>United Airlines, I’m Calling You Out
>*EDIT: It’s not just me. Check out this USA Today story.
And this story from the WSJ calling out United, Northwest and US Airways.
And here’s another post with video of people on a recent Delta flight who were stranded on the tarmac for seven hours with no food and crying babies.
It looks like United and Northwest are most notorious for poor service, according to your comments, and Southwest is consistently coming up as a winner.
I’ve mentioned that my trip to San Francisco was awesome. I deeply appreciate the generosity of the people who flew me out and made sure that everything was perfect and let me say now that the Hotel Adagio was amazing, the staff was magnificent, everything was within walking distance, and I would stay there again in a heartbeat and recommend it to anyone. As for the flights, well I debated whether even to write this post because I didn’t want to come across as ungrateful. But I don’t see this as a reflection of my wonderful, accomodating hosts in any way and I hope they don’t, either. They obviously had no control over the airline. So here goes.
We flew on United planes and while the people I met on the flights were so helpful and friendly and kind to Bruiser and I that I was astonished, the employees and policies of United were a different story. I was really let down by the whole United experience, across the board, on a total of four United/ US Airways flights.
First off, despite the fact that our reservations had been made together and we share the same last name, Bruiser and I were seated apart on nearly every flight. In each case, I was told at check-in to have the person at the gate change my seat assignments. In each case, the person at the gate told me to tell the head flight attendant to change my seat. In each case, I was passed off from one flight attendant to another and in each case I was at last told to take someone else’s seat and tell them myself they’d have to take Bruiser’s seat. Yeah. I had to negotiate it with total strangers. One woman was nice about it, despite the fact that she gave up a window seat for a middle seat on a 4 1/2 hour flight, but another woman put up a halfhearted battle before agreeing to sit in Bruiser’s assigned seat and that was awkward.
What was also awkward was that pre-boarding on every flight either lasted all of 30 seconds, so that I had no chance of making it to the gate before regular boading had begun, or it was non-existent, even though the gate agents knew I was there with a young baby. So I was forced to hold people up trying to get my stroller through the gate and stowed and trying to navigate a carseat through the aisles and into a seat.
Once on the plane, I noticed that most of the other passengers were seated apart from friends and family members as well. Why on earth wouldn’t most people who make reservations together be seated together? It doesn’t make any sense. It’s not a big dinner party in the sky; most people find it comforting to sit with someone they know.
Another problem was that with the exception of the Nashville check-in agent (who, though very nice, ended up printing out two boarding passes for Bruiser and none for me, so that I couldn’t get through security and had to return with him and wait another 5 minutes for them to print out new boarding passes), every single United worker I spoke with ranged from terse or unhelpful to downright rude. One United flight attendant even looked down at Bruiser in his stroller when he was just slightly fussy, made a face, and said, “That’s why we’re having dogs and cats.” The general attitude of the flight attendants and check-in agents was that all of their passengers were idiots who had to be just barely tolerated. And you know, when I see that many unhappy employees, it makes me think the captains are probably unhappy, too. The airplane mechanics are probably unhappy, too. And that doesn’t make me feel very confident about the safety of the airplane.
Our flights cost close to a grand per person, each way. That’s almost six times what we normally pay for our cross-country flights on Southwest, which has its hub here in Nashville. You’d think that for that kind of money, meals would be included. But no. If you wanted to eat, you paid $5.00 for a snack box or a single sandwich. On one flight, we weren’t even served pretzels. And when we checked our bags curbside in San Francisco, we were charged $2.00 a bag. As I was paying up, the check-in agent informed me in a you-have-no-choice tone that he also took tips. So I had to dig out even more money- after all, I wanted my bags to arrive in Nashville with me.
And yet, they didn’t. Despite the fact that we had more than an hour between flights and even waited in our plane at the gate an extra 45 minutes for some luggage to be transferred over from an international connector flight, somehow my luggage and that of eight other passengers (out of about 50) didn’t make it on the plane. But I was lucky compared to one of the guys that stood in our disgruntled crowd after the baggage carousel stopped turning. The contents of his suitcase were brought in in clear plastic sacks.
“Sir, your suitcase was destroyed,” a United worker informed him passively. “You’ll have to fill out a claim form.”
The guy was admirably calm as he asked, “Was my suitcase all that was destroyed? Or were the contents destroyed too?”
“Uh, well, pretty much everything was destroyed,” replied the baggage attendant, handing the man his plastic sacks.
“It was totally our fault, too,” the baggage guy said to the United worker as he came in the office while I was filling out my claim form. “I’ll bet we owe him thousands of dollars. There was a kevlar vest in there and it’s, like, mangled.”
I say all this because an airline with this many problems has, well, problems. I realize I’m flying a “value” airline when I fly Southwest. But the employees are friendly, even downright jovial. We’ve even had flight attendants moonlighting as stand-up comedians and opera singers give impromptu performances on board, which is always fun and relieves the tension. Preboarding for families with kids under four lasts a good five to ten minutes, which is good for everyone because all of those families end up sitting together in the front, thus sparing the ears of the rest of the passengers. And since seats aren’t assigned, unless you arrive really late, you can always sit with whomever is traveling with you. But I’m guessing that United offers some kind of deal to corporations and businesses, since I’m always flown in on United when I’m doing work for someone and most of the travelers seem to be business people.
Anyway, this site comes up pretty high on search engines, so I figured I had an opportunity both to help other customers decide which airline they want to fly with, and hopefully to send a message to United in general that it’s really time to clean up their act. But I’d also love to hear your experiences with various airlines. Which are your favorites? I’ve heard Jet Blue, for instance, is awesome and I can’t wait to try it. Which are your least favorites? Am I totally off base with my United experience? I figured four different flights through four different airports was pretty telling. Give me your thoughts in the comments and if I get the impression of a few overall best and worst airlines coming out of them, I’ll post them in the next entry.
>I’m sorry you had such a lousy experience on United. They’re the only airline I’ve flown with my daughter, and I’ve been easonably satisfied. I book our tickets online and through their website, and I was able to choose seats together for every flight. It wasn’t until I was carrying the baby off the plane on our very first flight together when I realized that the nice United employee who had carried my stroller to the plane for me, was, in fact, the captain!But if JetBlue ever starts flying where I need to go, I’m giving them a try. I hear they have cookies!
>Girl, I totally feel your pain. As a matter of fact, I did a blog on this as well. I flew with United in September with my 2 yr old and they treated us like crap. They had us on the plan with no air for 3 hours just sitting on the runway because something on the plane was “broke”. I ended up getting 150.00 back from them (in a certificate to fly with them again… AS IF!) and I don’t think I will be using it anytime soon.I will give you the link if you care to read for yourself.http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=53527648&blogID=169505339&Mytoken=D6B14371-3847-4797-9C6C3EC702CE3CA356590478and part 2http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&FriendID=53527648&blogMonth=9&blogDay=19&blogYear=2006
>OK, I hate to fly as it is. But to have this type of experience would have sent me right over the edge. Ugh. I’m glad you’re on the other side of that trip!Note to self: Don’t fly United!Jane, Pinks & Blues Girls
>My sister hates flying United – the ALWAYS lose her luggage – she has the worst luck with them.I love, love Midwest Airlines. They are my absolute favorite to fly and kind of sounds similar to your Southwest experience. Of course Airtran is trying to buy them out and will turn it into another sucky airline for sure.
