Last week I traveled to Washington on business and chose to fly United thinking it would be the least bad of 3 choices. Flying into Regan from SAN requires a layover, which has worked out poorly for me in the past. Alaska flies direct to Baltimore from SAN, but only offers redeye flights going eastbound. So, I chose to fly with United into one of my least favorite airports in the U.S. It would turn out to be a big mistake.

On the IAD->SAN leg, I sat in seat 2E of a heavily worn down 737-700. Only the first 23 rows have in seat power, and my outlet was broken and dangling out of its socket (probably dangerous, but I didn't say anything since I just wanted to get home). Even the first class seats are slimline with almost no padding and my butt was totally numb by 1 hour into the 5.5 hour flight. This kind of aircraft should be limited to 2 hour or less regional flights.

The only In Flight Entertainment (IFE) was available on your personal device. Also, the WiFi I paid for barely worked for much of the journey. If you were not in First or Economy Plus and fortunate enough to be seated somewhere with a functioning outlet, United would not provide any means to keep that device charged.

The first class flight attendant was pleasant, but it didn't make up for the misery of no IFE and an uncomfortable seat for such a long flight. The meal was also the worst I've had in at least 5 years of frequent travel. It was the most foul tasting ravioli I've ever encountered, and I subsequently declined any snacks and stuck to liquid.

The rest of the United staff was cold, bordering on rude. Even in the premier access check-in, you have to use an electronic kiosk to tag your own bags. So much for a first class experience. Maybe call it something else to make clear your privileges are limited to a tiny bit more space and a free meal that you don't want to eat.

I had taken a 2 year hiatus from United after a number of bad experiences, and I will now return to that hiatus until I see evidence of major improvements.

After many years of flying (especially abroad), I have had fun and not so fun flights. Sitting in an airplane for 10+ hours isn't fun, especially if you are traveling in economy. Normally I would have upgraded, but was traveling with someone who got a deal on a very inexpensive non-upgradeable economy ticket. But what I found was a very comfortable experience with flight attendants that did their best to make you smile and laugh. I always appreciate it when attendants can do that. It makes the experience ever so much better.

My husband is an almost 2-million miler and we are both 1K but could not get upgraded to business class, despite the fact the he had EARNED free upgrades on the 13-hour flight. The seats barely reclined and had no foot rests. Couldn’t sleep at all. The food was not good and the male flight attendant was rude and abrupt. The only bright spot was the two female flight attendants who were very nice. We are VERY disappointed with United and are considering whether it’s worth continuing to pursue being 1K every year, since we can’t get the benefits we’ve earned by being 1K. We’ve been very loyal United customers for many years, but NOT HAPPY WITH UNITED anymore.
Note: in the questions below, I indicated that we paid for extra legroom and extra services because I feel we DID pay for them by earning the free upgrade that we didn’t get.

After having a terrible experience with American Airlines, I scheduled our international flight with United. The plane was enormous, the biggest plane I've ever been on. A set of 3 seats, and then 4 seats in the middle, and then 3 seats on the other side. You could stand up in your seat without bending over.
Each seat had its own little tv screen with tons of tv shows and movies to watch on demand. The flight attendants were nice and offered water almost every hour. The food they gave us wasn't that great. But it was a comfortable flight and I will definitely fly them when I go to Europe again. Those tv screens were like heaven on a 9 hour flight!
I know a lot of people say United is a terrible airline.. but we had a great experience! I will keep flying them until they do us one like American did.

It charged m 70 bucks at the airport to check one bag and one poster. They never made this policy clear when I booked my tickets. I will never fly with UA again in the future.