I’ve about given up on United. I’ve flown more miles and segments with them than with any other air carrier (tracked via OpenFlights), and they never cease to disappoint me. It’s the rare trip where things go perfectly (SEE: My Kids Magically Fixed United). Or even fairly well. More often than not, everything goes off the rails.
Take my most recent trip flying the “friendly skies”. I booked an open-jaw itinerary and an additional one-way award ticket to get me home on a recent combined work/leisure trip. Over the course of all my segments, I experienced 7 hours of delays. I could have flown to Europe or Asia nonstop out of SFO in the same time it took me to get mostly across our own country.
My woeful travel week
In mid-June I flew back east for work for the fourth time this year. The last flight on my outbound itinerary was a regional hop on a CRJ-700 out of O’Hare. My gut told me I wouldn’t be making it to Roanoke by 9:08 p.m. scheduled arrival. The last time I flew in or out of O’Hare, there were delays showing for many flights. A delay had to be in the cards.
My inbound to Chicago from SFO was delayed, causing a high level of anxiety among all the passengers aboard our A320. The frantic scramble when the seat belt light turned off was a sight to see. I just sat tight. I’d turned on the app and been notified that my connection was now delayed by two hours. Typical United. At least I didn’t have to be part of the mad rush off the plane.
Then 2 hours turned into 3.5 hours, including a taxi down the runway before heading to another runway. We finally landed at 12:25 a.m. and the rental car counter was closed. Yay.
My flights five days later to Springfield, Missouri to visit friends were happily uneventful. I also got my second complimentary upgrade on the ERJ-175 leg (SEE: 3 reasons why the ERJ-175 is my favorite non-wide-body jet). But my last travel day was awful. It started well with another (unexpected) first-class upgrade, followed by a long layover in Denver where I got some work done and visited the Timberline Grill. But everything was downhill from there.
My last leg home out of SFO was delayed by 3.5 hours. After taxiing nearly to the runway, the captain announced the ERJ-175 was having computer problems. We had to return and deplane and wait for another aircraft. You cannot imagine how happy I was to finally see Arcata Airport late that evening.
A reasonable resolution
Because United isn’t proactive like the better airlines around (think Southwest and Alaska), all you’ll get is a follow-up survey when things go wrong. To hopefully rectify some of my cumulative 7 hours of delays over three separate travel days, I submitted a complaint through their online customer service form. This now marks the fifth time I’ve submitted a complaint in the past 3 years, and 4 of those times United has responded by either giving me miles or a voucher.
For my effort this time, United gave me a $300 travel voucher. It also processed way faster than previous ones, probably now because I’m a United Silver member (SEE: Fast track status: how to sign up for a Marriott Platinum challenge). I guess this’ll get to at least give them another shot.
United has the worst satisfaction of the major U.S. airlines
This statistic has never surprised me. I’ve realized recently that I’d much rather fly Delta (SEE: Puking on planes, booking a family in basic economy, and why Delta wins). Alaska continues to impress me (even during delays). And now I’m giving American their first real shot with four itineraries totaling 11 segments over the next month. United may turn out to be my least favorite U.S. airline. It is ironically the only option out of my local airport.
United has a lot working against them. They can’t blame it all on the David Dao effect. That PR nightmare has come and gone, but they’ve had many more in the interim. They’ve managed to murder a dog in the overhead bin and kill a bunny. While I’d never fly with an animal anyway, if you ever do catch me with one, I surely won’t be on United.
Their on-time performance typically lags behind the competition, although they may have a good month now and then. Well…maybe it is because Delta had a bad quarter with some major schedule disruptions, including a fire at their enormous Atlanta hub.
Speaking of hubs, United’s generally have poor on-time performance. This may not be entirely their fault, but it adds to the experience flying with them. It doesn’t matter which hub you’re at, you’re at one of the worse airports in the country. San Francisco, Newark, and O’Hare all perform poorly when it comes to flights departing on time. SFO and EWR were dead last on the list of 50 biggest airports. Out west, American and Delta fare a lot better, as SeaTac, SLC, and Phoenix are among the best. United…chose poorly.
So many flights I’ve booked with United are subject to this little note:
They should just really turn it into “always delayed”, especially for Skywest flights out of SFO late in the day.
Finally, United’s service is a step below Delta, and three steps below either Southwest or Alaska. The best FAs at “United” are arguably those working for SkyWest, who tend to be younger and a whole lot less grumpy than the mainline flight attendants. I had one offer me a free drink for switching seats; he was the most cheery FA I’d flown with in quite a while. And the one redeeming aspect of our 3.5-hour delay.
