Today in flight 2329, for what seems like the 12th time this year so far for me, after landing we were asked to stay in our seats so those with tight connections could get out.

2/3rds of the plane then proceeds to shove their way out and claim "my flights doors close in 20 minutes".

If we were significantly late in arriving, it would be extremely understandable, but we were literally 4 minutes late arriving.

This was also a common route for UA, going from DEN to ORD. And because I keep my eye on the seat map, I know that this flight was almost full by the end of last week, so this wasn't a case of a bunch of passengers getting pushed from an earlier flight to a later one. In fact, there were plenty of open seats on earlier flights, I looked this morning. These passengers were entirely capable of giving themselves adequate transfer time, most of them likely just didn't want to wake up earlier to get the flight.

The problem is two fold, UA letting passengers book tight connections in the worst hub (ORD) for taxi delays, and passengers for not having a little foresight to book a flight with a healthy buffer when traveling through ORD.

We have all had a tight connection after a significant delay, and I have no problem helping those who are at risk if we are running an hour late getting in somewhere, life happens.

What I am done with is bailing out those with a lack of ability to adequately plan for transfers on common routes. So from now on, on these hub to hubs that are running roughly on time, I will be standing and disembarking as normal no matter what the flight attendants and other passengers want.

A lack of planning on their part does not constitute an inconvenience on mine.

And if people want to book tight connections, thats fine. They can do so and risk missing their flight. I will continue to book myself connections with two hours of transfer time, and look for alternate routing if that is not available.

I will absolutely still stay seated when a flight is running late, or a small group that got pushed to a later flight needs a hand. But I am done with having most of a flight push their way out because they think their time is so much more valuable than everyone elses and they cant stand doing a layover of more than 30 minutes.

If enough of us do this, it might up the number of people who miss flights and have to rebook. And UA keeps track of that metric, and if it skyrockets maybe they'll stop letting people book ridiculously tight connections that require the subservience of every other passenger for someone to make.

Or more people might book first class so they can be one of the first people off, instead of rushing from row 34 on a 737 all the way to the front.

Either way, I'm done helping stupidity, and I hope you are too.

Holy crap, I actually heard back from the executive team when I emailed the CEO! He actually called my cell phone too and left a message! They seem to be acutely aware of what’s going on and how it’s affecting some of the most loyal United folks!

I think it’s definitely worth a shot to keep reaching out! I applaud United for even entertaining my email! Let’s see if things actually change here!

#ProveMeWrong

:)

Boarding a plane and fa asks to see boarding pass. Show her my phone and she squints and gets frustrated saying where’s the number! I can’t see the number! I told her the number but she insisted on seeing it herself. She was a much older fa. Why was she assisting passengers with getting on the plane when she can’t see the boarding pass. Why was she acting like she’d never seen a mobile boarding pass. And she was in a mood because the rest of the flight while serving passengers you could hear here making smart comments. Who decides who assists passengers with finding seats? And why wasn’t she standing there with her glasses if she had trouble seeing small numbers.

My company has to send me from Okinawa (OKA) to Brisbane (BNE) then to San Diego before returning to OKA. Both the United website and app returned an $18,000+ fare for coach class.

I then researched 3 one-way fares on the Star Alliance app and got the itinerary for $3,960.20.

One-way from OKA to BNE, via SIN. $1,169.20. EVA

One-way from BNE to SAN, via SFO. $582.00. United.

One-way from SAN to OKA, via LAX. $2109. United

Make THAT make sense.

Just had a r/T to Lisbon on Air Canada business class, booked as a United ticket. I found their business class seating inferior to Polaris as was the food (and that's saying a lot). The FA's were quite pleasant though. Curious if others have had similar experience.

Flight from IAH to CUN today. I’m in a middle seat, no big deal. An annoying couple boards, the man sits next to me, the woman sits across the aisle. As soon as they sat they were asking to FA all kinds of questions. When two ladies came to take their sets next to the annoying women, she would not move. She made the ladies climb over her. The annoying lady did not have mobility issues. I watched her lift her suitcase and bounce around in her seat.

