porciuscato

On a P.S. flight this weekend, the FAs were hanging out in the galley chatting rather than greeting passengers. After sitting for a few minutes I went up and asked if I could please hang my coat. Without saying a word, the FA gives me a surly look and grabs it out of my hand, proceeds to hang it, and turns her back on me.

Some time later, the manifest makes its way to the galley. The formerly surly FA magically becomes more convivial. "Can I get you anything Mr. Cato?"

I suppose it's nice that the GS status makes them care. But I'm disgusted at how little they care for someone who doesn't have the status.


-- Ceterum autem censeo Unitedem esse delendam

mgcsinc

You should report it. They actually care about what you say.

UA_Flyer

Flight cancelled out of EWR due to wintry weather condition.

Upon my arrival from the international flight, GS agent was waiting outside of jetway, and waited while I went through border control and collecting my bags at terminal B.

GS agent was on the phone the whole time trying to see if she could get me to my final destination on other flights or routing. Unfortunately, nothing was available.

The agent asked me to wait at terminal B while she went back to terminal C to collect a hotel key and food vouchers for me so I did not have to get on the Airtrain with my two big suite cases and other carry-on items. She returned in less than ten minutes and handed me a hotel key card (so I did not have to check in at the hotel and three food vouchers).

It made the flight cancellation easier to bear with this GS experience at EWR.....and she also upgraded me to F on my next morning flight.^

jandj

jfk-sfo (757) ,2 day layover then sfo-hkg (747) en route to macua, and 6 days later return via hkg-ewr (777)

JFK-SFO easy flight, no special services, entrance to GF lounge - flight right on time - ps flight sitting in 5B all as it should be, got my first choice, boarding as easy as they had a golden scarfed rep calling out looking for GS and she lined the six of us up together and we boarded before anyone else

sfo- hkg had upgrade to GF with miles and $600, seated in 2 K - hit with major weather event - used Gf lounge, perfunctory service, delayed 1 hour in the club, then another hour on the ground, I was at the gate before boarding started and proceeded first on when they called for gs - no special agent or recognition - I simply responded to the call by climbing over everyone in line to get to the boarding gate, served as a blocker for two more behind me

taxied out to the runway only to come back with an a/c issue, another 3 hours at the gate, leave 5 hours later, had to deal with listening to other passenger whipping up the fa and other passengers as to whether the flight was going to be cancelled, if it would be deemed the mechanical issue and would he get a free hotel room... totally obnoxious, pilot kept us informed as toteh circumstances and continued to strees we would be departing, over heard flight crew started talking about going illegal, made obnoxious guy go into high gear, eventually there was no doubt I would miss the last ferry from HKG airport to Macao, no way UA would know I was transferring that way, contacted my hotel (FS Macao) and they noted and said they would make arrangements for me - eventually we pushed back for the gate, another 25 minutes of the ground and we took off

arrived 4.5 hours late - hotel had me covered at airport with a buggy to immigration and a greet after with a limo escort to the downtown ferry and eventually to the hotel

on return checked in at GF counter - unbelievably pleasant woman who told me there were 60 GS flying that morning and they would all be in the GF lounge - the agent apologized in advance if it was going to be too crowded, checked my bag for the first time on the trip as it was overstuffed from HK shopping ,lounge was full but not crowded, two full time reps were in the lounge assisting all the passengers, very well done! Ordered off the menu and food came quickly and cooked very well - (BLT on croissant)

Went to boarding area 20 minutes after boarding started and 30 minutes before departure, rep was holding GS sign up and brought me to the front of the line and I boarded through a separate door for business class

Flight was on time and uneventful - sat in row 5 middle seat on 777 next to crew seat - had the area all to myself for 12+ hours until a pilot came back to watch movies 2 hours before landing. Crew was engaging and fun.

Global entry worked well and luggage arrived after 20 minutes, seemed like a long time but after a 14 hour flight everything does.

All in all a great trip that required no real gs special services- my favorite kind of trip !

kirkwoodj

Just got Mercedes service at LAX, even though 90 minutes until next flight boarding, used since took me from T8 to T7, and dropped me at apron level of elevator that took me up to UC (former GFL) in T7. Must've been a slow GS day

Kber

On a recent flight back from Zurich, I got indifferent service, including being told I had limited meal choices, for 8 of the 9 hours we were flying, while the nice lady behind me was treated like visiting royalty.

