Well, common problem here in Sweden. Everybody is nice and avoids any kind of criticism or confrontation... and as a result the service industry is a nightmare.

Exactly. And if you fly for work - the AC network is for now, vastly superior, and they have big seats upfront.
So you are stuck if you are a domestic work flyer.

Anyone with a choice, eventually lets go of their AC chains.

How long can you keep flying an airline with a <60% on time rating, and zero customer service/recovery without a functioning website/app or a call center......

I understand it's just an expression, but do you really actively avoid the plague? I really have not given it very much though. I also thought quicksand would play a bigger role in my life but it hasn't.

I was actually about to book a RT ticket on AC for the PQP (IAD-YYZ-FRA) last week, but decided to take a quick peek at the AC forum before I purchased.

Quickly changed my mind. 😬

Hah. It's a cultural facade. The response about service industry is spot-on. Same happens in US public education now. Don't want to hurt anybody's feelings with a failing grade, so... Another example is medical practice in some countries [shall not be named/shamed here] where there's no enforcement on reporting medical errors, hence it's "error-free" with no real reason for quality.

I noticed the actual seat hardware for AC has gone down hill in the last few years--who put the IFE controls in the arm rest where your elbow keeps landing on them? Like UA, AA, LH, SQ, and almost everybody else, the rest is the same--you can get more cattle-like treatment. UA, AA and other domestic airlines are in such a hurry to turn their planes around, they don't get cleaned as nicely as before. Then there's HU. HU's interiors were all fine when they were new. If they bothered to maintain anything ever is a different story.

Soft product is another story. SQ and AA customer service always "seems" happier than UA. 1st prize in my experience has been QX (not AS) and HA. WN used to be borderline goofy but seems to be getting more sober.

I agree with others that in accordance with your customer tier, when push comes to shove, customer service all seems about the same. Situation seems to keep changing from year to year. Just waited 2-3 hours for AA phone rep the other day. Three times. It was immediate 20 years ago. The days of DL call-center in India are long gone. For normal people, QX and HA still seem the best.

You guys are scaring me. I have the whole family...6 of us booked LAS to YVR on AC in July. They have a non-stop, it was only 12k miles per seat. Sticking with UA wul have been twice the miles and more than twice the travel time with the stop....so I am going to hope for the best.

You are not booked on AC. You are booked on Rouge. The low-cost brand of AC, and as bad as mainline AC is, Rouge is even worse. Seat pitch is 29" on their A319s, so hope noone is tall!




https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/air-...lls-today.html


This thread says it all....

Yup. Grew up on AC. As bad they were back then, it's worse now.

When I go back to YYZ, I have the option of non-stop CRJ AC flights, but I often book on UA via ORD (or IAD). Its often not worth AC, and I think CVG is about the lowest priority route they have, besides say, Kingston, ON (if they still fly that). In fact, half the time, even with a 1-2 hour connection on UA, I feel like its faster from scheduled departure to actual landing time, due to the often extreme AC regional delays.

I cringe and shake my head when I see those signs at YVR.

Exactly. While there is a choice in WestJet, I don't know anyone personally who flies WS for business. They simply don't have the network to compete with AC outside of Canada (No alliance; partnership with DL isn't enough). And don't get me started on their FF program. I had WS Gold for 1 year via a AA status match and it was a total joke.

Haha. Guess I haven't given it too much though either. Never thought about quicksand though.

Ouch. You'll be in AC Rouge. Unqualified college dropout flight attendants aside, I'm a smaller guy and it's pretty much the only plane I've flown on where I had zero leg room.

As this is the UA forum, there has probably been enough said about AC ( and there are certainly plenty of threads in the AC forum for such a discussion.)

WineCountryUA
UA coModerator

I know we are AC Rouge but this is a reality time.. putting up with them for a 2 hour 44 minute flight traveling with my son, daugher in law and the two munchklns age 3 and 5 the is better for us than doing LAS to SFO toYVR and dealing with 6 to 8 hours of traveling and a risky connection in SFO. What I really need is Spock and Capt. Kirk to teleport us all....