Wait for it: Cautious Praise for United
October 21, 2014
I am on a newly configured cross country United 737-900 with power and wifi (in addition to the ultra-ridiculous DirecTV nonsense). Having net on a cross country flight is quite fantastic. Economy plus seating has enough room for work unless you find yourself stuck next to an obese person.
miracle news flash: @united 737-800 with power and wifi. seat 11C. yay! @drewkilbourne https://t.co/YR152LsshL
— noplasticshower (@noplasticshower) October 21, 2014
I was not upgraded (of course), so my position on whether you should fly 1,579,471 miles on United has not moved much. United drops you like a rock if you don’t fly perpetually (even after over a decade of 100K loyalty). But this trip today right now does not suck.
@noplasticshower Woohoo. Happy to accommodate you. We love the virtual tour. Thanks for tweeting. #UnitedProgress. ^EY
— United (@united) October 21, 2014
Of course, Jeff Smisek still needs to be fired.
Filed in united
Tags: cross country flight, DirecTV, flying, jeff smisek, jeff smisek sucks, power, travel, united, united airlines, wifi
It’s 2013: Uber Wins, United Loses
November 23, 2013
My latest United airlines experience leads me to believe that air travel has finally degenerated to bus service. I don’t do bus. Two long-ish hub to hub flights on United (IAD—ORD) were crowded, cramped, and involved mandatory ads displayed on a device you can’t turn off.
Oh I know all about getting the screen to sleep with the volume control button. But there are several ads that you are forced to watch. They have nothing to do with safety. That is just unacceptable.
How is it that United airlines can get DirecTV to work but can’t get Wifi installed? I guess unlike most Americans, I don’t like plastic showers or TV. Go figure. Maybe I am from the wrong social class.
Did you know that United pays Jeff Smisek almost $10 million per year? Imagine if United spent that money installing wifi on their planes instead.
And how is it that I can no longer be comfortable in economy plus on a United flight? Air travel used to be a bother. Now it is just like riding a bus. An overcrowded South American bus. What’s next, livestock? Worse actually. What’s next is cell phone yabber from sales droids.
Jeff Smisek has absolutely ruined United airlines. I think the time has come for me to drastically cut back on travel and to use another airline when I do fly. Any other airline.
After 1,524,754 miles on United, I am done.
All is not lost in 2013, however. This year I started using Uber. Uber is great. I’ve used it in NY, Boston, Washington, Amsterdam and Paris so far. There is no Uber in Des Moines.
Try it, you’ll love it. No more broken down crappy taxis driven by clueless drivers lacking communications skills.
Thank the gods that no fly noel is almost here.
Filed in united, we are not really sure
Tags: DirecTV, flying, horrible, jeff smisek, jeff smisek sucks, no fly noel, rant, rave, travel, uber, uber rules, united, united airlines, United DirecTV CRAP