Easy checkin of the luggage both ways at the United Polaris counters - took less than 2-3 minutes. Security was a breeze too (through the fast track). The wait time for boarding was excruciating especially since the Group 1 call was made, people were made to stand in the queue for a long time and there were delays even after that. Flight was good, service was prompt, staff was super attentive (both flights going and returning). We do like travelling United Airlines and are a repeat customer both for domestic and international travel. read more

See all

You have to appreciate familiarity and dependability sometimes especially when you are away from home. United is a safe spot for me. Another great trip here and back home to San Francisco. read more

See all

I have always been loyal to United Airlines (and Continental before them until the merger). They almost always do a great job!! The lounge is great, the service is great and the food as you can reasonably expect on an aircraft. read more

United Airlines - Polaris (First) Class - space and comfort for 11 hours - Airlines Near Me - Hounslow, XGL

Well. I got to Germany ok and I was a United fan. My flight back home took a turn. The first leg of a two leg journey home was canceled. I got an email telling me. United had put me on Eurowings, who was useless. Trying to reach someone is obviously not something they want, since it's next to impossible. 4 hours of trying to reach United, on the night of my goodbye party, I was worn out. I had text, app messaging, and phone calls all going, in hopes I'd get help. I was on hold 20 minutes and was disconnected. That happened twice. I got a reply on the app and was told that my flight wasn't canceled. He told me I should check the website, which I did and it showed canceled. As I ended with him, the text feed hit and that representative showed that yes, indeed, the flight was canceled. He offered to book me on the next day, which I declined. I needed to be home when I planned. So, I had to leave 4 hours earlier and has three flights to get home. But, it would get me home. I'm really grateful for that rep. Once I got to lax I learned that my bags didn't make it and were lost. Nobody really cared that much, but everyone was friendly. So, I got home three days ago. I'm still waiting for my luggage. I'm told that it's found. When I look at the website for the delivery, the status says "Out for Delivery Delivering 2 bags yesterday by 6:30 pm." Out for a yesterday delivery? Ok. I'm not really a fan right now. Three stars for the kind flight staff that helped me, since my back was killing me. And the Lufthansa flight staff that moved me to a better seat. And, for the guy that said he would send me a $100 travel voucher, and also offered a sincere apology. The $100 feels like a very small token of consolation. But it's something. I would have done no less than $250, but that's just me. Mostly, I liked that he owned it and apologized for the trouble experience. He nailed it. It was terrible, and I hope I get my luggage soon... read more

See all

United can improve in so many ways... It seems their flights are never on time, their app is in dire need of upgrade (though it is better than it was in the past), and their staff need to be better treated so they treat the customers better. I avoid this airline at all costs unless there is no other option and will continue to do so. Each time I am forced to fly with them, it reinforces why I don't choose them. I prefer to give my money to airlines that have better service and stick to their schedules more closely. read more

United Airlines is amazing! I've flown with them on and off for the past 8 years and they've always been a stellar airline. I recently flew with United on a trip to the UK and they did an amazing job. The flight attendants were full of energy and nothing was too much to ask for. The plane itself was extremely clean and everything felt brand new. Luckily enough the flight was pretty much empty so we all got to stretch our legs across the seats which allowed us all to enjoy the journey! The food served onboard was very tasty, I had the chicken and spinach which was delicious. The vanilla ice cream was also to die for! Overall United is a great airline, and I highly recommend flying with them. read more

See all

United was great! Their customer service, entertainment, and snacks helped the time go by on my flight to and from London back to California. Some entrées were better than others. I never know what to choose. They had a great smelling Curry that I didn't get to try, since it was a special order item. They offered lots of drinks and water throughout the flight, and some stewards were nice enough to give the entire can. I loved their ham and turkey sandwiches, because who can go wrong with a sandwich? The only thing I noticed was that it didn't seem like anyone was cleaning the restrooms because as the time went on, they were dirtier and dirtier. Loved the helpful employees at the airport and their kind gestures. read more

See all

No issues arriving or departing, the lounge access for first class was great. Separate check in for GS made it a breeze to check bags. Everyone we dealt with was very helpful. read more

Lazy workers. Lost my bags because of their incompetence. Your job is to put stickers on bags, it's not that hard.

