FlyerTalk Forums - Recent observations flying US F

Hi there,

A couple of weeks ago I bought an excellent fare to MIA on UA for $125.00 incl. taxes (tkt was actually $150 but I applied a $25 certificate that I had for some time). UA's marketing agreement with US is a strong one and some of the fares can be booked on US metal as long as they have a UA codeshare number.

My intention was to fly UA on the outbound so that I can try the Y breakfast before it disappears and all flights become BOB. This might sound nuts for some of you but I am one of those who enjoy taking pics of airplane food as a hobbie. I possess a background in airline catering and food has always been my passion. My original itinerary was SFO-IAD-MIA on UA and MIA-CLT-SFO on US. I was flying with my sister so as a new Premier with UA I secured some good seats in E+. This was going to be a quickie leaving on Sat Jan 22 and returning Mon Jan 24. I was checking the weather channel on Fri and I was getting a bit anxious since they expected snow at IAD the next day. Later that evening I checked on the computer and it showed heavy snow for Sat. I went to the UA website and saw a link for flight cancellantions and waiver due to Winter storm. I knew I had a very strong chance of my flights being affected and sure enough, UA left me a msg advising that I was "protected" on a flight thru ORD. This is not good because I knew that the Midwest was also going to be affected by the weather and a lot of psgrs would be routed thru ORD so it was going to be a mess. On top of that, when I called back the agent said that she could not assign me any seats on the SFO-ORD flight and that I needed to request them at the gate (translation: this flight is overbooked and you might be stuck in a middle seat if you are lucky enough to get onboard).

I inquired US about any weather delays in CLT and fortunately there were none. Since I am Silver with them until Feb 28, 2005, I thought that it might be worth switching to US on the outbound and see if there was a slight chance to get upgraded and to my delight their flights were very open. I hung up and immediately proceeded to the UA counter at the airport to find a sympathetic agent to rebook me. At the counter, I was helped by a very "inexperienced" agent who did not know what she was doing and asked her co-worker to assist her. My conversation went along these lines:

ME: "Hi, I received a msg advising that my IAD-MIA flight was cancelled and I was protected thru ORD. I know ORD is expecting some weather problems tomorrow and I was wondering if you could please rebook me via CLT on US? After all, when I originally purchased this fare US was an option because you code share with each other."

Agent: "Let me see...Sir, you are protected on our flight thru ORD already." She talks to her co-worker and they comment about a possible cancellation of flights to ORD tomorrow. "We cannot find T inventory on US (which is the fare category I was booked on), so what we can do is endorse this tkt to US and it is up to them to accept it, if there is a difference in fare you are liable to pay for it".

ME: "Why don't you book me in Y? You flight cancelled on me and I was supposed to be protected regardless of what inventory you have. This is not a voluntary rerouting as you suggest. Why don't you check in the record history?

Agent: "I see, sorry, I was not aware that we cnxld that leg, I was looking at your SFO-ORD-MIA itinerary. We will confirm you on US via CLT."

ME: "Thanks, I appreciate your assistance (were they ever listening to me in the first place when I told them my flight was cancelled?) "

I then called US and had them insert my Silver account in their records. I was hoping to get upgraded within the 24 hrs window but to my surprise, I was informed by a US agent at the airport that any flight that is booked and issued by UA does not qualify for the automatic upgrade policy and instead need to be processed at the gate on the day of departure. Even though I was a US Silver member and flying on US metal. However, when I called the Silver line, an agent upgraded me over the phone without any fuss.

US 59 SFO-CLT
A321 Seats 6CD

The flight was scheduled to depart at 7:00A. The agent working the F counter was indifferent and just did his job. I was expecting this kind of attitude given the current conditions at US. To my surprise, I was proved wrong later. At the gate, I inquired about seats together to no avail. However, the agent issued us boarding passes in F for the connection CLT-MIA, which was much appreciated.

Upon boarding, FA's greeted psgrs with a smile and even joked with some of us. Seat 6A was empty the whole time and when the door closed, my sister moved next to me. There was a bottle water by each seat and FA's were hanging coats and preparing the cabin. A positive way to start the morning, I thought. Once we took off, drink orders were taken and they were offered with a full can. As many of you know, the deterioration of US F/C has been going on for some time. No glasses, linens, menus, hot towels nor silverwares. On a positive note, cabin was clean and there was a pillow with blanket on each seat.