>I didn’t used to like flying Southwest because I didn’t like the “cattle-drive” feeling of their open seating policy. Now, though, I LOVE them! Of course, I’ve been flying with infant for my last few flights, so I get to skip the cattle-drive. They are SO nice and have made flying with a baby SO easy!
>I am an event/meeting planner and spend MANY days a month in an airplane. Southwest is my fave no matter whare I am going. They are friendly, on time, and confortable. I spent 5 hours sitting on a runway last time I flew Continental and the airline personnel were anything but helpful. USAir isnt too bad, Frontier is decent. But man, I could go on and on and on forever!!!
>Oh, how awful! I can’t believe they didn’t work with you to get you sitting beside your baby! Shame on them.The only time that’s every happened to me is when my tickets were purchased literally less than 48 hours before the flight, and the gate agents were completely helpful. That’s on Alaska. I’ve done most of my flying with them, and they’ve always been great. The best airline I’ve ever flown on was, hands down, Emirates, but of course, you can’t catch an Emirates flight from Nashville to San Fran. For service and comfort, they are hands-down the best. Delta and Hawaiian aren’t too bad either.
>Allegiant Air is wonderful. It is a much smaller airline that only flies to certain cities. We flew to Orlando on Allegiant and we were very pleased with the flight. Everyone was very pleasant. I will be flying them again when I go to Vegas in September.
>Hmm- I always had the best luck with United (more so than SOuthwest and its lines). I always got to sit with child and/or hubby. We always got our seat assignments ahead, too. I wonder if whoever made your arrangements made a mistake? (sorry if it was you).
>Northwest isn’t too bad, although you don’t even get a bag of peanuts anymore OR a pillow. When we flew with them this past January, though, the pilot let our 7 year old son go into the cockpit and even let him sit in his seat! I’ve got pictures to prove it. He, and the co-pilot, were VERY friendly and cheerful (for a 7am flight, I might add). I was very impressed! Continental at least gave us lunch.Sun Country is a small airline that doesn’t fly everywhere, but when I have flown with them, they’ve been great. But, most of the time when we have flown over the last couple of years (no matter who it’s with) we are very rarely all seated together (me, my husband and three children), which I do find very strange.I guess you’re gonna win some and your gonna lose some…
>I was equally displeased with them. I had the same thing where I was demanded tips for the curbside check in. I finally get checked in and to my gate (three minutes to spare) and I don’t have a ticket? They just give you something to get through security and then you have to stand at the desk. And wait. And wait. And wait. The guy was incredibly rude and acted like he was completely put out with me. My bags actually beat me to my destination, but I thought they hadn’t arrived. I had told our son that I had a treat for him in my bag. Which we thought didn’t arrive. And he threw the biggest tantrum of all time. But it had arrived, which was a happy surprise considering I have never flown somewhere and had my luggage arrive. One time they lost my luggage four times in one trip. That was after waiting an entire day at the airport to see “if the fog would clear.” It never cleared and we sat there an entire day with an infant. Our luggage was at our destination, but we weren’t. Then they lost it again. Then they delivered it to the neighbor. Then the neighbor sent it back. Then we finally got it…it was a freaking nightmare. That was also compliments of United.United sucks!
>My son and I just got back from Alaska last week – Northwest was worse! And when people on the seven hour flight were asking why we had to fork out $5 (after we paid over a thousand each ticket) for a measley, soggy sandwich in a bag, an attendant kindly (with a sneer) told us that the reason our flights were so CHEAP (ha!) was because they cut all the accomodations like movies and food. NOT to mention that we were crammed into seats that were so small that I could see the blackheads on the guy next to me. That and several delays due to “mechanical” or “eliectrical” malfunctions (how reassuring!) – I vowed to never, ever fly NW airlines again. It was awful. Just awful. Conversly, I flew Delta to go to Portland earlier this year and it was MORE than delightful.
>Umpteen years ago I took a redeye from Portland, OR, to Atlanta at Christmas time. Flight was full, and some guy and his kid were separated, with the dad supposed to sit next to me. I traded seats without a second thought — I’d rather be in a less-desirable seat than listen to a toddler scream in fear and frustration for 5 hours in the middle of the night. The flight attendants were so incredibly grateful that I have to think my behavior was shockingly rare.
>Although I have a dog in this fight, I must say I hate Southwest. The festival seating, the unprofessional remarks (talk about thinking fools are flying the plane or in charge of your safety), and how they advertise cheap fares, but the seats are gone when you try to book.
>We make a lot of trips from Minneapolis to Denver. My favorite airline to use is Frontier. My kids love it because they can watch tv ($5 per person, but SO worth it!). The personnel are friendly. They do not expect tips for curbside check in (in fact they have reminder signs out that they don’t accept tips). Great service. Fun people. And it costs the same or less than NorthWORST Airlines. NW and AA suck, by the way. Every single AA flight I have ever taken has been delayed or cancelled. Every. Single. One. NW is a bit better in that department, but not by much.
>When we had babie/toddlers we took a lot of flights on Northwest and they were incredibly rude to me because I had kids and were no help, in fact they made my life worse than it would have been without them.
>i flew on “ted” last year from portland to phoenix with a plane change in san fran that was supposed to be 50 minutes, turned into 4 hours. not only did NO ONE offer a simple “sorry” about the delay, when a teenage boy next to me sighed at the announcement the employee at the gate came over & snarled at the boy, asking him if he had a problem! i’m not even kidding. then of course passengers where exchanging horror stories of other united flights they had been on & it amazed me they were still in business. i don’t plan on forking over my money to fly with them again anytime soon.
