PanHam

I often read snippets hearkening back to the days of yore with United, when service was topnotch, food was edible, and elites, especially 1K members, were treated with dignity, respect, and the perception that their business truly mattered to the airline.

Thus, my question, what was UA like in its best days, as in, I'm guessing, pre-9/11 days? I'd like to hear experiences from elites, general members, and from people traveling in all classes of service (I think I remember something called "Connoisseur Class") . . . . Even bits from the non-airplane portions of the journey, such as reservations agents, airport check-in, and boarding procedures would be interesting. Anything about the airline that once was.


Thanks!!!

lucky9876coins

I remember the good old days, right around 2003. You won't believe this, but we had menus on transcons and tablecloths on top of the tray.

SEA1K4EVR

A few snippets of info...

Connoisseur Class is what UA used to call business class (I believe this is why UA uses "C" for the business class booking code where other airlines use J...but not sure about that).

Pre 9/11 1P's and 1K's could make same day changes flight changes (to earlier or later flights with the same routing in the same day) as long as the same booking code was available. There was no change fee. You could do this anytime in advance of the flight... in my opinion this was biggest benefit cut they've made so far.

All upgrade instruments were paper certificates and you had to remember to bring them with you in order to upgrade. But back then a decent % of the time the check in agents never collected them.. so 6 SWU's could easily turn into 8 or 10 in a year. Now it happens much less often.

1K Rooms - There was no Global Services program back then and several airports had dedicated 1K centers (SEA, SFO, LAX, DEN, IAD, ORD had them, maybe others) where 1K's could check in, make changes, purchase tickets, or anything else. I lived in DEN at the time and they knew my name in there when I walked in. The rooms were not really lounges..they were small and there was no food or anything, but there were a few places to sit down. DEN had a few laptop plugin areas. They really took good care of 1K's in there. They all closed down awhile after 9/11. At SEA, you can still see the mark on the door where the gold "1K" sign used to hang and you can see through the glass the agent's countertop sits unused. Sniff

Menus and Meals - Pre 9/11 there were menus and meals in first class on most all flights. From ORD to the west coast in 2 class F they had menus that actually opened like a book (similar to international C now) and on lunch & dinner flights they served the meal with a sundae cart for dessert, then had milk & cookies prior to landing. People complained about the food a lot back then too and wished for the "good old days".

Lots of other things I'm sure people will mention...

nigos

In the mid to late 80's service in domestic first generally better than today's international first. There was even dinner on <500 mile flights. Upgrade certs that you could actually use whenever you wanted to for every ten thousand miles flown. Purchased upgrades were only $25/segment. For a while triple X miles for Premier exec and that was the top level (75K/year to qualify). Most importantly no offshore reservations.

PanHam

Wow . . . . .

rittenhousesq

We've discussed this before, but I remember flying in F in the early 80s when meals were plated from a cart seat-side, and meat was cut to order, also seat-side, so you could request the well done slice from the end, or ask for extra veggies.

UNITED863

I'll never forget my favorite UA experience...

It was 1991, I was 18 years old, a 2P, flying paid coach from ORD-CDG. The flight was cancelled and I was rebooked on a UA flight to (?) connecting to Pan Am to Paris. Being an already addicted UA mileage junkie, I called UA and asked to be rebooked fully on UA from ORD-IAD-CDG. They rebooked it for me and upon arriving in IAD, I went up to the gate agent and said I was very upset about the cancellation and had to miss a very important appointment in Chicago to make the earlier departure (a lie... I know... bad... I was 18). She responded by saying... "We normally don't do this, but..." and I forget the rest, but was handed a BP with seat 2A. A double-upgrade to First!

It was my first time in International First Class... the very-old-style 2-1-2 seating on a 762, but fabulous nonetheless. Dinner was amazing, including caviar & Absolut (they didn't even question me... International waters, I guess). Leather amenity kit, and a box of Godiva chocolates upon deplaning. Stellar service. I still have the amenity kit (smells musty now!), First Class menu, and boarding stub.

On the return, I was dreading having to deal with coach, but reserved the bulkhead aisle. Upon checking in, she asked... "Would you like a window or aisle seat?". I responded... "Oh I already have the bulkhead reserved." She said, "Oh, I'm upgrading you to Business Class...". WOW!! I still have the menu from that flight, too, but don't recall how the service compared. I do remember the movie was "L.A. Story" with Steve Martin.

That was an experience for me at 18... and it was the last time I've ever had an International Op-Up.

[Edited to add:] And on the IAD-CDG flight, the boarding champagne was Dom Perignon. They also served sorbet in between in these lovely little glasses (which I think doubled for port glasses).

PanHam

You still beat me, then.

UNITED863

I had read somewhere that the 'C' originated from Pan Am's "Clipper Class" and matriculated over to United that way. Could be wrong, though.

gengar

The SFO 1K lounge had lots of snacks, as well as cans of soda (it's funny that an actual soda can is such a novelty in the airline biz these days). No real food, though.

LessO2

No-fee ticket changes, provided it was the same route (didn't have to be same-day, either).

Pat Plus

Where is it?

Explore

Even in 2002, in domestic midcon F, FAs used to gift passengers full bottles of wine up front if the passenger said they liked the vintage. After BK in 12/02, I didn't have the heart to ask for one but I assume they stopped doing it.

kenhawk

Here are a few of my fond memories from being a 1K back in the early '90s...

* DC-8 Service between ORD and the west coast with a HUGE first class section - dinner service included Chateau Briand carved by the FA at your seat along with a nice salad and hot fudge sundae

* If I was running late, I could call one of "my ladies" at the RCC from the airport parking lot and they would print my BP's, arrange upgrades, and meet me at the gate with the BP.

* UA employees would meet delayed flights at the gate with replacement BP's during IRROPS for 1K's.

* U.S. based, well trained, experienced res staff FOR ALL CUSTOMERS.

...this thread makes me a little sad...

FlyinHawaiian

see also: http://flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=397039