Originally Posted by
semicharmed
United is really horrible to deal with these days
. I have been a happy customer for years and even when things went wrong, they handled it properly but this year has been awful. Packed flights, no upgrades or not being put on the waitlist automatically, flight attendants and customer service reps hating their jobs and treating us properly.
(Sorry, stepping off the soap box now)
I am seriously looking into switching airlines wanting to know which ones are good or worth it. I've heard great things about Virgin, JetBlue but wanting a great airline that has alliances where I can still earn miles and use them for international. Any suggestions?
Semicharmed
Im sorry, but if you want good international connections/award availability, United is the only way to go. Delta's miles are worthless, that's why they call them skypesos. AA is in the toilet, plus oneworld just sucks in general.
Fact of the matter is *A is the largest airline alliance, it has its benefits. You said so yourself, you have been a loyal customer for years, and this year hasn't lived up to your expectations. Care to elaborate? Packed flights? Not sure that's the airlines fault, i was under the impression they wanted to fill planes and make money, not fill a plane only 60% for maximum comfort.
No upgrades? What is your status level? I am Gold this year, and i have gotten most upgrades, granted i fly on non-busy days and only have 65k or so EQM this year.
If you want superb customer service 100% of the time, you best find a small airline. VX is good yes, but flies almost nowhere and has a network 1% the size of United. Jetblue is alright too, unless you want to fly to Australia or Asia or Europe or anywhere outside of North America.
Basically if you want a great alliance for international, its Skyteam or *A. *A is the larger of the two, and the miles you earn actually do something. I read somewhere that United has the best award seat availability of any US airline, i'm inclined to believe that.