After having been assiduous about flying UA metal (or at least UA ticket) for years in my quest to hit PQD requirements for 1K, this year I'm not going to chase this. I won't make 1K (due to PQD requirements), but will make it to over 75K PQM. What this has done is to release me from chasing UA tickets (and UA metal as a frequent consequence). For domestic flights it doesn't make much difference, but given that most of my travel is international, this can make a big difference. Why? Because UA's service is often lousy (and getting worse), which makes a big difference on 8+ hour flights. These are the things that matter to me the most:
1. number of empty seats/load factor on flights
2. quality and quantity of food
3. seat comfort
4. privileges I get on UA due to my Plat or 1K status, depending on the year
And the following minor considerations:
5. Quality of service of flight attendants: this is admittedly a minor consideration
6. Quality of inflight entertainment
On
#3 , with E+, UA is a clear winner. (Yes, I know most airlines now have a premium economy product, but that's not the comparison I want to make here.) However, increasingly E+ alone doesn't seem to be enough to keep me with UA metal when
#1 and particularly
#2 are bad, especially in comparison to some *A partners.
In general my overall recent experiences on AC, SAS, Swiss & LH tells me that they're not any better than UA. But it's been a while since I've flown partners like SQ & NH. And I've never flown others like TK, AV & CA (coach).
So the question is, which of the following airlines would you choose over UA, knowing full well that you won't get the equivalent of E+ on them?
Avianca
SQ
NH
CA
Copa
Asiana
Air New Zealand