FA's distributed the trays that already had a warm muffin and a big bowl of sliced cantaloupe, strawberries and blueberries. Breakfast consisted of a choice of Waffle, Omelette or Cereal. I had the waffle which was a single one with three slices of Canadian bacon and some blueberries scattered on top. It was accompanied by Aunt Jemina syrup. No more breakfast bread basket offering croissants, muffins and bagels. :(

Service was very attentive and before landing the snack basket made an appearance containing cashews, potato chips, xoxo chocolate bars, pretzels and blueberry bars. Not bad at all. I applaud US for giving decent size bottle waters for each F psgr. A very nice touch.

US 1445 CLT-MIA
B737-400 Seats 1DF

The flight was delayed by about half hour due to the incoming aircraft from NY. Once the plane landed, they did a quick turnaround and soon we were ready to board.

Not much to report on this flight, except that the Snack basket was offered twice and the FA's were friendly but a bit unprofessional. They were chatting loudly during boarding and when the catering truck was pulling off the aircraft the FA in the F galley shouted "Water, water, they forgot to board it" and got the catering guy back to the plane. Also, I must comment that when we landed in MIA and were taxiing, a FA asked the guy in 1C why his bag was in front of him on the floor and not stowed since we were not at the gate yet. She grabbed the bag and placed in the closet giving a loud "sigh".

US 210 CLT-MIA
B737-400 Seat 1C (actually 12C)

Pretty soon it was time to return. We checked-in at the counter and the agent was nice in protecting us on a later flight since our departure from MIA was going to be delayed for half an hour. She advised us that we were confirmed on the original connecting flight from CLT-SFO and on a later one just in case.

At the gate, agents were professional and very friendly. I inquired about the upgrade and the agent advised me that there might be a chance that one seat was left so I gave it to my companion and I took the emergency aisle, which was not bad at all.

Servicewise, the crew was friendly and efficient. In Y, only a drink service was offered with pretzels. In F, the snack basket was offered thrice. We arrived in CLT half hour later and we decided to wait for the later flight instead of running from Terminal B to C in 10 min.

US 1167 CLT-SFO
A321 Seats 6AC

I checked at the gate once again for any possible upgrades and I was informed that the F cabin looked full. This was a very light flight in the back and I decided to delay my boarding until about 10 min before dep. I inquired again and the agent said that she had 1 empty seat and asked if we wanted to split. We agreed and my sister insisted in me sitting up front so I accepted without much arguing. I was assigned 6A, a window seat and upon boarding I noticed 3 empty F seats. I sat down and saw an agent getting a psg from Y to F. I inquired about upgrading my sister who was sitting right behind F. The agent said that he will double check and another agent came back and escorted my sister to 4C. Don't they release the seats 15 minutes before dept? Kind of makes you wonder if upgrades are being arbitrarily given these days. The agent advised the FA and then the purser came to my neighbor and asked is she was willing to switch to another aisle seat so that we can sit together ^ . That was an unexpected nice touch!!!

FA's passed by to hung up coats. After take off, drink orders were taken and again, water bottles were on each seat along with a pillow and blanket. The drinks came with a full can without nuts or pretzels. Gone are the days when a dinner service was accompanied by warm nuts, appetizer and a decent dessert. Choices today were Chicken Ceasar salad, Shrimp Scampi or Chicken Marsala. By the time our FA got to row 6, only the chicken was left. The trays featured a slice of orange cheesecake and a large salad bowl with soggy croutons along with oil/vinegar dressing. The FA then offered rolls from a basket. I believe there were about 3 choices (sourdough, what and rye). The entree had one of the worst presentations I have seen for an airline meal. It featured diced pieces of chicken in a tomato sauce on top of white rice. Looked like something out of a school cafeteria. It was edible but not on par with F at all. No surprises here. I think the snack box back in Y was more appealing.

It was eye-opening to fly US once again after a long period of absence. I hope they'll be able to weather this crisis and survive, although that does not seem to be the consensus among many these days. The fact that I was able to upgrade 100% on my flights as a Silver might be due to the low number of elite members flying US or maybe I was just lucky. I took this trip expecting indifferent service with a lot attitude. Although I encountered some glimpses of mediocrity, overall I was pleasantly surprised by professional and attentive service, especially from the cabin crew. Some of these people are real diamonds in the rough. Best of luck, US!