United Airlines - UAL > Reviews > United in the skies

Author's product rating:   

Food Quality	Good
Customer Service	Nothing special
Punctuality	Always on time
Space	Comfortable
Value for Money	Excellent

Advantages:	Lots of avaiable routes all over USA
Disadvantages:	Not as friendly staff and general 'old fashioned' design interior of aircraft

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

I flew on United airways 4 times over the USA and from the UK in August 2004 and found it to be a very pleasant, relaxing flight each time.

Cost

Well everyone cares about cost! United are not a budget airline, although my family found them tp be the cheapest of all the carriers we could find in the USA last summer. As far as I am aware, the flights from the UK to New York cost under £500 each return, with additional internal flights within the USA free (a maximum of 2 free flights, from £80 after this). My family thought this was a bargain and so we chose to fly United.

The Flights

Well it has to be comfortable aswell! On the flight from Heathrow to New York, everyone had a seatback television with a seat pitch of 31" (quite generous apparently). I'm a bit on the short side so this doesn't affect me but on European flights my dad allways struggles a bit with his legs, but on United he had no problems, non of us felt cramped.
There is also more room between each person and the seat infront (my dad has a rounder tummy bless him and still had no problems). Although you will allways be restricted when and inconsiderate person puts their seat down infront (without asking!! Why do people think they can behave so rudely on a flight and then not be 'gently' pushed when I walk past!) Grr I will not continue to moan it is not interesting to you!

Entertainment - about 7 films to choose from goinf to New York and returning from Los Angeles, same choices each way. At the time I flew The Day after Tomorrow, The Alamo and Shrek 2 were playing. So there was something for everyone and I watched about 3 films during the flights. There are also radio channels, comedy channels and a children's show channel. Overall I think this is a great selection.

Comfort - as I mentioned before United has a generous seat pitch and the seats were comfortable for the duration of the flight. Everything felt clean and pillows and a blanket were given. Slepping is never an option in Economy, its just not possible! I flew during the night and managed about an hour, just, of highly uncomfortable sleeping (maybe its just me but I can't sleep if I am sitting up). Due to this I felt more tired than I would have liked too, but excitement soon took aver and it didn't matter.

Food - Not as great as other carriers I have experienced. With United being an American carrier, some of the options were less favourable with us Brits! Meatloaf would not have been an option I would have chosen anyway but this was what I was given. Everything was hot and no complaints (although our butter had melted completely as it had sat on the hot tray for too long, made spreading EXTREMELY difficult!!). I think aslong as you don't expect the best food and bring some snacks with your, you can't complain as it is all included in the cost of the flight.

Service - as I said above they aren't the friendliest of staff, although I can't complain as they were certainly not rude. I guess as it is United and American, I expected 'have a nice day now' and maybe the cliche doesn't exist anymore. I can't complain about the service, it just depends if the attendents are having a good or bad day I guess. They still gave me drinks when I asked and tried their best to offer a great service.

Have I missed anything?! What else would you like to know?! Delays? I didn't have any on all four of my flights which was fortunate, but this is different for all flights.

If I have missed anything let me know, happy to add anything you want to know, just send me a comment or in my gb.

Overall this was a pleasant travelling experience and the next time I visit USA I will definately check with United for prices as they offer a good service. Recommended by me!

Thanks for reading, hope it is helpful xx