United’s only good thing is going away
To top it all off, United is discontinuing the ONE thing they have going for them: the stroopwafel. Yes, folks, it’s true. United plans to do away with the stroop. This was the only thing that redeemed 6:00 a.m. flights out of Arcata. Well…getting upgraded might do that. I just might be a sucker for airline status…
Given the popularity (maybe it’s just my perception) of the stroopwafel, I was surprised that United was doing away with it. But then I wasn’t. It seems that every time United begins to have at least a reasonably good idea, they trash it. They’re not even fully committed to rolling out a good premium product, as their CEO “doesn’t believe in Polaris.” They’ve recently rolled back their only unique offerings. Check out this experience trying to order a drink.
So it makes sense that United is ditching the stroopwafel. It’s just par for the course.
Conclusion
It’s true that flying really isn’t a glamorous endeavor. I might be in a small minority that still looks forward to most of my economy flights, but that is simply because travel and the aviation industry are interests of mine.
But I do have some baseline expectations. When you can’t rely on an airline to get you from point A to point B in a timely manner ~50% of the time (in my personal experience), it’s time to look elsewhere. And that is simply where I am at with United. I’m sure I’ll end up flying them again, but it’ll be with full expectation that they’ll let me down again.
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Dan Miller travels with his wife and 6 (SIX!) children. He loves to help families travel for free / cheap, especially larger families. If you are looking for help, drop him an email at 
It’s not just United. All the airlines have these sort of issues. I’m mostly an AA flyer and travel a lot of short haul from Kansas City to places in Texas and midwest. I started flying UA more this year to get some non-stops from MCI-IAH and DEN but ended up in about the same experiences with delays, service, gate agents, etc. Then I switched back to a couple AA flights into DFW and had terrible issues that I hadn’t seen much in the past on AA. I then talked myself into a Nonstop Southwest flight from Austin to get home early to Kansas City on a nonstop (I quit flying Southwest mostly when they devalued 10+ years ago and went revenue based). Guess what..we had delay and weird service issues also. I think part of it has been weather issues, amateur leisure travel season and overcrowding/overbooking of planes. Crew service is also getting to be a BIG deal.
I “get” why they overbook but I still think it shouldn’t be allowed by law. As a low level elite flyer across UA and AA I rarely get upgrades so I’m like #24 on the upgrade list but I also notice the standby list of 10+ deep much of the time even on a full flight. I’m ranting a bit here but the other thing that has impacted my experience is being a loyal but low level elite I’ve been downgraded to equal with credit card holders. Now that AA has added full price MCE to Golds there isn’t much left to be loyal about. I used to laugh at those that moved to booking by flight instead of airline but I’m moving entirely to that in 2019 for sure. It’s just not worth being loyal unless you fly 100k+ a year.
I guess it’s good to hear it might not just be one airline? I’ve not had any of these issues with Delta or Southwest. Then again, this is because I have typically driven hours to avoid flying United and end up flying mainline on another airline. Gonna give AA a spin this month for the first time (11 segments), besides a single LAX-SFO hop I took last winter.
You’re all a bunch whiny spoiled children. Only 5% of the world population has ever flown and you all treat it like it’s a constitutional right. No wonder we have an idiot for president. We all deserve him and we all know it
I agree it is not a right at all. We pay good money for a service. If a bakery failed to deliver the wedding cake half the time there would be consequences.
Do we pay for guns too.? Isn’t that our “right to bear arms”? We have pay all our “ rights. “. This is an example of our whining nature
I wouldn’t feel like I should have to say this but this is a travel blog not a politics blog. Keep politics whether left right up or down out of the comments
So what does our president have tp do with delays and poor service from the airlines?
Jake…you are officially my hero. No truer words have been spoken.
since you’re ORD based and UA doesn’t work for u, why not give AA a shot ?
Alaska sounds great on paper until you realize as a Chicago based passenger, AS/VX is thoroughly useless for any of your travel that doesn’t involve somewhere along the west coast and pacific.
I’m actually not…just passed through there a few times in the past couple months. I’m ACV based, a short regional hop from SFO, captive to United. Lately, I’ve taken to driving 4.5 hours to fly Delta instead of 45 minutes to fly United. Cost differential + less headache makes it worth it.
I do love Alaska. How I wish their network was a bit better.
We rarely use United but have our past three spring breaks to Canada. All trips were rescheduled significantly, we had delays, Lost luggage, etc, so we received travel vouchers – one per person. Third trip, I booked 3 with points and 1 cash/voucher. I changed the flight within the 24 hour booking window. The new flight was less expensive. Theyrefunded my voucher not my card and never responded to my complaints. And yes, changed schedule, delay, etc on that trip. I think united was less expensive for 2019, but we booked on American – and I didnt bother pursuing a claim withthem on the 2018 trip since the vouchers are worthless to me.