I'm saddened by the merger of Continental with United. I've been flying Continental out of Heathrow for about two years now and had nothing but good experiences. So now that the planes are marked "United" and the tickets are "United" then I should start reviewing them as "United." As a Gold level flyer, I get a certain amount of recognition and special services from the airline. Extra free luggage, an elite line for boarding and access to the lounge for International flights. When checking in my bags for this flight, the counter agent was very professional (even if she was perhaps a little new) and got my bags tagged and my boarding pass printed with a minimum of fuss. The boarding process itself could use some improvement. We frequent fliers call them "gate lice" which is when everyone crowds around the gate even though there's supposed to be an organized boarding process. If it's not their turn to board, it's okay to tell them that politely and turn them away! On trans-Atlantic flights, the 777 to Houston has on-demand IFE with a good selection of recently released, not-so-recent and classic movies plus TV shows and music channels. Food is... well, it's food. You can bring your own stuff with you if you can get it through security. It's A-OK. It's not great. But there are worse carriers. read more

Consistently pretty bad. In my experience they often cancel flights with not many passengers. Coincidence?... Either way, it blows waiting around for a flight you didn't really want to be on. Service? Eeeaahh. 'Friendly skies'... Uuuuhh just stop talking your canned-talk to me...please. In fairness to united though, most major US airlines suck about as much. read more

United Airlines - Get used to this view - Airlines Near Me - Hounslow, XGL

United has really upped its game with the Queen's Terminal club. It's comfortable, loaded with convenient electrical outlets with USB ports and US plug options, so it didn't even matter that I already had packed away my converters. The food and drinks are the best I've had in an airport lounge. read more

United Airlines - The best Pimm's cup I've ever had, with an eclectic plate of Thai green curry, beef pie, and pasta salad. Good stuff. - Airlines Near Me - Hounslow, XGL

This is just for the business class lounge at T2, B46 based on one visit. It's in comparison to many visits to similar lounges, mostly in Europe and Asia. --plenty of seating --dumb toilet facilities with too few individual cubicles --showers (I didn't use or observe, always looking for pressure compensated faucets) --great food, considering the setting, with a lot of hot/cold variety and actually decent Indian food --easy still water refill --plenty of AC receptacles, including USB Type A (covered with moveable shutter) --no free beer in cans anymore, but drinks served from the bar are free -15 minutes walk from security; 3 minutes from the gate I used -no departing flight announcements in lounge Except for the toilet facilities, compares favorably to better Asian lounges. Like. read more

See all

Only a one hour late departure. I'm impressed. My experiences on UA have not been great of late. On the ORD-LHR leg of my most recent trip, we were turned back to ORD after 2.5 hrs in the air due to a mechanical that took 5 minutes on the ground to fix. This added 5 hrs to a 8 hour flight. I could have been most of the way to Australia in that amount of time. My remuneration offer? 10K FF miles or $200 travel voucher to use in the next year. Since I need the miles for an upgrade on an upcoming trip, I took that. UA is in the new(ish) terminal 2 "The Queen's Terminal" and they are WAYYYYY down on the end. It was a good 20 hike from check-in to the gates. Once at the gates, there is very little shopping or food options. Basically, the same level of no-frills that you will experience on United. It will get you there, but only of necessity. At least on the way to LHR, the staff was very accommodating. On the way back home to the states, the aircraft crew was more robot than human. Again, doing what it took to get the job done but they didn't look like they were enjoying themselves any more than we did. They could take a lesson from Southwest Airline employees in the States. read more

This airline took my money then cancelled my flights and has refused to give me a refund. They owe me $380 for a roundtrip flight THEY CANCELLED. Until they refund my money I will expose them as the fraudulent company they are. BOYCOTT UNITED AIRLINES! read more

London to Chicago to LA Worst airline experienced I've had. Shoddy, disorganised airline that caused so many delays that what should have been a 14 hour travel took 24 hours. They have barely any entertainment on board, seats on top of seats to cram as many poor saps in as possible, has staff who'd rather be elsewhere and serves vile food. Dreading the journey back, avoid this airline at all costs. read more

