jonisflying

Two great experiences recently... they are all great to me, honestly, I can't recall the last time I've been frustrated or unhappy about anything (expect maybe some gate agents that don't update often enough during delays... rare, but I've had two recently - one at EWR and one at SFO... but I digress)..

First - UA 1208 TPA-IAH on Sunday, Sep 25th. Our inbound plane arrives and all the passengers get off and out comes the crew, they were a smiling and happy and I thought they seem like a great crew. People are lining up to board our flight and the crew goes down and right as it's about time for us to board, the Gate Agent comes on to inform us that we're one flight attendant short, apparently they've called in sick. Crap. I've got a connecting flight to LHR and then on to WAW, but have nice ~3 hour layovers between each flight. The GA comes back in about 10 minutes or so and says they are looking for a replacement and will have an update soon! Great! The gate agents at TPA are great - I'm a bit biased as it's my home airport, but they really are wonderful. Anyway, another 10 minutes or so goes by and she comes back on and says they found one and she is going through security! Great! A few minutes later, one of the crew from the inbound flight gave up her layover and worked our flight! Many of us applauded her when she came to the gate area and also when we got on the plane! That was super nice of her! I want to say her name was Sally. I really thought I wrote it down, but seemed to have misplaced it during my trip, I'm still going to call in to recognize her. That was so nice that she did that!

Second - UA918 IAD-LHR (upcoming flight) - I happen to notice that there were two Global First seats open on the 772 so I called to find out about upgrading. I called earlier in the week and the person told me that they couldn't upgrade me and I should call back... okay, I'm on a 1K on a Z fare, so technically not entitled based on what I've read... but I gave it a shot and called back this morning because I noticed that there were still two seats open. The lady says there are no seats and I sad okay, I was looking at the seat map and I guess it is just people who have not picked seats yet, I thanked her and was about to hang up when she said let me look at something else... then she said, can I put you on hold? Yes, of course I replied! About 5 minutes later she came back on and Mr. jonisflying, I've just put you in seat 2X! My worry about this one is that something happens and I gave up 10B (aisle in 2 seat section) and will end up in the middle of of a 4 seat section... fingers crossed. The other thing I noticed is that today's flight is going out with the new 1-2-1 Polaris configuration (back to the 2-4-2 on the 5th & 6th) - what happens if they switch to the 1-2-1 and there are fewer business class seat? Oh well, my hope is that my status and the fact that I'm on a full fare (albeit Z) protects me from a downgrade. Regardless... that was SUPER nice of her to move me up to the GF section, I've never ridden in a true first class seat!

Kmxu

I would never do separate tickets with first one being domestic flight inside China. Over 30-35% of Chinese Airlines flights were delayed in July. The delay rate would be much higher for domestic flights.
In early July, I booked a single ticket for returning to US: PEK-SHA/PVG-US. PEK-SHA was delayed by 4 hours (the aircraft was an A359). Fortunately, I changed my flight to more direct PEK-ORD-RIC the night before my departure.

findark

There aren't -- the Polaris/PE 772 has 50J and the sUA 3-class configuration is 8F and 40J for a total of 48 premium seats. Your risk is ending up in row 2 of the Polaris configuration, which is not a prime seat.

I was going to say.. I'm sure there a reason, but what unearthly power possessed OP to book a 4h35 split-ticket inter SHA-PVG connection? Hard for me to include more words about a connection that make me shudder

jonisflying

threeoh

Could be a 1h35m connection

I'd personally probably would have booked a train in this case.

narvik

It was an "ad hoc" plan originally devised with a train ride from Langfang to Shanghai....but things deteriorated rapidly for multiple reasons. It was just one of those trips where things do not go the correct way at EVERY turn, and you wonder after a while: this is just NOT meant to be, apparently.
All I can say is: I got what I deserved!
(Overall a great trip none-the-less, but with 24hrs less time in NZ than originally hoped for.)
Added: by the way, might have just made the original NZ flight if I had my New Zealand passport with me.

Wonder what those figures were in August. For July, that's lower than I imagined.
So, you're saying there's a 65%-70% chance of arriving on time in July on Int itineraries?

narvik

There's a LOT of negative United sentiment going around right now due to the change to MP.