>North West Airlines. “Nimrods With Attitudes”–WUUGGGHHH!!! It’s like flying in a poorly maintained, dirty cross-country bus. Unfortunately, in the midwest city where I live, if you want to fly anywhere that doesn’t involve being held together with duct tape, rubber bands, and popsicle sticks, you are forced fly the nasty skies of the illustrious “NWA.” Just returned from a trip to Seattle that required changing planes once each direction. We were crammed into 6-across seating like canned sardines. The inside of the plane was FILTHY. The so-called “Smart Snacks” are shrink wrapped cheeses, sausages, crackers, and a stale cookie. But because of no time to grab food between connecting flights, and one of us being diabetic, we were kind of trapped into buying this box of crap. Unfortunately, the shrink wrapped crap was nearly impossible to unwrap, and we really could’ve used a knife, scissors, or razor blade, stick of dynamite, etc. to open them. Oh well, at least the time it took to get the crap opened, we’d wasted about an hour of flying time. Upon finishing with the box of crap, we asked one of the flight attendants to take the box to the trash, and she snarled “I’m not taking trash right now!” Mmmmkayyyy….And THEN began the fuitile attempts to use the bathroom, winding our way down the aisle (could they possibly make them any more narrow???) Yes, ONE WORKING BATHROOM on a flight of about 250 passengers. And the final leg of the trip, which usually means waiting for takeoff on the Minneapolis runway for an hour, was 45 minutes late arriving at our final destination. NOT ONE WORD OF APOLOGY from the pilot, just some crabby comments about how we would be late.After yet another trip of being made to feel like cattle on the way to the slaughterhouse, we have decided never to fly the bitchy skies of NWA. If it requires driving 350 miles to Chicago to avoid them, I’m all ears. Have had great flying experience with Southwest, TWA, Delta, and others, so maybe it’s worthwhile to go a bit out of our way.DON’T EVEN get me started on the ground “help.” I think they are required to go some kind of course on “How to Be Your Passive-Aggressive Finest.”Oddly, on all 4 legs of this most recent NWA journey, we remarked to one another how horrible it must be for parents flying with a baby or toddler. That experience would just force flying on NWA into the seventh circle of hell. You have my complete sympathy.
>I LOVE Southwest. Sometimes people can get pretty pushy when they’re standing in line, but if you can get over that (and realize that — relax! we’ll all get there, unlike with some other airlines, AHEM!), it’s got fantastic service. My husband flew US Air a few weeks ago and his flight was delayed NOT because of weather, mechanical problem, whatever. It was delayed because the crew did not show up. And then there was a storm delaying the plane further. Oh, and they thought that the replacement plane had 14 more seats than it did, so 14 people got screwed even more.Yeah. If you can ever avoid it, DO NOT fly US Air. Or apparently United now too. Southwest, on the other hand, is awesome.
>We fly a fair amount and love the budget airlines, including Southwest, JetBlue, and AirTran. We don’t usually have problems with them or the major carriers. As for seating, we always check our seats online and try to adjust them before we arrive at the airport. If that isn’t an option, then we insist on doing it when we get our boarding passes. We simply refuse to leave until we’re satisfied. On those rare occasions that our children are seated away from us, we ask for a change. If the agent isn’t helpful, we ask a question along the lines of “Is there a nanny on the flight? Because our daughter is three years old and probably shouldn’t be left unattended on the plane.” Works every time. We also pack snacks, no matter what, because no one serves food now and you never know how long you’ll be stuck on a plane.
>Wow, these comments are interesting. We flew with our kids last year, but I don’t remember which airline it was. We were all together in the very back of the plane, which, while noisy, worked out pretty well. I can’t imagine how an airline could seat children seperately from parents! That’s not even SAFE, much less not enjoyable! How could they possibly seat you seperately from your INFANT?! Do people really put up with this? And I would change seats so a parent could be next to a child in a heartbeat!The whole airline situation is a scam. My hubby flies frequently. He rarely checks bags or does layovers. But he’s on his own and he still runs into problems. We’ll be taking a family trip later this summer and you bet a major stink will be made if they even *think* about not putting my children with me.Thanks for the heads-up.
>I completely understand your complaints. I’ve only flown United once, with my boyfriends parents to see him graduate from Naval Bootcamp and I had no complants except I was hungry and the snack box is a waste of five dollars. But recently, when my boyfriend was out on leave for two weeks, he flew on United. I made sure to put labels on his bags, but because he was going to be reassigned to a new base when he flew back, he didn’t have an address for Virginia, just one for California. He had one stop in Texas on his way and we made it very clear to send the baggage all the way to the Norfolk airport. When he got there, he learned that while he waited an hour and twenty minutes for bags to be loaded, his was not included. The bag with all of his military uniforms were lost. Luckily, they were on another plane heading for the same airport, but it took them a day and a half to get to him. Since then I’ve always had a sore spot for United.
>I used to make 12-hour flights from HI to the East Coast all the time, and have flown long flights on almost every carrier…United was one of my favorites. I never had any problems, their planes are more spacious than other airlines, and they’re better with vegetarian meals than almost any other airline that I’ve flown on (of course, this was 3-4 years ago, in the days of included meals). My absolute worst was Continental.Of course, I always travelled alone, had a bag that I bought specifically because it fit into a standard-size carryon compartment, and used self-check-in at the kiosks (sometimes I even checked in for my flight before I left…I lived close enough to the airport in HI to be able to do that.)I’m sorry that you had such a crummy trip. It must be tough to fly with a little one.
>I’ve flown with my kids on several different airlines, and it seems like a complete crapshoot as to whether you will encounter friendly, helpful employees or jerks. I’ve had great experiences during the frantic holidays, and bad experiences on a slow spring weekday.Since several people mentioned how great JetBlue seems to be, I’ll just mention that my husband flew them recently. Half an hour after the plane was supposed to board, a sign that said “Delay” was put up, with no estimated departure time. Since no JetBlue employees were anywhere near the gate, my husband had to walk all the way back to the terminal to get information. They told him that there was a “weather delay” (the all-purpose excuse) and they had a potential departure time of 8:30 p.m. for a flight that was originally at 4:00. They sounded so doubtful about the 8:30 flight that he ended up cancelling the second leg of his trip and coming home!
>why did Bruiser even have to have a separate seat? I thought you didn’t have to buy tickets for kids until they are 2…???
>I have never had a problem with Southwest and have even paid more to fly them than with other “non-budget” airlines.About the bags, the guy in my office was a baggage handler during college. He said it sickens him how he and his cohorts treated luggage and he also said “God help you if you were early to a flight and had to leave your bags for a few hours.” He alluded to those bags being ‘set aside’ and pawed through.
>Sounds awful Especially with a baby in tow. Actually, United was where I had my best flight experience. hat was on a 13 hour flight to Japan. Us Air is 50/50, and Air tran, who I just travelled two weeks ago is not high on my list oa favorites.
>I fly every week, hundreds of flights over the course of a year on all carriers and United is up there on my list of carriers to fly. If you were on the 50 seat jets then you were on a commuter that’s not owned by United but has an agreement with them (Mesa, SkyWest, Air Wisconsin, etc). Most of the time on United if it’s subpar service, delays, lost luggage it’s the commuters fault but United gets the blame as teh customer only see’s their names and forgets the “Express” part.It also may have been that they had your ticket already and then when you added Bruiser they didn’t have him on the same record locator, thus causing the problems with seat assignments.