My recent flight from LHR to EWR... Before take off announcement " If there is anything we can do to make your journey more comfortable, just don't hesitate to let us know." ...One hour into flight I am wearing headphones watching a film... Flight attendant comes over and questions me in an accusatory tone: "SIR! Do you have an EMERGENCY!?" Me, looking around in worried surprise:" Err, no. Why?" Flight attendant berates me: "Because you have pressed the call button!" Me, feeling suitably shamed: "Oops, sorry, I didn't realise." Evidently I must have accidentally pressed that little button on the remote half an hour ago when I turned the reading light on which is right next to it. Clearly if it had been an emergency it would probably be too late now, 30 minutes later! How nice of them to be concerned. Has anyone else noticed that on some flights and airlines, especially US ones, the attendants have now started running a military Boot camp rather than a friendly customer service that is advertised? On a positive note however, the food was actually quite good, better than Virgin and on the way back the crew seemed more friendly. It's often the case that one crew can be great and the next not so great. Terrible check in system at Heathrow where they make you queue up in a snake for 30 mins to get to a check in machine, which then can't find your reservation even though it sent you an email confirming your check in,and then queue again to check your bags by which time you are late for your flight and they have to pull you out of the queue. When it used to be Continental it seemed so much simpler and easier... Tip: Don't EVER dare to push that flight attendant call button, unless you really have to or enjoy humiliation.They should put that button behind a little flip up cover. read more

I am in agreement with Tisha B. You can keep the 100,000 miles. You make me want to stab myself in the eyes with a dull spoon. If someone pays for an upgrade and you can't deliver it, you have to give them their money back. Not make them go to their credit card company. read more

OK, I've got to give credit where credit is due..United Airlines actually made me a surprisingly happy customer on this transatlantic flight from London Heathrow to Washington Dulles. I'd long been nervous about the merger between United and Continental, as in my opinion Continental was very good and I'd never had a bad experience with that airline, while United was average at best, but also more expensive than many other airlines. Since the time of the merger, I've seen signs of United bringing Continental down to their level, rather than taking lessons from Continental and striving to improve United to be more like Continental once was. All that being said, United did OK on this flight. I arrived at the airport and there was a relatively short queue for check-in and ticketing that moved quickly. My checked bag was about 2 Kg over their weight limit. The guy looked at me and said "Your bag is overweight, I need to charge you nearly $200 in overweight baggage fees." I said "Well, there's nothing in there that I can remove, and due to some projects I was working on in Europe, my bag is a bit heavier on the return than it was when I came here". He suggested I go to a shop in the airport and purchase a bag so I could check 2 bags which would be free...He explained that it would be cheaper for me to purchase a new bag than it would be to pay the overweight fees for this one. At that point, I was tired from flying and traveling for the past 2 1/2 weeks, I was on my way home, the last thing I needed was another cheap bag to add to my collection so I told him to charge me for the overweight if it was that big of a deal. He asked if I had any carryons and I showed him my laptop bag. He said "That's it??" as if he was expecting more. I explained that it was, and he told me that since I had such a small carryon, he'd balance the baggage weight between the two and wouldn't need to charge me for the overweight checked bag, but that "I'd been warned". Right...Onto the actual flight. The boarding process was relatively fast and efficient; there were 2 aisles on this plane with large overhead bins on both sides of each aisle, so plenty of room for everyone's carryon items. I can't tell you how thrilled I was when I sat down in my seat, switched on the entertainment system located in the back of the seat in front of mine and saw that it was truly "on demand", and that it had a great, full stock of movies, TV shows and games that appealed to me! After making a few transatlantic flights within the past year or two on planes with no individual seatback entertainment systems, or ones with a crappy or very limited selection, or still others where movies are started on a schedule and you can watch them in progress or try and catch them from the beginning based on their time schedule, this was truly a happy find...The list of comedy films alone (which I was in the mood for) scanned 4 pages, and ran the gambit from the mid-'80s through new releases. Before takeoff, I'd already picked out 3 movies that I was hoping to watch, and those along with a nap here and there meant I'd be back on US soil in seemingly no time at all! As I've mentioned in past reviews, it's amazing how quickly the time can pass with a bit of entertainment to keep the passengers occupied. Iberia, LOT, American, Delta, US Airways and some other airlines..TAKE NOTE! The food was decent and adequate on this flight, my only minor criticism is that they did not offer complimentary wine and beer with dinner. Having a simple glass of wine helps passengers relax and fall into a nice slumber during the flight, and you'd think the flight attendants would appreciate that the passengers would go to sleep and they in turn would have less to deal with. Here, if you wanted one of the little 6 oz bottles of vino, it'd cost you $7 each. The flight itself was uneventful, and we arrived at Washington-Dulles about 30 minutes ahead of schedule, which was great, because we then had to face the long lines for US Immigration, collect our checked bags, go through customs, back through TSA security, etc. before moving on to our next flights. read more

