Any opinions on United Airlines?

[sam_rogers]

I'm looking into my flight options for September, currently the cheapest option is to fly indirect and the best flight times with a good layover are with United. I was just wondering if anyone had any experience flying with them from London and how they compare to Virgin or Delta?

 

[disneyholic family]

i haven't flown united in many years, but i'm sure they're just the same as all the others...
i mainly fly delta, just because they own detroit, and i usually have to go there (where family lives)....
delta can also be both good and bad....same as all the american companies....

your best bet is to book best value / times and not worry about good/bad...as i said, they're probably all the same...

which city does united go through? that's the other way to choose....connecting airport....most of them are fine...the only one i'd say you have to avoid is JFK in new york...anything else is probably fine....

as for virgin, no experience with them, so i can't compare...

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[sam_rogers]

i haven't flown united in many years, but i'm sure they're just the same as all the others...
i mainly fly delta, just because they own detroit, and i usually have to go there (where family lives)....
delta can also be both good and bad....same as all the american companies....

your best bet is to book best value / times and not worry about good/bad...as i said, they're probably all the same...

which city does united go through? that's the other way to choose....connecting airport....most of them are fine...the only one i'd say you have to avoid is JFK in new york...anything else is probably fine....

as for virgin, no experience with them, so i can't compare...

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We've flown Delta and Virgin in the past and haven't had any major issues but the flights just aren't working for us this time. The layover on the way the Orlando is in Chicago, the way back has a new york stop but it's a long enough layover that I'm not too worried about changing there.

 

[Happiest.Haunt_999]

Despise United and they are one of the last airlines I would ever fly again.

 

[disneyholic family]

We've flown Delta and Virgin in the past and haven't had any major issues but the flights just aren't working for us this time. The layover on the way the Orlando is in Chicago, the way back has a new york stop but it's a long enough layover that I'm not too worried about changing there.

chicago's one of the airports i hate...with a passion.......i've never gone through immigration there so i can't tell you how good or bad they are (JFK is the worst on the planet)...
but as an airport, o'hare isn't the most user friendly (detroit's delta terminal is very user friendly oddly enough)...

which airport in new york is your change? JFK or newark?....
JFK truly sucks balls....you'll excuse the expression.....but maybe united goes through newark?

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[disneyholic family]

of course, united is the airline that's had the nasty incidents about throwing passengers off....but that could just be the passengers and not the airline...

 

[sam_rogers]

of course, united is the airline that's had the nasty incidents about throwing passengers off....but that could just be the passengers and not the airline...

This is one of my concerns with United, I've seen a few less than favourable things regarding customer service.

chicago's one of the airports i hate...with a passion.......i've never gone through immigration there so i can't tell you how good or bad they are (JFK is the worst on the planet)...
but as an airport, o'hare isn't the most user friendly (detroit's delta terminal is very user friendly oddly enough)...

which airport in new york is your change? JFK or newark?....
JFK truly sucks balls....you'll excuse the expression.....but maybe united goes through newark?

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Off the top of my head it's jfk, I've been to NYC a couple of times so have obviously never had to change terminals or anything and haven't had any major issues at jfk, I cleared immigration in 10 mins last time I went, I was shocked! The first time took me an hour!

 

[disneyholic family]

http://www.businessinsider.com/best-airlines-america-2017-4/#2-delta-11

 

[disneyholic family]

This is one of my concerns with United, I've seen a few less than favourable things regarding customer service.

Off the top of my head it's jfk, I've been to NYC a couple of times so have obviously never had to change terminals or anything and haven't had any major issues at jfk, I cleared immigration in 10 mins last time I went, I was shocked! The first time took me an hour!

well when i say JFK i should specify terminal as it makes a difference which terminal you're experiencing.....terminal 4 being hell on earth.....worse than hell.....doesn't matter if you're coming in or going out, it's the terminal you should send the people you truly hate to.....

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[disneyholic family]

i just looked it up, united airlines uses terminal 7 at JFK - so that might be fine....i've never been through terminal 7....only terminal 4 (for international travel) which i wouldn't even wish on my worst enemies...ok...maybe them, but no one else...

 

[disneyholic family]

i just checked out o'hare....looks like you fly into terminal 5 and then have to switch to terminal 1 for the domestic portion of your flight...

assuming you're on united for both legs.....so you fly into terminal 5, go through immigration/customs, get rid of your luggage again, then switch to terminal 1 for your domestic flight where you'll have to clear security again...

https://www.flychicago.com/ohare/map/pages/default.aspx

connecting at the airport....arriving at 5, then switching to 1
https://www.flychicago.com/ohare/myflight/connecting/pages/default.aspx


if you take a look at the above, you realize that you need a LOT of time to get around o'hare airport....it's not user friendly...
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[sam_rogers]

i just looked it up, united airlines uses terminal 7 at JFK - so that might be fine....i've never been through terminal 7....only terminal 4 (for international travel) which i wouldn't even wish on my worst enemies...ok...maybe them, but no one else...

