I think U.S.-based airlines are just terrible overall. Price is always my main factor in purchasing

When I decided to move to Sweden, lax los angeles airport area hotels I switched airlines. lax los angeles airport area hotels Normally, I’m a loyal American Airlines traveler and member of the Oneworld alliance . I like American Airlines and their Oneworld partners (except Finnair — that airline sucks!). However, the main airline in Sweden, SAS, is part of the Star Alliance network. Not wanting to lose my elite flier benefits, this year I switched to United Airlines (the main U.S. Star Alliance member) in order to earn elite status. That way, when I flew SAS, I could get lounge access and potential upgrades.
I had never flown with United prior to their merger with Continental. I can’t really say how their service compares to what it used to be, but after 15 flights lax los angeles airport area hotels with them this year, I can say that their current service is absolute shit. I mean, it is so awful that I would rather walk than fly United. Once I get back to America, I plan on switching back to American Airlines, especially since they just decided to join the rest of the world and upgrade their planes . I long for American every time I sit on a United airplane. And the thought of having to fly United for the next few months of the year in order to reach the top-tier service lax los angeles airport area hotels makes me depressed. (Once I hit top tier, I ll get a status match from American so I can be top tier on their network.)
When you do call customer service, you get some guy in India who has no idea what you’re talking about. Now, I’m a product of the global age, and I don’t care where a call center is located. Hell, the Mars rover could be answering my customer service request. Doesn’t matter. What I care about is that the customer service representative speaks my language and knows what I’m talking about. It took 20 minutes for the rep to figure out I wanted a round-the-world ticket, not a round-trip ticket. Then, upon telling me that wasn’t his department, he transferred me to someone else who had no idea why I was calling and who also passed me off to another department. And another time when I called for help, the representative just hung up on me.
Their on-board meals are a joke. I understand that economy lax los angeles airport area hotels meals are never good, but when I’m paying $10 USD for something, I’d like it to be at least mildly edible. Their snack boxes are not. At least I can get a sandwich on other airlines. The bad (and free) cheese sandwich I got from Croatia Airlines was better than what you get fed on United.
There are no upgrades, even when you offer money. On my flight to Sweden, business class only had three people in it. I asked if there were any elite upgrades and when they said no, I asked if I could purchase an upgrade, having heard the guy in front of me ask and get an affirmative response. I was told, “No, there’s no space.” That plane flew with a half-empty first class and a mostly empty business class. Way to encourage customer loyalty among your elite fliers, United!
Words cannot express the dislike I have for United. They make my blood boil. US Airways used to be my most-hated airline in the States, but now I think United is far worse. At least US Airways is cheap! This video sums out everything I would tell United:
lax los angeles airport area hotels Not a day that goes by that I don’t hear people lax los angeles airport area hotels complain about United. The news is littered with reports of their customer-service problems, and frequent fliers actively try to avoid United. When American Airlines offered to match the elite status of United’s most frequent fliers earlier this year, so many people tried to switch that American stopped the offer early.
One of the reasons I love the Star Alliance is that it is a large airline network with far more members than Oneworld, including Air New Zealand, ANA, and Singapore Airlines — all top class airlines. But if being a Star Alliance member means I have to fly United lax los angeles airport area hotels when I travel around America no thanks. I’ll pass.
Your post freaks me out a bit I will have to fly with united from los angeles to maui I m scared now, haha! No turning back now, so I guess I ll have to go through their shitty service. Crossing fingers they won t lose my bag!!
Yes, they re amazingly horrible. lax los angeles airport area hotels So is Delta though. Of the U.S. airlines, I m picking American from the legacy carriers. I do like SouthWest and JetBlue is OK. Spirit would have to PAY ME to fly with them!
Last month I flew United from Newark to Istanbul. The flight was delayed in taking lax los angeles airport area hotels off because of rain. Whereas all other flights were delayed just one hour, ours was delayed 2 1/2 hours something about not being able to find our plane. (In fairness, it was likely the fault of Newark airport which is no prize either.) 2 hours into the flight, just as we were about to cross the Atlantic, the captain made an announcement that due to a malfunctioning altimeter we would have to turn around and return to Newark. How there was not wide-spread panic on the plane, I have no idea. Everyone must have just taken sleeping pills or Xanax. How does an airline not know its altimeter is malfunctioning until we re 1000 miles into the flight?
