THANK YOU FOR FLYING THE FRIENDLY SKIES (United Airlines)

Member Name: Purdypops

Product:	United Airlines
Date:	17/01/05 (1618 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cheap US Flights, Premium Economy Upgrades

Disadvantages: Business not as good as BA

I have flown transatlantic with United twice now, once internally within the states, the majority of these trips have been in the premium economy class and once business. Our trips were from London Heathrow to San Francisco premium economy on the outbound journey and business class on our way home. My second trip was London Heathrow to Washington, transatlantic and Washington to Boston internally - all legs being premium economy.

BOOKING

Whilst checking out fares online and finding out about the airline, we actually booked our flights through the United telephone booking service. This was for one simple reason, Paul and l are Star Alliance Gold and Silver cardholders respectively, and as such you immediately get upgraded from economy to premium economy. Now this doesn't really mean much more than a few more inches in legroom. So that we could choose our seats in Premium Economy we needed to speak with an operator.

The United website - located at www.unitedairlines.co.uk is quite an easy to use site. It is very easy to navigate and find the section you are after whether it is to price fares, find out about the aircraft, and see the movies you may watch the list goes on! It is not a fancy all flashing singing and dancing web site - it is simpler than that but sometimes the simplest things are the most effective!

Our tickets were posted out - another simple but effective trick they have is colouring our tickets - Paul is a gold cardholder and his tickets come coloured gold, mine silver! Oh yes we are travel snobs! And yes we always save our boarding cards!

CHECK IN

Now l have only checked in directly with United Staff once in Heathrow, the other occasions have been in the States - usually we fly in from Belfast and so check our luggage all the way through.

Check in has been efficient and quick - again as cardholders we do get a prioritised check-in queue. The staff do their job, but on the American side have found them dismissive, and smug. Perhaps they don't understand my Irish sense of wit!

Anyway it is great when you have to catch connection flights - your luggage departs without you. Although in the States as part of the National security policy you must pick up your luggage and check it through again with you before passing on to connections.

This can be hairy if after queuing for immigration, then you have to grab your case, rush through security and customs, to find your new gate for boarding and time is of the essence (note to self - leave more time between connections when in the States!). On our last Boston trip whilst we made it with time to spare between Washington and Boston - our luggage didn't. Now l always pack spares in my hand luggage so that was fine - what did irk me was when we reported our cases missing - the clerk clearly stated they didn't make the connection and therefore would simply be on the next flight down from Washington. Great no problem - we were grabbing a tube anyway into Boston - heavy luggage would be a drag! Our luggage would be with us in a few hours. No, no, no. Our hotel receptionist told us not to be expecting our bags before morning - being optimists we ignored her. Well she was right and we were wrong! I rang the number on the lost luggage receipt - whilst the lady on the phone was ever so efficient and lovely, she told me that when l rang our bags were still vacationing in Washington and it was likely to be late evening before they reached the hotel. Paul smelt lovely that night with my deodorant, using my shower gel and shampoo when we went for dinner! By this time jet lag was hitting and we wanted sleep. By morning our bags had arrived but according to the desk staff they didn't get to the hotel until the wee small hours. It could have been worse, but United did not even provide us with an overnight emergency bag to keep us going until the missing cases caught us up.

For flying with United you may allow yourself one carry on bag and a personal item - i.e. your handbag ladies which will go under the seat in front of you and one stow in the bins bag. It gets me when travellers flaunt this and try and bring on the kitchen sink to stow in the overhead bins. To check in baggage it must weigh no more than 50lbs, and be fully named. You may allow for 2 separate pieces of check in luggage.


