N104UA

You are basically describing PE on many airlines which is often $500-$1000 more than Y

findark

PE is a dramatically better hard product than Y - on par with US domestic F.

N104UA

Not LH PE....

Ber2dca

Well it depends on the airline offering the PE...but in some cases, I'd agree it's similar to domestic F. Though it bears mentioning that domestic F you typically fly 2-4 hours and PE is usually a long-haul product for routes 7+ hours long. Having done long-haul PE in one of the better products out there, I'd say it was better than Y but felt more like Y than like J.

Regarding business class reviews, the worst have to be those videos on Youtube where the video is 15 minutes long but 90% of it is the dude walking through the airport and then long camera shots out the window (thanks, man; I had no idea how the sky looks).

gengar

Thank you for stating this, and frankly, it's downright alarming how many FT'ers have misrepresented what the article author wrote. It is as absurd and disgusting as the vitriol we commonly see now in political debate.

FT'ers are free to personally dislike someone or disagree with his greater message or question if that person has underlying ulterior motives. But to do so by attacking that person's credibility by completely misrepresenting what that person has said not only undermines the attempt, but does not paint the FT community in a good light.

coloneltigh

I think what bothers me about this whole deal is that it feels to me like piling on. I have no affiliation with UA and am in the middle of drawing down my MP account but reading this what's bothersome to me is the whole tone of the piece. It just sounded to me that the author was like, I know this is gonna be bad but I'm going anyway because I'm gonna get some provocative content from it.
To top it all off, this was an award flight probably funded by credit card miles. Flame away but rubs me the wrong way for him to be pushing for compensation so hard when the flight was "free". Look I get it, if you paid UA's asking price for this flight to be want compensated. But this guy did not and anyone who did any rudimentary research would know better than to book this as a revenue flight. I even get it if you travel a lot on UA and got a CPU to be upset.
For my part, I can also see the author being that annoying pax that we all hate and while you can say that the crew should have accommodated him anyway. Who goes into the galley to start a conversation about the airlines competitors (particularly when he has a bias for said competitor)? I can also understand completely why they'd be like suck it up (chew bottle) and leg rest. Sometimes what goes around comes around.

Darlox

Sooo, I will say that this is not as hard, or uncommon as you might think. Most of my UA flying these days is TPAC. Other than the new timing on the SIN flight, you typically get in late-afternoon or evening, and so I do everything I can to stay awake for the entirety of the flight, and then crash, exhausted, into my hotel for a recovery day.

Part of that "staying awake" strategy usually involves chatting with FAs in the galley, mid-flight.

I will say that it has gotten a LOT better, lately, in terms of the FA's general attitude and outlook. But for a very long time (like, years) it was hard to talk to them for more than 5 minutes without this topic coming up.

FA: So you do go to 'X' a lot?
Me: Yeah, 4-6 times per year, at least.
FA: Nice. Is this your usual route?
Me: Sometimes. I'm all over the map, I'm a former CO flyer from Cleveland, so I tend to hit all of the Int'l hubs, and I also do some flying on DL.
FA: Oh! <Insert some leading question or disparaging comment about UA vs. CO, or UA vs DL here...>

... and we're off to the races. It was a favorite topic leading up to, and immediately after, the Smisek departure. Now, I'd say maybe 50/50 at best, trending to 25/75. But to get a FA, or even entire cabin crew, willing to fling mud at UA management and policies since the merger, is not very surprising.

Fredd

I agree with all of the above, especially the downright vitriol directed against a fellow FTer.

The reviewer was quite specific that he was referring to this one particular UA flight, e.g. "This was by far the worst business-class flight I’ve experienced. I can easily think of a few economy products that I would’ve rather flown instead..." [emphasis added]

Mrs. Fredd skipped a connecting flight at Denver Stapleton from LAX back in the 60s as a young lass to ride a bus home after a cabin pressurization problem coupled with bad turbulence had everybody, including the stewardesses, throwing up and in pain. At that particular moment she chose a bus ride on curvy mountain roads over a short flight already paid for. Things happen and in her case it wasn't hyperbole. @:-)

Reviewers by definition are reviewing their own experiences with restaurants, shows, and airplane rides. This reviewer noted it was a "perfect storm of hard and soft product failings." There's been a lot of talk about UA's inconsistent product over the years, and on this occasion it appears unfortunately to have happened all at once.

tods27

I can't say I would every decide to take Y if C is an option for me, so I did think that the reviewer was crazy. On further review, and after reading most of this thread, I have amended my opinion a bit. Clearly FlyerJT had a lousy flight on UA. It also seems that he had a very good flight on LH (in Y). I think that what he really meant (and has subsequently posted on here) is that he has had better overall experiences in LH (and some other carriers) Y than he did in UA C. His statement in the review implies that he would always pick those carriers Y over UA C, but I'm fairly certain that this is not his actual intent (again, after reading his comments here).

seanp7

I agree that since the article referenced that it was a "perfect storm of hard and soft product failings" meant, for me, that this was not a petulant rant with a sole aim to trash UA but rather a well thought-out review, documenting some serious issues UA has with Polaris.

I found some of the responses on here far more irritating than the article - taking a swipe at a blogger, mistaking the author of the article, etc. These are probably the same people who, themselves, complain about broken cashews and no PDB. Who knows.

The TPG blog has praised UA at times, including around the launch of Polaris; based on this experience I think it's fair game to write the article the way it was written.