Jan 18, 2015, 1:38 am
Last edit by: WineCountryUA
United - Positive Experiences 2015
Jan 31, 2015, 12:35 pm
#16
In Memoriam, FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Durham, NC (RDU/GSO/CLT)
Programs: AA EXP/MM, DL GM, UA Platinum, HH DIA, Hyatt Explorist, IHG Platinum, Marriott Titanium, Hertz PC
Posts: 33,857
UAX (GoJet) ORD-OMA. Flight crew in F really tried hard. Full PDB (compared to just water on RDU-ORD) and they made the extra effort. It's not much, but the FA arranged the snack packs really carefully on a tray with two packs in a cup with napkin positioned so it looked classy (see below). Plus very friendly service. Much more than I was expecting on a short flight.
Jan 31, 2015, 12:41 pm
#17
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: TPA
Programs: UA Global Services 3MM, Hyatt Lifetime Globalist
Posts: 2,927
Flew FRA-EWR last week in BF. Had a superb pmUA crew that were over the top nice and firendly. I spent some time chatting with them in the galley mid-flight and found them to be an experienced and cheerful group, each with over 15 years' experience. I had given them a box of chocolates (as I always do) when we boarded, and they told me that it really meant a lot on that day because they had a DYKWIA passenger the day before who really worked hard to make the flight miserable for the crew and fellow passengers.
When we were making our final approach, the purser handed me a business card with a thank you note and listed all of their names.
In case you were thinking that I was treated differently because of the chocolates, think again! I watched them provide great service cabin-wide. I chatted with a few other pax (mix of premier levels) on the way to customs and immigration and we all agreed that this was a great crew and great flight. ^^^
When we were making our final approach, the purser handed me a business card with a thank you note and listed all of their names.
In case you were thinking that I was treated differently because of the chocolates, think again! I watched them provide great service cabin-wide. I chatted with a few other pax (mix of premier levels) on the way to customs and immigration and we all agreed that this was a great crew and great flight. ^^^
Feb 1, 2015, 8:00 am
#18
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: STL
Programs: AA, UA Gold, SPG, Marriott Gold
Posts: 120
Xmas Wedding
My wife and I flew STL-HOU-HNL-GUM and then GUM-HNL-DEN-STL. Had an 8 month (lap) and 3.5 year old.
FAs were very understanding and helpful in multiple refills of our sons bottle with water. They even offered to clean it out for us with hot water from the coffee make which was nice.
They also were able on 1 of the legs to move a lady so we could have an extra seat for the baby. They also gave us a free sandwich.
Treated really really well. Which is helpful when you are on long hauls with kids/baby.
FAs were very understanding and helpful in multiple refills of our sons bottle with water. They even offered to clean it out for us with hot water from the coffee make which was nice.
They also were able on 1 of the legs to move a lady so we could have an extra seat for the baby. They also gave us a free sandwich.
Treated really really well. Which is helpful when you are on long hauls with kids/baby.
Feb 2, 2015, 4:18 pm
#19
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Anywhere but home
Programs: UA 1K/MM, DL GM/MM, HH Dia, PC Plat, MR Gold, ALL Sil,
Posts: 4,553
An interesting FA experience
Wasn't sure whether to put this on the good or bad FA experiences thread, so I'll try to put a positive spin on this.
Flew SFO-HNL recently on a 764 in one of the middle (single) F seats. Usual decent service although one of the lead FAs started to become chatty with me during dinner service. After having 3-4 glasses of wine during dinner, I asked for some cognac. A short time passed and the FA brought me a double and started to ask somewhat personal questions after telling me about herself (she loves to gamble, buys/sells homes, loves her job, etc.). She then asked if I'm married, about my job/career, where I live, etc. Nothing offensive, just personal, and I guess I was somewhat receptive. Before leaving, she grabbed my hand and held onto it as she slowly walked away. A little later, she stopped by to chat some more and before leaving, rubbed her hand on my chest.
