United VS DELTA

[Patrickprincess]

Just wondering what are you thoughts about United and Delta?? I have a budget of just $450. for around trip air from Seattle. I know it may be a bit early to stay looking for air I'm not going until December 2015. Right now United is $88.00 cheaper than Delta. I'm not that picky about airlines as long as they get there and back with no problems I'm okay with. [/COaLOR]

 

[davedmaine]

Just wondering what are you thoughts about United and Delta?? I have a budget of just $450. for around trip air from Seattle. I know it may be a bit early to stay looking for air I'm not going until December 2015. Right now United is $88.00 cheaper than Delta. I'm not that picky about airlines as long as they get there and back with no problems I'm okay with. [/COaLOR]

It doesn't matter

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

First, please don't change the default font and color. The small size you chose is hard to read.

Who knows what the airfare will be in Dec 2015? Delta and UAs won't even release those fares until Jan-Feb 2015. If you don't care, go with what is cheapest with the best schedule.

 

[littlejimmy]

agree. doesn't matter. book the cheapest, and for gosh sakes stop looking then, because if the fares go down, you will kick yourself.

 

[anonymousegirl]

Delta always has schedule changes, especially this far out. This can be a pain if you have planned everything based on those times.

But where are you seeing the fares? Most airlines will only let you book 330 days out so December 2015 fares shouldn't be available until January/February 2015.

 

[sam_gordon]

Delta always has schedule changes, especially this far out. This can be a pain if you have planned everything based on those times.

But where are you seeing the fares? Most airlines will only let you book 330 days out so December 2015 fares shouldn't be available until January/February 2015.

I'm guessing the OP is looking at December 2014 to get an idea of what prices will be next year.

 

[Luv_Tink]

We purchased airfare at the end of August for our December trip this year for our family of 5. United was consistently the least expensive for Seattle to MCO every time I looked and I started looking in Feb/March. We also preferred the layover airports that United offered since we wanted to try to avoid cold weather locations and potential flight delays due to bad weather.

We scored a great price early on a Saturday morning. We had actually booked the night before at a slightly higher price that was acceptable to us. But I was curious in the morning and checked my Kayak alerts and notice the lower price. DH called and told them what time we saw the lower price and they changed it with no trouble. Customer service was great to deal with and we had an almost $500 refund for the difference in less than a week.

Our flight times have changed a little since booking but less than 15 minutes on our SEA-MCO leg and by about 30 minutes on our MCO-SEA leg.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

We purchased airfare at the end of August for our December trip this year for our family of 5. United was consistently the least expensive for Seattle to MCO every time I looked and I started looking in Feb/March. We also preferred the layover airports that United offered since we wanted to try to avoid cold weather locations and potential flight delays due to bad weather.

We scored a great price early on a Saturday morning. We had actually booked the night before at a slightly higher price that was acceptable to us. But I was curious in the morning and checked my Kayak alerts and notice the lower price. DH called and told them what time we saw the lower price and they changed it with no trouble. Customer service was great to deal with and we had an almost $500 refund for the difference in less than a week.
......

Please note that the reason you were able to change your UA flights without the usual domestic ticket change fee of $200 per ticket was because you did it within 24 hours of the original booking. Otherwise these fees would have wiped out your savings due to the price drop.

 

[MillauFr]

I would just pay a few extra dollars and fly non-stop on Alaska. Why risk fate by flying United or Delta and having one of your flights run late. This August we just sat at MCO because the United pilot said "We haven't received our flight plan". Seemed liked poor execution on United's part to me. We finally took off but then we had to run from one end of the Houston airport to the other to catch our connecting flight. The only reason we flew United is because it was free (airline miles).

 

[Luv_Tink]

Please note that the reason you were able to change your UA flights without the usual domestic ticket change fee of $200 per ticket was because you did it within 24 hours of the original booking. Otherwise these fees would have wiped out your savings due to the price drop.

Yes, I am fully aware of that. Thank you for pointing that out, I'm sorry I neglected to mention that in my post. We never would have made the change if the agent informed us of any change fees.

What I was really trying to point out was the fact that United was less expensive than anyone else at any point when we were looking at airfares and that their customer service has been great so far.

FWIW, we usually fly Alaska Airlines and their prices were routinely $1,000 more than anything on United for our family of 5. They also recently took their red-eye direct SEA-MCO flight off the schedule, leaving just one direct flight per day that did not fit our schedule.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

I would just pay a few extra dollars and fly non-stop on Alaska. Why risk fate by flying United or Delta and having one of your flights run late...

Are you saying Alaska never has delays? This is not in any way true.

 

[Yellowjj]

Just wondering what are you thoughts about United and Delta?? I have a budget of just $450. for around trip air from Seattle. I know it may be a bit early to stay looking for air I'm not going until December 2015. Right now United is $88.00 cheaper than Delta. I'm not that picky about airlines as long as they get there and back with no problems I'm okay with. [/COaLOR]

Your buying airfare far too early. Prices will drop. Wait for a fare sale between the airlines.