But I have to point out how impressed I am with how I can change my seat assignment in the United App in the car park of PEK, walk up to the check-in counter and have them print the BP with the new seat number that I changed to just 5 minutes earlier.

Maybe more of a compliment to modern technology, but kudos to United nevertheless.
^

Kacee

While sitting on a UA 739 at the gate at SFO this evening I was able to book JL F SFO-HND via the AS app ^

(And a good thing I did it on the ground, because the UA wifi was dead the entire flight.)

toastedcoconut

Booked two SFO -> BKK and coming back SHE -> SFO. Schedule changes out of my control three weeks after booking meant I had to delay my departure and return by two days, which now makes it subject to a $300 change fee per person.

The website wasn't working for editing an itinerary, so I called up the MileagePlus support line (not sure if this is any different than the regular ones, but I've had a close-in change fee waived as a courtesy with this number before, figure I'd try), and after going through the new flights, the agent was not able to get the same price I was seeing from the website. Fare difference was $200 but the agent quoted me $550 a person plus the $300 change fee. After a couple minutes of trying, he told me to book the new flights if I am able to and provide him with the confirmation number. I did so, the agent verified, and then proceeded to fully refund the original itinerary, wished me a good night and moved on. Didn't even have to ask for waiver.

lamphs

6 segments over the last 8 days, UA Silver, DCA/IAH/MEX, MEX/IAH/BZE, BZE/IAH/DCA. The TAs, GAs, and FAs were all fantastic. All flights departed/arrived early. GAs enforced boarding groups. FAs were all pleasant. UC at DCA (great view of DC) and IAH were pleasant. Priority baggage (at least mine) was out first.

Had a CPU at >24 hours BZE/IAH. Two FAs working the F cabin. Constant attention. If you were lacking a drink at any time, that was your fault. Lunch was tasty - BBQ beef with sweet potatoes and spinach, as well as cheese and crackers with walnuts and honey, followed by a warm cookie.

One baggage issue at BZE. One bag did not transfer from MEX to BZE (and I was not the only one with the issue). The baggage agent was so nice that I couldn't be the least bit irritated. She assured me that the missing bag was on the next flight and that it would be given to one of the two domestic airlines for transport to San Pedro before 4 PM the same day. And it was.

threeoh

I was about to ask how many people are flying MEX-IAH-BZE since it's way out of the way, but I guess there aren't a ton of good options, which was surprising to me.

lamphs

There were not any reasonable mainline options between MEX and BZE for the date required (there may be LCCs). In addition, I was traveling 'heavy' and needed my UA baggage allowance. I redeemed AV miles for that section of the trip.

threeoh

Yeah, not even any LCC options. I found an article announcing an AM nonstop but I can't actually find it on the schedule, may be seasonal or have been cancelled already.

Found a separate-ticket connection through CUN but it wasn't cheap or convenient.

jsloan

I suspect Avianca El Salvador (née TACA) is the most efficient carrier, at "merely" 48% longer than the nonstop distance. (IAH is 140% longer). However, the schedule doesn't necessarily line up that well.

Russell745

Great UA story, for once. A couple of weeks ago I was sitting in Polarised 7C 777 ORD-EWR. Whenever I get off a plane I always check to see where it is flying onto next; this was was onward to Delhi, India. I get home that evening and don't bother unpacking until Saturday morning. On Saturday morning I realize my brand new iPad Pro is gleefully on its way to India all expenses paid, as I remember it was wedged between me and the seat and must have slipped right through. I filed an online lost and found report and figured I'd seen the last of the iPad until I realized to check 'Find My' device. My iPad was over central Russia. I waited until the plane landed and the iPad was sitting on the plane at the gate and called United Lost and Found; the service was remarkable. The woman put me on hold for about thirty minutes and when she came back she told me that she got a hold of someone in their Delhi office who got someone to go on the plane and retrieve it from between the seat. She told me the Delhi office would be in touch to get my shipping and credit card number for shipping charges. I received an email a couple of hours later from a gentleman in their Delhi office who simply asked for my mailing address, I responded in kind along with my UA number and mentioned that I am a Million Miler. Two weeks later the iPad showed up at my place in a FedEx box along with all of the crazy customs papers they had to prepare to get it back to me. They really went the extra mile and I am left to wonder if they sent it back without charging me the shipping costs due to my MM status. In any event, a wonderful outcome. Thanks to their staff.