This seemed like pretty flirtatious behavior and in a way I enjoyed it, but I wonder what other passengers thought or if they even noticed. It also seemed like she was on something, which didn't cross my mind until a few hours later when we started our decent. Right after the pilot made the usual announcement (40 min before landing), she got on the PA and told everyone we're on final approach and had a hard time telling everyone to fasten their seat belts. After that, I don't think she made any other announcements.
Perhaps this falls into the neither good nor bad experience category but rather, the memorable category?
Flew SFO-HNL recently on a 764 in one of the middle (single) F seats. Usual decent service although one of the lead FAs started to become chatty with me during dinner service. After having 3-4 glasses of wine during dinner, I asked for some cognac. A short time passed and the FA brought me a double and started to ask somewhat personal questions after telling me about herself (she loves to gamble, buys/sells homes, loves her job, etc.). She then asked if I'm married, about my job/career, where I live, etc. Nothing offensive, just personal, and I guess I was somewhat receptive. Before leaving, she grabbed my hand and held onto it as she slowly walked away. A little later, she stopped by to chat some more and before leaving, rubbed her hand on my chest.
This seemed like pretty flirtatious behavior and in a way I enjoyed it, but I wonder what other passengers thought or if they even noticed. It also seemed like she was on something, which didn't cross my mind until a few hours later when we started our decent. Right after the pilot made the usual announcement (40 min before landing), she got on the PA and told everyone we're on final approach and had a hard time telling everyone to fasten their seat belts. After that, I don't think she made any other announcements.
Perhaps this falls into the neither good nor bad experience category but rather, the memorable category?
Feb 2, 2015, 4:21 pm
#20
Join Date: Dec 2014
Posts: 219
On my flight from EWR-CLE, the flight attendant was good. No meals, so just beverage service. She kept refilling it throughout the flight.
On my CLE-EWR flight, the flight attendant was horrible. Just horrible.
On my CLE-EWR flight, the flight attendant was horrible. Just horrible.
Feb 2, 2015, 4:35 pm
#21
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Northern Calif./Eastern Ida.
Programs: Amethyst Premier Plutonium Medallion
Posts: 20,645
Last night on UA5650 (operated by OO) the crew was outstanding. The flight was delayed but they brought a great attitude and were truly above and beyond by asking who on board had connections and did not have the ability to check them for themselves upon landing with the UA mobile app or similar. About a dozen older folks were in that camp, and as soon as we landed one of the FAs looked up all those flights and announced the status over the PA. During the flight, they did 3 rounds of drinks in Y and from my row 7 seat I could clearly see the attention that was paid to the service in F, which was equally good.
This was among the best crew I have had on UA and in particular OOdbaUAX in several years. FA names don't usually stick with me but theirs will. I have not commended them to UA yet, but I do intend to.
About the only thing they didn't do was find a way to fix the god awful slimline seats on the CR700 we were flying, but that seems like asking for a bit much.
This was among the best crew I have had on UA and in particular OOdbaUAX in several years. FA names don't usually stick with me but theirs will. I have not commended them to UA yet, but I do intend to.
About the only thing they didn't do was find a way to fix the god awful slimline seats on the CR700 we were flying, but that seems like asking for a bit much.
