United for a JB & SWA fan

[clanmcculloch]

It's been a long time since I've flown with a carrier besides JetBlue or Southwest. This summer my family is taking a trip to Los Angeles. When look at flights, there are nonstops with United that are around $100 cheaper per person round trip than flights with JB. SWA doesn't have any nonstops from any of the airports in my area to any of the airports in LA. That $100 is after I include $25 per person for each of us to check a bag.

Can anybody tell me how United compares to JB and SWA?

Something that I really like about JB and SWA is that I don't need to worry about sitting together because with JB when I pay for my seats I now that they're highly unlikely to make any itinerary changes which impact my chosen seats (I still watch but it doesn't happen often) and with SWA I pay for EBCI so I know we'll board early enough to get seats together. How does United compare? Once choosing our seats, just how likely is it that there would be a plane or itinerary change resulting in losing ourseat assignments? Obviously I'd watch closely but I worry about as the flight gets closer that there just wouldn't be options for sitting together. It's is VERY important that we sit together because one of my kids is autistic and the other gets bad ear pain and I'm the only one in the family who can get her earplanes in right or comfort her when the pain is still bad (not as bad but still painful).

I haven't looked on sites that show seat sizes. How do the seat sizes compare between the airlines?

Does United have any kind of TVs or movies? This one's not actually important for selecting an airline but I'm curious.

My other concern is that with United we'd be flying in and out of LAX. With JB we'd fly in and out of LGB which is so much smaller and relaxed of an airport. We're used to either small airports or in the case of Logan we get dropped off right at the door where we need to check in with our airline and picked up at the closest door to the luggage carousel using a car service so no need to navigate a big airport.

I appreciate any thoughts you might have.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

United is fine; I fly them quite often.

Sometimes there are equipment swaps which mess up seat assignments, so you need to keep an eye on those.

Entertainment options depend on the plane. You can check what is available on UA's website or at seatguru.com. The seat sizes (width) in regular economy are pretty much the same as other airlines; again, check seatguru.com for specifics on your plane type. You can buy up to Economy Plus for more legroom; probably not worth it when flying with children.

 

[HoosierDisneyDad]

I'm also a fan of JetBlue and Southwest, but I fly United a couple times a year because they have flights to places those airlines don't fly. United is okay, and in your situation I would choose it because it's cheaper. Keep in mind though that if you have checked bags, you'll have to pay for them on United. I've noticed that I have less legroom on United than JetBlue unless I pay extra for Economy Plus seats. If you pay for those seats and check a couple of bags, the United tickets might not save you much money.

As for flight changes, I can think of only one time that there was an equipment change and my seat assignments were changed, but my family still had seats together, so it was no big deal.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

.....I've noticed that I have less legroom on United than JetBlue unless I pay extra for Economy Plus seats. If you pay for those seats and check a couple of bags, the United tickets might not save you much money.

UA's Airbus 320 has a bit wider seat, but JetBlue's has more legroom.

 

[bumbershoot]

DH flies United often for work, and therefore we fly them often for leisure b/c of his miles. I do not recall even one time that his plane or time has been changed for airline-purposes. I could have forgotten a time but I really do not recall that happening.

The one time I remember us having a problem with cancellations and changes was a 3-flight series to get to CA, booked on miles, that coincided with nasty weather problems on the east coast. But you guys wouldn't book THREE flights all in a row, and you won't be on miles (which causes us to have to be more relaxed), so you wouldn't be in the exact situation that I was in to begin with. I mention it for completeness in communication, not to say "this will happen to you".

But for normally ticketed flights, I do not remember it happening.

I actually quite like United now, and while part of my reason is b/c of DH's status with them and the miles, the other part is that the planes are decent, the FAs are decent, and overall they are, well, decent. IN my opinion.

 

[clanmcculloch]

I got what you were saying about the 3 flight situation. I'm trying to focus on nonstops which leaves less room for one leg to cause problems. Either the whole flight stays the same or the whole flight changes.

The $100pp savings is after I included the luggage.
UA=$321+$50($25*2 for a checked bag each way pp)= $371
JB=$460
OK, so it's $89 pp round trip difference, not $100. Originally I had only accounted for $25 pp forgetting that it's both directions.

Leg room is more of a concern than seat width. None of us is anywhere near plus sized and DH's shoulders aren't very wide. He's 6'3" with his legs being a bit long for his height so leg room makes a difference for a 6 hour flight.

I did look at the economy plus. In order for us to sit together and be in seats that can recline fully we'd have to choose 3 seats that are $79 and 1 that's I think it was $62. That's a lot. Though, if I'm willing to spend that much on UA I'd also spend the $60pp on JB so it would bring the difference in price $19 closer.

I appreciate everything you've all told me. It does give me more confidence in trying a new airline. Is there anything else I should know about United?

Any thoughts on LAX for people who aren't used to a big airport? As I said, that's our other main concern.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

DH flies United often for work, and therefore we fly them often for leisure b/c of his miles. I do not recall even one time that his plane or time has been changed for airline-purposes. I could have forgotten a time but I really do not recall that happening......

But for normally ticketed flights, I do not remember it happening.

I actually quite like United now, and while part of my reason is b/c of DH's status with them and the miles, the other part is that the planes are decent, the FAs are decent, and overall they are, well, decent. IN my opinion.

My husband will be going over 1 million miles on UA by the end of this summer and I have flown them many times myself. Maybe it's our home airport (IAD), but I would say at least 3 out of 10 of our UA flights have a time or equipment change. It is usually no problem, but when you chose a particular flight for the plane type/seat, it can be extremely annoying to have an equipment swap and lose carefully selected seats!

