Thoughts on United

[disny_luvr]

We are very loyal to Southwest. I think I’ve only flown another airline a handful of times, but for our trip this summer (to Utah not Disney) Southwest is coming in really expensive. We can actually fly from our small, local airport on United for a few hundred dollars cheaper than driving to Philly or Baltimore and flying Southwest. I’ve never flown United. Any thoughts on them? I’m not sure if I should bite the bullet or wait and see if Southwest drops in price.

 

[hardcorestitch]

We are very loyal to Southwest. I think I’ve only flown another airline a handful of times, but for our trip this summer (to Utah not Disney) Southwest is coming in really expensive. We can actually fly from our small, local airport on United for a few hundred dollars cheaper than driving to Philly or Baltimore and flying Southwest. I’ve never flown United. Any thoughts on them? I’m not sure if I should bite the bullet or wait and see if Southwest drops in price.

United will certainly have a better IFE compared to Southwest (BYOD not required on most mainline flights but United Express flights have no seatback IFE). If that’s the cheaper option… go for it!

 

[gottalovepluto]

What do you think is the difference between them anymore? UA isn’t a budget carrier so I think you’ll find UA similar to the New WN.

 

[Kailunkat]

In general United is good option. Based on the length of your trip (East coast to Utah) you should have a large aircraft and be very comfortable. We fly United a lot because we are near a hub for them and I would say they rank around the middle of the pack for service.

 

[SnowWhite09]

We fly United from Australia to LAX and we enjoy our flights with them

 

[japanese maple]

We fly United all the time. Never an issue outside of normal delays, etc.

 

[pens4821]

We fly either United or Southwest. As a matter of fact I’ve flown United more than Southwest lately. Their prices are always the same (for trips I’ve looked at) and I like being able to pick my seat (not an issue anymore) so that gave them the leg up on SW for me. We haven’t had any issues with either airline so can’t comment on resolutions to issues but I’d fly either and not think twice about it.

 

[CarolynFH]

United is our airline of choice because we live near one of their hubs, and we haven’t had any problems with them. We never fly SW because “their” airport is an hour or more further away from us.

 

[nono]

Make use of the app. You will get delay updates, hints on how to navigate the airport, etc.

 

[jimmymc]

They're nice. I rarely use them because of the cost from my home airport, but I would if they were cheapest.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

We used to use Southwest 75% of the time up until about 8 years ago. Then the pricing became less favorable and the service became less engaged on some of our trips. We moved over to United and have preferred it ever since. We'll still use SW for some flights where it's necessary, but for what is often around the same price, we'll head to the United gate first.

 

[disny_luvr]

OP here. Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I think we’re going with United. It’s about $500 cheaper than SW and only about a 20 minute drive from our house to the airport vs. a longer 1 hour 45 minute drive to the airport so it’s really a no brainer.

A few questions:
1. Do they provide a drink and snack during the flight? It’s not a big deal if they don’t, but I want to be sure to grab something in the airport before boarding since we are looking at a 4 hourish flight.

2. We have to connect through Dulles both ways of our trip. How big is that airport? Is it easy to get from one gate to another rather quickly?

3. Is the only different between Economy and Economy (fully refundable) is that one is refundable and one is not? I just want to make sure I’m not missing another difference between the two.

 

[japanese maple]

OP here. Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I think we’re going with United. It’s about $500 cheaper than SW and only about a 20 minute drive from our house to the airport vs. a longer 1 hour 45 minute drive to the airport so it’s really a no brainer.

A few questions:
1. Do they provide a drink and snack during the flight? It’s not a big deal if they don’t, but I want to be sure to grab something in the airport before boarding since we are looking at a 4 hourish flight.

2. We have to connect through Dulles both ways of our trip. How big is that airport? Is it easy to get from one gate to another rather quickly?

3. Is the only different between Economy and Economy (fully refundable) is that one is refundable and one is not? I just want to make sure I’m not missing another difference between the two.

You get a free drink (pop, coffee, etc, not alcohol) and a free snack (cookie maybe?).

The only difference is yes one is fully refundable. Just be careful with wording, sometimes I read that people get fully refundable with a credit and not cash.

I don't know about Dulles.