EnvoyBoy

Hands down, worst cabin service last night in FC IAD-LHR. I tried to find another thread to add to but couldn't; moderators please merge if I missed it.

It started when I boarded and opened the mini-bin above my seat. It had one very small bag in it--the size of small woman's handbag. An FA immediately came over and shut the bin and told me I could use any other bin than that. She then walked away--having had enough time to close the bin but not enough time to take my coat whilst she was there. If you're going to make personal crew use of a bin, why not take one from over the crew rest? This FA accessed this bin and grabbed the small bag once after take-off and one other time before landing.

PDBs were served immediately upon boarding, the usual 45 minutes before take-off. There were no refills offered and nobody came through and cleared out the used service items. Then we have a ground hold while a mechanic comes on board. Instead of offering refills to FC pax or clearing the service items, both FA's took their seats and pulled out reading material. Only when the mechanic left and we were getting ready to push back--now over an hour since we boarded--did they come through and clean-up. They did, however, miss me; I handed over my plastic cup when they came through later with nuts.

Meal service was efficient and accurate. No complaints. They weren't mean but they certainly weren't friendly or smiling.

With my sundae, I typically hold it in my hand and put away my tray table whilst watching my movie. Same thing last night. As is often the case, I fell asleep, since it was now after midnight.

When the captain made his "good morning" announcement and we were 40 minutes out from landing, I woke up to find my half-consumed port, linens, flatware and sundae bowl from the dinner service still with me at my seat. Noticing I was awake, I was asked if I wanted breakfast. I asked for a diet coke with lemon. When my diet coke with lime arrived, the FA realized she had nowhere to put it due to my dinner dishes. She cleared those away without so much as a comment, apology or acknowledgment.

The whole experience only served to remind me why, when I get to buy a FC ticket instead of use a SWU, I don't bother with UA. I've been a 1K for over a decade and this was truly a new low.

(And, no, this wasn't the usual HKG-type FA about which many often complain. This was a "standard age" LHR-based crew.)

Colin

Is this a joke? I assume this is satire with the point of how silly some complainers look.

Often1

You should see the thread count in the hot towels !

RichardInSF

The OP is pointing out that service in F was inattentive at best. That is not a joke, it's something I've experienced plenty of times in UA int'l F. People always say here that UA service is "variable." What they forget to add is that it is variable with a skew towards bad. What's been described by the OP would never happen on an airline that cares about service.

Pete838

F on US based legacy carriers is nothing more than a bigger seat and a couple of free drinks. Nothing special about the experience.

neo_781

Yes, I would agree and point out that my only comment about the OP's post is that if this is routine/typical service then it really isn't a NEW LOW... no fault for posting their observation but the title is a bit extreme or bit clichéd.

malgudi

Huh? OP has a legitimate complaint about the service level in F.

Is your reply a joke?

mduell

I've had particularly poor experiences with my LHR-bound flights especially with regard to meal service items never being picked up.

Silver Fox

Crew bags in "my" overhead space really hacks me off. Is there really nowhere else they can stow it? If not, check it like the rest of us get forced to.

JetAway

I don't think you would find the joke so funny if you had paid thousands of $$ to sit in F on this flight. You're not just buying a seat & food; you're also suppose to be buying superior service.

mcgahat

There are designated crew storage spaces. I think F bin space gets used often as there is so much more space per pax so if an FA doesnt want to use the space they will often snag a convenient space in F.

This thread is no joke. If you look at F fares or even C/J/D fares and and SWU, people deserve better paying that kind of money. I have said before that I no longer purhcase premium fares on UA as Y to C is the best value. I take my bigger seat, keep quiet and save the bucks for something else.

Silver Fox

I wasn't saying the thread is a joke. I agree with the OP. Happy to clear that up.

UAPremierGuy

Pathetic. Another example of why UA F is almost always "crew class."

StingWest

I have experienced this attitude myself from some, but certainly not all, of the older (55+) flight attendants who seem to stake out FC (and BC) to/from LHR, and much less often from the younger ones too (learned behavior, I'd guess)

I always try and get names, or at least note flight numbers and descriptions of the employees involved, and WRITE to customer server. If you're a 1K, write to 1K Voice. It's undoubtedly difficult to drum out the bad apples, but not impossible from what I've read on here. I don't mind an older employee at all (I'm an older guy myself) but there's no room for such laziness in the service industry.

No excuse for this attitude, especially in a premium class.

kevinsac

I can't afford a LH ticket in FC....so I only fly them on awards. (Recently, it has been relatively easy to get LH awards if booking far enough in advance.) I won't by a Z fare and try to upgrade with SWUs ... too many failures in the past.

I won't pay for a UA FC ticket; it's not worth it, with the ever-continuing dive in service.

I will, however, buy a Z ticket and do an upgrade with miles-co-pay or buy an A fare if the price is good.

Anyway -- a friend of mine is a LH purser; a few weeks ago, she mentioned to me that she has never been a FC passenger, despite having worked for LH for 28 years. So, I offered to fly her to the States on my trip home .... and she headed back to FRA a few days later by herself.

I was flying home FRA-SFO on United, and on her planned return dates, LH was not available in FC. So, I booked her on UA r/t.

On our flight FRA-SFO, two of the F/As recognized me .... one even knew I was on a birthday vacation and the other new my sleeping habits (both signs that I take way too many vacations!). So, the friendliness of staff was immediate and on-going. Attention to our needs was prompt.

But my friend was horrified at the quality of service and presentation and food on the airline that is LH's major partner over the Atlantic. She could not believe the mediocre product United offers a First Class passenger. Granted, LH is recognized as one of the industry's leaders in providing excellent service to pax in the air...their training materials provide a diagram of how the table is to be set in FC, how the courses are to be plated and presented, etc. United FA just seem to toss the pack of utensils (folded in a napkin), S&P shakers, etc just "wherever" on your table.

The one thing that I always considered UA's ultimate in tackiness is when they serve that little bowl of soup .... and between the bowl and the saucer, they put a stupid paper cocktail napkin printed with the United symbol and slogan. That just looks trashy .... and that's saying a lot, coming from me, as someone raised in the deep South! My friend agreed; she said that was the low point of the service.

So, I fully agree with OP .... quality stinks on United, even in the front of the bus. And each time I travel, I see so many little things that would be simple steps to make the process a bit nicer. If I could make a statement by taking my vacations with other carriers, I would -- but United flies where I want to travel, and I can't afford other carriers' FC fares. (Maybe that's why getting inexpensive Z and A fares is possible on United.)

Edited to add: I was surprised to see that on neither of my TATL flights -- there was not a single NRSA in FC!