Thomas Hudson

My travel may be changing to more frequent Europe and some other overseas spots. Since I will easily make Diamond this year and I will be able to expense these trips in BE, I was thinking about going with United on the next one to Brussels.

Assuming I am based out of a southern city, how would this trip commonly route?

What kind of lounge and basic benefits would I have whilst traveling on a trip like this with out status? But in paid BE?

During Irops, with a paid BE ticket, will I have a pretty good stroke with them, even with no status?

What are the big differences positive or negative I will notice on this trip vs flying on Paid BE on Delta with Diamond and xMM status?

Mods, I kind of want a Delta fliers perspective on this, so I hope we can leave this here. Thank you.

raehl311

Routing is likely XXX-IAD-BRU or XXX-EWR-BRU. If you have the choice, I'd suggest IAD (less delays).

Business tickets get you lounge access.

You'll get very good irrops handling on a paid business ticket, but your priority will be lower than someone with status who has a business ticket. So, you'll almost certainly be able to get there, but depending on the situation you may have to go back to Y if you want to get there soon.

I'll let others chime in on the soft product as all my recent travel has been tPAC.

The miles you earn on UA are much more valuable than the miles you earn on DL, if you're going to be doing this trip with any frequency.

Thomas Hudson

Thank you. They fly to both from my airport as far as connections go.

A a side project, lets say I take this trip 4 times before the end of CY 2013.
How many usable miles would I accrue and what status would I get with them?

5khours

Other than the seat, the experience is very similar with DL. As to the seat.

1. DL has quite a few aircraft that have not been converted to flat-bed. UA is almost completely converted to flat bed (100% on TATL I think).

2. DL seat is more private. UA seat is bigger and more comfortable. YMMV, but I would guess that most taller/wider pax generally prefer the UA seat. Overall, I would guess that a majority of people prefer the DL. First impression on the DL seat is better, but if you fly a lot actual seat comfort gets to influence your opinion more than the initial impression.

3. UA has some rear facing seats. People who have never flown them complain about it, but most people who have flown it prefer the rear facing seat.

All the other stuff

1. You can UG in J on UA on reasonably priced fares. (This has been debated to death on this forum). You can also UG from J into GF on UA. (GF is a pretty decent hard product but not that much different from J on the soft side).

2. Service - About the same. Usually quite friendly but somewhat mediocre and inconsistent on both airlines.

3. IRROPS - Much less of an issue on international flights. I've probably flown over 1000 international segments and only had 2 cancellations and maybe 2 or 3 significant delays. I think both carriers are pretty comparable.

4. F&B - Used to be better on DL on international, but recently I've had some surprisingly excellent meals on UA. Nothing to write home about but OK on both airlines.

5. Clubs - depends on the airport. Flying out of Europe some of the *A clubs are pretty nice.

5khours

Depends on the routes, but you would probably get around 50k PQM which is Gold. Assuming no status now. You would also accrue about 50k usable miles (RDM).

On UA, you also have the option buy additional PQM or RDM everytime you book a trip. A lot of people find this quite valuable.

rwoman

If possible, I'd look into a status match/challenge.

MSPeconomist

UA seems to have some business class cabins in the 2-4-2 configuration, which I would hate. LH has 2-3-2 on the 747. If you're eventually going for GS on UA, you want to stick with UA, but how about LH or LX for TATL, connecting through MUC, ZRH, or FRA? Disadvantage is that without status, you'll be sent to the business class rather than SEN lounge, but otherwise LH might be a better experience than UA, assuming that you're not required to use USA carriers.

Personally I'd worry about the continuing UA merger mess and problems with SHARES. If might be better to stick with DL for now and then explore switching once UA gets its act together.

FlytheTail

Certainly UA's 777s with a 2-4-2 config aren't as desirable as other flat-beds on UA, but they're certainly much better than DL's unrefurbished 767 cradle seats in BE and are surprisingly comfortable. The biggest negative about UA's J seats is lack of direct aisle access (except for aisle seats). To some people, that's important; to me, it isn't. The problem with LH is most of their J seats are angle flat, which I don't care for. As others have said, service is hit or miss on both carriers.

When it comes down to it, it depends on which aircraft you would fly. I would prefer DL's 747s and 777s over anything on UA, but I'd prefer UA's 747s, 767s, 777s, and 787s over DL's 767s in 2-2-2 config or their A330s.

gzl16

I believe the BRU routes on DL are all flat-bed now.

MSPeconomist

They're scheduled for flat beds, but it's not guaranteed or advertised like on the LHR routes, so there's a risk of equipment change.

andymo99

DL has gone lie-flat on BRU flights. I'll be flying out/back via ATL and JFK this month. It seemed like all flights were lie-flat, and subs will become increasingly rare as the fleet mods continue.

TheMadBrewer

Let me know if you need some recommendations for good beer places in BRU

MSPeconomist

Framboise is a must on a hot summer day, ideally sitting at a sidewalk cafe.

ND76

At IAD, you would get privileges in both a Red Carpet Club and a Lufthansa Club (they have both a business lounge and a Senator lounge--I've seen the Senator lounge but don't know where the "business" lounge entrance is), which is located not far from the DL domestic gates and at the stairway/escalator set up to access the Aero Train. From the outside, that is a pretty sweet looking lounge (I think ANA, another *A member, abandoned the lounge they shared with AF for business pax and are sending them there). In fact, IAD is virtually dominated by *A airlines, as also LH, SAS, South Africa Airways, Turkish, Austrian, Air Canada and COPA all have flights.

I noticed something today--Brussels Airlines, a LH subsidiary and *A member, is flying IAD-BRU and return 5 days a week, with the eastbound flight leaving around 2230. I was not aware that they were flying into IAD. I'm guessing that they have a codeshare with UA like the DL codeshares out of IAD on AF and KL.

cfischer

Service and food IMO is better on Delta, but not by much.
Seats: Lie-flat on both airlines. EWR-BRU is a PMCO 764 which I find quite reasonable. IAD/ORD-BRU are PMUA 772s which I personally avoid at all cost (far inferior to the Delta product).
If you are considering UA I'd strongly recommend flying through EWR.