We purchased airfare at the end of August for our December trip this year for our family of 5. United was consistently the least expensive for Seattle to MCO every time I looked and I started looking in Feb/March. We also preferred the layover airports that United offered since we wanted to try to avoid cold weather locations and potential flight delays due to bad weather.
.

Lmao, Err you do realize that United has the most hubs in weather prone areas, especially cold. DEN/ORD/EWR/IAD. Delta hubs handle snow much better. When was the last time Minneapolis, Salt Lake City or Detroit was closed due to cold weather. Not to mention that you can bypass any weather with a Atlanta connection and then a 1 hour flight to Orlando.

The reason United has cheaper prices is due to their eroding customer base. They have not handled this merger well at all and the customer service on the front line is dismal. You still had at the beginning of the year flight attendants referring to themselves as former "Continental" crew in announcements, which is unacceptable for a company trying to convey a unified front.

 

[dis_guy]

You still had at the beginning of the year flight attendants referring to themselves as former "Continental" crew in announcements, which is unacceptable for a company trying to convey a unified front.

My favourite act of defiance by former Continental crew were the "Ex-Con" wristbands that some were wearing just after the merger. Haven't seen one for a long time, though.

 

[MillauFr]

Are you saying Alaska never has delays? This is not in any way true.

My point is that if you fly non-stop you don't run the risk of missing your connecting flight.

But yes Alaska has a far better ontime record that United or Southwest. The CEO of United is doing a lousy job and still hasn't worked out all of the bugs of the merger 4 years after. Delta is a well run airline that has a low cancelation rate and ontime record.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

My point is that if you fly non-stop you don't run the risk of missing your connecting flight.

But yes Alaska has a far better ontime record that United or Southwest. The CEO of United is doing a lousy job and still hasn't worked out all of the bugs of the merger 4 years after. Delta is a well run airline that has a low cancelation rate and ontime record .

I'm not sure that you meant to say Delta has a low on time record!

As far as non-stop flights, Delta us not the only airline offering these.

 

[MillauFr]

I'm not sure that you meant to say Delta has a low on time record!

As far as non-stop flights, Delta us not the only airline offering these.

I meant to say that Delta has a much better ontime record than United does. From Seattle Alaska is the only airline offering non-stop flights. Delta may do so in the future but I haven't heard anything about it yet.

 

[Patrickprincess]

I meant to say that Delta has a much better ontime record than United does. From Seattle Alaska is the only airline offering non-stop flights. Delta may do so in the future but I haven't heard anything about it yet.

I know that I still have a few more months until the air fares are out. But here's what I have decided Since Delta has more stops in Atlanta or Los Angles warm weather cities I will be going with them and Take United back home. Then if United messes up the flight then I will not be too stressed. Also I have decided to fly from Portland Oregon. PDX is easer to get in and out of than Seattle. Also I live closer to PDX than Seattle. But then again it all depends on the fare doesn't it. By the way my budget for air is $350-500.

 

[Luv_Tink]

Lmao, Err you do realize that United has the most hubs in weather prone areas, especially cold. DEN/ORD/EWR/IAD. Delta hubs handle snow much better. When was the last time Minneapolis, Salt Lake City or Detroit was closed due to cold weather. Not to mention that you can bypass any weather with a Atlanta connection and then a 1 hour flight to Orlando.

And do you seriously think I didn't look at where my layover airports would be when I booked my flights?

I tried to answer the OP's questions, especially since I fly out of the same airport the OP is planning on, yet all I get is criticized. I guess I won't be visiting the transportation threads any more.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Your [sic] buying airfare far too early. Prices will drop. Wait for a fare sale between the airlines.



Lmao, Err you do realize that United has the most hubs in weather prone areas, especially cold. DEN/ORD/EWR/IAD. Delta hubs handle snow much better. When was the last time Minneapolis, Salt Lake City or Detroit was closed due to cold weather. Not to mention that you can bypass any weather with a Atlanta connection and then a 1 hour flight to Orlando.

Yes, as already posted, the OP is far too early to buy airfare for Dec 2015, since these won't be released until late January- February 2015. Good luck finding a fare sale for a December flight!

You are mistaken if you think booking flights with connections in warmer weather airports is going to keep you from having weather related delays. Bad weather in one area of the country can affect flights all over the US. In fact, Atlanta has plenty of weather related delays:

http://www.ibtimes.com/winter-storm...rts-most-often-closed-due-bad-weather-1484458

By the way, you failed to mention SFO, which I believe has more weather related delays due to fog than any other US airport.

 

[natfrac]

We fly out of PDX and United offered the best fares for our upcoming January trip. We're connecting through Houston on the way to WDW, and I believe Denver on the way home. We used to always fly Delta, but after years of poor customer service we're willing to give United a try.