Originally Posted by idayvuelta

To be clear, one may (as I did for many years) choose to fly United for its frequent flyer program, its routes or its prices. But in terms of in flight experience, I think United comes up short against a great many in coach and business (in which frankly I think you have include United Global First). Of what I've flown lately:

-Virgin America, Jet Blue, Delta (int'l domestic) I think are all better experiences by a measurable amount than United. American needs to finish its merger and still has some old old old J flying around, but I think will end in a better place.

-Lufthansa - old J is a joke but otherwise it's a quality airline. Y is a little tight.

-British Airways - Perhaps not what it used to be but much more professional flight attendants, much much better J catering and seats, better lounges, Y and Y+ a little better. Austrian and Swiss are miles better.

-Turkish has wonderful food and good seats plus a great lounge in Istanbul.

-Pretty much all of the major asian carriers. SQ, JAL, ANA, Garuda, Cathay. Even aspects of Air China compared favorably (though it uses the Continental seat). In some cases (SQ and jokes aside, Malaysia) the service is wildly better in Y, J and F. I will never forget being in Y on a lightly-booked flight on Malaysia and being addressed by my last name the entire flight by the flight attendant. EVA distributes pijamas and serves Krug in business.

-For what they purport to be, I also have had good experiences in Y on the LCCs (AirAsia, Tiger, Jetstar). Professional crews, reasonable fares, reasonable costs for add-ons like extra seating.

-The Mideast carriers are controversial but by all means do a better job in flight in all classes (on the ground/customer service is another story).

-South African Airways has a very reasonable J product with good wines and decent seats.