Feb 4, 2015, 11:38 pm
#22
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: SYD; Central Coast, NSW
Programs: UA, 1K 2MM
Posts: 947
Complimentary upgrades
Mrs. IainC and I were booked in E+ on UA 863 out of SFO for SYD on Feb 3. The flight was full in Economy with a number of additional PAX joining this flight as a result of cancelled East Coast flights the 2 days prior due to weather. However, the flight status indicated that there were a number of seats available in C (which in itself is very rare on this route). As we were about to board, the gate agent called IainC party of 2 to the podium. Much to our surprise and delight the agent informed us that we were being given complimentary upgrades to C. This is the first complimentary upgrade that I have received in a long time. However, what makes this even more surprising was that Mrs. IainC was traveling on an award ticket from my account. I have never known UA to give complimentary upgrades to PAX traveling on an award ticket. Anyway many thanks to United for making this very long flight a most positive experience for us both. ^
Feb 5, 2015, 1:52 am
#23
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Bangkok or San Francisco
Programs: United 1k, Marriott Lifetime PE, Former DL Gold, Former SQ Solitaire, HH Gold
Posts: 11,886
Jan. 14. 837 SFO/NRT. Departed 11:00. Car picked me up at 7:00 in the East Bay. Traffic was an absolute nightmare. Accidents all over the place. Instead of the normal 2 hours it took more than 3. Itinerary clearly calls for checking in 1 hour before. Didn't make it. Note even close. All counters closed but 1. TA cheerily said "bad traffic?". "Yup". "Let me help". Opened terminal, got us both checked in. Friendly and happy. Got to the gate with almost no time to spare. Almost last ones to board. Cheery and friendly GA. Same with the FA. Overhead available in F.
Plenty of opportunity for this to have gone wrong and it would have been my fault for not getting there on time. No one acted put out because they were going on break. Everyone helped.
UA has pretty much always taken good care of me.
Plenty of opportunity for this to have gone wrong and it would have been my fault for not getting there on time. No one acted put out because they were going on break. Everyone helped.
UA has pretty much always taken good care of me.
Feb 5, 2015, 5:47 pm
#24
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: DFW from PDX - UA 1K 2MM,Lifetime HHonnors Diamond, Bonvoy AMB/LT Tit, National Exec Elite, Hertz PC
Posts: 554
Wow! Hats off to the crew of UA 1581 - ORD/CLE 2/4
Fellow Flyers,
In the 24 (1k since 97) years traveling, I have to admit that the crew and captain blew me away last night.
Here's the story. The flight boarded on time and we were told that there was a delay due to de-icing of the aircraft. As time passed, the captain kept us up to date and it soon became apparent that there was another issue. Apparently a baggage handler bent a latch on a small door near the cargo hold and they had to replace it. FA's kept refilling beverages of choice in F along with bringing beverages to Y. Long story short, we had to all get off and re-board as the GA let a few people off the plane and lost count
. 2 hours plus later, we finally took off for CLE.
As we were approaching CLE, we ended up in a holding pattern as the snow in Cleveland got worse and all runways were closed for clearing. Crew decided to divert to PIT where we arrived.
The captain kept apologizing and made it clear he wanted us safe as that was priority number 1. As we sat in PIT it once again became clear that we were going to be there for a while. Again FA's were serving drinks to everyone who wanted them ^.
I was speaking with the captain and he mentioned he was going to order Pizza for the plane ^^^, however he got upset since Pizza Hut refused to deliver to the airport.
5 minutes later, the captain and FO go to McDonald's and order 150 Chicken/Cheesebuger/Hamburgers for the passengers. They came back with big boxes and passed them out to all ...
^
We then finally left for CLE and made it... ended up waiting for them to plow our gate once we arrived but we got there.
Hands down in over the almost 3MM I have flown on UA, it was one of the best crews I have had.
Great work from a great crew. Thanks again if any of the crew are reading this. :-:
(Legacy CO Crew as it was 737/7)
In the 24 (1k since 97) years traveling, I have to admit that the crew and captain blew me away last night.
Here's the story. The flight boarded on time and we were told that there was a delay due to de-icing of the aircraft. As time passed, the captain kept us up to date and it soon became apparent that there was another issue. Apparently a baggage handler bent a latch on a small door near the cargo hold and they had to replace it. FA's kept refilling beverages of choice in F along with bringing beverages to Y. Long story short, we had to all get off and re-board as the GA let a few people off the plane and lost count
. 2 hours plus later, we finally took off for CLE. As we were approaching CLE, we ended up in a holding pattern as the snow in Cleveland got worse and all runways were closed for clearing. Crew decided to divert to PIT where we arrived.