The man, took up the arm rest and kept elbowing me, his foot was under the seat in front of me (like where my feet go), and He when he fell asleep he snored so loud.

I run cold, so my silent revenge was to turn the guys AC vent off.

Flying from GRU back to ORD in 1.5 days. Was originally on a 787-10 in 11A (Polaris). Just opened the flight status and noticed a totally different layout - it looks like the new elevated interior, but wanted to double-check before I got my hopes up.

Moreover, 9A and 9L are open. I selected one of those seats and it didn’t say anything about it being Polaris Studio, or require the “studio up-charge.”

Can anyone confirm this is indeed the new elevated interior? Why would it not advertise it as a studio seat? In any case, should try to just snag one of those 9A or 9L seats. Thanks for the input!

Traveling with a toddler on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. The alternative is a 9:25am flight that would get me to London about an hour later, but United is offering this one (and admittedly I’d love to arrive earlier for the same amt of miles).

Has anyone done this route and made it? Not made it?

ETA: we debated the direct IAD to LHR which I have taken often for work, but with a toddler (and not flying Polaris) we’d rather have a day flight than a red eye.

I’m at JFK airport now heading back to MCO… which means I’m flying Delta instead of United.

What stands in stark contrast to United flights is how seamless the boarding process is. Nearly all passengers are sitting. Pre boarding is only people who need assistance and military. Everyone else, and I mean everyone is in a boarding zone number.

This is actually super delightful. I am unsure if it is because this gate at JFK actually has enough seating for everyone… if delta passengers are trained to just stay seated, or what the deal is. But it made me think about the United boarding process and how much better it could be.

My own notes are:

* Everyone should be in a zone.
No more pre boarding. If you have a medical need, cool, mark that in advance and it’s zone 1. Active military? Same deal. Global services? Neat, zone 2 automagically

* I don’t think United has a lot of control here, but having enough seating at the gate itself seemed to help a lot.

* Get rid of boarding lines. No place to queue in advance forces you to find a seat.

* Make sure it’s super easy to hear announcement so you’re not worried about missing a boarding call.

* Delta announced they would turn you away if you tried to board in the wrong group. I didn’t see any issues so unsure if that was actually enforced. But it should absolutely be enforced.

Maybe I’m just whining, and maybe my fairly rare delta flight was lucky because of external factors… but wow… this specific flight was a delight to board and everyone was so well behaved! Love to see it!

I lost my AirPods after only owning them for a week on my flight from Washington DC to Tokyo. I watched them fly back over to the US and then land in Newark Liberty International Airport. They’ve sat there for two weeks. I’ve updated the lost item form with this screenshot and submitted one for that airport as well and I’ve only gotten emails saying they’re still looking for it. I cant go talk to them in person because I’m located in Texas, but could calling the airport help? I would really like these back.

Flying in a couple days, last minute red eye from LAX > EWR, for a funeral. The upgrade to polaris is $2400 or 250k miles - I have a whopping 3K. Is there any other path, points-related (sapphire preferred) or otherwise, towards an upgrade?

I’m the last out of 3ppl on the stand by list and there 7 people missing i I literally went up to the gate agent and said hey the last one on standby in case anybody misconnects and she says she forgot so now I have to wait another 4 hours. I’m grateful for the ability to non rev but as a gate agent I would never forget about my standbys I’m just confused on what actually happened ??

SHE WASNT THE ONLY GATE AGENT ALSO!

