zombietooth

UA must be making a killing on the clubs. The membership fee is outrageous compared to Priority Pass which, while more difficult to use, often has better lounges/restaurant options than UA.

mduell

I strongly prefer PDE because of how bad the seat-back experience is; particularly the infuriating system on the 737s playing constantly and turning back on high brightness periodically for more ads.

Kmxu

Except for LAX United Club.

st3

PDE - On domestic short hauls I prefer it over the seatback screens which eat up underseat space in kettle class, throw off heat, light, and are more expensive to install and maintain. I do wish they would have the live TV on the PDE systems, WN does this and it is a notable improvement in programming options.
UC Food - Preaching to the choir. It is fine for a snack on a relatively brief connection but no good if you want something resembling a meal.Given how crowded UCs are (at least when I am there) it doesn't appear to be a determent to the userbase.
On-board Food - Even flying domestic F doesn't guarantee you food depending on the time of day and route.

tods27

While Priority Pass is nice and usually a benefit of a credit card for many people, my experience with Priority Pass lounges is that they are small and very crowded. As you note, PP can be difficult to use. The UC is almost always a more comfortable place to sit and wait for a flight. Honestly, I don't find value in paying for UC and simply lean on my *G status for international flights and the occasional parter lounge domestically (e.g. IAD or LGA).

I would agree that I don't like PDE on longer routes, but honestly, I don't find it a deal killer. My biggest complaint about HNL-DEN is the high-density 777 with narrow, hard seats. Anything else is a secondary complaint. When flying for business, I don't mind the paid food offerings in Y and when flying with the family we do what we can to bring our own food.

eng3

PDE: This is a cost savings measure since it reduces weight. I agree, I don't consider this IFE. I often have trouble getting it to work on my laptop or phone. If you put either on your tray table, that space is now used up and you can't do any other work at the same time. You also can't watch entertainment while eating. You also get have to crane your neck down vs looking forward. If you hold up your device at a more comfortable angle, you are left holding it up for hours and now you only have one free hand to do anything else. Sure there are various gadgets to help with this, but it shouldnt be required. Luckily, there are some planes with DirecTV and actual ondemand IFE

UC: It's always been like that for for a very very long time. In the past, it was just some prepackaged crackers and cookies. Then they upgraded to better food (still cold). Then they downgraded a little, but still better than before. If you goto some airports, they do have hot food.

Onboard: Yes, it is ridiculous they dont provide any free meals (not snacks) on the Hawaii flights. EWR-HNL is longer than many intl flights and you still get nothing in the back.

Other than the PDE, none of the food issues should be that much of a shock unless you haven't been on the plane for a few decades. If anything it is slightly better now.

Kacee

OP is ATL based which means he is likely used to flying a better airline

IAH-OIL-TRASH

The price of your airfare is far below what it was dollar-adjusted in 1978 (year of deregulation). Why? Competition and making people pay for extras (food/bags/etc). Load entertainment on your device and buy food at the airport and bring on board. You'd still be far ahead dollar-wise. Otherwise, find a time machine and punch in 1977 an pay significantly more for your ticket - far more than what the food and a no-choice projected movie would be worth.

Sure there are differences between airlines, but UA seems to be filling planes (so much so that they ran out of food choices by the time they got to you). Why didn't you take the DL non-stop to HNL? Maybe because it was more expensive (more than the cost of food on UA)?

I'm probably older, so I might have better perspective on what a deal flying is now, even if one has to plan to shell out a few bucks to be prepared. I fly UA out of Maui because the network and alliance offered, by far, works best for me. Delta's flights/frequencies/destinations out of the Islands is a distant third among the legacy airlines. Am I going to make traveling more difficult for a free meal on Delta? Only if don't keep my eye on the big picture.

HNLbasedFlyer

I like PDE on my iPad - lots of options. Besides the costs of in seat entertainment, another issue is the technology/screens become stale after a few years.

Airplane food is awful - eat before your flight or grab a sandwich.

Lastly, I've never understood why people think their should be food offerings in a UC. It isn't a restaurant. If you want food, go to a restaurant in the airport.

hyho61

UA is the only airline which does not give free meals on their Hawaii flights especially the ones which are longer than 7 hours. I don't know why many passengers still chose UA from EWR/ORD/IAH to Hawaii (and IAH to ANC) given that the fares are not cheap in comparison to other airlines. UA copies DL on everything, why don't they copy this too.

jamesinclair

Thats odd, as a consumer, I dont remember ever being asked. I just remember one year all the airlines took the food away and started charging $10 for a snack box.

Was there a referendum I missed?

IAH-OIL-TRASH

Yes. Consumers said "we''ll fly Frontier, Spirit, Southwest, etc, etc" even if there is no food, as long as the price is low".

Do you want UA to raise prices $20 to give you $5 in food? Just buy it at the airport. You're still getting a far better deal than you were years ago when food was included.

eng3

Yes but they are marginal differences since they all follow each other.

For a while, there was absolutely zero food in F. They they started offering buy on board and then the free tiny snacks recently.

jamesinclair

Thats an odd retconning of what happened.

Both Spirit and Frontier transitioned to ULCC status AFTER the legacy carriers discontinued meal service.

In fact, it was the legacies cutting amenities that really allowed this new category to proposer. If United etc arent giving you anything, why not pay half as much to get just as little?

And its odd to bring up Southwest which continues to offer lower fares than United while doing things like providing two free bags and flexible changes.

mduell

Votes were done with wallets, see the ongoing growing success of LCCs and ULCCs.

And Southwest offers no meals.