 

[bumbershoot]

[I am so wordy...sorry about that]

I am used to a big airport, but I've been in and out of LAX a few times and have a perspective on it.

As a traveler it's fairly simple at LAX. I see LAX as being a group of pods. You don't go through one area and then have a vast selection of ways to go. I go in the door for, say, Alaska, do the bag dropoff, then go to a nearby escalator and go up to the security area that leads pretty much to ONE place. Then I'm in a sort of self-contained unit that's the gate area. It's got the bathrooms, coffee shop, restaurant...it's one smallish area. unlike at Seatac where I can wander for what feels like miles from security. Or even John Wayne airport, which is small, but still, you can wander around past gate after gate. It doesn't seem like that to me at LAX.

So to me, as a traveler, LAX is fairly simple. And, weirdly, we have had the *nicest* TSA people there. Also one really weird moment where their metal detector was set WAY too high (but that was like 5 years ago) and it picked up my simple Goody barrette, but even then they weren't rude. Every other time they have just been ridiculously nice. I wouldn't expect it and maybe we are just getting the opposite experience of everyone else, but that's what we've experienced.



All that said...if you normally book JB and have a frequent flyer account with them, it might be worth it to you to keep on earning on JB. I know very well that it's lovely to fly with some sort of "status" with an airline, so maybe that's worth thinking about.


Oh but what about getting from and to the airport? Is parking more or less at one or the other? Cabs or shuttles? I believe that LGB's fee structure for SuperShuttle is different than it is for LAX (it's definitely different, MORE, out at Ontario airport, I know that for sure!), so do not assume. Check out rental cars if that's in your plan; it's worth it to know if a rental from LAX will cost more or less than from LGB. If you're going to Disneyland on this trip and going from or to the airport, you have the choice of Grayline's Disneyland Resort Express bus when you are coming from/to LAX (and SNA). That service doesn't go to LGB.

We once chose to fly into ONT thinking the shuttle pricing would be the same, and it ate up all the money I'd saved on the flights, because of the way Supershuttle priced it and the way we were traveling (DH arrived and left separately). So you want to be SURE.

 

[bumbershoot]

My husband will be going over 1 million miles on UA by the end of this summer and I have flown them many times myself. Maybe it's our home airport (IAD), but I would say at least 3 out of 10 of our UA flights have a time or equipment change. It is usually no problem, but when you chose a particular flight for the plane type/seat, it can be extremely annoying to have an equipment swap and lose carefully selected seats!

I figured that we were having different experiences than the norm, or that I'm just forgetful.

And yes it is annoying! That experience with the big airlines is what originally pushed me to Southwest for years. I would take the time to choose a seat months in advance, only to get it changed when I got to the airport. It was not a huge deal then, as I was single, but annoying nevertheless.

I haven't had the same experience in more recent years that I used to, though.

 

[DebbieB]

Be sure your plans are firm. United announced this week that their change fee is being increased from $150 to $200.

 

[macraven]

i enjoy flying with united and use them more than any other airline.
(i have also used sw and aa and they were okay.)

flying out of ohare/ord in chgo gives me a great choice of flight times.
many choices for non stop flights.

once you book your ticket, you choose your seats online.
if you want to upgrade your ticket, it can be done for a charge.

bookings are cheaper during the week and not weekends.
you can book and if the price changes or your schedule changes within 24 hours, you can call and make the adjustments without any penalty.

i booked a ord/mco flight for the fall.
made a change within that 24 hour time period and did not incur any fees for doing so.
you can make the changes online on their website or by phone.

any changes after that, you will face a change fee.


movies/tv shows on the flights are free.

i flew twice from chgo to lax and it was fine.
i was able to get cheaper flights with united over the other carriers.


i'm the type that will go with the carrier that has the best price and flight times and non stop, for me.

the $25 bag fee doesn't faze me.


check out seatguru and some of the other sites for on time arrival/departures for any airline you are considering.


if your priorities are money, go with the carrier that is cheaper than the others.
if the priorities are the airports you use, work with the carriers that fly into them.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Be sure your plans are firm. United announced this week that their change fee is being increased from $150 to $200.

US Airways has already announced they will match UA's new change fees. Looks as if it won't be long before other airlines do as well.

 

[clanmcculloch]

You've definitely given me some great advice and things to consider. THANK YOU!

The description of LAX's layout is definitely helpful. How is it for getting in and out of the airport if we rent our car from the airport?

Great point about cost of transportation. I figured that if we fly into LGB that we'd rent a car the whole time since it doesn't look like the major airport shuttle companies go from LGB but if we fly into LAX we'd do a shuttle between the airport and our hotels and only get a rental car for the time we're not at DL and get the car from a non-airport location though that really hasn't been decided either. I really do need to price that all out. It could definitely equal the playing field.

While we do stick with JB and SWA typically, we don't fly enough to give us status with any airline. We've only accumulated enough points once to get any free flights and even then we had to purchase a few points to get the flights.

You know, I've never had a bad experience with TSA at any airport. Sure I've encountered the get down to business types but I don't consider that to be a problem since they're still polite and doing their jobs so what's the problem with that? I don't see why there would be a difference in that sense from airport to airport so I had never even considered TSA as a factor when choosing airports. It's possible to encounter that one potentially rude person anywhere regardless of the size of an airport I would think but in general most just want to get through their day and some are genuinely friendly.

One of the reasons we haven't booked yet is that I don't want to risk needing to change our dates. I'm so used to SWA.

Thanks again everybody!

 

[Lisa71]

We live in CA and while we love small airports like ontario and long beach we have no problems with LAX. It is not huge like Dallas or Denver and well laid out. We have not had a problem and fly United economy plus all the time. Dh is 6 ft 6.