Podcat

United used to be my least favorite domestic (probably because I hadn't experienced the original, east-coast US). Surly employees, inflexible policies ("the rules are the rules"), insulting bump vouchers -- plus the dealkiller, no free upgrades.

Well, as America West became US Worst and had their elite policy unravel quicker than a three-dollar suit, I've been forced to fly United several times this year (as a codeshare). On many of my routes, like SNA-RNO, my choice is United, or US's sardine cans.

The planes are considerably better (including a brand-new 321 Bus including an exit-row with two football fields of legroom). No sardine cans on my routes. I like the Ted configurations, real planes (Buses) with decent seats and music selection 2nd only to United's 777. And surprise -- the employees have been nice to me! This year I was US Silver-lite, so not even *A Silver, but I called reservations and they upgraded me to E+, which I wouldn't even technically entitled to if *A.

All this, and none of US's recent added drawbacks. E+ may not be 1st, but it beats the crap out of any seat in US's sardine cans, which literally cause me pain.

Biggest drawback now for me is routing. No Las Vegas hub, everything goes through SFO or DEN (I'm in So Cal). They even got rid of my very favorite flight, the SNA-LAX shuttle (which would have virtually guaranteed easy status-renewal every year).

Still, I'm thinking seriously.
Have I just been lucky?

DenverBrian

No A321s in UA's fleet; you were on a 320. There are no "brand new" planes in UA's fleet. The newest is about 6 years old now.

Ex-SNA you used to get a lot of 757s in and out on UA, but these days it seems like a salad mix of 733s, 319s, 320s and 757s.

On E+, methinks you've just been lucky. You can buy "guaranteed luck" for $349 a year and then have E+ seats available to you on all flights.

For LAS runs, does the choice of airline even matter? I mean, you're in the sardine can for an hour at most anyway.

I personally feel UA's crews are far nicer than US's, though DL's are better still.

iwebslinger

The question you ask is "Is United getting better?" I think the answer is not that UA is getting better rather that US has gotten worst.

bucketlist

Am switching from US (Pt, then silver) to UA (now 1K).

Love e+.

On US last year, was 8/8 for domestic upgrades, but they had a lot of mechanical delays and poor service from MSY - west.

The UA FA's have generally been better than other airlines. Even on domestic routes, the UA FA's go thru the cabin offering water or lemonade every hour or so, while on other lines the FA's are mostly reading in the galley. To be fair, US F service was excellent, will miss that part of the picture. On UA transpac, the asian based FA's have given superb service even in Y.

Am pained at the thought of paying for a Coke on US. Aso difficult to upgrade US transat. flights on cheap tickets.

US's WWW site is OK. Award availability is reported to be generally poor, but managed to get 4 RT saver awards to Rome, It on the same day for travel in Jan '09.

UA's WWW site is pretty good. I usually use it to book travel, unless it's a weird codeshare on BMI booked by the Negotiator.

Why not ask UA for a status match, saying pretty much what you posted?

Altho *A generally don't like to fight over members, you might get a status match or more likely challenge (I did).

Now to get miles I route for max. miles, e.g., from MSY to SAN is via ORD.

Happy travels!

glex50

I think the thing you'd need to consider is what the difference is between being a US Silver on US and being UA 2P on US. I've grown to think that there's not much (upgrades into US F notwithstanding).

It's been covered in a number of threads, but most UA fliers prefer the current arrangement of coupons for upgrades because it improves the likelihood of clearing, especially for lower-tier elites. There are differences between the systems, but the main reason that you'd be likely to clear an upgrade into F on a US transcon is that there are so few US elites still flying.

Roger Lococco

United is truly terrible. That said, based on my recent experiences with U.S. Air, US is much, much worse.

steve53178

UA is a more pleasant experience in terms of legroom and staff but I use the word pleasant very loosely

SFflyer123

I would say united is better if you are one of their flying elite. The exit rows magically open up, the upgrades come more easily, the non-traditional requests (move up your wife who is not booked on the same reservation number) into the next class, are all much better. It pretty much blows for regular economy--no video screens, crappy seats, no food. However, I use united domestically, flying the crappy routes so that I can get upgraded to international business. For me, I can sit in those E+ seats for a 3-4 hour flight no problem; I cannot sit in those seats for a 10 hr flight to Frankfurt. The upgrades come fairly easily as a prem exec member, and I'd imagine they're even easier as a 1k. So if you like to do international business and paying economy class fares, I would definitely go with UA.

oenophilist

Has United gotten better? I think the answer to that is generally "no", but at the same time I don't think its gotten much worse comparatively either, at least for the important things.

The reasons I fly United:
1. The planes. I really (really really really) hate MD's, which rules out Delta and American. Overall, while older, the United planes are decent.
2. E+. Even though I'm not exactly tall, the main benefit of E+ for me is the ability to open your laptop when the person in front of you reclines. If I am on a transcontinental trip, and I'm in coach, having E+ could be the difference between 6 hours of productive work or 6 hours of being a sardine.
3. Reasonable service. United is by no means at the level of its international competitors, but its heads and tails above US Airways, especially for international flights.
4. International upgrades. Makes the difference between a productive day when you arrive at your destination or suffering jet lag for days.

There are lots of things to complain about, of course. But those are the big ones for me. #1 and #2 keep me pretty loyal.

Rogerdodger

In my personal opinion, the answer is yes. The service for this 1K has been very good lately. The other day, the pilot came back to hand me a book on the history of United...nice touch. The flight attendants have been exceptional. I fly mostly domestic, so that could have something to do with it.

UA Fan

If you want to use your miles on intl tickets stick with US.

I meant that UA uses starnet to filter awards even when the partner carrier allows it.

DesertRat

Try UA out. that's what i'm doing. I'm a US gold, was a longtime HP fan, but am now on a status match/challenge to 1P with UA. I already hit silver on US for next year and with the elimination of bonus miles there is really no incentive for me to fly them anyway for the rest of this year.
So I can test UA through the end of the year, get 100 percent bonus miles, then in '09 pick whatever one proves to work best.
Also, if you still occasionally need to fly US you can credit to UA and get the elite bonus -- at least for now.

brsp18

I think another recent positive with ual (i fly mainly west of denver to the major cities) is they have ffar ewer delays and cancellations since they've reduced schedules. hope i don't jinx it, but i agree with most of the posts that ual is doing a better job this year on service.

i can say i like there being fewer flights and seats. far fewer mystery "mechanical issues have canceled your flight" on sna-sfo or lax-sfo when the planes tend to be half empty.

although us for me has been fine out west (sna-phx or sfo-phx), i'd be pretty hesitant to fly them on a longer route back east, especially as a prem exec or 1k.

rch4u

The last few of United's A319s were built and delivered in 2002.

oenophilist

Wow, that is impressive. I'll have to say that I haven't been as impressed. The last few flights have been nothing special, and I don't recall any special recognition at all recently. In fact, my last flight, United changed me from a confirmed E+ window, which I had selected a month ago, to an Aisle Exit six rows behind my confirmed seat without asking me, and even after I already had my boarding pass with the original seat. I didn't mind the exit row but I ALWAYS ask for and book window seats. Of course there were no other window seats, so I didn't have much choice. And no, I didn't ask for compensation, but it does go to show that elites are often treated no differently than any other passenger.