>Just this morning, a co-worker of mine came in with a very similar story! She was in LA this weekend. Her flight (on United!) to LA was delayed for 2 hours and they had to sit on the runway in the plane for that time (this is from Boston). On her return flight, they informed her that she needed to wait to be called for her seat assignment, when she’d already received one initially (just like you!). She’s 6′ tall and had reserved an aisle seat months and months ago. The United employees were absolutely no help at all and were very rude as she tried to get to talk to a supervisor. In the end, they informed her that she was in luck, a customer hadn’t shown up and she could have an aisle seat. Although it worked out in the end, she’s still absolutely livid about the treatment she received and is writing to United ASAP. Perhaps you should do the same, since it seems to be a huge problem…
>I am a huge fan of American Airlines. I have managed to find cheap flights but my only pet peeve is that they now charge for everything under the sun. So I either carry on my bags or self check inside the airport. Oh, and when I have checked curbside I don’t tip. Sorry but you did this as recently as last year for nothing and now you are charging 2 bucks a bag? Nope. I bring a snack on board and sometimes a soda. Who knows when they will start charging for that. I will also fly US Air since that was the first airline I ever flew. I like Southwest but prefer assigned seating. Quite frankly, I have been finding such cheap flights with American (direct flights at the times I want) that why would I go with a discount flyer. I tend to fly to NYC and DC annually so I like to fly into the closest airport.The airline that I hate. . .Delta. I can’t stand them, they are always late and don’t bother to hold of your connecting flight even though they are the reason you are late getting to it. I have heard some great things about Frontier and Jet Blue but have not had a need to fly them just yet. Can’t believe people get so pissy for just being expected to do their jobs. Wait, I have experienced it with the police. . .
>And these type experiences are why we don’t fly. My travel days are over until the kids are much older. The mere thought of being “in captivity” w/my uncomfortable children in a hostile environment makes me want a bail bondsman on retainer. I just don’t think I’d be very nice or even nasty nice in return to some of the treatment I’ve heard about in these posts.I’ve friends that used to work for United & since 9.11.01 have either been forced to take early retirement or put on leave. One was a FA featured in their commercials “back in the day,” and she ran screaming from the company that had definitely gone to the dogs.Anyplace too far to drive in the ol’ minivan w/the DVD player & cooler is just outta our reach for at least a few more yrs.
>I fly more than I want to, and most of my miles are with Northwest. It is fine when I travel for business, but having elite status helps grease the wheels I guess. I have my share of bad flight experiences, but nothing that compares to what you went through.Still, I’d say that my expectations are fairly low, and now that I’m getting free upgrades to first class much of the time I don’t have too much to whine about.
>My husband flew to SanFrancisco this weekend, too.But I don’t know what airlines and I didn’t hear anything about the flight except, “We flew over our HO– USE!” Men.
>My parents flew United to New Zealand in April – had horrible problems as well all along the way. Their big complaint was that it was one movie on the big screen that everyone had to watch at the same time (as opposed to the individual screens and controls of Air NZ and Quantas) and the movie they were showing was horribly violent. I fly a lot for business and pleasure and just love love LOVE Southwest. I get the best deals, easy to rebook if they run a lower priced fair, and an awesome frequent flyer program. Great website, easy to navigate.I once flew Song and really liked it – great on-board entertainment system.
>I live in a town that until recently was only serviced by United and Delta. I went to college across the country, so I spent lots of time flying United, either the entire way or to a larger west coast hub where I could switch airlines. I have NEVER had a good experience on a United flight.Bags are often lost, flights are delayed, seat assignments are mixed up, or the gate attendants are downright rude. And most flights finish boarding only after gate attendants ask people to give up seats because they’re overbooked. When my husband and I flew United on our honeymoon last year, our bags didn’t arrive in New York City with us. It turns out they never even left our hometown. Somehow, the plane just got “too full”, so they left our bags sitting at the airport, without any kind of notice to us. And we checked in two hours early for that domestic flight!When I was in England, my friend and I were on standby for a United flight. They told us we could board the plane, then came back and said nevermind, our combined weight put them over the limit so we had to get off again. (I weigh 130, she weighs 112.) Then they changed their minds AGAIN and told us to go ahead and get on the plane. That didn’t make me feel very safe — but the rest of the passengers did applaud for us when we finally took our seats.I flew Delta last month, and the flights were on time, but the attendants were very rude — and the gates next to us were held up because they were overbooked by several seats.I’m a big fan of JetBlue, and if you’re flying to Asia, EVA Air is wonderful.
>Back in the early 90’s I use to fly United to Hawaii often with no problems but not anymore if I can help it. Lost baggage, and rude workers.We flew on Delta and Song a few weeks ago. Delta was okay but Song was a hit with my kids with the individual monitors even though the satellite tv didn’t always work. Didnot like how they had the nerve to charge to check curbside. NWA has always been an airline that I hate. They are always late with no apologies. Hawaiian air is a great airline and so is Alaska. Southwest is another good one.I think whenever you make your reservations immediately choose your seats on line. Also check-in on line the day before and print. I use to be in the military and did a lot of flying so it is awful the way airlines are going downhill in customer service but yet have the nerve to charge more. I also use to be an travel agent and hated when airlines took away paying agencies commissions mainly because they knew we would steer customers away from bad airlines whenever possibles. I learned a lot in that job but would hate to do it now with the way airlines are customers would come yelling at me for something that is not my fault.
>It’s American Airlines I hate when flying. I love to fly United but we mostly fly international, so perhaps it’s just the domestic part of the airline that had gone to the crapper. I’d definitely file a formal complaint. with American they just say ‘oops, sorry’ and that’s it but I know Northwest/KLM will try and make you happy with gifts. I haven’t had to complain about United before so maybe they compensate you for the trouble. My worst flight ever was from in Iowa to Chicago on American. The flight was 50% empty and they told us we couldn’t use our carseat for our son, age 4 months at the time on the plane since we didn’t buy a seat for him. Back then we didn’t know we COULD buy a seat in advance and we DID have to pay for him to be on the plane regardless!! Every other flight was no problem using his seat in an empty on. Finally this flight was so delayed that we missed our international flight and had to get off the plane. We filed a complaint agains the flight attendant about it. We felt like we couldn’t say much on the plane. The flight attendants now are dying for a reason to get you in trouble for mouthing off to them. I just made a remark to the effect of I can’t believe they don’t care about my baby’s safety and she heard me and got in my face and told me not to give her attitude.. or else (oooooh shaking in my shoes!). Since then we always pay for a seat for our son but the airlines sure make it hard to even arrange this if you book your flights online. If your child is under 2 they don’t offer you a seat to purchase for them and you can’t LIE about the age either.Totally irrelevant but my biggest complaint on a flight ever was when I was 6 months pregnant on American again. I held the little pillow in my lap and I got royally chewed out for it. Not allowed! WHY may I ask? If we crash it’ll fly into the air and KILL someone? I doubt it! I hate that we can’t have any attitude with the flight attendants who are crazy power hungry.That being said I’ve had some AWESOME flight attendants who went out of their way to make our trip pleasant. Don’t want to sound like a total witch 😉
>I wanted to add another comment..To the poster who brings SODA on the plane, how on earth do you get away with that since it’s illegal now to bring liquids?b We couldn’t even bring a baby bottle of juice.Wanted to also let everyone know that our last international fight was with Delta which we hadn’t flown before and while I don’t think it was perfect, I would fly it again and one big reason would be the food options. We preordered children’s meals for our 4 yr old. He didn’t want to eat at all but I’m so picky that I was able to eat the kids meal and it was really good!And everytime we’ve flown United internationally, we’ve had the screens on the backs of the seats so we could choose what we wanted to watch.