The captain kept apologizing and made it clear he wanted us safe as that was priority number 1. As we sat in PIT it once again became clear that we were going to be there for a while. Again FA's were serving drinks to everyone who wanted them ^.
I was speaking with the captain and he mentioned he was going to order Pizza for the plane ^^^, however he got upset since Pizza Hut refused to deliver to the airport.
5 minutes later, the captain and FO go to McDonald's and order 150 Chicken/Cheesebuger/Hamburgers for the passengers. They came back with big boxes and passed them out to all ...
^We then finally left for CLE and made it... ended up waiting for them to plow our gate once we arrived but we got there.
Hands down in over the almost 3MM I have flown on UA, it was one of the best crews I have had.
Great work from a great crew. Thanks again if any of the crew are reading this. :-:
(Legacy CO Crew as it was 737/7)
Feb 5, 2015, 6:25 pm
#25
Join Date: Jun 2008
Posts: 4,187
I was speaking with the captain and he mentioned he was going to order Pizza for the plane ^^^, however he got upset since Pizza Hut refused to deliver to the airport.
5 minutes later, the captain and FO go to McDonald's and order 150 Chicken/Cheesebuger/Hamburgers for the passengers. They came back with big boxes and passed them out to all ...^
5 minutes later, the captain and FO go to McDonald's and order 150 Chicken/Cheesebuger/Hamburgers for the passengers. They came back with big boxes and passed them out to all ...
^Continental: http://consumerist.com/2007/06/30/di...ed-passengers/
Frontier: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/201...imself-a-slice
Delta: http://www.usatoday.com/story/todayi...anded/2005793/
United: http://fortune.com/2014/12/24/why-do...a-long-flight/
Last edited by Indelaware; Feb 5, 2015 at 6:33 pm
Feb 6, 2015, 12:54 pm
#26
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 498
FYI pilots can be either (bid dates for UA 737 pilots was 2013 or early 2014, certain fleets like the 747 and 787 are "fenced" for much longer) now that they are on a single contract with a merged seniority list. In fact IAD is getting a 737 base soon (I think someone mentioned bid dates were next moth).
As a CLE native I get more and more annoyed about these deicing delays in ORD (especially because short flights like CLE seem to have lower priority for deicing) they really need a central deicing pad there.
Regardless, ^^ to the crew... having survived a 3 hour (in 10 to 20 minute increments) deicing/snowplow fire delay ORD-CLE a month ago where the crew was great (but not above and beyond like OP) I'm encouraged to see what I hope is a trend of a return to friendly.
As a CLE native I get more and more annoyed about these deicing delays in ORD (especially because short flights like CLE seem to have lower priority for deicing) they really need a central deicing pad there.
Regardless, ^^ to the crew... having survived a 3 hour (in 10 to 20 minute increments) deicing/snowplow fire delay ORD-CLE a month ago where the crew was great (but not above and beyond like OP) I'm encouraged to see what I hope is a trend of a return to friendly.
Feb 6, 2015, 1:46 pm
#27
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: NYC
Programs: AA EXP, UA Platinum, Alaksa MVP 75K, Air Berlin Gold, HHonors Diamond, Marriott Gold, Hertz PC
Posts: 2,389
FYI pilots can be either (bid dates for UA 737 pilots was 2013 or early 2014, certain fleets like the 747 and 787 are "fenced" for much longer) now that they are on a single contract with a merged seniority list. In fact IAD is getting a 737 base soon (I think someone mentioned bid dates were next moth).
As a CLE native I get more and more annoyed about these deicing delays in ORD (especially because short flights like CLE seem to have lower priority for deicing) they really need a central deicing pad there.
Regardless, ^^ to the crew... having survived a 3 hour (in 10 to 20 minute increments) deicing/snowplow fire delay ORD-CLE a month ago where the crew was great (but not above and beyond like OP) I'm encouraged to see what I hope is a trend of a return to friendly.
