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United. Positives and Negatives


casofilia
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We are considering using United to travel from Auckland (NZ) to Miami via San Francisco.

 

We have never traveled long haul using an American airline, our normal is Air New Zealand or Air Canada.

 

We were looking for feedback about United in general.

 

Thanks

 

Mike & Pauline

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What cabin level?

 

Business is fine. Economy is like just about any other long haul international carrier. Not a huge amount of difference.

 

The biggest difference will be in the level between Business and Economy. Each airline has it's own name, United is Economy Plus. Most domestic US airlines lose badly to foriegn long haul carriers in this category.

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Economy

 

Go to seatguru.com to see pitch and the recline on the planes the various airlines use. That will indicate somewhat the comfort on the flight. Economy is going to be uncomfortable on any long haul flight. It's just a matter of degree.

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United would never be our choice for an international long haul economy. The exception would be business. We did flat bed to Singapore on United. It was good.

 

We recently had an experience in changing an international flight on United. The experience was awful compared to the same type of change on Delta. Not a fare issue, in both instances we paid the change fee with no issue. Delta's customer service was far better. Had to call Unitied multiple times go it done.

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United like most of the US airlines generally does not have a Premium Economy product. They have some weird Economy plus thing that is Economy with a little bit more leg room. Some of the US airlines are starting to introduce a plus product.

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I have been Premier/Elite with United/Continental for about 30 years now. The best flight I have ever taken was on Air New Zealand in their old Premium Economy pod seats. I know they are taking the pods out and most are likely gone now but still, the food was actually good, the onboard service was unbelieveable and given the chance I would book with them in a heart beat. United's slimline seats in coach are like sitting on two boards now. We just did a TATL in coach and it was not fun or comfortable at all.

So, why am I still flying with them? Because the closest airport to my home in NJ is EWR where United pretty much holds a monopoly and they have the only non-stop to Las Vegas and that lets me get there quicker so I can spend more time with my grandchildren.....

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SFO can suck!!

 

Get a handle on which gates/ Terminal the Air New Zealand flights uses versus the domestic United flight. SFO still has the antiquated system of making one recheck through security if they change terminals. This would be necessary any way for the US inbound leg, but not for the Auckland return leg. If you fly United the entire leg, depending upon gate assignments, you may not have to change terminals.

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SFO can suck!!

 

Get a handle on which gates/ Terminal the Air New Zealand flights uses versus the domestic United flight. SFO still has the antiquated system of making one recheck through security if they change terminals. This would be necessary any way for the US inbound leg, but not for the Auckland return leg. If you fly United the entire leg, depending upon gate assignments, you may not have to change terminals.

 

ANZ will go out of the International Terminal. Most United flights go out of Terminal 3. You can go from Terminal 3 to the International Terminal without going through security again- just did it 3 weeks ago. If you are on one of the small number of United flights out of Terminal 1, then you need to check if you can stay behind security to get to the International Terminal. I think you could, and will in the future, but there has been a lot of construction there, so not sure about the current state of affairs.

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Just flew Aspen-Sydney and HNL-Aspen several weeks ago. using FF miles. Worst UA Internationals of many.They sold my companions upgrade seat to someone else.787 coach seats very tight. On return, rather bumpy. 12 hour flight as I recall to Denver. No water whole flight. I was thrown a bag of pretzels by flight attendant. Try AirNZ. Travel Leisure ranks it #1. Book through UA if you want their FF miles.

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Just flew Aspen-Sydney and HNL-Aspen several weeks ago. using FF miles. Worst UA Internationals of many.They sold my companions upgrade seat to someone else.787 coach seats very tight. On return, rather bumpy. 12 hour flight as I recall to Denver. No water whole flight. I was thrown a bag of pretzels by flight attendant. Try AirNZ. Travel Leisure ranks it #1. Book through UA if you want their FF miles.

 

You'd have more credibility without the hyperbole. A 12 hour flight from HNL to Denver? I don't think so.

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You'd have more credibility without the hyperbole. A 12 hour flight from HNL to Denver? I don't think so.

 

Correct. The flight from Honolulu to Denver is under 7 hours, but adding in the time from boarding to disembarking it's just a little over 7 hours. :D

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  • 2 weeks later...
One massive negative for United is that they are now configuring their 777s 10 across in economy which is pure torture on a long haul.

 

It is sad, but the 10 across has become the new standard for the 777. Most airlines are doing this.

 

I think the only exception are airlines that have very small fleets of 777 and don't see the point of spending money on the change.

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It is sad, but the 10 across has become the new standard for the 777. Most airlines are doing this.

 

I think the only exception are airlines that have very small fleets of 777 and don't see the point of spending money on the change.

Delta still has 9 across in new planes but if it is industry standard they will probably change eventually.

 

Sent from my SM-G965U using Forums mobile app

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I flew United RT with connecting flights at Dulles this week. I will not be flying them anytime soon. Four out of four flights had weather-related issues. How is that United's fault you ask? If the flights had been on time there would not have been weather issues. The flights would have been long gone. I also question their maintenance. There was a United Express that filled with smoke before take off at Reagan this week. The flight I was on a day later from MCO-Dulles - a short 2 hour flight - landed with first responders racing towards the plane. Apparently both auto-pilots failed. I understand that the pilot just has to fly the plane manually but it was unnerving regardless. And included in the upgraded snacks in business were 2"X1" packs of gummy bears. I don't really care but it was funny.

I realize that the OP is asking about long-haul but I won't be flying on United over any large bodies of water in the near future!!!!

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We try to avoid United like the plague...even though we fly Business Class on most long haul flights. Why? How can I count the reasons :(. Their customer service is simply awful from their near useless software to the folks that answer their phones. United views their longer term flight schedules as advisory and the final schedules often have little in common with the original flights booked. And if United does have a schedule change or some kind of other related delay, do not expect their customer service folks to be helpful. In our experience their folks treat customers more like sheep (being led to the slaughter) then valuable customers. Hmmm. Would you like to know what I really think ? :)

 

We recently booked Business Class flights from the east coast to Copenhagen. United actually had the best schedule and prices....but we ignored United and quickly booked with Air Canada. And I am not even Canadian :).

 

Hank

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I flew United RT with connecting flights at Dulles this week. I will not be flying them anytime soon. Four out of four flights had weather-related issues. How is that United's fault you ask? If the flights had been on time there would not have been weather issues. The flights would have been long gone.

 

Do you know why your four flights were delayed to begin with? It's entirely possible that they were late because either the crew or the aircraft was delayed due to weather somewhere else in the country.

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We don't think that United is anything special. Either in economy or business.

 

Let's face it, flying economy on any airline is no different than going Greyhound. United is certainly no better or worse than the other mainline domestic airlines in North America. If we are travelling overseas-Atlantic or Pacific, we try to avoid the domestic lines in favor of the international carriers. We do find them better across economy and business classes.

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