Kacee

This must be a typo, you cannot be referring to AA's 320s, which are still in the US configuration.

FlyerTalker70

In my experience as a lowly UA Gold and speaking to some peers who are 1Ks and Platinums, there doesn't appear to be a major bump up in your chances of securing a CPU. At the end of the day getting a CPU is much like winning the lottery, the stars have to align: you need to be on an aircraft that has a decent number of F seats in the first place (i.e a 737 with 16 seats), it needs to be at a time of day business people and elites aren't travelling and on a route that's not so popular (i.e. ORD -> SFO is very unlikely to get a CPU).This seems to be true across all the airlines offering CPUs. The only benefits I can see for getting a higher status like Platinum or 1K would be the upgrade certificates (regional and global) which while giving you way better odds at winning the upgrade lottery still result in waitlisting.

IMHO the best strategy in this case would be to get mid-tier on the major airlines you're flying (UA,AA,AS) and possibly DL if you can swing it so that you'll get access to the key elements we all love about status like priority, seating and lounge access when flying on virtually all airlines anywhere. You can then use a Expert Mode on UA or a tool like ExpertFlyer to research which flights/routings are more likely to nab you an upgrade and book strategically. This of course assumes you have some flexibility in your travel plans (i.e. departure time, city, etc.)

Hope that helps.

Safe Travels,

James

AANYC1981

“Enjoy” Kirby.....that’s all I can say. Thank god UA was dumb enough to take him away from HPdbaUSdbaAA

aat least Parker (who I despise) is onbthe record to employees about trying for a world class airline....sure there are faults in their practice but Kirby belongs at Spirit.

BThumme

I moved from AA to UA, in part because of UA's very generous and flexible same day confirmed change policy, something that AA does not have.

AA and UA both do a pretty good job serving the smaller midwest cities, of course there are some airports that are only serviced by one carrier, but generally both have service via ORD.Something like SNA-DEN-GRR would be a good way to get there. The drive down to AZO is super easy, only about 45 minutes.

drewcwsj

I am PDX based and a current AS75k. I love AS but the loss of long haul partners over the last two years has been brutal including DL and now AA mostly. I travel to Ecuador several times a year and now am trying UA via a status match to PP. I haven't flown UA in 15 years and currently just finished my first F leg (PDX-IAH) on my way to UIO.

1. UA has two flights a day PDX-IAH at 0500 and 1230. Unfortunately the 1230 flight lands 3 minutes after the IAH-UIO flight. So I booked the 0500 ughh

2. PDX-IAH ugh - 3 Hours late arriving due to storms in IAH including a diversion to AUS for fuel

3. Ran out of food choices in F by row 2 and I was row 3....I can't remember my last flight where F was catered for only 12 dishes

4. I am in the United Lounge Term E IAH. No food other than the rather weak buffet. At least Admirals Club has a restaurant, not much but a warm quesadilla beats yogurt for me every time.

5. Asked the lounge lizards in Term E United Club for meal info in F on my 6pm flight IAH-UIO - the answer was in F you get dinner. What kind of dinner? No idea. AA and AS have dinner selection for F. Major downgrade.

6. I have 3 more legs on UA this trip and will make my status match but if this is the sum total of UA I may be remembering why I haven't flown them in 15 years.

Hipplewm

1. You might be able to connect in DEN or ORD for better prospects, but it adds another flight and another layer of complexity

2. It happens, if you were scheduled thru MIA on AA during Hurricane season or PHL during winter doo doo happens, can't outwit mother nature

3. Once you have status (1K) you get first food choice

4. I have been in sky clubs and AA club, nothing really stood out putting them above UA

5. Yeah, UA meal selection sucks, unless you order a veggie meal or something like that, it is like the lottery

6. Yup, some good some bad, happens with all of them about something


One other thing, not sure how AA/AS termed this, but for UA this is essentially a domestic flight. It is "Business" but not Polaris, so even when the Polaris lounge opens in IAH you won't have access. That being said there is a Centurion lounge there that is generally not crowded.

