AC/UAL code share
 

Yesterday was the day of my first mileage run. I was doing YUL-SFO on AC - great flight, thanks ^^^, the SFO-YVR on United :td::td::td: and then YVR-YUL on AC - just fine, merci.

I am not used to travelling on United, perhaps it is a different culture. Their RCC at SFO domestic is actually quite nice, except they charge for drinks and that includes bottled water (!). The flight to YVR was on their A320 that is two generations behind AC as far as the cabin interior goes. They make many, I mean many annoying announcements, like: "This flight features E+, it is fine to change seats (the flight was 3/4 empty) but if you change to in E+ it will be a paid upgrade". Or coming from the cockpit: "We appreciate the great help from our FAs tonight..." Are they volunteers or paid employees? The security briefing was presented on overhead screens. Why do they still play Gershwin tunes at the same time? What am I supposed to listen to? The cabin was quite run down, resembling TU154 of Cubana de aviacion, that I used to take to Varadero in early 1990s. And it was not even clean, with a sticky floor in the aft washroom. The service consisted of drinks (very limited) and snacks (paid). I had the feeling that if I did not buy something to contribute a little extra to their cash flow, they would go under. Well, I did not.

Anyway, they got me to my destination on time, and I thank them for that. My trip was a mileage run, I did not have to do it. If it was all on UA, I would have probably stayed at home. We often complain about AC. Based on this trip, it is a pretty good airline, and not only by current North American standards.

Me first mileage run ended yesterday as well...took advantage of the honolulu special on AC...

YUL-YYZ-YVR-HNL HNL-YVR-YUL...all on AC

Nothing really to complain about ^^^. The best segment was the YYZ-YVR..A321, very nice ^^:):)...The B767 weren't too comfortable....but what how comfortable can mileage run be ;):p

What United does do nicely is Channel 9, sure wish AC would do that. Other than that, I agree with you.

UA is one of the airlines that I would try to avoid as much as possible.

I have a $250 voucher to be used on UA.... I guess I might not be able to use it and will let it expire :(:eek::td:

You will suffer without, E+ on United. With Status you will get an Exit row which has more leg room than J on AC domestic.:eek:

Learn how to use other airlines if you want comfort.^

I suffered without E+ on UA. I was in J :D

Can you guys share the stats of those MR trips, on what dollar amount to get what mileage and the dollar-to-mile (DMR) ratios? Did you do a day trip or on the defination of the "out" bound, did you even get out the airport?

If you do not want to show to the public, appreciate it if they can PM me.

I have tried to schedule a few MR runs, but the DMR seems to be high, all at $0.01/mile range, or 1cent/mile. I was told that I should manage it below 0.5 cent/mile.

I will be a few thousands miles short by the year end, once I complete the remaining 2-3 oversear trips, to requalify my SE for 2009. I have two cancelled trips this year.

One trip is YYC-LAX-BOS and back, which fares at $620, and pools 6500 miles, probably all I know. It is a single non-stop run.

That's with UA status, not *A status, is it not? At least I couldn't get an exit row for my UA flights last week ...

P.S. The leg room is definitely nice in E+, and better yet in the exit row, but otherwise the UA rear cabin is not exactly uplifting, as the OP said, too.

$0.005 per mile would be a bargain. I don't think I have ever tried half penny a mile. That would be SE for $500!

If it's transferrable, go to CouponConnection in the Community section and see if someone else can use it before it's too late.

Yes, thanks for the tips. It is transferable. But it's issued under my wife's name and on the back, it says they need her physical presence for the ticketing. It would be pain in the @ss to do so, for less than $250.:eek:

You are absolutely correct. Your wife HAS to be there.

Once my sister-in-law had a $600 coupon from UA and after the experience she went to (hence the $600 coupon) she vowed never ever again UA. So she offered it to me and she had to be there in person to transfer it to me. Over the phone won't (or didn't) work.

I am still 100% UA flight free for 2008,a goal I set after the last lousy a/c and seating on a LAS/LAX flight.:td:

I agree 100% on the state of the a/c from last years personal flights with UA.Seems like nothing has changed for them in North America on a/c interiors.

UA is superb... when compared to US.

But not by much.

I was was waiting for somebody to bring up USAir. Now I can't even imagine. How much more worse it can get?

Normally, I would not do mileage runs just for the sake of doing them. Ideally, I am looking for some added value. So I never calculate the cost per mile. If the price and timing feel right, I'll go ahead and book it.

If you go to the MR forum, I think you will find most people say 3 cpm (cents per mile) is the target, even though those have been hard to come by this year. Personally, I would pay more for an AC MR for 3 reasons:

• I live 20 minutes from the Toronto airport
• I have the opportunity to upgrade
• I get double miles on AC metal

I just did BUF-CLT-PHL-SAN-IAD-CLT-BUF last week for $215 on United (even though 5 of the 6 segments were on US Air), which generated 6702 status miles. I had a credit that was about to expire on United, so my actual cpm was about half that amount.

If you want status based on segments, I think the target is less than $30 per segment.

If you only knew my cost per segment to achieve SE status :o

Nice number,good for you:)

I've flown UA only a handful of times. I havn't had too many complaints.
I did a, YYC-DEN-Burbank. and Burbank-SFO-YYC all on UA. I found the service fine and the staff friendly. The flight left on time, and got me there on time.
I also did a paid J flight from yyc-sea-ord-sav-ord-sea-yyc once and the service was perfect. F/A's friendly and aircraft alright. No complaints from me.

I would agree with those that said AC is better than UA, but honestly UA isn't that bad. And when your household income is less than 60K/year sometimes it's more affordable to fly UA.

I'm flying to europe in two weeks. Air Canada wanted $1350 per person incl. Tax while United only wanted 949 including tax.... So, guess who I picked?

It's like comparing Lays Ketchup chips to No Name Ketchup chips. Same vegetable, same type of flavouring just slightly different taste. They both taste alright, and both fill you up while making you gain weight. :)

Well, maybe,not exactly! Did UA get me to my destination on time, in relative comfort and safety? Yes. Was it an enjoyable travel experience that you would repeat even if you did not have to? No.

If UA costs less on the same route, it's more affordable to fly UA whether your household income is less than, equal to, or more than 60K/year.;)

From what you posted, I guess you would pick UA.@:-) But I would have never picked UA, even if it's for free! AC has better planes and service, I can use my upgrade certs, and most importantly, no transiting in the US!^