Always Flyin

From an elite member passenger perspective (1K until this year, now MM Gold), I would have a tough time coming up with anything that is an improvement on COdbaUA.

If I have missed something, do let me know.

Austin787

Some improvements:
* E+ expanded to the pmCO fleet, forcing DL and AA to implement their versions of E+
* Upgrades to the domestic F meals and addition of F meals on more flights

Back to the topic...UA will not be a world class airline until it focuses on taking care of its employees and empowering its employees to take care of its customers, who then "rewards" the airline with loyalty thus taking care of the shareholders. This formula works perfectly for Southwest.

Always Flyin

I am a pmUA flyer. UA already had E+. It still has it. That is not an improvement.

UA had decent meals. COdbaUA took them away. Giving them back (and they still aren't up to what UA had previously) is not an improvement.

Southwest is a success because its passengers expect nothing and are not disappointed when that is what they receive. All they get is a smile and free checked luggage.

UA, unlike Southwest, is a supposedly a full-service, long-haul, international airline. It just isn't delivering that service. Add to that IRROPS, IRROPS handling, and the cuts to Mileage Plus and Southwest is running circles around UA.

CO_Nonrev_elite

Umm, Southwest has better legroom than United, has wifi, has streaming movies, has live tv, gives you two free bags and doesn't charge change fees.

Add in exceptional customer service, and I would say that is a lot more than offering nothing...

BearX220

That is true. When fans of the legacies dismiss WN as "offering nothing," it generally means WN doesn't offer first class seats to Tokyo and Paris, which very few flying citizens of the United States care about. WN is no longer the cheap alternative but it's a good product with execution that is head and shoulders above UA across the board.

Austin787

I agree with your points except the one about legroom. Southwest legroom post Evolve isn't better than United. Plus Southwest doesn't have E+ seats.

SJC ORD LDR

DL actually announced EC on int'l flights before Jeff could decide on what to do with E+ on the pmCO fleet.

Short answer is the UA won't become a world class airline with Jeff in charge. He destroyed CO and UA in my opinion. The first step to that level is to get rid of Jeff.

CO_Nonrev_elite

I guess it is airplane specific. Everything except the 700's list 32-33 inches including evolve. United offers 30" on the airbus, and 31 on the 737's.

Of course on the E+ (and of course F Class etc), but that wasn't the discussion. The other thing with Southwest is that their upcharges are good value. With them not assigning seats, paying the $12 for Early Bird gets you more or less whatever seat you want near the front of the aircraft in most cases.

$12 for something of value, United charges way more and gives less

LarkSFO

I assume you are referring to E+ seating when you say "WN charges $12 for something of value, United charges way more and gives less"?

I disagree strongly.

United charges a lot more (agree), but you receive a much greater benefit on UA: An E+ seat with much more legroom! Likely window or aisle unless you are last minute or on a elite heavy / very busy route.

An E+ seat is a far greater benefit than "Early Bird gets you more or less whatever seat you want near the front of the aircraft in most cases." in my opinion.

Now, there are people who say 'I'd prefer an E- aisle over an E+ middle'.

For those people, where legroom is not the priority and aisle seating is, then WN's approach will cost them less to get what they want.

TravellingMan

I have saved a bundle on change fees on my flights this year that E+ is not decider anymore. WN and UA slimline seats are equally bad (I feel UA is particularly worse). UA lining up people on different groups is quite similar to the WN lineup, except in WN you know your position compared to UA style of having 3-4 lines leading up to a single group line.

Anyways, I came here to share my recent experience with UA this week. A simple DEN-YYZ-IAD-DEN trip. DEN-YYZ flight went into 30 minutes delay even though all the flight tracking showed the scheduled aircraft will be on time and so on. Thankfully I got myself on the AC flight instead. Same ERJ but vastly superior quality seats and it was on time. YYZ-IAD was delayed and got rebooked (after calling as no agent in YYZ would help, I guess outsourcing has its limits) onto the YYZ-ORD flight. Most terrible slimline seats of my travel experience. Then ORD-DEN waited for the pilot to show up.

Needless to say that the RJ experience has not changed a single bit. Now that the shackles of MileagePlus has been broken, I know which carrier to book on.

LarkSFO

Amen.

I bet you wish you had made this change much sooner than you actually did!

Kacee

Agreed. Evolve is tight and miserable. Very similar to the UA slimlines, except no E+.

If the Evolve seat is listed as 32-33 inches, someone needs to check their tape measure. Because that measurement is off by close to 10%.

TravellingMan

True. But I just tried after 8 months of not flying any revenue flights on UA. I reckon it is not going to get better. Just stay away from UA

spin88

Don't worry, United is not hiding the "good stuff" when you arrive, you are not missing anything.

The first part is a pure-CO perspective. on pmUA we had E+ (on nearly all of our flights, no icky ERJs ) and we also got upgrades. We also got semi decent, rather than icky meals. For us - mostly in COMPETITIVE HUBS - it was straight down when the Hou-crew took over....

The second part, I agree with. The "follow procedure, so no, or get written up" CO management approach has just killed the airline.

I have a revenue UA flight tomorrow, its on an A320, so I will be unhappy. Return is on AA, UA flight was a "slimmed" CRJ-700, so UA will not get my 45 c/mi spending on the return.

channa

I believe DL announced it after Jeff told the world that E+ was profitable from sales and reduced weight alone, even before factoring in loyalty. Shortly therafter, AA copied as well. UA kept that card to themselves for many years, while others thought UA was just fat and wasteful.

Recall that CO management was regarded for being ruthlessly cost focused. Jeff, being from CO making that comment was a very strong signal to airlines. They didn't have to experiment when Jeff told them all how to make more money. They just did it, and quickly.