United Airlines has dropped transcon fares between the New York market (EWR, JFK, LGA) and Ontario, California (a distant suburb of Los Angeles) to levels I have not seen in years: return trips available for as little as $162!...
Flying Across the USA in International Business Class
Friday was a long day for me, but it was a fun one. A bulk of it was spent at airports–6.5 hours in the air and 5 hours in two United Clubs, but I ended up flying from Newark...
Upgrading a Held Reservation on American Airlines
I finally bit the bullet and booked my first flight on American Airlines–it was either standby on United or a remarkably great $187 r/t ticket on American for my trip from Washington to Los Angeles this weekend. But it...
United.com Restores "Expert" Mode
After intense pressure from frequent flyers, United Airlines backed down and agreed to restore the ability to view upgrade availability online last week. Today, that functionality is back. Similar to the way it was for the pre-merger united.com, however,...
United Improves Upgrade Transparency…Kind Of
United Airlines has taken a step in the right direction in introducing a new upgrade display that at least allows you to see that you are on the complimentary upgrade list for a flight. No, I’d prefer to call…...
Vindictive United Supervisor vs. Professional United Supervisor
Sometimes people can just be downright vindictive. I admittedly have a tendency to crave revenge, though I pray I will never turn out like the United Airlines reservations supervisor I dealt with earlier this week. One of my best...
Flying Non-Rev Standby on United Airlines
Traveling just got much cheaper. And much more stressful… A friend of mine offered me a large quantity of United buddy passes, so my travel for the foreseeable future–if I so choose–will be cheap and likely in premium cabins...
The Real Reason United Removed Online Upgrade Inventory
Yesterday, I posited three theories seeking to explain why United removed the display of upgrade inventory from united.com. I have a fourth one–and my experience today demonstrates why it is most likely the correct one. The reason is not...
United’s Foolish Attempt to Shield Online Upgrade Inventory
Count me as one of the angered ones over United Airlines’ recent decision to no longer display upgrade fare buckets online. The move was shortsighted and will quickly prove itself counterproductive. Shannon Kelly, UA Insider on Flyertalk and MilePoint,...
Did Qatar Screw Up or United Screw Up?
Just moments before heading out to the gym this evening, I received a frantic message from one of my clients, stating– Lot of problems in Houston, Qatar says there is no reservation for [name removed] both ways. PLEASE HELP! With...
Long Delay but a Humorous Captain
My quick hop up to Philadelphia today turned into a grueling three-hour journey thanks to bad weather. But it could have been much worse. At least there were pretzels. Stale pretzels. We pulled out of the A Concourse at...
Labor Day Weekend in Hawaii
I am on my way to Hawaii today (Friday) for a long weekend in Honolulu. It will be my first time back to the Islands since March 2011 and my first multi-day stay in Honolulu since 2004. Each year,...
No More Bumps on United Airlines for Me
My United redeye flight to Philadephia Monday turned out to be oversold. But I did not take a bump. It simply wasn’t worth the effort, a stark change in the post-merger world. Overnight bumps used to be an incredible...
United’s Retro Boarding Pass
When a portion of United Airlines’ computer network crashed today, gate agents were left to improvise. Most just waited out the 2hr, 20min outage, but some got creative–check out this boarding pass from #moiraforbes: It’s like 1955 all...
Once Again, A Change in Travel Plans = No Problem!
After all the time I spent securing an upgrade on my Los Angeles-Denver dinner flight this afternoon, it turns out I did not take the flight. No bumps, no drama–I just had too much work to do and could...
Did I Screw Up the Upgrade Queue on My LAX-DEN United Flight?
After posting about the intrigue surrounding United Airline’s complimentary upgrade process yesterday, reader Dan left this insightful comment: It’s very simple — there is someone ahead of you in the CPU queue who has a ticket ‘out of sync’...
Understanding How Complimentary Premier Upgrades Work On United Airlines
I suppose it is rather sad that it has taken me so long to figure this out, but my flight to Denver on Monday has finally helped me to understand how Continental’s United’s complimentary elite upgrade system works. In...
United Announces Additional 787 Routes
Although United Airlines, with great fanfare, announced that the Boeing 787 would operate the carrier’s new Denver-Tokyo Narita route next year, that will not be the first route we will see United’s newest fleet addition on. Today, United filled us...
Flying Home One Day Early on United Airlines
One of the positive post-merger changes on United Airlines is the ability to confirm an earlier flight up to 24 hours before your scheduled flight, even if it is the day before. I took advantage of that today—and it...
United Wins My Loyalty…Again
After what was perhaps the best summer of my life, I have left Germany and returned to Philadelphia. The one upside to being back in Philadelphia is that my domestic travel has now resumed, and that is something I...
