Originally Posted by
emcampbe
Yes, but DL's E Comfort is a bit of a different animal. From what I understand, it's different on international vs. domestic (ie, free alcohol on intl, but not on domestic). Also covers a much smaller number of seats in the cabin. Even on their bigger aircraft, isn't it only 5 or 6 rows, meaning there's much less opportunity to get a seat, even fir higher elites vs. UA which has, for example 7 rows/42 seats on a 320.
It's also only free for Platinum and up, so there is less competition for it. We have to see how competitive it is.
Also, EC has extra recline which E+ does not have.
I have been fortunate enough to travel only in F on domestic flights over the past 6-7 years. My opinion here is based on CO, UA (both pre-merger), DL, NW, and AA. About 75% of my travel was on CO (prior to the merger), and 100% of my post-merger travel was on UA.
I find that, apart for more legroom, the level of *service* offered in F by UA and CO was the best. AA comes a close second. DL and NW are (were) far behind.
This said, the level of service in F today is no different (again, apart from legroom) from what I used to get in Y back in the 1980s.
In terms of international business class, I flew CO, AA and AF over the past six years. I would rank them as follows: CO>AF>AA.
So, when asking if there are any airlines worse that UA, one would have to specify: on what dimension? If the dimension is service in domestic F and international C, then, you sure can find a lot worse!
Are you basing your impression of service based on the last 6 years? The CO of 6 years ago was not the CO of two years ago. Just like any other airline changes in that time.
A lot of these service items change, and change dramatically, but perceptions take a while to change. That's often why you see opinions posted on FT that do not jive with personal experiences.
US continues to get a beating on the board for stupid moves from years ago, though it's really cleaned up its service levels recently by revamping its clubs and its on-board F meals, not to mention releasing one of the nicest flat bed J seats in the industry. In many cases, US is nicer than CO/UA.
Similarly, DL revamped its F product last year or so, restoring items like tray table linens and salt and pepper shakers, and upgrading meals. Meanwhile, UA cut the tray linens and modified a lot of meals (upgrade or downgrade depending on where you came from).