Aussienarelle

Wow - this is a pretty depressing thread to read if you work for UA (which I do not).

spin88

This is a very telling anecdote...

Well what most people are saying is that the recent changes everyone is complaining about (3-3-4 on the 777, uncomfortable slimlines, lack of upgrades, poor food, and BE) are in fact costing United business. Well perhaps United can cram a few more discount fares into planes, it is costing them the higher value business traffic that intimately is what keeps United in business.

United is now a commodity travel provider, and unless you happen to be captive in some way, it has little draw at this point vs. OALs.

halls120

cfischer

For me it'll pretty much be the same. UA for domestic travel, some UA for intl. travel when I can get a reasonable aircraft and schedules work for me, otherwise NH, LH, LX, OS etc. when I need reliable arrival at the destination or if I want to fly First. Will easily make 1K or more, but UA is missing out on close to $50k in revenue because of the aging product and reliability issues.

UAflyer93

As someone who flies SFO-EWR 1-2x a month, United's removal of showers at EWR and the lack of premium lounges at SFO have made me shift some of my business to AA.

On the outbound (SFO to EWR), I still prefer United; either I arrive early and use the Centurion Lounge or am cutting it so close to my flight that I am racing straight through CLEAR/TSA Pre to the gate (something you cannot do at EWR!).

On the return, however, I have flown American several times in the past couple months (JFK-SFO), and have been impressed by the cleanliness of the A321Ts, the quality of the food/beverages/showers in the Flagship Lounge, and the comfort of the new bedding. Most important, I do not have to deal with the horror show that is the Newark 1K check-in kiosks or the absurdity that is OTG.

With Delta's improved Skyclubs and AA's Flagship access for premium transcon passengers, United has really fallen behind when it comes to premium transcon service!

--
Also, I have to agree with flyerbaby19: the food portions in Polaris have shrunk. I did over 25 flights in Polaris J and F last year, and have noticed that the midflight snacks have progressively gone vegetarian or disappeared altogether on some flights.

As someone who tries to keep it low carbs, I was left starving on my last BOM-SFO flight (I realize that this is a special route, but still...) My fish entrée had at most 2oz of protein: When I asked 4 hours into the flight if they had anymore protein, I was told that they had heated up all the entrées at once at the start of the flight and that they had all gone bad by now, and that all the midflight snacks (hot or cold) were vegetarian... as was the breakfast! They literally had carrot and cucumber sandwiches as some of the cold miflight snacks. Compare this to my much shorter flight a week earlier on Singapore Airlines (also from India) where I was able to get wonton soup, Hainanese chicken rice, and duck confit mid-flight.

It's embarrassing that the same breakfast that is being served in Polaris is now being sold in domestic Y for $9.99 a pop.

laxmillenial

I've noticed UA has been cutting the mid-flight entrees as well. When my seatmate and I requested it, it came with 4 pieces of protein over rice. We quickly finished it and when the purser saw this, came over to apologize stating that he knew the portions were small and that we should write in to the 1K line. He told us that we had eaten 25% of the mid-flightsnacks allocated for our TPAC flight. We didn't bother to ask for seconds after that.

halls120

This is one thing I appreciate about UA employees. Most of them care about the product they deliver, and are genuinely embarrassed at how cheap management has become.

Artpen100

I mostly fly US domestic (PE, or first if there is a TOD) or TATL (business class). I don't see a whole lot of change at UA over the last few years other than the OT performance seems better (have not seen an MX delay in a while), and I like the growing use of the 787 TATL. Food is mediocre. Service is spotty, and not comparable to other airlines. Polaris is practically nonexistent, as I have yet to see the new seat or a lounge. As always, I will buy the best route at a reasonable price, and look for upgrades at booking. That still has me flying UA for the couple of TATLs I have planned for the spring (both cheap business on the eastbound leg, and using a GPU on the return), and a number of domestic flights. I book LH through UA.com when practical. I already have several domestic AA flights booked, though, just because they had the route I need. If DL and AF really competed on price, they'd get more of my TATL business.

laxmillenial

Yes. I appreciate how upfront they are, especially when trying to ensure a flight experience is exceptional. The bad apples are far and few between.

zebranz

I gave up on UA a few years ago. I gave up on UA Club (I am a lifetime member) and will go to other *A Clubs or Centurion Lounges when possible. I have up on the LAX/SFO-SYD route due to aircraft. I still love the FF Program and credit 150K to them for the use of award tickets needed for positioning. Gave up booking V,W and use GPU's due to impossible for me to find when I need (for various reasons). In 2017 I flew on short haul "pencil's" and survived. Skywest people nice but seats tight. Not much choice. My last long haul IAH-AM was ok but ended up without luggage. Seems UA and me have a cursed relationship. I like the 1K Voice email and dealing with "ex-Con's" and UA Hawaii people were great with computer issues.

