So... exactly how is this experience unique to Ted? You're describing the coach cabin of ANY UA mainline flight.

Well, since you asked for another Ted rant...

Ok, for me this is a problem. Not only do I upgrade domestically (yes, every flight I can), but I buy premium cabin tix internationally. Ted may be neat for that $200 fare to DEN from here, but tacking on $900+ onto the fare basis for an E+ seat and being seated next to two sisters who haven't flown since 1995 so eager to share their stories of first flight with me is insulting.

I'm usually not one to post these type of "elitist FTer" type of posts ( ), but being based in PHX and having to board Ted for pretty much any destination I go, I have a very, very good sample base. And the people that they're packing the Ted planes with are exactly why I don't fly WN. I want seat blocking (don't even start. Fly the 9am PHX-SFO and then talk), space to store my luggage in row 1, and most importantly, hot nuts.

Convention traffic in LAS would argue otherwise. There is definitely a FC (paid F) market to LAS. It's perhaps leaner than in the past, so UA is taking the gamble.

I agree. Like i said before, if I knew I couldn't clear the UG list I'd rather fly TED than mainline domestic UA mainly because I'd be guaranteed E+ on an A320, which is the next best thing to F in the narrowbody fleet.

I can somewhat buy the complaints of thos ewho live in Ted markets. There's no other way to look at it than United has abandoned your market. You have to go to another carrier for mainline treatment.

However, aside from LAS, I imagine people in Ted markets were doing their fair share of connecting anyway, which means smaller planes, less valuable upgrades anyway. Did all that much change?

I also accept the type of people on the plane is different.

I flew two roundtrips SFO-PHX so far this year, and Ted is perfectly fine for me.

Sitting 10D or 11D on all 4 flights (exit row). The leg room is bigger than domestic F. The middle seat was open all 4 times. So what the heck with 3 seats in the row, the guy next to me elbowed me a few times anyway when I flew F. FA didn't really call me Mr 11D, and they didn't call me by name anyway when I flew F. Sure I had only a blue jacket, but they also gave me blue jacket from time to time when I flew F. F or not, I just hate airline food. So all I need are a few drink chits to get myself drunk, the rest is just fine.

I'm sorry, but I just don't believe this. Those routes aren't almost entirely 100% (tautology) leisure traffic. I'm sure there are plenty of other people like me who fly to LAS and MCO on business and who are used to upgrading. The number of people complaining about only-TED destinations on this forum alone is surely an indicator that UA hasn't quite got its sums right.

I just flew TED LAX-LAS and LAS-LAX. I have no problems with the seating (E+),equipment, music, meals or tanible. BUT the service that I recieved was absolutely horredous.

Our first flight LAX-LAS was delayed due to equipment failure. Now this plane was sitting there when I arrived (4:30a) so I presume that it was there over night. They proceed to board everyone and have us wait on the plane for over 45 minutes, in the plane at the gate after closing the door, not giving us any updates. When they finally come on the speaker, the pilot tells us that a incorrect part was installed on the plane. How he hell do you install a wrong part? And after you install something, shouldn't you check that it works correctly after you install it? Not wait for the pilot to find it. Now at this point they tell us that the part has to flown in from SFO (about an hour), due to some incredible indecision, and miscommunication they couldn't decide on whether or not to let us off the plane, they actually had everyone stand-up and sit down several times (musical chairs anyone?). So after hey finally decide to let everyone off, I call the 1K desk (yes I am 1K, no I do not expect the world), to book me and GF on the next flight to LAS. The 1K reservation agent is able to handle this with no problem at all, and is able to get me 2 seat in E+ on the next flight. So I walk over to the new gate and stand in line for my new boarding pass. While I was on the phone with the 1K desk, gate agent who worked on my original LAS flight "A", walked over to assist the agent on the next LAS flight "B" (everyone who was on flight "A" was trying to get on flight "B"). When I get up to the gate agent, I tell her that I was on flight "A" and the 1K desk rebooked me on flight "B" so I just need my boarding pass. She literally told me "I dont care" and put me on stand-by. At this point I try to call the 1K desk (but the phone system was down), and I didn't have enough energy (I took a redeye from HNL and got no sleep) to deal with an unreasonable agent. So when they start calling for stand-by, I get called first (I expect to early in the list, but not at the absolute top). My GF and me go up and get the passes from the original agent on flight "B". She give us our passes, and tell "you have to grin and bear it" since our seat weren't together. So I figure that it is a full flight, and we are lucky to get on. Imagine my suprise when I walk on and find that the flight is only half full, and that there is an empty seat next to me which is eventually filled by another standby customer. Not to mention the flight attendants, who offered no help what-so-ever with baggage or anything. Their standard answers were �you are going to have to check it� or "I don�t handle baggage�. PAX were helping each other with their carry-ons. All the FA's did was stand around and talk to each other during the entire boarding process (this was the case on LAX-LAS and LAS-LAX).

