United Airlines... A First Class Flight That Reinforces Why They're Going Bankrupt.
Written: Apr 18 '05
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Good legroom and seat recline.
Cons: Staff, some good, some bad. Flight delays and NO they weren't weather related.
The Bottom Line: United isn't for me, it may be for some people who have little other choice, but it's not my favorite, and not a company I would recommend.
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| fredelledge's Full Review: United Airlines |
We just flew First Class from Portland Oregon to New York's La Guardia (LGA). All the planes we flew were OLD. How old, I don't know, but they certainly weren't new.
We were using up our flight points before United goes bankrupt, so there was only one reason we flew them. Otherwise we would have been on Jet Blue or Alaska Airlines.
I realize many people belong to United's Mileageplus, which is a shame, because as I was a member I know how tight they were with upgrades to all but the very elite fliers, which are known as 1k's, the business traveler who flies 100k or more a year. Their service has gone down in the last few years and I believe employee morale has also declined.
I would not fly United again, UNLESS it was a route that I could not earn mileage on another carrier's mileage program, or unless I didn't care about how I was treated.
CHECK-IN
We had an easy check-in process at all locations. Of course, when you're in the First Class line, there are fewer passengers and the staff is prepared to deal with what they consider to be their premium passengers. I will note that on the return out of La Guardia, the customer service agent was in a heated debate with the passenger, to the point their little 4 or 5 year old daughter burst into tears, and then after they left the podium and I approached the two agents behind the counter were dissing the passenger completely oblivious to the fact that his little girl had just had a meltdown because of the conflict. Whatever the case, while my check-in was easy and pleasant. I know from what I witnessed that isn't always the case.
OnBOARD
The aircraft we were on, 757's and A-320's were all old, as I previously mentioned. They weren't that nice, and didn't appear to be in that great a repair. At least if you're using older aircraft keep them looking good. Yes, the legroom in First is great, the seat recline is good and the adjustable headrests are nice, but overall the planes weren't something you would get onboard be impressed with.
FOOD SERVICE
We flew to Denver and connected to LGA on the outbound. The return was through Chicago and back to Portland. All services came with a cocktail service in First accompanied by mixed nuts. Warm on two flight, cold on the third and on the fourth we got pretzel mix instead!!! Pretzels in first, we laughed.
Two of the flights offered a turkey wrap, which was good and came with a spicy red salsa, fruit plate and cookie. One flight we actually had a breaded chicken patty, one step up from the breaded chicken patties you'd get in a hospital, and the final flight which was at nighttime brought out a fruit/cheese plate with exactly four crackers!
FLIGHT ATTENDANTS
We had excellent flight attendants on three out of four legs. On the LGA-Chicago flight we had an old bat, who had a terrible disposition. Just flat out cranky. I ordered a mixed drink, which she couldn't hear me pronounce so she ordered me to "speak up, I can't hear you". When I gave her the name of the drink she replied, "Listen, I don't drink so I have no idea what you're talking about." The flick of her wrist dismissing what I had said and her facial features were the best. Once we got her ironed out on what to mix in my drink, it came out along with the food. There was never a smile, never a comment to any of the passengers as we could see who would say thank when served or when dishes were picked. This flight attendant was a piece of work, and I even called United Consumer Relations today and told them what I thought of her.
So that made for a bad flight, but luckily, we only had to put up with the old bat for 90 minutes. Little did she know we were highly amused by her officiousness and outright rudeness to the first class cabin.
MOVIES
Three out of the four flights, the in-flight entertainment system worked on the last leg they had problems, so we didn't try and watch through a garbled soundtrack.
FLigHT DELAYS
Yes we got one of those too. Flying out of Chicago, the plane was at the international terminal and had to be brought over to the gate. The agents kept making announcement starting about 15 minutes before the flight was to leave that the plane was en-route to our gate and would be arriving in the next 5-10 minutes. These announcements continued to be made by three different agents for the next HOUR! Yes, we boarded the plane one hour late. Then, the pilot announced there was a slight problem with the left engine and they would have it fixed within 20 minutes. Sure enough, 20 minutes later the mechanic gave us the go ahead. They did make up a little time in the air, but nothing to get past the 80 minute delay. The gate agents were incredibly poorly informed to keep making these clueless announcements that the plane would be arriving in the next 5-10 minutes. They looked like imbiciles. Of course, they were probably just repeating what they were told to repeat.
Nothing was given to any passengers for the delay, and given the amount of complaints, we just watched the desk and read magazines feeling sorry for people who might miss connections. I will say given how upset some people were at the employees, they did exhibit patience, but then they should because they caused the anger by repeatedly announcing overhead "oh it'll just be another 5-10 minutes."
LUGGAGE
We travel for the most part only carry-on, even on international trips. The risk and impact should our luggage be lost dictates packing light and not having any number of problems that we have all heard about with other travelers.
OVERALL IMPRESSIONS
Had I paid the $1200 that a first class ticket would have cost instead of using points, I would have been entirely let down. I think most employees at United are beat down and just getting by and it shows. They have huge management problems, or should I use the word "greed", and the problems caused by management have trickled down in the last couple years to weigh heavily on the employees. The morale is quite poor.
On the other hand, we used a bunch or points last year for First Class flights on Lufthansa to Asia and this trip finished off the points. We haven't flown United in over two years because the service and bang for our dollar left us disappointed, not to mention the fact we were scared to possibly lose our mileage points in a bankruptcy action.
I would only recommend United for the business traveler who has no other choice, the consumer who doesn't care how they are treated and the consumer who doesn't care about mileage points and just wants the cheapest airline ticket they can find....and every once in a while United will have excellent fares on certain routes.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
fredelledge
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Reviews written: 32
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