To answer OP, no, I intend to avoid UA when I can. As I fly 90% international on my $$, I can most of the time and will continue to look to value for money.

spin88

While I would not say that bad apples are "few and far between" I 100% agree that UA FAs are sort of dealt a bad hand. People have paid $5-7-10K for a ticket and they are offered 4 small pieces of protean, and there is basically nothing FAs can do to fix the situation, other than say (a) hide or (b) apologize and suggest people write in. I remember a flight on GF SFO-PEK. Chinese businessman asks FA for an expresso. Is told they don't have any. He is not happy, says OALs have expresso. FA offers him coffee. Freshpoo shows up and he blows a gasket. Says it is undrinkable, did she burn the pot, worst coffee he had ever had. Complains he paid $10K for his seat and this is what he gets. I interveen, nicely and say "its not the FAs problem, corrupt CEO got cheap coffee from a company that makes vending machine coffee for prisons" FA looks at me for tossing her a lifeline. She says "I'll try again" comes back, coffee is still undrinkable. Man asks for tea, and is upset to see that UA has no decent tea.

This Chinese Businessman I am sure has told 100 people how horrible of an airline United is. And United's management wonders why their financial results are so crappy.

narvik

"Did UA do anything in 2017 that changes what carriers you will use in 2018"


No.

95+% UA in 2017
95+% UA in 2018 predicted

artvandalay

No, and I would ask "What did UA do to make them more attractive in 2017?" Thanks to Smisek, for the first time in decades my "PQMs and PQDs" will probably = 0 this year. Like others, I have really enjoyed discovering OA (J TPACS). Other than a new route somewhere, does anyone really expect any enhancements from this airline this year?

I completely agree with this, and I have had enough conversations with senior FAs in galleys that validate halls120. The good ones are the best in the sky.

PPM

This quote sums up my experience as well, and I can't understand the obvious alienation of higher-fare business travelers. I've written to the 1K desk 4 times in the last year to complain about the inability to use GPUs and RPUs and the fact that this was affecting my choice of international business class travel for myself and for my family. I logged 250,000 miles on United last year, but diverted fully $53,000 to other airlines for international business class. First, this was because I typically buy J for myself and use a GPU for my husband. In the last year, entire weeks had no confirmable GPU space (I refuse to book W and waitlist). I was so angry with this disingenuous marketing of GPUs that I instead paid for both of us (and twice for my adult children) to fly on other star alliance carriers, including LOT, AC, LX, SWISS, Brussels Air and others in paid J. The fares were not only lower, but the cabins did not have the ridiculous 8-across J seating. But, this was a full $53,000 that United lost from me because most of my travel is international. I also came to realize that these star alliance carriers are so much superior in business class (LOT and AC, especially) that I now opt to fly United J or F (China) only enough to use my $12,000 to qualify for 1K and the rest for other, superior star alliance carriers. However, even in United First (three times last year) to China, all Polaris launch perks were gone. Pre-departure drinks were served (water) in plastic cups, no one could find slippers, food was terrible, wine was worse and/or my choice not available in F class because "not enough was boarded on the outbound", and not once did anyone come and thank me for my business--as had been the case with launch of Polaris. The only tell-tale sign of Polaris was the bedding that is not even necessary for most of us. I will not fly United J again unless I can use a GPU for my husband on the flight--and not even then when the price is higher for these 8-across dinosaur seats with 4 people in line for the J lavatories at any one time. LOT 787 J class had 18 seats with 2 lavatories and 3 flight attendants, delicious food, wines I recognized (Kim Crawford sauvignon blanc). So, United is losing/has lost those of us who pay for most of our J flights with its poor service and the lack of access to use of upgrade instruments (I have never had an RPU clear at the time of booking despite completely empty domestic first cabins). Couple it with terrible food and indifferent service. I am 2MM flyer, so no need to requalify for Group 1 boarding or free checked bag. More than 100,000 miles and $12,000 spend on United are of no value moving forward. This informed my travel choices in the second half of 2017 (the $53,000 to other carriers) and will be my plan moving forward. 100,000 miles + $12,000 and no more.

boat9781

Basic Economy. This weekend I need to go to SFO from LAX for a personal trip, Southwest was competitive, the non-UA basic economy fare was not. On such a short trip, I’d give that booking to the non-BE carrier every time. I did. The buy-up is nothing more than a price grab, and I book accordingly. To pay extra to enjoy the benefits I’ve earned seems wrong, even though I attempt to empathize with the money grab business sense. The book away factor recently hasn’t been detailed, but this GS definitely is doing so more than ever. Though perhaps that’s on routes that they are losing or not making money on me anyway, so happy to lose that traffic.