As a CLE native I get more and more annoyed about these deicing delays in ORD (especially because short flights like CLE seem to have lower priority for deicing) they really need a central deicing pad there.
Regardless, ^^ to the crew... having survived a 3 hour (in 10 to 20 minute increments) deicing/snowplow fire delay ORD-CLE a month ago where the crew was great (but not above and beyond like OP) I'm encouraged to see what I hope is a trend of a return to friendly.
Feb 6, 2015, 1:55 pm
#28
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: YVR
Programs: OZ Diamond, Jiffypark Manhattan Gold
Posts: 4,485
I flew YVR-SFO-IAH-BOG-IAH-DEN-YVR leaving at Christmas and coming back 2nd week of Jan.
The 2015 portion of things was much better than 2014. I paid for J going down and the IAH-BOG was kinda miserable. Had Y class coming back, pleased as punch for the most part.
I'm a really easy flyer, so United rarely disappoints me, but the fact that all my aircrafts had legit AVOD/streaming was what pleased me. No liveTV nonsense, no "we're installing still". One flight the wifi didn't work, I do remember the wifi would show up but just not connect and many people complained, but I was still ok since I had my own stuff to watch and was in the middle of a pretty good day I guess.
So not an over the top positive experience, but I rarely have those on any airline, just don't p*** me off and that's positive for me
The 2015 portion of things was much better than 2014. I paid for J going down and the IAH-BOG was kinda miserable. Had Y class coming back, pleased as punch for the most part.
I'm a really easy flyer, so United rarely disappoints me, but the fact that all my aircrafts had legit AVOD/streaming was what pleased me. No liveTV nonsense, no "we're installing still". One flight the wifi didn't work, I do remember the wifi would show up but just not connect and many people complained, but I was still ok since I had my own stuff to watch and was in the middle of a pretty good day I guess.
So not an over the top positive experience, but I rarely have those on any airline, just don't p*** me off and that's positive for me
Feb 6, 2015, 7:50 pm
#29
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Iowa City
Programs: Gold SPG and Marriott, Silver United Milage Plus
Posts: 43
United-positive experiences
Just returned from flights to Hawaii-(CID)-ORD-HNL, out bound, return, OGG-SFO-ORD(CID).
The flights were as good as one can expect-they were on time, actually the flts. ORD-HNL, OGG-SFO and SFO-ORD, all were 20 minutes or more early!
The attendants were pleasant, very helpful, brought drinks, they even made the weather perfect-if I can fly on time, have seat that I chose, I am happy.
The flights were as good as one can expect-they were on time, actually the flts. ORD-HNL, OGG-SFO and SFO-ORD, all were 20 minutes or more early!
The attendants were pleasant, very helpful, brought drinks, they even made the weather perfect-if I can fly on time, have seat that I chose, I am happy.
Feb 9, 2015, 8:07 am
#30
Suspended
Join Date: Jun 2012
Programs: UA PP, AA, DL, BA, CX, SPG, HHonors
Posts: 2,002
just flew LGA-IAH-SFO-LAS this weekend in paid F, and all 3 flights arrived way early
LGA-IAH arrived 40 mins early
IAH-SFO arrived *only* 20 mins early, and that's including SFO weather-related holding pattern
SFO-LAS arrived 30 mins early
Crews were courteous, food was more than "edible", and functioning Wi-Fi streaming allowing me to watch the entire "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon" for $0.00
Icing on the cake : the paid F (-UP) fare came out to ~6.5 cents per PQM
LGA-IAH arrived 40 mins early
IAH-SFO arrived *only* 20 mins early, and that's including SFO weather-related holding pattern
SFO-LAS arrived 30 mins early
Crews were courteous, food was more than "edible", and functioning Wi-Fi streaming allowing me to watch the entire "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon" for $0.00
Icing on the cake : the paid F (-UP) fare came out to ~6.5 cents per PQM