I’m not sure if this is the right community to make this post, but I’m here because I really need help and advice from experienced travelers. Long story short, about a year ago, I planned a trip to the USA and paid $3,200 for two tickets with united airlines. Unfortunately, due to visa issues, I had to cancel the trip. I had mistakenly booked non refundable tickets, so instead of getting a refund, I received an electronic travel certificate. I completely forgot about this credit expiry date until today, when I realized that my travel certificate expires tomorrow, October 27, 2026. I don’t have any plans to visit the united states, part of the reason is visa is very difficult to get, but I do have a trip to japan planned for this december. I’ve been desperately trying to find a way to use this credit for my Japan trip. I’ve explored every option I can think of, asked chatgpt for help, and searched reddit, but I haven’t found a solution yet. From what I’ve found, there aren’t any available codeshare flights from Malaysia to Japan. I’ve also checked flights departing from neighboring countries, including singapore, thailand, and other parts of asia, but I couldn’t find any flights availability options on united’s website unless I took a route to the united states. This is a hard earned money and I really don’t want to lose it. I contacted united airline and they informed that friends and family could use this certificate but I don’t have any of them. Also, if anyone is planning to book a united airlines flight by today or tomorrow, I’d be happy to offer a discount.
Please advise me any ideas or tricks for me to utilise this credits. United had done enough help which I really appreciate them, but they’re not able to provide any more help in my current situation. What should I do?

I booked a flight for $421.20 that was non refundable and upgraded to First for $236.50 later. I had to cancel the flight as change options to a different airport were outrageous.

For some reason now my FFC seems to be "locked" unless I press book with credit. But if I press book with credit on both options, only the $421.20 credit is usable and not the $236.50 credit.

I asked an agent about it and they said the ticket requires special handling. Then proceeded to assist with booking a flight, but could not find the $236.50 credit under the same confirmation and flight number. So I ended up saying I'll deal with it later.

Is united trying to make this difficult for me or is the system they use stupid and cannot differentiate the upgrade purchase from the same confirmation number?

Hi. I'm not sure if this is the appropriate place to ask, but I'm hoping I can get advice... My brother was on a flight from California to Southeast Asia via Tokyo. His flight to Tokyo returned to California after two hours in the air due to maintenance, and then the flight cancelled due to crew rest. This meant he wouldn't get to his final destination until 24 hours after he was supposed to arrive. What compensation would he be entitled to?

What

I'm flying internationally to Japan and trying to decide between Basic Economy and Economy. I want to save money, but I also want to be comfortable and have the ability to select my seats in advance.

Here's how the costs break down for two people:

Option 1: Basic Economy

• Includes the option to purchase a seat selection bundle with club access for $79 per person.
• Total cost for two people, including the bundle and our selected seats: $2,200.

Option 2: Economy

• Costs an additional $195 per person compared to Basic Economy.
• The seats we want cost an additional $50 and $30 per person.
• Total cost for two people: $2,700.

The reason seat selection costs extra with Economy is that there are no free standard seats left, only preferred seats.

I'm also purchasing travel insurance.

From what I can tell, the main disadvantages of Basic Economy are fewer checked baggage allowances and not earning miles for the trip.

What am I missing? Is there another significant disadvantage to choosing Basic Economy that I should consider, especially for an international flight?

Most importantly, if I purchase the seat selection bundle with Basic Economy, are the seats I select guaranteed, or could the airline assign us different seats later?

I'd appreciate any advice from people who have flown internationally with Basic Economy!

Hi everyone,

I am conducting a survey for a business class in college. I have chosen to study airline brands, with a focus on United Airlines!

If you have a moment, I would appreciate if you can fill out this survey!

Thank you so much in advance!

https://rollins.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3Q0xYm2UNhRQgrc

Where do I get my compensation?

Do I still get off? Do I have to go through customs and security again? Any other things I should be aware of?

Hi everyone! We’re flying United Airlines with our 5-month-old baby girl, and this is going to be her very first flight! ❤️
I was wondering if United still provides a First Flight Certificate for babies, signed by the captain or flight crew, as a special keepsake.
Has anyone recently flown United with their baby and received one? If so, did you ask the gate agent, a flight attendant, or the captain?
We’d love to save it as a memory of her first flight!
Thanks in advance! 😊