entitled," has also offended many here, and is often referenced when a change is seen as a loss of service.

There are probably more, but I think this pretty well sums up the primary causes of customer discontent. UA seems to be an airline without a clear definition of who they are nor who they want to be.

If Smisek survives this, it will be on earnings alone. He is unlikely to go down in history as a CEO that will be missed by passengers, and I personally believe his days are numbered. While it is understandable - even applaudable - that he views the airline as a business that must make money, his negative changes may very well backfire. Probably less among those of us who value the benefits of Premier status than by those who fly less frequently or can afford to pay for whatever level of service they want on each and every flight they take. I can't see today's UA being the airline of choice among the latter.

LaserSailor

Nick..highly dependent on your home airport, is probably the simplest short answer I can give. If AA meets your travel plans, I would stick with it. I think there is a 50-50 shot that the AAUS merger will go ok. If it really craters, you can status match over to DL or UA and do decently domestic.

Baze

Is AA owned by Avis? Sorry, couldn't resist.

PV_Premier

many here have left for perceived greener pastures, many have not.

about 25-30% of my UA flights this year have been delayed, and of those, about 70% have been significantly delayed (>90 minutes). when flights operate on time, things are good, when they are delayed, IRROPs handling is hit or miss. i've had some great CS on VDBs and IRROPs this year, but I've also had some pretty unbelievable negative experiences.

my upgrade percentage has fluctuated wildly. this weekend i missed SMF-IAD on a high fare bucket, and SMF-IAH after rescheduling my travel due to weather issues. however, i've also cleared on low fare buckets on some of the harder routes (DEN-LGA, EWR-LAX, etc.) and prior to my 1K qualification.

i have cleared 100% of instrument upgrades but all of those except 1 were booked into positive R space. i have an RPU waitlisted for next week that isn't going to clear. waitlists rarely self clear and require careful monitoring of R space.

UA domestic F is a tired, boring product and seems to be continuing a downward trajectory. international F and C are still strong in terms of the hard product but the soft product has lost its novelty for me. domestic Y has in my opinion decreased in quality, due to the new Airbus seats and the dark 737-900s, both of which can regularly be found flying coast to coast.

recommend you review this thread for more detailed accounts from me and others who are leaving as to our reasons:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...eaving-ua.html

my summary is that it's hard work to be a UA frequent flyer, you have to be on your game all the time watching out for yourself and you have to know how to use the rules to your advantage to feel like you're getting the most from your $$. i'm going to try my luck next year flying DL/AS/AA as much as possible, but i have booked some cheap tickets on UA that will keep me in the neighborhood of gold status if i book a couple of my business trips to UA and grab some PQ$ that way.

LarkSFO

A merge in to that thread probably makes most sense...

Especially in the last few pages of the thread, some very cogent responses from people with their opinions of UA.

halls120

operationally, UA is better than it was a year ago. During the same period, though, the hard and soft product has deteriorated - hard product downgrades include the exceedingly crappy new seats on the Airbus, the slow pace of WiFi installation, and the large humber of "dark" narrowbody aircraft. On the soft product side, it's the food and drink. Whether it's the BOB choices in Y, the domestic F options (this food service had gone down the most) or international front cabin, Jeff's cutbacks make what used to be virtually no difference between UA and the competition a growing divide.