>Coming out of lurking to say I hate United. We have had the unfortunate experience of flying United 8 times or so in the last year and a half. Even when purchasing tickets from the United website…where it allows you to choose your seats….the last three flights had us seated separately from our kids (ages 3 and 8, at the time). We were told we would have to ask someone to switch so we could sit next to our young children. On the last flight, they lost our daughter’s carseat….making it impossible for us to even leave the airport. They did manage to provide us with a (crappy, uncomfortable) carseat to use…after an extra hour and a half at the airport. When our carseat finally arrived, they called repeatedly demanding we return the loaner carseat…as if we were trying to keep their cheap loaner in favor of our Britax. And the $2 per bag + tip for curbside check-in is ridiculous. We liked Frontier.In all fairness to United…when we started using them for our earlier trips, the were much better. I don’t know what caused the change….but we will not be using them again if it can be avoided.
>I fly quite a bit for work (with a large multinational firm), and United is my firm’s “preferred” carrier, so I often get stuck with them. I think that the reason you were unable to get seats together is because business class is a thing of the past – so all of the solo business travelers are in coach, and get our seats reserved and protected due to the large volume of business we send to the airline. First of all, even if a large group of us are traveling to the same hearing, conference, etc., our firm agent always books us one at a time, for our “convenience.” I’ve been traveling “with” a group of 25 colleagues, and not one pair had been booked together. Thus, each of us gets to pick our window or aisle seat, and not one of us gets a middle seat. So, by the time all of those protected, individual seats up and down the aisles and windows, it’s awfully hard to accomodate anyone else who wants to sit together. The whole system is insane. That said, I always move to accomodate families (I even volunteer if I notice the situation) – but let’s just say I’m the rarity among that crowd.When I’m traveling for pleasure or can get away with it at work, I always fly JetBlue. Great service, comfortable seats, and a good experience. The only downside is that, unlike the major carriers, there are only a few flights a day on any given route. On major routes on say, United or American, if something happens to your plane or flight, you can be easily moved to another flight leaving an hour later. On JetBlue, if the same thing happens, it can be four hours to the next flight.
>United used to be much better, but I haven’t flown with them in years. I have to admit being flabbergasted that they would seat you apart from your son. How is this even allowed? I know sometimes on crowded flights, families can get split up if they book late, but a parent is always with a small child.
>I love southwest. I occasionally think they are slightly annoying with their uuuhhh … exuberance, but ALWAYS friendly and helpful. Haven’t flown United in years, so can’t comment on them, but I CAN comment on the airport security people on a recent flight of my grandfather’s. I was escorting him to the gate, but not flying out. I pushed him to the gate in his wheelchair, and we had to bring (gasp!) a small bottle of juice with us through security so he could drink it just before his flight. I had never assisted him through security before, and so I didn’t know how it “worked” … anyways, suffice it to say that any question about where to go or if it was ok to bring the forbidden juice was met with looks of a) bewilderment or b)condescension. I was either asking someone a crazy, never-asked-before type question or a TOTAL MORON for not understanding what I could and could not bring through security. After we struggled through the metal detectors with people yelling at us that we were doing it wrong, we did finally have a security agent take pity on us and personally help us gather our items, get my wheelchair-bound grandfather’s SHOES BACK ON, tell the rest of the security people WHY WE HAD TO BRING JUICE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, and point us in the direction of our gate. It took us about 30 minutes to get through security with my 84 year old diabetic grandfather … and there were no lines. That was just because of all the hassles of security itself. UUUGGGHHH. I am all for airport security, but can we get someone who is a)friendly and b)not an IDIOT to protect our skies? I mean really.
>I think I’m the only person on Earth who doesn’t hate Northwest. I’ve never had any trouble with them. I got stuck in NYC when that plane crashed in Queens right after 9/11 and they shut all the airports down, and NWA’s operator stayed on the phone with me for over an hour. She gave me her direct number, but called me back herself about 20 minutes before the airports re-opened, with booked seats on the first plane out, even though it was a different airline, at a different airport. They pretty much got me for life that day.Southwest doesn’t stop here, but I’ve always heard great things about them.I’ve almost always had good luck with American and BA, and I *love* KLM.Tanya
>I’ve flown with my kids and had a variety of experiences – usually involving being seated separately from my small children. We pushed for re-seating and generally got it. The last time the gate agent wouldn’t change us other than to put us 1A, 2A, and 3A (Dh had the other kids at the back of the plane across the row). The flight attendant realized that we were together and said “I don’t like this” – I agreed. She fixed it for us. The worst one was when the airline was all ready to change the seats and the friend of the person who whole-heartedly agreed to change with us said “make them give you something for it.” I couldn’t f****** believe it! I smiled and said that she could entertain my preschooler for the next three hours. Glad we didn’t have to change with that witch!
>We’ve always had good luck with Spirit Airlines. They’re small, but they do direct flights out of Boston. My family of 5 (one under 2) flew round-trip from Boston to Myrtle Beach for a grand total of $275! (including taxes). You can’t beat that. They have great deals all the time.
>We flew United the week of Thanksgiving when our son was 8 weeks old, the flight delayed every 30 minutes for four hours only to be cancelled. Because they didn’t have enough employees to fly the plane. We flew out of a major hub — Charlotte. My husband raised hell and got us on a flight almost TWELVE hours after our original flight. Did I also mention we had a four-year-old?Also, on our flight back from Frisco when our daughter was 3, they separated us, and told me to ask someone sitting around me to give up their seat. We were flying alone, and like you, I had to beg for my child to not be separated from me on a cross-country flight. To be honest, we’ve used AirTran every time since and never had a problem. And why the hell do they call it an “inconvenience”? When you have children, there’s no such thing. There’s only mildly-averted major crises, thank you very much.
>2 years ago, when my son was 18 months old, my husband and I flew to San Fran from St. Louis on United. We managed to get direct flights both times, but we did have to negotiate for seats. We were in the same aisle same section, but there was a poor soul sitting in between us. When he saw we had an 18 month old (who sat on our laps) he happily obliged the seat switch. Plus, he scored a window. Takeoff was fine but landing was rough on our son’s ears. We went prepared with snacks and juices for the pressure changes, and he slept most of the flight out there. When he woke up in the middle of a pressure change, he started crying and wouldn’t take the juice I was offering him which would have relieved the ear pain with the swallowing. One of the flight attendants stopped and offered her totally unhelpful assvice as to how we could get him to stop crying and take the sippy cup. She even went so far as to give us a veiled threat, that we were bothering other passengers with our screaming kid and if we couldn’t get him under control then… Then what? You’ll throw us off midflight? For crying out loud, he just slept for a four hour flight and we were in the last 15 minutes before landing. We were ALL getting off the plane in a little bit and I was clearly doing the best I could to get him to take the cup. Finally he did, and he stopped crying. The passengers around us seemed understanding but the flight attendants seemed so peeved that we thought about complaining but decided we’d wait and see how the return flight went.The return flight was fairly uneventful although when we went to check our bags, they forced us to transfer some of our clothes from one bag to another because it was 10 pounds over the limit, never mind that the other bag was 10 pounds under the limit so weight wise we were equal. I know there are distribution issues, but I didn’t think 10 pounds would fell the plane right out of the air. The man who told us this baggage hooey was also scathing in tone and minimal in patience, though clearly traveling with a toddler and all the paraphernalia is difficult on parents but we were doing our best. I will never fly United again.