Watching that recent news story on United's treatment of the passenger (being bumped by employees) & how it took the CEO ages to directly apologize--just got me riled up about how an airline thinks about the folks it serves. Then I looked, and lo and behold, I can actually give 'em a review on Yelp (had not checked that after my LAST trip with them!). That story reminded me of a negative experience I had with United; mine nothing nearly as troublesome as that story; and mine was out of Heathrow (to SFO): January 2012 returning from a 12 day vacation in London, my friend and I were boarding, each with our carry-on luggage. When I got near my seating area, the flight attendant looked at me, then my carry-on, and informed me that my suitcase would not fit in the overhead bin, and I would need to check it. I let her know I have never had to check it, that its the one I always use for my carry-on when I travel, and I proceeded to secure it into the bin above my seat. There were still people boarding, and plenty of spots left in those bins. (Since I was kind of mid-group in boarding, I didn't think they could already be full!). Just tried to shrug off the curt and boardering-on-rude behavior (sans warm hello greeting) from this flight attendant (a mid-40's blonde woman). As I'm a generally easy-going and smiley person, I rarely get treated this way, so it really stood out! Later on the flight I discovered that my lunch (which I had reserved ahead of time along with my seat assignment) had been switched to the "special plate" which I did not order. NO, we're not talking vegan or gluten free, more like the "diet" kind. Hmmm, I know that isn't the lunch I ordered; does anyone know if flight attendants can change your order? Did she not only think my bag should go on a diet, but I should as well?! Possible pay-back for my reluctance to acquiesce to the overhead bin issue? Well, if it was--my friend willingly shared her cookies! read more

SFO-LHR: horror movie. Enterntainment systems from the 1960s, old plane with ash tray still in seats!!! 10 hours in a rock hard seat LHR-SFO: better plane, ACTUAL enterntainment system, same seat, beef brisket with cranberry sauce read more

First off, my husband and I have been loyal to united for many years. In addition we both have and use the Mileage Plus Chase card as our primary credit cards. This is the first negative experience that we have had. Unfortunately it is has been very frustrating and put a very terrible taste in our mouth for United Mileage Plus. The problem started when we were attempting to find if we could make modifications to our existing hotel reservation in Seattle. While doing so, the agent we spoke with informed us he could not see the pricing to modify our reservation. He informed us we should cancel the current reservation, research the desired modifications, and if we didn't like the terms, we could just re-book our existing reservation. I followed his instructions and cancelled my reservation to research more trip options. Upon doing so I realized the new desired changes to our travel plans were not going to work out as hoped. I immediately went to re-book my previous reservation. I quickly realized that what we had been instructed to do by the agent was false. The system was now trying to charge an additional $200 under the "prices subject to change" clause. The customer service agents were unable/willing to help in our re-booking the reservation at the original terms. We called several different departments and patiently talked to several different Managers/Supervisors. Unfortunately for me and my husband, 93K miles and $500 wasn't enough? Now they want 93K miles and $700 for the same reservation. This is a huge bummer because this trip was a gift from my husband for my 30th birthday. I had my heart set on the Palihotel. Now I'm afraid its out of our price range. I am extremely disappointed and feel let down by the Mileage Plus Program. A program I used to trust... we feel swindled to say the least. read more

