Originally Posted by
matrixwalker2012
let's face it, UA's primary objective is to get me to my destination and they do a decently good job of doing that.
I agree. If I am flying in Y.
If I am paying extra for C or F, I expect more for my money than what I expect in Y, which is just getting me to my destination.
I've flown UA's GlobalFirst product and the hardware is terrific, it lays flat, it's a full suite, it's got good IFE, it's pretty darn comfortable. Am I concerned about the meal? not really, a couple years back on my first time flying GF, I managed to eat too much and had a pretty bad stomach-ache the rest of the flight. Not fun, though the FA did let me jog up and down the 747 business class stairway to help alleviate some of it. So I try to keep my eating to a minimum in the air since I'll basically be in a sedentary state the whole time. As for service, I find UA's service good enough. Yeah, I know they're better products out there, but I like UA's schedule and I'm familiar with UA's service and UA gets me where I need to go, UA's not the best, but they're good enough.
And there is better--in fact far better--for the same money. There are very few routes with GF where there is not competition that is far better than UA, so why would I pay the same money to fly UA?
If you really want luxury, go book a cruise. Airline flights don't have to be perfect, they just have to be good enough. If I had to vote between arriving on time versus waiting for the meals to be catered, I'd vote to leave on time and most pax would do so as well, reasonable flight length obviously.
Not in international first. For the fare premium, a passenger has every right to expect far more. Good enough is not first class. Frankly, it's not even business class.