>Love Southwest, Frontier and American for domestic. Love Air France for international. Do not like US Airways. Had to fly them a couple of weeks ago and everyone was rude, checking in was the biggest pain I’ve ever seen, and our flight was delayed for over 2 hours, because they didn’t have enough crew. (?) I don’t plan to ever use them again.
>oh.my.gawd. reason #322 I will NEVER fly again. UGH.
>I always get stuck with US Air for work, and had two separate trips with them in the last month or so. On the first, they lost my luggage *on a direct flight.* For the second, I had a total of 4 flights (2 each way), which ended up being 3 delayed flights, 30 minutes on the plane going nowhere, and 1 canceled flight. Nice.
>Sebastian’s Mommy–I buy the soda once I have crossed through security. They will let you buy and bring whatever you want onto the plane once you are through. Even if it is a little more expensive there than say Kroger, it would be cheaper than the 5 bucks they are currently charging for snacks.
>You’re definitely not alone in your assessment/experience with United. I’ve only flown them once, but it was NOT a fun experience. My travel $ go to American (for business), Northwest, Spirit or Southwest for family travel. American has some issues, but they’re more often related to O’Hare airport 😉
>When my son was a baby, we flew American Airlines several times between California and Missouri or Florida, and our experiences were generally good. On some flights, we were given a meal (sandwich, etc.), and the preboarding was sufficient. We did have a couple of incidents in which we weren’t seated together (because separate seats were the only ones available when we bought our tickets), and the flight attendants were usually (though not always) good about helping us figure out how to have at least one parent seated with the baby. Our luggage always made it to our destination. We did have one incident in which our connecting flights were too close together for us to successfully meet, and we had to fly standby on another flight, which took us almost a day of waiting around. Anyway, I’d say American was satisfactory, but not super-duper. *shrug*
>My husband would rather take a more expensive, multi-connecting flight on any other airline than fly United even if United is offering free, non-stop service. That’s how often and how badly they’ve screwed him.
>My dad was recently chaperoning a group from Belmont College going to China. They flew United out of Nashville early morning and had a connection at Dulles. The group arrived 3 hours early for their flight and were told that the flight was overbooked. All of the ticket agents blamed the travel agent and said there was nothing they could do about it. Out of four students who were bumped, two decided to just skip the entire 10 day trip to China, one purchased a new ticket on a different airline, and one (with my father helping her) managed to convince them to book her on a flight the next day. On the return trip, the flight out of Shanghai was inexplicably delayed four hours. Naturally, they missed their connection (in Chicago this time) and instead of arriving home at 10pm on Friday, the group got back to Nashville at 4pm on Saturday. Total nightmare.
>Southwest remains my favorite.Worst in terms of losing luggage: AmericanWorst in terms of unexplained delays and snippy employees: NorthwestIt’s been years since I’ve flown United, but what you described sounds terrible.
>I love, love, love Southwest. They are always friendly, never lose my luggage, and all the planes are big — not those little puddle-jumper commuter planes.I’ve never flown United but have had experiences similar to yours with American.Given a choice, I always choose Southwest.
>We’ve had several airlines refuse to preboard us at all with infants. I sort of understand on a NY-Orlando flight since everyone has kids (SORT of), but not when we flew to Raleigh/Durham.I may be rare here but I take that NY-LA American flight a lot and I think they’re great.
>It’s obviously a total crapshoot whether your flight goes smoothly or not. It’s an hour and a half to our closest airport. What with having to check in so early for your flight, deal with security, delays and so on it is so not worth it to fork out the cash for our family of 7 to fly. For any trip that will take less than 12 or 13 hours we just drive. Lindsay, I bet if you would have belted Bruiser into his assigned seat, said “I’ll just be up here a couple aisles – let me know if bruiser needs anything. Enjoy your flight!” to the person sitting next to him, and turned to walk away that person would have jumped to trade places with you!
>I am an airline employee, but not for United. I am a gate agent. I understand your frustration regarding seat assignments and I deal with this on every flight. Seating people together isn’t as easy as it seems. On full flights we often have very little to work with and have to ask people to move for families. If the passenger fails to hear their name being paged or refuses to move I am forced to pass this problem onto the flight staff for more help. I don’t like doing this and they, the flight attendants hate it. There is some much that the traveling public does not understand….weather isn’t the excuse-of-the-day, it’s a real issue and problem. Trust me, no employee wants to delay any flight for any reason because we take the full force of your anger and who would do that for kicks! All airlines have problems with delays, unprofessional employees, lost luggage and so on. Everyone of your site seems to love Southwest and there is a good reason for that. They do not offer anything except transporation for a cheap price and no one expects anything so that makes for a good trip. I could go on and on about my 20 years with the wild/weird/nasty traveling public….I’ve seen it all/hear it all/and some days am sick of it all. Sorry your flight wasn’t the best experience that you had.
>Ugh. You make me grateful to be past the stroller stage. Flying with little ones is hard, babies? Ugh. Sorry United sucked. I’ve had good experiences with Northwest, horrible with Spirit.
>leeann, I actually didn’t have a problem with the flight attendant helping me find a seat with my 3-month-old son, as opposed to the gate agent. The problem was that no one from United was willing to help. And I’m not sitting in two $900 seats for the privilege of doing it myself. Also, there’s no denying that generally speaking, Southwest flight attendants and employees are upbeat and positive. I just think that’s reflective of the company. I say that because when I worked at a Border’s right out of college in the mid-90s, we were treated really well as employees by the managers and the corporation and it showed, I think, in how friendly we were and how willing we were to help customers. We believed in Borders, as corny as that sounds, and I get the impression that Southwest employees feel the same way.
>The quality of airline service has really fallen in the last 8 years. I especially despise United and NWA. Being in the military, we’re forced to fly United under contract and every flight in the last four years has been misery beyond description.Recently, I took leave and drove so I wouldn’t have to fly United. I ended up paying for my own lodging and gas (I used my own vehicle) just so I wouldn’t have the thrill of flying United.Flying to Hawaii from Seattle, Hawaiian is the only way to go. On one recent flight, I was feeling ill from a new high blood pressure med. Every flight attendant on the aircraft stopped by at least once to ask how I was feeling and if they could bring me anything. Even the First Class FA looked in on me. How can you beat that?Oh, on my last United flight, they rushed us on the plane. Once seated, they pushed away from the gate and then we sat for an hour. No one said a word why though one FA did shrug and say, “On time departure.”
>Thanks for this, especially the hotel tip for San Francisco. We will be there for a week in August and I just booked a room with another family-friendly hotel in that chain. It looks fabulous. Thank you!