I'll see if I can get a bit more info on the terminals. I've just had another look at outbound and there's an option to go to Houston or Newark instead of Chicago so that might be a better option.

 

[disneyholic family]

I'll see if I can get a bit more info on the terminals. I've just had another look at outbound and there's an option to go to Houston or Newark instead of Chicago so that might be a better option.

yes, i would avoid o'hare airport....as i said, i'm not a fan....never ever had a pleasant plane changing experience there....even just going domestic to domestic....

i've flown into houston, but never international, so i can't comment - though you can go check out the airport maps to see what it looks like for international/domestic...
i happen to love texas and texans, so i'd always vote for texas over illinois...

newark....well....it's better than JFK....but it's still staffed with new yorkers (nuff said)...

the other thing to think about...september is hurricane season....so maybe you really are better off flying through chicago....least likely locale to be affected by hurricanes..

 

[disneyholic family]

but my true first choice would be heading straight for orlando if possible...
we had such a bad experience in august changing planes in new york we decided we'll do whatever it takes to get us to orlando as directly as possible next time...

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[sam_rogers]

yes, i would avoid o'hare airport....as i said, i'm not a fan....never ever had a pleasant plane changing experience there....even just going domestic to domestic....

i've flown into houston, but never international, so i can't comment - though you can go check out the airport maps to see what it looks like for international/domestic...
i happen to love texas and texans, so i'd always vote for texas over illinois...

newark....well....it's better than JFK....but it's still staffed with new yorkers (nuff said)...

the other thing to think about...september is hurricane season....so maybe you really are better off flying through chicago....least likely locale to be affected by hurricanes..

Thanks so much for your help!! My husband has always wanted to go to Texas so maybe a stamp in his passport will keep him happy for a little while That's a very good point about hurricane season, we've never had an issue going to florida in september but didn't take changing planes at other prone areas into consideration!

 

[disneyholic family]

well hurricane season considerations would say you should go to chicago, since there are no hurricanes in chicago....the other places you mentioned are all potentially affected by hurricanes - both houston and new york...

i actually flew out of houston once in the middle of a hurricane...i was NOT a happy camper that the delta regional plane didn't cancel....the regular delta plane cancelled, but not the delta regional (whose pilots aren't paid if they don't fly)..
it was hair-raising to say the least...

my kids had to change flights 6 years ago because of a hurricane....they were scheduled to fly from orlando to jfk and then home...but the hurricane that year decided to hit new york, so they had to change flights to go via miami....who knew miami would be better than new york that year from a hurricane point of view...

basically it's all a crap shoot....and flights are more and more painful.....smaller and smaller chairs with less and less leg room....torture chambers in the sky...

and as my pilot friend said, flying 6 miles up in a small metal tube isn't really as safe as we think it is....

 

[scottishgirl1]

We have flown with them from Dublin a few times. I wouldnt particulartly rave about them but I havent (touch wood) had any particular issues with them. The inflight entertainment is usually better than our direct alternative but the food is pretty poor so usually try to take something to eat on with us. We have used them a few routes now and are going to Orlando via Washington with them in June at the cheapest I have ever paid for flights to US!!

Last summer we went to Washington for a few days before Orlando and again it was United with a return through Newark which I believe is Uniteds hub airport over there. Also used them for Trip to New York and then on to LA few days later and home from San Diego via Washington. Again only complaint was lack of nice food on those long flights!!

 

[disneyholic family]

We have flown with them from Dublin a few times. I wouldnt particulartly rave about them but I havent (touch wood) had any particular issues with them. The inflight entertainment is usually better than our direct alternative but the food is pretty poor so usually try to take something to eat on with us. We have used them a few routes now and are going to Orlando via Washington with them in June at the cheapest I have ever paid for flights to US!!

Last summer we went to Washington for a few days before Orlando and again it was United with a return through Newark which I believe is Uniteds hub airport over there. Also used them for Trip to New York and then on to LA few days later and home from San Diego via Washington. Again only complaint was lack of nice food on those long flights!!

chicago is united's hub....which is why i used to fly them years ago when i was in grad school in chicago....

they're all equally bad....may as well get a good deal...

for us the cheapest rates are via klm, lufthansa and BA...the KLM flights are code shares with delta, where the atlantic portion of the trip is on a delta plane...
if you check the same route on delta.com vs klm.com, you'll probably find the ticket is cheaper if purchased from klm...
if you like to fly business, if you buy the ticket from KLM it can cost $2600 vs $4500 for the very same seat on the very same plane but purchased from delta instead of KLM...go figure...

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