You fly more with United than anyone else, yet you’re only a Silver? Hmm….
Furthermore, with your plane descriptions (and being from Eureka), you’re flying a lot of United Express. With weather delays, those are the first to be delayed.
I’ve flown the most with them in terms of lifetime miles. I don’t typically fly enough with any one carrier to earn status in a given year. And yes, I do fly more Express flights than mainline.
Think you need to check your facts. Look at any D:00 or A:15 stats for any month in the last year. United is almost always #1 or #2. Not sure what you expect when flying mostly UAX markets but those will always be the exception no matter what carrier.
It seems like you’re blaming United for other airlines mishaps. United doesn’t operate CRJ’s or E-175’s. SkyWest does though. They’re not the same company at all.
If you want a more reliable experience try taking a mainline flight instead of regional.
Skywest is flying mainline routes and is far more on time than many mainline flights.
United is the only airline I fly (hate DL and AA, won’t deal with WN’s free-for-all seating), fly them monthly and haven’t experienced a delay in a year now.
Rabble, Rabble, regional jet service is terrible, I’m silver, blah blah blah.
Anyone who regularly flys knows that this kind of stuff happens to RJs out of regional airports all the time. I have been A-List, PM, 1K over the course of traveling for work every week for 5 years, and nothing tops UAs self service app for adjusting schedule, re-routing, etc. All airlines suffer from the same problems, but complaints about RJs from obscure airports and delays from SFO/EWR are terrible clickbait.
Regional airlines are vulnerable to bad weather. They also do not have the parts available right away on their routes because they are not at their base. They often are delayed and the first to cancel in very bad weather.
The author of this article should try other airlines subsidiaries. And compare. And seriously, the stroopwafel??? This is the almost unbearably sweetest ever, and to me disgusting thing on a flight. The coming replacement is much better: mapple cookies.
I hope that you will have better flying Ian!
Nonsense. The stroop is the best thing ever, and the best thing United had going for them.
All kidding aside, I know much of my pain stems from flying regionally out of a hub plagued by fog (SFO). But not all. I’m set to fly AA a bunch this month. Hoping they are greener pastures.
I can’t even recall the last time I had a cancelled flight (or delayed more than 1 hour) on United. With Delta, however, I had similar experiences to yours on United. Don’t think you can blame United here, as it seems it’s luck of the draw.
Thank you!!! Let me know when the rest of you can control the weather!
Thank you!!! Reality
I think you have chosen some poor examples to justify your complaints. For starters, June was terrible for weather at ORD. I had a flight cancelled there a few weeks ago and had to spend the night. United cant control the weather. You say they chose their hubs poorly. Chicago is the 3rd largest city in the USA. New York is the first, if you think Newark is bad, I challenge you to fly out of laguardia. Ive experienced every issue you have mentioned and never once filed a complaint so I think it’s amazing that they give you 300 bucks and yet you are still upset.
To be honest no carrier is that great, it’s a race to the bottom, but i dont think United is that much worse than any other airline. You mention southwest and Alaska, great, whats stopping you from flying them exclusively? Perhaps their small footprint and limited destinations? Lack of international options?
P.s. Last time I flew through Newark I ordered a drink at a bar. I have a united credit card and was pleasantly surprised when I went to pay and the iPad informed me that United was paying the bill and tip for being a valued customer.
Nice, regarding the drink!
I do get that weather is a huge factor, and I’ve had my share of weather delays. But there have been a good number of mine that were mechanical or operational.
There is some hyperbole woven into the post. I’ve gotten a pretty bad luck-of-the-draw, if you will, with my United experiences. But I know that mine aren’t the same as everyone’s. I know plenty of people who cannot stand AA or DL. Since I’m literally captive to United (operated by SkyWest) if I fly out of our tiny airport, I know I’ll always end up flying them again at some point, as much as I hate on them.
And $300 back on an $1,150 ticket for 7 hours of delay doesn’t seem outlandish to me.
I am currently in a horrible Newark Airport hotel due to a nightmare with United. I understand that weather isn’t United’s fault but lying agents, unhelpful agents, rude agents etc are. Just gave up on ever getting home on United and spent a couple thousand on a one way ticket with Southwest.i wonder if they will ever refund me the tens of thousands of miles I gave Them- and several thousand additional dollars for the upgrades to and from Rome that we did not get. They have held my money and miles hostage for more than 3 months. I hate you United.
