Why NOT to Fly United Airlines.. A Customer Review
My trip to Sydney, Australia was amazing- I got to spend a week with my girl who is currently studying abroad there, as well as take in the sights and sounds of the Aussie wilds. We explored Rocks Market, Bondi, Coogee, and a few other beaches, Darling Harbour, and some museums and attractions. All of this in addition to the general relaxation and partying that comes with every spring break. It breaks my heart to leave my baby and return to the snowy gloom that is Rochester, NY but all good things must come to an end, and I knew I would have to come back to reality eventually.
The flight to Sydney went smoothly, but the return trip resulted in a nightmare which has left an indelible impression upon me as to the standard of treatment and service (or lack thereof) which United Airlines provides. What am I talking about? Well I have 12hrs to kill sitting in this airport, so let’s discuss.
DON’T Fly United Airlines
I paid a substantial amount of money to get a flight home that resulted in the least amount of layovers possible. I did this because sitting in an airport sucks, and because classes resume Monday and my first one starts at 8am.
Upon arriving at the airport in Sydney problems were already a-brewin’. One glance at the United ticket counters and I could tell something wasn’t right, droves of people were anxiously waiting in line for something, and they didn’t look too happy. Moments later I found at why, as a United rep (who was none-to-courteous) handed me a leaflet of paper explaining my flight had been canceled because in short, the plane was broken… great. Here is the letter, and the slew of boarding passes (they did not include the “Friendship Kit” they mention) :
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They would “try” to get me on a flight today but they already had me booked for a flight the next day. After waiting in 3 seperate lines and talking to 3 seperate reps I was able to get a flight out the same day on a different airline (enter Qantas, see below). This was all well and good except for the fact that Qantas was flying to San Francisco, CA and my connection to Chicago was leaving out of Los Angeles, CA. Whatever- I took what I could get and hopped on the flight as I wasn’t about to leave any more of my fate in the hands of United.
Twelve hours later I arrived in San Fran. I got off the plane, went through customs and proceeded immediately to United Customer Service to try and get on standby as the rerouted flight they had set me up with from San Fran left me with a 12hr layover. I got to the service line and could tell I was not the only United customer with this fate. The line of disgruntle customers was never-ending, all with the same problem. How did United respond? Like an pompous corporate machine. I waited patiently as one customer after another lost their temper at the counter, and when it was my turn I calmly explained I had paid to get home today, and I would like to receive the service I paid for… “I’m sorry sir, all of our flights are OVERBOOKED”.
Overbooked, what a funny concept, they take “no show percentages” from past years and use those figures to overbook flights anticipating customers will not show up. What happens when everyone does show up? Paying customers get screwed. That means me. All the flights were overbooked, not only to my connecting city of Chicago, but also to any other city that connected to Rochester, NY.
In addition to their gratuitous overbooking, the standby lists were impossibly long, I managed to snag position number 42 in line, but the next time I checked the standby list had already grown to 72 (on top of the 30 people they had overbooked). That equals over one hundred customers left high and dry by United. Of course, I did not get on the standby flight.
My day with United isn’t over yet. I am still here, in San Fran, waiting for my red eye flight which is now overbooked and overstandby’d as well. Luckily (?) I do have a confirmed seat on that flight, but I will be here for another 4.5hrs before I see that seat. I plan on getting my International flight ticket refunded but of course, it’s Sunday, and United Refund Offices are only open Monday through Friday, big surprise.
DO Fly Qantas
While United was busy sucking my day away I did have the pleasant surprise of flying Qantas Airlines on my rerouted trip from Sydney to San Fran. The Qantas flight made the United flight look like it was ran by a startup company. In addition to having friendlier staff, more reading material, and better food, the seating was more spacious, the seats reclined further, and the entertainment blew United out of the water.
In the United flight to Sydney the only entertainment was projected on a hard-to-see projector somewhere in the middle aisle, along with 4 to 5 small tv’s throughout the cabin, which I was unable to see from my seat in the rear. The movies that played were lame as they were intended for “all audiences”, and I had no control over them. The audio jacks didn’t function correctly and so I missed half the audio in the movie… not like it mattered, because I couldn’t clearly see the movies anyway. The food was slimy, and scant, and reminiscent of microwaveable meals.
Qantas entertainment was amazing. Not only were there LCD monitors in the back of every headrest, but there was also entertainment on demand. They offered the latest movie releases, TV shows and even video games. The controller detached from the armrest and doubled as the video game controller, and a phone. There was even a LAN jack for the laptop but it cost money. The audio was crisp and clear, the movie picture was perfect. I enjoyed “No Country For Old Men”, “Wife Swap”, and “The Simpsons” during the flight. The food was delicious, they ran out of the chicken but I tried the lamb and it was pretty tasty. I also enjoyed cereal, fresh fruit, and coffee in the morning as it was a long flight.
Summary
Qantas flies internationally, all over the world. My advice to anyone planning any type of international flight would be FLY QANTAS. In most cases they are cheaper than standard U.S. carriers, and of course, MUCH BETTER. DO NOT FLY UNITED- they are the equvalent of a bunch of clowns running an airline, no wonder they are failing. But for now I am at their mercy, so I’ll bitch about it, and write this post, and google will pick it up, and hopefully that many more people will choose other carriers and avoid this nightmare and thus I will have exacted my revenge. See you tomorrow morning, road weary and red-eyed from my 3 solid days of flying. Stay tuned for round 2 tomorrow… the refund battle.
