Is United that bad?
 

Hi - We are leisure travelers. We used to fly United quite a bit but have not for various reasons for some time. Am looking at flights from Boston to Palm Springs or Ontario and United flights work for us. Looking at various review sites like Yelp and such, the reviews are less than stellar! However - I think the frequent fliers here are the real experts.

Are those reviews just the bad samples or is United really that bad? We will be flying main cabin. I am mostly interested in reliability.
Thanks so much.
sue

No, its not that bad. Its just not typically the cheapest.

I find it better than AA. Thats the only thing I can reliably compare it to. It depends on what you want. They now give you an inflight snack and offer free movies in flight on most planes. They have wifi for a fee. I know one or two airlines don't charge for wifi but if a $7 wifi fee is whats going to make or break your decision i think priorities are in the wrong place.

No, United is not "really that bad". It is easy to be critical here on FlyerTalk. But I think the criticism is way overcooked. You can go to boards for most of the other domestic airlines and see similar griping is various quantities.

Everyone is a complainer..

'AA or UA is great, they move a lot of people

I remember the old tail draggers, and thing are much better today.., and it sure beats the bus..

2014 United wasn't great. 2016 United will serve you as well as any other big US carrier.

UA is about the same as every other major airline. Better than AA lately. Best frequent flyer program out there.

On Yelp and FB and others, you will get complaints from lots of yahoos. I wouldn't take those fora with much credence.

United is all about perspective. Some people love them, some hate them. Reality is in between. Reason you see bad reviews is people are more likely to complain in a review than praise.

I presume you mean major US airline?

Relatively very few I suspect...

It's honestly not bad at all, especially in economy/main cabin, which you said you will be flying. I think they have better IFE than most, if not all, US carriers domestically, and they now give you snacks for free. A lot of the negativity on here is for their less than stellar international business and first cabins. There is always something to complain about with every airline.

No, it isn't, but it helps to know the system and have status.

They're fine, especially if you're a coach, non-status traveler.

I'll add to my previous post. On many feedback websites, you'll find people saying things like:

Our flight was delayed because of weather. They rerouted us, and we got home 2 hours late. The agents refused to move other passengers so we could sit together. This airline sucks.

And 2015? Terrible airline.

Which isn't saying all that much, given how all of the FF programs have been gutted.

UA today is indeed better than UA of a few years ago.