RED CARPET LOUNGE

Not everyone has the luxury of being a cardholder, but if you do it's a luxury you never want to forgo! Now l have been in a few airline lounges - BMI, BA, THAI & UNITED - as far as they go they are ok. I much prefer the UK lounges to those abroad. With United should you be flying transatlantic - the booze in the lounge is all yours, internally knock yourself out on the soft drinks and coffee. In SFO we were flying transatlantic - we were given 2 drink vouchers each for use in the lounge - apparently a contractor and not United operates the lounge. For the business traveller the facilities are quite good - lap top points and so on, along with the peace and quite you are not afforded in the main airport. There are snacks - cookies, muffins, pretzels and so on. There is free internet access in the Red Carpet Lounge in Heathrow terminal 3. On top of this the daily broadsheets and a variety of magazines are at hand. The lounge toilet facilities are generally quite good too - especially if you have just stepped of a transatlantic flight and are waiting to grab an internal - great for freshening up and feeling half human again!


IN FLIGHT

- Seating

Transatlantic with United has 4 classes

· Economy
· Premium Economy or Economy Plus
· Business
· First


Economy - you get the standard allowance - snacks drinks - in flight movies, music and TV channels. Most craft have the seat back TV's with the in flight map showing flight progression.

Economy Plus - this gives travellers an extra 5 inches of legroom - you will automatically be seated here if you are Star Alliance gold or silver member or book a fully flexible ticket. Apart from that you will not notice any difference to standard Economy.

Business - here you can relax in lazy boy type seats, have a choose of dining and wines, pre flight champagne, better headsets and TV viewing, a complimentary refresher bag, priority baggage check in, magazines and extra overhead space.

First - a fully flat bed, champagne - Dom Perigon no less, choose your wake up time and breakfast on transatlantic over night flights, a more swish refresher bag, private DVD choice, or call for your snack delivery during day time flights!


FOOD

With United travellers with differing dietary requirements are catered for l must say - whether its low carb, low fat, veggie or kosher it's all there - simply at the time of booking your ticket choose. And the food is edible - or perhaps lm strange - l do like airline food me! A typical standard meal - a bread roll, butter, fruit salad, chicken with pasta, and an ice cream. You will be provided water, with drinks, alcoholic and non being passed around also. Before landing there is a snack too - perhaps a breakfast roll - bacon or sausage or a sandwich - depending on the time of day.

United are quite good on the booze front - they provide at least 3 runs during the flight and you can request as much as your heart contends. As well they at varying intervals come up and down the aisle with water. Usually you will get a savoury snack with your drinks - pretzels or the like.


ENTERTAINMENT

The movie selection has been great. Mean Girls, Day After Tomorrow, Bad Santa, Shark Tale - these were all recent movie selections. As you have individual monitors on the seat in front or your own flip screen if in business, you can pick and choose as you wish. Sometimes quality can be poor - on our flight back from Washington to Heathrow - Paul and l choose to watch Sharks Tale - this flickered, and stalled on numerous occasions and was very annoying.

There is a children's channel showing cartoons, TV comedy stations - showing the likes of Will & Grace, Friends etc or a documentary channel with discovery playing. Also you can expect a good selection (perhaps about 18 stations) of music - surely something to suit most.


STAFF/SERVICE

I don't have much to say - it was as expected. I can't remember any thing that anyone did for me that l would class as exceptional service, but the staff wasn't bad. The responded to requests, had a smile and a word for everyone, and were prompt and efficient.

BUSINESS

I did the return leg of SFO to LHR in business - now l have flow transatlantic business from LHR to JFK with BA. How did United compare - well to me and my mind BA set a benchmark - they have fully flat beds in business, and they are a slight cut above the rest. United is the respectable but slightly poorer cousin. I must say though the seats in United business were extremely comfortable and got a good few hours' kip on the journey home!


OVERALL

With United being part of the Star Alliance family - they are always an option for me to fly with. I have not experienced anything bad with them, in fact they have an ongoing promotion of double destination miles until the end of Feb 2005 - so we may even fly to Toronto with them (yes l know this adds hours to our journey and is slightly more expensive than Air Canada - but l told you we are sad!). When l do set them up for comparison with British Airways they are a bit shabbier around the edges, the planes are not as pristine, and they don't just meet the mark of the worlds favourite airline - but even in saying this, United do provide a efficient and decent standard of transatlantic air travel.

Happy Flying

Heather ©

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