I always avoid United Express when I can for many reasons. First, I find that mainline crews are usually more professional and warmer than the rookies making $7/hr on Express. Second, although UA’s larger regional aircraft now feature Economy...
New BOB Snack Box Choices on United
Once again, United Airlines has altered their snack box choices this month, available for purchase on most afternoon and evening flights longer than two hours. UA donates a portion of the snack box proceeds (though we don’t know how...
Great News! New Bathrooms Coming Soon to Philadelphia Red Carpet Club
Anyone who has been to United’s Philadelphia Red Carpet Club knows that the bathrooms are in an utter state of disrepair. Although the club was refurbished in 2009 and closed temporarily by the Health Department earlier this year, the...
United’s Dulles Dilemma
With the Continental/United merger now a reality, the future of Washington Dulles as United’s main East Coast hub bears discussion. The current UA facilities at IAD, though functional, are unseemly when compared to leading airport concourses across the U.S. and around the world (and even...
"Would you mind moving from business to economy so my wife can sit next to me?"
I will occasionally run into passengers, almost always families traveling together, who will ask me to move seats so they can be seated next to each other. I think it’s rude to ask, but will generally comply as long...
UA849 (PHL-LAX) Diverts to Nashville
As Maxwell Smart would say, “Missed it by that much…” Something happened aboard United 849 tonight, the evening non-stop flight from Philadelphia to Los Angeles. I was booked on that flight and missed it due to a mix-up at...
More on United’s One-Way Star Alliance Awards
We still don’t have an official announcement about one-way Star Alliance awards on United, but they are definitely bookable now by calling United Reservations. We can also breathe a collective sigh of relief: multiple UA res. agents have confirmed...
RE: What United Giveth, United Taketh Away
Earlier today, I blogged about my confirmed upgrade from IAD-BOS mysteriously disappearing overnight. From what I gathered at Dulles this morning, someone with a fat-finger in inventory management accidentally cleared all the waitlisted upgrades last night (to put it...
What United Giveth, United Taketh Away
I’m scratching my head as I sit in the Philadelphia Red Carpet Club this morning. I’ve got a meeting in Boston today and am traveling from PHL-IAD-BOS. Last night, I got a text message from United that my upgrade...
One-Way Star Alliance Awards Coming Tomorrow on United Airlines
As I mentioned a couple weeks ago, United is on the brink of an announcement introducing one-way Star Alliance (and perhaps partner) awards. It is still not clear whether stopovers will remain on round-trip awards, Star and partner flights...
Class Action Lawsuit Filed Against United by Blind Passengers
Three California blind residents, frequent travelers on United Airlines, have filed a class action lawsuit against the airline. The suit centers on UA’s EZ Check-In Machines (aka Mr. Chickens) and whether the touchscreen interface unfairly prohibits blind passengers from taking...
United VP Hints that Economy Plus Will Remain
We still don’t have official confirmation that Economy Plus will remain on the post-merger United, but at an aviation summit in New Orleans yesterday, United’s vice president of operations planning and international operations, Cindy Szadokierski provided this glimmer of hope:...
Hypoglycemic United FA Picks and Eats Warm Nuts as She Serves Them
Have you ever had a FA sample your food–in front of you? From Flyertalk: I was on a [United Airlines’] mid-con 757 on row 3 in F. As the FA was bringing out the warm nuts, She was picking...
United/Continental Add 19 New Routes
Now merged with Continental, United announced on Thursday that it would add a total of 19 new routes from seven of its eight mainland hubs in 2011. Here’s the list: Chicago O’Hare: No new routes. Cleveland: Cincinnati. Denver: Amarillo,...
Special Meals on United Redeyes
If you’ve got a redeye flight coming up in United First, do yourself a favor: avoid the sandwich and order yourself a special meal. Since UA enhanced their meal service earlier this year, gone is the fruit and cheese...
Rumor: United will Introduce One-Way Star Alliance Awards on November 1st
According to this thread on FT, multiple United Airlines’ reservations agents have shared that one-way Star Alliance awards will be available for booking at the end of the month. Not taking their word for it, I called UA reservations...
Contrasting United and Lufthansa: Accommodation vs. Competence
I’m back from my short trip to Frankfurt and I want to share the results of a little experiment I conducted yesterday and today with the good folks at Lufthansa. Bottom line: they all play by the rules. Whether this is a virtue or...
Southwest Slips to Cellar in On-Time Arrival Performance
United has again captured the on-time arrival award for the month of September (88.9% of flights arrived on time), with US Airways (86.6%) and Continental (85.6%) close behind. Surprisingly, at least on first glance, Southwest Airlines finished last (75.8%) among major...
Genuine Upgrade Reciprocity Between United and Continental Finally Arrives
Two weeks into the merger, Coninental and United have finally officially made available reciprocal ugprades and other seating benefits to their elite members. Here’s a breakdown of the benefits: Continental What is it? Comparable to United Elite upgrades Automatic upgrades...
Pictures from UA Open House / Fleet Week at SFO
As promised, here are my pictures from Sunday’s Family Day Open House at SFO. I want to again thank Frank Dean for graciously extending me an invitation to the event and for all the folks at UA who made...