Couldn t agree more! The WORST flight experiences I ve ever had have all been on United. I divorced them last year. Unfortunately I had to reconcile earlier this year for a couple of flights, but I fully intend to renew my boycott lax los angeles airport area hotels whenever possible. It s especially sad as I used to fly united lax los angeles airport area hotels nearly exclusively as a kid, traveling back and forth between East/West coasts. Their service then was amazing. I don t know who s in charge at the moment, but they need a major corporate restructure.
I ve heard a ton of horror stories about United, as I ve heard about most domestic carriers. While my personal preference is Delta, I haven t had too many problems with United. I ve got 120k miles or so logged with them in the last year and have yet to have a cancelled flight and haven t had a delay of more than an hour. I definitely agree that their planes could use an upgrade the Delta experience is all around lax los angeles airport area hotels better in my opinion.
Here s my issue with this post regarding the old and outdated aircraft yes, that issue exists to a certain degree, primarily with the aircraft coming from pre-merger United. But here s what s being done to fix it:
1. The domestic 767-300 fleet, which were affectionately called the ghetto birds by United frequent fliers, are in the process of having entirely new interiors installed, which includes replacing the seats, floor covering, sidewalls, ceiling panels, overhead bins, lighting, and entertainment systems. This project is moving along and three of the fourteen lax los angeles airport area hotels aircraft are completed and back in service, with another three currently receiving the upgrades right now. They will be completed with this conversion lax los angeles airport area hotels by early 2013.
3. The remaining international 777s that pre-merger United never got around to installing new seats, new power ports, and new entertainment systems in are getting those much-needed upgrades and that project is nearing completion.
4. The pre-merger United 757-200 ps fleet used on JFK-LAX/SFO flights is getting a makeover inside, with new lie-flat BusinessFirst seating. Again, another project announced a year ago that is on the calendar for the near future.
5. The pre-merger Continental lax los angeles airport area hotels 767-400 fleet is nearing completion of the installation of new entertainment systems, new power ports, new lie-flat BusinessFirst lax los angeles airport area hotels seats, and brand new seats in Economy Plus and Economy.
I will say that that the Continental planes are much better than the United and while I know United is fixing the problem of old planes lax los angeles airport area hotels (as is every airline), it seems a lot slower to me than other airlines. But that s my opinion.
? just flew Chicago-?stanbul and the flight wasnt only delayed (They suddenly had to switch planes) but the food was the worst, headphones in both planes were broken, ?t was just crap. And is there a new rule that u cant take phoyos out the window lax los angeles airport area hotels from your seat?
sounds like someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed. this post is just a bunch of crying about things that aren´t really a big deal. and furthermore, i don´t know why you love AA so much. They´re fine, but nothing special. lots of complaining about insignificant issues, here. poor baby.
The most interesting thing about this post for me is that you prefer American Airlines. I m an incredibly frequent flier, and of every company I ve flown with, American Airlines is hand down the worst. I have just so many stories to tell, including flights being cancelled halfway through a journey, unbelievably damaged luggage, luggage lost and then forwarded to the wrong hotel, buses replacing 10 hour flights(!), flight attendants literally lax los angeles airport area hotels dragging a wheelchair user down the plane and just rude, unpleasant staff at every turn.
The first time I ever flew with them, an American guy told me how much most people hate AA, which a few others overhead and then proceeded to wholehearted agree and share their own horror stories. In fact, every time I travel, I seem to have a discussion with someone lax los angeles airport area hotels about how much they dislike AA just last week I met a woman who told me they re nicknamed American Scarelines for their awful service.
I think U.S.-based airlines are just terrible overall. Price is always my main factor in purchasing a flight, so I tend to fly Delta and United the most (though when I can I will fly JetBlue or even Allegiant). Both are terrible in my opinion. American airlines (not the brand, but airlines overall in the States) just don t seem to have any desire to step up their service. Their planes are generally outdated.
lax los angeles airport area hotels I have always been shocked by how outdated the planes are on long, international flights. I flew from Atlanta lax los angeles airport area hotels to Buenos Aires on Delta and it was an insanely outdated plane. The seats were especially cramped and uncomfortable and the only form of entertainment was on teeny tiny little TVs above every ten or so seats down the aisle. Even low-cost budget carriers have TVs in each seat these days! Even worse was United. lax los angeles airport area hotels I can t comprehend lax los angeles airport area hotels how LA to Sydney one of the longest flights lax los angeles airport area hotels you re ever going to be on didn t have the