>It is SO interesting to read all these comments. BT (Before Twins) I worked for a corporate travel agency here in Nashville and heard ALL the lovely (major sarcasm there) airline stories from our clients. I also traveled quite a bit (as the Sr. Acct. Mgr.) and avoided a few airlines like the plague – United being one of them. Our United representative was also the hardest to get a hold of whenever we had issues – not a shock. And it is sad that they have not learned from their MANY mistakes. I’m a HUGE Southwest fan. It is a bit harder when traveling with several people together (just making sure you all get seated together), but still NOWHERE NEAR as a pain in the ass as the major airlines (UA, AA, DL, NW, CO). And Southwest employees are definitely treated MUCH better than most of the others. They are also part owners of the company. I’m going to sound a bit like a nerd, but you can read all about Southwest and the chairman (Herb Kelleher) in the book NUTS! It is actually an interesting read and details exactly why Southwest has been so successful. You would think that airlines like United would do all they could to copy Southwest’s business philosophy so they could do as well as them – but no!
>Living near Pittsburgh, United and US Air are sometimes my only options. I despise them. It’s gotten bad. Late, delayed, baggage. It was NOT just your flights. I find myself driving an extra 45 minutes to use BWI if possible, just to get a different airline.
>Well, leeann is right in one respect: these problems are not new (they are worse now, however). I remember my mom telling me a story about flying me home to visit her relatives when I was 3 months old. Apparently they had seated us apart (?!?) and refused to reseat. So, while she held me at the gate, she pinched me really hard. My wails could be heard at the other end of the terminal.Suffice to say, we were reseated immediately. And I seem to have turned out ok in spite of everything. :-)Oh, and I agree with you Lindsay. It’s not just the dirt cheap fares that make me like Southwest. Everything about them is just so easy. And the joking around on the plane may be hokey, but it really seems to relax everyone. That in contrast to the flight nazis that seem to populate the aisles of the other airlines…… There have been numerous articles about the way in which Southwest is managed that highlight some of the differences between them and other carriers. It’s important to treat your employees well!
>We only basically only fly Southwest and Air Tran these days and not because it is cheaper. They are hands down family friendly. I refuse to fly United, US AIrways, DELTA or American because of the multiple TERRIBLE experiences I’ve had as a parent. We travel a lot with kids and we come prepared. With the exception of Southwest and Air Tran usually when we get on A UA, AA USAIR flight and the attendants roll their eyes and act as the plague has just arrived on board. Southwest totally different story. Attendants and employees greet our children as *shock* humans.They don’t ignore us make snarky comments about the kids etc. They are NICE. I realize airline employees don’t have a lot of control about things these day. But Southwest have NICE and helpful employees every step of the way. I can’t say that with the others because it has been a consistently bad experience with multiple employees with UA, AA and USAIR. I had a Southwest attendant carry my car seat off the airplane once when I was flying alone. I nearly started crying and thanked her.Air tran has been the same GOOD experience. My best friend was flying on air tran and the flight attendant asked if her 3 year old son wanted to come see the cockpit before the flight. The captain let him sit in the chair and put his hat on her son. That five minute experience is why I fly air tran and tell other to as well. Oh air france and Air Swiss is great too. You realize how terrible we treat kids in this country when you go abroad. thanks for mentioning this I hope the airlines are listening. For me it is not about frills or extras it is about treating my children and myself with dignity, and respect something that seems to be missing in the big airlines.Caroline
>So, I am still angry for your experience on United, and after reading the two articles that you linked, I am angry for all of those people, and all of the people that commented here. The point is SERVICE!!! Shit happens. Storms happen. People get seated apart. Bags get lost. But when shit happens, then FIX IT for the love of God!! That is what customer service is all about. I have had so many experiences where some company has messed something up for me. But when I make them aware of the issue, and they fix it and apologize … I am perfectly happy! Because I know shit happens. Stuff gets messed up. I certainly am not perfect, so I wouldn’t expect anyone else to be. But when I mess stuff up, I say “oops, I really messed that up, let me FIX IT!”. United Airlines, and others would have a much better reputation if they learned how to cheerfully fix their mistakes. No one expects them to be perfect, just to handle the shit that happens. That is the biggest thing that any customer-oriented business can do to make customers happy, IMHO. Try their best, but when the mistakes happen, apologize and fix it.
>It’s actually been a while since I’ve flown – and I’ve only flown alone, but I really liked American Airlines. Much better than Delta. American you actually did have leg room.When Northwest attendents were threatening their last strike, they said they are rude to people because they are unhappy with their job, so I would check maybe with the Unions if you suspect the mechanics may be unhappy. 🙂
>Oh United….how you’ve done me wrong. My son (19 months @ the time) were flying from Greensboro, North Carolina to San Diego in February on Northwest. The flight was delayed because of (rumor at the gate at least was) the pilot & crew had too many flight hours & needed to rest. But after nearly 6 hours of waiting, a storm arrived in Detroit & cancelled all the flights anyway (our connection was through there). So now we’ve spent hours in the airport & hours waiting at the ticket counter trying to get rerouted or taken care of in some way. They offered to rebook us on United to Los Angeles, where my husband & brother could meet us. Sounds easy enough. So we wait 2 more hours & leave @ 8pm for LA. The flights were fine – slight delay, cramped, dehydrating but the unfortunate norm. We get to LA and the luggage is coming off…..but no car seat. It’s now 1:00 am LA (4 am for us on eastern time) and no freakin’ car seat. I get to the counter to file the 1st form for a claim and the lady said someone else off to the side was first, and I needed to wait. My husband grumbled & said she should try to speed it up a little and she dropped the f-bomb on us. He started nearly jumping over me to get to her, a scene was made. Then I needed to wait in another line (moving at the speed of sloth) to get the loaner car seat. Because everyone is so delightful at that time, I couldn’t ask the agent if they even had a car seat to loan. It’s now 2am. In tears I find a police officer and ask he find out for me is there a car seat to loan, because if there isn’t I’ll take a cab to some 24 hour place to buy one so we can leave the flippin’ airport. He asked & they did have them. 45 minutes later…..we get the ratty, crumb filled loaner seat. It’s now nearly 3am and we need to drive the 1 ½ hours to San Diego. My brother had a rugby tournament the next morning & needed to let the dog out.We pull into the hotel a little after 5am – also known as 8 am at home. We fall into a fitful sleep and get up a couple hours later for the tournament. My son was pretty much a dreamboat through this whole thing. He slept for a good part of the rides & was happy to look at other people at the airport. At one point he escaped my hand & I was pretty sure he was going to take down a pottery display but I jumped over the red rope before he began knocking down the priceless art. The next day they found our car seat & brought it to us but I would rather have a root canal than go through that again.