This was my irst experince with TED, and it was a very bad one. I have never had this bad service from any flight/ground crew for any of my previous flights with United or United Express(Skywest) in the past 2 1/2 years (about 160 segments) not even when I was a peon still earning my status. Note: this is my first year as 1K, last year was my first year as 1P, before that I was a peon until I earned 2P. So I am not that far removed from knowing what "standard" service vs "elite" service is like.

Someone from United reading this board has to do something about this. People can fly Southwest style for a couple of hours but they don't like to do without the Southwest service. Bad service is poison, slowly but surely killing you.

Easier said than done. AA to HKG/SIN/anywhere but NRT?
Yes. I used to be able to work on PHX-ORD. Try that on a full Ted flight. There also used to be flight attendants who weren't in a hurry to pitch me a cup of pepsi and then disappear for the rest of the flight with the "Oh well this is a low cost airline" excuse.

I'd still LOVE to see the paid F numbers for PHX-ORD back in the day. I'm willing to bet a few rounds of drinks that it was way, way, way above the unsubstantiated 1% bs. that keeps getting spread around here..

Anyhow, back to grinning and bearing it.

There are a few things that can made Ted slightly better. To wit:

1. Strict enforcement of E+. If you're not a 2P or higher and the plane is not filled to the gills, there should be no newly minted flyers in 1A.

2. One free �berbeverage for 1P/1K. This could be printed out on extra stock when you get your ticket. It would make up for the half can policy.

3. Enforced blocking on middle seats for elites. These should be the last seats to go.

4. Better priority boarding schema. As much as I hate to do this to the 1P/2Ps, but Seating 1 should be UGS/1K, Seating 2 1P/2P and then from the back of the plane forward. It's time for UA to admit that there are too many elites to do them all in one bunch, particularly when the UGS and 2P are fighting in the pseudoline that always forms.

5. Stay out of Row 11. That's mine, damn it. Rar.

timothy

Normally I hate TED but one flight this year we had the best crew ever on a UA flight...
But would LH but you on a Germanwings flight after arriving in F or C from an international flight?!?

All of my travel has been for business Orlando has had 3 Conventions meetings this year so far so that must mean that the travel is not all leisure Las Vegas has it convention center booked years in advance so the same thoughts would apply I upgrade when I book the flight using miles ..15000 each direction for a newark MCO flight that really means that I am upgraded to Chicago only darn it And yes all the TED flights I have now been on are full with Moms Kidlets strollers car seats and the like Go Figure ..

"2. One free �berbeverage for 1P/1K. This could be printed out on extra stock when you get your ticket. It would make up for the half can policy."


I would hate to be the FA trying to explain to the couple from Peroia why this snot nosed yuppie gets a full can and they get a cup.....

If it was, I imagine they wouldn't have launched all-TED service now, would they?

If a market can justify a small F cabin, you'd have some A320s or 319s in the mix, just like you get to/from IAD. I don't expect UA is going to toss double-digit percentage four-figure fares in their current position. So evidently IAD is generating sufficient paid F (or C from connecting flight) fares to justify the service (at least for the moment).

I don't recall where the 3% paid F to LAS data came from, but I think it came from someone inside UA with a clue and not a number pulled out of their arse.

I TEDded for the first time yesterday (MCO-ORD) and was quite satisfied. The flight was sold out but sitting in the first row made the rest of the aircraft irrelevant. Had lunch beforehand so no hunger pangs. I rarely listen to rock music on aircraft but I really liked Channel 3, something called Ted Rocks. Anyone know where I could get a playlist, it's not in Hemispheres.