About 90 minutes before we land, I head the attendants go to the lady and thank "Mrs. Kber13" for flying with them again. She explains that's not her name and she almost never flies, but she splurged for business class when visiting her daughter who was studying abroad. And she's SO glad she did because the service has so far exceeded her expectations she is going to tell everyone she knows how great united is.

The flight crew manager , after a quick meeting in the galley, hurries over to my seat to check in and to make sure I'm ok.

Now it didn't cost united one red cent to treat the woman behind me well. I am near a hub and have to fly for business, so I'm kinda locked in. But Imagine what their reputation would be if they treated all flyers as well as they accidentally treated the woman behind me. Seriously, she raved through the entire disembarking and immigration process. They accidentally converted a customer into an advocate. What would their brand be if they did it on purpose?

kirkwoodj

Shocking behaviour.

Live4Upgrade

Seems they don't restrict Mercedes service at IAH to only GS. This lowly 1K was treated to Mercedes transfer at IAH from B->E this past Saturday morning. Inbound flight was 1hr late but still had more than 1hr until IAH-NRT departed.

Too bad the GPU for NRT flight didn't clear. Made it easy to see the best of UA and the normal UA in the period of only 1 hour.

Skacorica

Haha, and I couldn't get it when I begged with tight connection. Go figure

DEN

I’m not a GS customer but I observed GS special care a short while back. UA1429 on 15 Feb (LAX-IAD). I was in 4F. 4E remained empty and I saw a gate agent lingering at the door. I was expecting her to bring up a passenger from the back, but about 2 minutes after the scheduled departure time, a passenger boarded and sat down, a bit flustered. The door closed immediately, and he then got on the phone and explained to someone the whole story of his morning experience with United and how bad their on-time performance is, but that he got a free ride across the tarmac. He ended up the conversation with “Good thing I’m a GS or I would have missed this flight” and he hung up as we pushed back.

Nice service for a premium customer!

DEN

KevinPK1

Goal is to hit GS challenge in 3 more weeks and back to the club! GS really is awesome. I had the MB service 3 times in IAH, and my parents (traveling under my MP status) got it once. They were floored - they got the MB treatment before I did and told me all about it.. LOL... 1 / 3 times I really needed it with tight connection. GS goes a long way when you really need help, and especially for IRROPS. The service has improved substantially since the merger...

Sawasdee

One night I arrived in Denver, my home airport, from a non-jet plane parking at B90 some gate. For those of you who are familiar with DEN, those gates are pretty far from the train station.

The weather was single-digit cold and I saw a GS agent with my name on ipad and MB SUV waiting at the stairs. She asked me how my gate-checked bag looked like and directed me to wait inside the car while the driver and she went fish for my bag.

Inside the car, I found that the rear heated seats were toasty on and bottles of water were provided. They drove and dropped me off at a service door right around the Terminal B train station.

I thought this service went "above and beyond" given the fact that I did not have any connection.

kirkwoodj

Don't forget, inherited status gone in April.

bmwe92fan

Lol you and me both! I was running like OJ on my last connection in ORD - no Mercedes to be found....

Sierra Kilo

A couple of weeks ago, I had a fairly tight connection on a Friday afternoon at IAD while enroute from CDG to IAH. After the endless walk to immigration (where only two of the Global Entry kiosks were working, taking up more time) I was met by a GS agent with my name on her iPad just before the baggage carousel. Baggage was interminably slow in arriving, but when it finally did and after I rechecked it, she quickly managed to hustle me through security (ignoring the TSA agent's protests and the impossibly long queue). Once airside again, she led me downstairs to a waiting Mercedes SUV with Florida "Manufacturer" plates. I was then sped across the tarmac to another entrance practically opposite my gate. Without GS intervention, I may well have missed the flight.

About 10 days later, again at IAD, this time on a Sunday morning enroute from DXB to IAH. GS agent with an iPad met me and another couple on the jetway as we exited the plane. She walked us around to immigration (kiosks were working better this time), then to the baggage carousel (which was also much faster than the previous time). Being Sunday morning, not much traffic at security so that was smooth. She then called to see if they would be driving us to the gate, but was told that due to the snow and ice on the tarmac it was deemed safer for us to just walk. We had plenty of time, so there was far less drama than the earlier experience. But GS certainly adds a nice touch!