>I love Southwest! I just flew back from Tampa, Fl to Nashville last week and there was a newlywed couple on the plane. They had the entire plane playing newlywed and marriage games. Every one was cracking up! And another one of their famous lines “Ok, everyone, the captain says it’s time to turn off cell phones, Blackberries, Blueberries, Strawberries….”I’m not a good passenger, I’m very afraid of flying, but their comical, relaxed demur is very reassuring to me.Also, my husband travels often, and they are the only airline that gets him home every time, ON TIME.WITH.HIS.LUGGAGE.TOO!-Charity
>Yikes. I *always* fly southwest, but at my current client, they’re closer to O’hare than midway, so I decided to try United next week instead of southwest. Suddenly, I’m dreading it…I admit I’ve never had good experiences with either United OR O’hare, but I’ll have no luggage, and was hoping for half the travel time…
>Oh man, I’ll never fly United again after what they did to me last year. We were moving from L.A. to Chicago and were flying out late (after work) to make it to the closing of our new house the next morning. We were taking our dog with us, and had researched United’s policies extensively. Of course when we got to the counter the employees acted as if they’d never had pets before. They kept insisting that I needed her current vaccination records, even though it explicitly says on their website that its a “suggestion” to “expedite” check in. We fought and fought, and my husband even said “we can NOT miss this closing, what are you going to do if I just leave the dog here? arrest me?” and of course he was kidding, but she said “YES we will ARREST YOU for leaving your bags unattended”! LOL. Finally some random person walked by (the person helping us kept asking anyone who walked by “I’m right, aren’t I? you have to have the records to fly a pet?”) and said “oh its a new policy, go to F4, then hit 2 then F12 and its right there”. SO, they pull up the buried policy and discover that we are right. All is well, right? Nope. They look at the clock and say that the cut off to check us in passed 10 min ago. WTF??? Long story not so short, they made us miss our flight, made me cry, made us miss the closing (you never know when you have a crazy seller/buyer that will go ape shit if you miss a deadline and have to extend, and end up canceling the whole deal) and since it was the last flight of the night, we had to wait until 6am the next morning for the next flight. They offered us first class seats since they screwed up so royally, but their first class is more like shitty business class with slightly larger seats. You don’t get any special treatment or food, so it wasn’t really making up for what they had done to us. Oh and it was a blast spending about 7 hours in the airport with a dog. Good times.Now that we live in Chicago we fly Jet Blue for everything we can. The staff are accommodating to our kids, their seats are leather with more leg room than any other airline, they have TV’s! and their snacks are awesome (and you can ask for as many as you want without getting a snarky look from the attendant). My second favorite is Southwest, and I’m flying them on Friday (to Phoenix, since Jet Blue doesn’t fly there). The non-assigned seats thing doesn’t affect me since I have kids and pre-board (oh yeah, United never has let us pre-board with the kids. we have to hold everyone up and stand in line with antsy kids to get into the seats. sucks!).
>Fly ANA and JAL whenever possible…I know, you can’t exactly do that within the continental US, but if you ever get the chance, trust me, they’re WONDERFUL. They take customer service very, very seriously. Hot towels to wipe your hands before they serve you anything to eat? Check. Beverages twice on a one-hour flight? Check. Between $10 and $40 to upgrade to First Class on the day of the flight (domestic Japanese flights only), if seats are available? Check.I’m going to miss them desperately when my husband is transfered!
>just think, it could have been worse: you could have been on this Delta flight (YouTube video included–the plane spent 7 hours on the tarmac!!).
>Well, after 76 comments I’m not sure if you’ll see this but I’m highly pissed at various airlines.Nothing major in particular but it seems like NO ONE preboards families with kids anymore! You are expected to just get on with everyone else and try to get your kid settled in a seat while others are fighting their way down the isles and in overhead bins. It’s f’ing ridiculous and makes me very angry.Paying for meals on board is another source of major discontent. I have not had issues with bad crew yet but that isn’t to say that each person in the crews were friendly and outgoing. I just don’t talk to them much and some seemed bitchy. I love Southwest. I really do. Basically I agree with ALL of your sentiments.
>Yeah, nobody really seems to do much pre-boarding anymore. I had an employee of American tell me that they don’t allow families to pre-board because so many people try to pre-board. WTF? Just say families with SMALL CHILDREN!I’ve never had a problem with United while flying, but I have had problems with actually getting a person to talk to on the phone. Right after they declared bankruptcy, I spent – I kid you not – FOUR HOURS on hold waiting to talk to an agent.I think you’ve touched a nerve here!
>Yup. United is HORRIBLE! I blogged about it here http://www.westhavenkids.com/node/418The short version is they turned a short 4 hour trip into a 24 hour nightmare and stranded me alone in Chicago O’Hare over night with too few diapers and no food for my 9 month old baby. When I asked what I was supposed to do, I was told “you’ll just have to figure it out.”
>The only thing I like about United is the song they play for you while you’re on hold. My former boss has an account with them and thus, I had to use United to make (and change) his reservations. I hate them. When he’d have me cancel a flight, they would send a voucher in the mail (no such thing as just crediting the credit card I paid with, minus a cancellation fee), but only after 6-8 weeks and several phone calls.Every time I called them, I was on hold for a long time. I often had to speak with people for whom English was not a first language and not one they fully understood (it wasn’t the accents that bothered me, but the lack of comprehension).There’s an option on United’s website to change your flight time, but when you go to click “okay, do it” the site tells you there’s a problem and you should call. So you call, and after waiting at least 15 minutes to talk to someone, you’ll spend 10 minutes explaining what happened only to finally be told you can’t change your flight times online. So why is it given as an option online? I could go on and on. Anyway, I’m a huge fan of JetBlue and SouthWest.
>Here’s another United Horror Story: a friend’s son just came back from a semester in Asia, making connections in Bangkok, Munich and London. He arrived in the U.S. in Philly, went through customs, and rechecked his bag for the final 45 minute flight home. When he gets home – no bag. It made it halfway around the world, but once United got ahold of it, it went missing. Nice. They haven’t the faintest idea where it is and it’s been a few weeks.For what it’s worth, I have had good luck with American. When my bag failed to arrive in Mexico a few months ago, it took the local rep about 30 seconds to find out that it was in Miami and set to be put on the 12:00 am flight the next day. It arrived at my hotel the following night, as expected.
>The only airline I fly is United. Their international flights are awesom and have the greatest food on board. I have never had a bad experience with United and I fly all over the world. Weather can be a problem in Chicago, but that is not the airlines fault!!!!!
>Honestly, when I read posts such as yours, I wonder if anyone does any type of research before they travel!No meal in coach on US carriers on a domestic flight has been standard for many years. You need to be better prepared, especially when traveling with a child.There is no need for you to not have seats together; you could have chosen your seats online when your ticket was purchased. In case of an airplane switch, sometimes seats are changed, so you should check your intinerary daily.All airlines have problems with delays, cancellations, mechanical problems, weather, etc., but the flyer needs to be a little more proactive then you were.
>Wow! I knew a United Airlines exec would EVENTUALLY respond! You’re right. My baby and I should definitely have been seated apart. Sorry to have complained so vociferously about your company. Next time, I’ll just book elsewhere. 🙂 You’ll be going under soon, anyway…