Yes UA is that bad.

Hard product
See the fuel surcharge as effectively the cost of an E+ seat, as both ANA and JL regular economy pitch = UA E+. JL also has a wider economy seat

Soft product
Where do we start. The food is just horrible. On my last UA economy TATL, the aircraft wasn't even catered with enough blankets and the cabin was freezing. It was really uncomfortable and overall bad experience. A friend took SFO-TLV economy recently and said there was only one meal catered - that's just brutal for a 14hr flight. The only redeeming feature of UA intl economy is free E+ if you have status.