nomad420

I don't see many running from AS to UA but I agree if you are going in and out UIO UA is convenient if nothing else. I have been down to Quito 3 times now over the last 2 years out of SFO through IAH and it wasn't a bad connection. I think maybe it was a little over an hour. While this may add a stop you could also try routing through SFO, the PDX to SFO flights are like buses these days and this may save you the 5AM departure. The Centurion lounge suggestion is great given the quality of UC clubs at IAH. As noted it is not a "Polaris" flight but who knows that may change.

PDXpress

Good thing you had a 7 hour layover

For a regular PDX-UIO run AA through DFW might save you a couple hours.

spin88

To answer your question, your experience is rather typical. United - especially domestically - is clearly the worst of the "big 4" airlines service wise. And wait until you find yourself in Y on any of its new 77W/772 conversions. The seats, even in E+ are .6" narrower than on a 737. And Oh, the United Airbus are horrible, just terrible seats. An no nice new A321s like AA has gotten recently.

Oh, and if you expect any complementary upgrade, ha, ha, ha...., UA TODs any extra sets.

tashi

Stay with AS... its a much better experience. AA international partners are all good airlines and you can earn status miles with them. UA Basic Economy sucks. This is a 1MM giving you this advice.

kmersh

About the only thing I will add is that DL SkyClubs depending on the club are better than UNITED Clubs.

However, delays happen, that is part of fkyifl, uninformed staffs, ditto.

UNITED is no great shakes, but (I cannot believe that I am saying this) they are not terrible either.

sinoflyer

What you experienced is a typical UA nonevent. In other words, that's normal for UA service nowadays. Overall, I don't see drastic differences among AA, DL, and UA, but in specific service areas, each airline has its quirks, strengths, and weaknesses. If lounge and F menu (also the ability to preorder) are important to you, stick with AA. I have been content with AA myself, but when I first switched most of my flying from UA, I had to get used to AA's inferior mobile app, more rigid SDC (instead of UA's 24H change), and lesser award redemption. UA is better in those regards, so YMMV.

drewcwsj

A few other thoughts:

- There were 2 UGS's on my PDX-IAH flight and only one got upgraded At 0500 on a Wednesday, are there that many UGSs? That is a tough upgrade. As an AS 75K I haven't missed an upgrade this year.

- My problem with AS is they neutered the AA partnership with domestic legs getting zero anything. I book J for my trips to Ecuador. If I use AA then the domestic half of the trip in paid F gets zero credit. That is wasteful...

- I am trying this experiment with UA for this trip and next trip. I will also book a PDX-DEN work trip in coach to check out E- and upgradeability.

- What is going on with award miles? As a PP my next trip to EC in J which I got a screaming $1,200 deal on only nets me 8,000 award miles. Last year on AS/AA a $1,200 J trip netted me over 25,000 award miles.

- DL is another possibility to examine

LondonElite

I don't want to make any excuses for UA, but here goes:

1. Every airline has some scheduling issues that won't appeal. I'd like to see a direct flight from TXL-RSW but that isn't going to happen. TXL-EWR gets in at 1230, the next EWR-RSW is 1825. Or I can go to FLL and drive across.

2. Not specific to UA.

3. Meh. Food is pretty lousy. I generally eat before. No excuse but you're not missing much.

4. True, not great food selection if you don't like cheese or carrot sticks. Centurion Lounge much better.

5. Some are much better than others. A big shout out to Maria in EWR Club who proactively rebooked me during the storm mess last week and even processed the upgrade on the new (full) flight.

artvandalay

Interesting experiences, but absolutely normal for UA. I would not switch from AA/AS to UA, especially these days: remember, the same guy that ran AA is now running UA, and he's just getting started with his own special "branding." Think things are bad now?