4 ms·

If I keep dropping airlines for every unpleasant experience, I ll run out of options for flying. I have had bad experiences (not of this magnitude) , but droppi

by ram_rar 10y ago

If I keep dropping airlines for every unpleasant experience, I ll run out of options for flying. I have had bad experiences (not of this magnitude) , but dropping UA from my search list is not a viable option. Its an airline, not a restaurant. Having said that, I do hope UA bleeds through its nose while settlement.

abecedarius 10y ago
I've eschewed United for years after a bad experience of my own. Perfectly viable; I usually take SW or JetBlue.
- product50 10y ago
  I am assuming you are not in SF. SF is United's hub - you really lose out on a number of conveniently timed direct flights (which many cases are also cheapest) if you just chose to drop United from your consideration.
  - jballanc 10y ago
    JetBlue from San Jose is often just as convenient, and the only cost is an extra hour or so on the train.
    - s0rce 10y ago
      A lot more from the East Bay sadly, takes about 1hr on BART to SFO from Oakland, to get to San Jose I would have to take BART + Caltrain or just drive. I wish their were more flights out of Oakland.
- ericflo 10y ago
  Me too - I've avoided United since 2009.
colmvp 10y ago
> If I keep dropping airlines for every unpleasant experience, I ll run out of options for flying. While normally I might agree, I can't honestly say that I've seen other airlines resort to such excessive measures for something that was clearly their fault. The act and immediate response was pretty deplorable in my eyes, including the internal e-mail from the CEO himself who accused the passenger of certain adjectives that are objectively false when considering both video evidence and the legal stance as interpreted by lawyers who have assessed the situation. As such I will refuse to ever buy a ticket from them.
jballanc 10y ago
I can't begin to explain why, but almost every American airline has been a worse experience for me than almost every non-American airline. I fly regularly on Turkish, for example, and their service is amazing! If ever I have to fly international, they are my first preference, but even Lufthansa, Swiss, AirBerlin, KLM, have all been a nicer experience than any of the major American carriers. Of course, this doesn't address the issue of dropping United if most of your flying is domestic. In that case, I'd suggest looking into flying out of smaller airports with one of the discount carriers. SouthWest has actually been reasonably good to me. Sure, it's nowhere near the level of service on Turkish, but for the price it's pretty much in line with what I'd expect.
sandstrom 10y ago
I think one problem is lack of competition + bought politicians (lobbying). This has made them complacent. Europe and Asia has better airlines: https://www.1843magazine.com/travel/what-the-numbers-say/come-fly-with-me https://www.1843magazine.com/travel/what-the-numbers-say/com...

by ram_rar 10y ago

abecedarius 10y ago

I've eschewed United for years after a bad experience of my own. Perfectly viable; I usually take SW or JetBlue.

product50 10y ago
I am assuming you are not in SF. SF is United's hub - you really lose out on a number of conveniently timed direct flights (which many cases are also cheapest) if you just chose to drop United from your consideration.
- jballanc 10y ago
  JetBlue from San Jose is often just as convenient, and the only cost is an extra hour or so on the train.
  - s0rce 10y ago
    A lot more from the East Bay sadly, takes about 1hr on BART to SFO from Oakland, to get to San Jose I would have to take BART + Caltrain or just drive. I wish their were more flights out of Oakland.
ericflo 10y ago
Me too - I've avoided United since 2009.

colmvp 10y ago

> If I keep dropping airlines for every unpleasant experience, I ll run out of options for flying. While normally I might agree, I can't honestly say that I've seen other airlines resort to such excessive measures for something that was clearly their fault. The act and immediate response was pretty deplorable in my eyes, including the internal e-mail from the CEO himself who accused the passenger of certain adjectives that are objectively false when considering both video evidence and the legal stance as interpreted by lawyers who have assessed the situation. As such I will refuse to ever buy a ticket from them.

jballanc 10y ago

I can't begin to explain why, but almost every American airline has been a worse experience for me than almost every non-American airline. I fly regularly on Turkish, for example, and their service is amazing! If ever I have to fly international, they are my first preference, but even Lufthansa, Swiss, AirBerlin, KLM, have all been a nicer experience than any of the major American carriers. Of course, this doesn't address the issue of dropping United if most of your flying is domestic. In that case, I'd suggest looking into flying out of smaller airports with one of the discount carriers. SouthWest has actually been reasonably good to me. Sure, it's nowhere near the level of service on Turkish, but for the price it's pretty much in line with what I'd expect.

sandstrom 10y ago

I think one problem is lack of competition + bought politicians (lobbying). This has made them complacent. Europe and Asia has better airlines: https://www.1843magazine.com/travel/what-the-numbers-say/come-fly-with-me https://www.1843magazine.com/travel/what-the-numbers-say/com...