Marin 1K

Despite being granted Global Services again for 2014 (and every year since the inception of GS), I have officially become a Kayaker.

I am flying UA to DEN this week, where I was able to book a very cheap fare and apply expiring RPUs. But I have just booked a round trip to LHR on Virgin, in fact on Virgin via a Delta code share one way @ 1/2 the Virgin fare and 1/3 the cheapest UA biz fare (that I actually did find via Kayak). Ok, so I won't have the chance of upgrading to UA F, but Upper Class is absolutely adequate, especially at 1/3 of UA C.

It felt a bit liberating.

PV_Premier

yesterday were my first two flights into my AS (dbaDL) experiment.
i'm already over the moon. can't figure out why i didn't do this before.

DL2581 SMF-ATL
Seat 18D (exit row)
Wins: free satellite TV (not as many selections as UA but had ESPN and NBC which is all that matters to me), 3x snack/drink service from a very attentive crew on 3:48 flight, cheap iOS wi-fi that actually works (that's right, don't have to choose between wifi and IFE, we have both!). booze selection blows UA out of the water (blue moon beer, dewars scotch, woodford reserve bourbon), empty seat in 18E.

DL1202 ATL-GSO
Seat: 4B (CPU)
Wins: mainline F into GSO (not possible to even get express F on UA), PDB woodford in real glasses, UA transcon quality snack basket (on a 45 minute flight!!!), 2 rounds of woodford in the air (on a 45 minute flight!!!), empty seat in 4A.

service, DL wins. hard product, it's a wash. soft product, DL wins HUGE.

not at all sad that my remaining PNRs booked on UA are SMF-DUB via Wideroe, and one way SFO-SMF (don't ask).

johnmont

My first three or four years of being a 1K -- status achieved in 2005, 2006, 2007.

I'm sure I'm a jaded after 8 years of being 1K compared to my early status years, but I honestly feel as though there was so much more appreciation of being a 1K in the mid 2000s. I think the red carpet is a good example of that, for instance.

Karl-MDW

I am not officially "leaving", but I have been in job transition for the past year and a half. I have flown a lot less lately; however, when I do fly, I have become a kayaker. When I move into a new position, I will choose the best airline for my needs.

I have been a Million Miler for years, and I occasionally still do enjoy the (ever-decreasing) remaining benefits, but United has now finally convinced me that I need to treat my airline choice as a business. Loyalty only goes so far, you know.

Besides, I no longer have a reason to endure poor service, late flights, and regional jets between major airports...just for starters.

It is unfortunate, because until recently, I was a real cheerleader for United (for more than 30 years) among my friends, family, and colleagues. Now, since I am sitting in Y anyway, I am seeing the bright side of WN, DL, and AA at their recommendation!

TEM3

I am just a casual flier, though we do have the MileagePlus Card and try to earn as many miles as we can thru shopping, etc. We are done with UA after the 1/4/14 fiasco in HOU. It was so crazy that day and UA was so unorganized. Even the agents were mad at the airline. Amazing how bad it is getting.

IAH-OIL-TRASH

Since UA doesn't fly to HOU, I guess you mean IAH....

bob_the_d

i agree. DL at LGA at the wrong hour if you're a kettle can be an absolute nightmare. same with UA at EWR.

funnily enough i've never had that bad an experience with AA at JFK. maybe i was just lucky, who knows.

anyway, to answer the thread, i'm probably not leaving. flying p.s. right now and got 4 more revenue tickets across the next three weeks. living in midtown west, EWR isn't a pain to get to for me, and routing through ORD out of LGA also opens up a ton of flights. they really do go everywhere i need to from here, both domestic and international.

of course when i inevitable get hit in the face with IRROPS i'll probably be hosed, but crossing fingers that's later rather than sooner...

CMK10

HOU refers in general to Houston as WAS is to Washington and NYC is to New York, LON to London etc.

kevincrumbs

I left UA at the beginning of the year and will only fly them if everything (schedule, price, aircraft) works out for me. I flew PDX - SFO on Friday and would've actually picked UA, until I noticed it was a CRJ flight. Instead, I decided I'd rather leave work a little earlier than normal and flew AS on a 738. On my SFO - PDX flights, I've been exclusively flying VX.

Not only have I left UA but I've decided to stop playing the mileage game since I don't fly enough for work (four trips or so a year). I considered status matching over to AS but even with the new ability to earn elite qualifying miles (or whatever their lingo is over there) for all carriers they partner with, it wasn't worth it to me to go out of my way to fly CX on an upcoming TPAC trip as opposed to SQ. I'll enjoy this one last year of *A lounges on the occasions that I fly a *A carrier internationally and just pay for anything I need at an airport in the future (ie food/booze/shower/etc).

Jetlagged

I am not leaving UA 100% but I am certainly making cold blooded decisions based on (a) schedule (b) RJs vs non RJs (c) upgrade track record. My pre-merger upgrade track record was 100% except for one IRROP. Post merger, while I do get upgraded most of the time, it has also not happened enough times (vs a 100% track record on AA) that it sways my choice of airline.

Been GS ever since it started with 200K miles (+/- 10%) annually..its sad that my choice is no longer automatic. I suspect I will be down to 100K or so on UA this year with the other miles going to AA/DL and Emirates for foreign travel

Always Flyin

What is even more sad is that this United doesn't seem to care if you stay or leave. They sure aren't doing anything to entice you to stay, that's for sure.

KenInEscazu

Add me to the leaving UA list. I have UA flights booked into April, then I'm done. I will, however, continue to fly Copa. They (Copa) are still my favorite airline. Should be enough to keep me M+ Gold. I "might" do a UA super-cheap MR to insure it.

It kills me to go back to AA. They really don't deserve my business either, but UA can no longer be trusted. They have some absolutely wonderful employees. It's a shame that the execs have simply ruined it.

I'm not being over-dramatic, either. Won't rehash the events that have mostly been shared in various threads here, but there are plenty, and too many aren't minor.

Jetlagged

The opposite of love isn't hate, its indifference. I am getting increasingly indifferent to UA

LarkSFO

Thanks goodness!

Good luck, and let those still considering UA know how it goes for you.

kettle1

I'll tell you how it has been for me since Jan 1. 14 DL domestic flts - pure bliss (kidding) on mainline (1 delay on SkyWest). 2 UA flts. (3 hour delay getting home). One RT to TPE on DL. Great flts.

If I lived in SFO, I would tolerate UA's sub-par service for non-stop flts. I get that. I live in LAS and HNL and I have options. My choice started on Jan. 1st - good-bye to the new UA. If you think it is the same carrier it was before the merger, think again.

DL is better than UA in almost every aspect of USA air travel? DL is getting better every day. If I were looking for a decent millage program I would be on AA/US at this time. For me no big deal, so I am going with DL (unless they turn into what UA has become, which currently is going the exact opposite direction - South).

Happy travels!