As a premier Gold Million Miler, UA has always protected me.
Maybe I missed a line up above, but ORD and summertime = weather delays. AA would have the same issues with weather, as ORD is a hub for them too.
P.S. Ever since March 2012, I fly UA less and less.
We have all heard/read the definition of insanity – doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. Bitching never solved anything – if you don’t like the experience you are having with an airline, change airlines. I personally only fly Southwest. I know what to expect and have never had a bad flight. I am glad that those who dislike Southwest, for whatever “reasons” fly other airlines. They become these other airlines problem – some people seem to forget that flying is just a means of quick transportation ( think driving vs. flying) – and is not a social event for the spoiled crybabies who can never be pleased. Get over yourself and choose a carrier that fits your needs. (PWaC: politics edited out)
@Ian —> I seem to fly UA every two years, whether I need to or not — uh, er, well, when I don’t have a choice. For example, I’m flying UA SFO-BOS o/w because the AS nonstop won’t get me to Cambridge in time to check-in to the hotel and change, then attend a business dinner the evening.
That said, while I generally agree with you that UA is “broken,” to a large degree, IMHO, each of the US L3 are “broken” — do you want to fly an AA 737 MAX and use that ridiculously small lav??? — I would take issue with some of your comments. For instance, while you are correct in saying that delays out of Eureka-Arcata *are* nearly always, you know as well as I do that it’s almost exclusively due to weather and not the fault of SkyWest/UA. I have friends in Eureka, and more often than not they end up *driving* to SMF or even SFO to catch their flights. And, of course, SFO *too* has more than its share of ATC-implemented weather delays.
But you’re STUCK with UA as long as you fly in and out of ACV — it’s the only regularly scheduled¹ commercial service at ACV. So, unless you want to drive the ~300 miles to SMF/SFO/OAK, or the wish to save ~75 miles and drive to STS, you’re sort of screwed…consider it the “price of admission” for the beautiful part of California in which you live².
_______________
¹ Yes, I know “scheduled” is to be taken loosely.
² While there’s no alternative from ACV-SFO to UA, that doesn’t mean you’re stuck with UA — as long as you’re willing to sacrifice the ease of having your bags checked through to your final destination. But I readily admit that *can* indeed be a hassle, especially when traveling with your family.
I will admit that most delays are due to weather. But sometimes (like this instance) it’s been a mechanical issue, or a cascading delay from a mechanical issue on a preceding flight. The *least* fun is sitting on the ground at ACV waiting for SFO ATC to give us the go-ahead to head on down.
While the drive to the Bay or Sac (preferred) is a bother, it does often lend itself to far greater reliability.
But yes. Our coast is amazingly beautiful, and it is the price we pay for living here.
Mr. Miller,
While you might have access to writing a blog, you seriously need to cut the slant of your writing.
IF your inbound flight was a late arrival and your outbound was delayed, it doesn’t take a genius to know weather was a factor. That Mr. Snyder, United Airlines does not control.
As far as your experiences with regional jets…they are NOT United Airlines. They pay for use of the name, but they are NOT maineline United Airlines. They are REGIONAL. Their crews are NOT associated with United Airlines. In addition, those aircraft do not have the ability to fly in conditions that a mainline jet could handle.
Do your homework. Your type of inaccurate writing, is a factor in our (public’s perception) of Commerical flying. You are not only inaccurate, but uninformed. I’d dislike being your seat mate!
Except when you check 5 flights back in the United app (note, not the SkyWest app) to figure out that the delay was mechanical.
Now humor me with a comparison. You’re telling me that if I have problem with something purchased from Target, I shouldn’t take it back to Target and ask for an exchange or a return? They should just say, “oh, that’s a [insert manufacturer] product. We don’t take any responsibility for its problems.” Am I to absolve United of any problems since it’s not their plane or crew?
I understand SkyWest is a regional airlines flying under/as United. Yet who did I buy my ticket from and whose name is on the side of the plane?
Through all this, I still generally love flying. Just not getting burned over and over again by United’s poor service.
Then fly someone else. Problem solved.
Since you’re just a silver member which literally means nothing in airline loyalty. And all these airline are that bad why don’t you try taking grayhound to all your destination.
Apparently you all don’t know the reason for United’s scheduling nightmare. Continental and United are merged, but the flight attendants can’t work each other’s planes. Meaning United can only fly their aircraft and Continental flight attendants can only fly their purchased aircraft. Starting October 1st the final last steps in merging the 2 will take place. Now think how horrendous it has been these last 7 years trying to make that happen.