Baggage arrived from Atlanta to London Heathrow 24+ hours after I arrived primarily due to weather and a change of flights. This would have been understandable. However, three days later my bag was still sitting at the carousel in Heathrow airport when I personally went to the airport to search for my missing bag. When I showed up at the airport and called baggage from the kiosk, they knew exactly where the bag was located. It was just a case of "it's not my job to get this bag to our customer." This after hours and hours on the phone with United trying to locate the bag. It might have eventually been delivered as promised but after four days I decided to search for it myself. United agreed to reimburse me for the necessary items I had to purchase during the four days without luggage. But, to nobody's surprise, it has now been four months and I haven't received the reimbursement. I did receive a phone call from United two months ago confirming they received the required paperwork and that the check was in the mail. I will make every effort to fly another airline for all future travel. read more

Obviously not a patch on BA or Virgin across the Atlantic, but on a par with American and Delta. The facilities at Heathrow are far better than those of the competition, with Terminal 2 being a delight and the United lounge being first class. Things on board are a little ropey - old planes, old seats, old entertainment systems, extremely old flight attendants. However, the Economy Plus section is nice when you get it free and United are generous with upgrades. Been flying them less this year as they are a good value when they are the cheapest on the route, but BA and Virgin are now consistently cheaper and, apart from the Heathrow terminal, are better in-flight. read more

LA to London : The airplane I flew in was old and uncomfortable. The entertainment display was around 7" and The food was awful, the scramble turkey breakfast tasted like plastic and didn't have Turkey . But the worst part of my experience is that there was a 3 hours delay in LA and here I am in London terminal to terminal trying to find my suitcase after I missed two flights. Nobody at the United Airlines desk has been able to help me just yet. They keep sending me From one member to the other. all of them very useless. I knew my experience with this airline wasn't going to be good as I had used them internally in the US and they are horrible at customer service but had to Book a flight last minute and decided to give them a try. Sometimes a couple hundred savings is not worth if you have to waste a day of your life trying to figure out anything with these people. Book other airlines. Cheers! read more

It's not Emirates, British Airways or Virgin but United's Business First is pretty good for the price. I've been flying with them since the early 90's and they've had their ups and downs but it's fairly comfortable and the food is good. It's much better than Lufthansa's Business but doesn't compare to Lufthansa's First Class. read more

See all

In reality, this deserves NO stars. AWFUL! On Wed., Dec. 4, 2013, I boarded United Airlines flight 48 traveling from Newark, New Jersey to Mumbai, India. I was traveling to India to attend my grandfather's funeral. His passing away was sudden, and I had to take time off from work. I don't get free vacation days. Also, I was going through emotional breakdowns due to losing such an important family member. The airplane had taken off safely from Newark. However, due to loud and strange sounds that emanated from the posterior of the aircraft about two hours into the flight, an unexpected landing was made in London, United Kingdom. Once landed, it seemed as if most of the first and business class passengers were given other flight options on the same day. Though economy class passengers were informed they would have to remain in London for one night. I admit, it was a smart decision to make the landing for safety purposes. I have to commend United Airlines for the promptness of providing food and hotel room accommodations for the passengers. Each of the passengers were provided with a printed letter indicating United Airlines' apologies for the diversion; the letter also included contact numbers for customers to call in order to obtain information regarding other flights and reservations. During the evening, it was announced that the same aircraft (United Airlines flight 1755) would be heading non-stop to Mumbai in the morning on Fri., Dec. 6, 2013 - to take off at 08:00 am. One of the most frustrating days of my life occurred the next day... Passengers were taken from the Arora Hotel to the London Heathrow Airport via shuttles in the morning; the first shuttle buses arrived at the hotel around 05:00 am. Once at the airport, I checked in my bag, passed through security, and then waited patiently to board at the gate. It was nearing 08:00 am and still, no announcements to board. I've traveled many times therefore suspected a delay of a few minutes or so. Though the concern came about when it went pass one hour. It then was two hours later. Three hours later. Four. Other passengers including myself questioned the reasoning behind the delay. The United Airlines staff members at the airport had inadequate information and were very dishonest by falsely assuring the passengers and myself that the plane would board soon. Hours went by and many of us had no idea as to when the aircraft would be parting. Note, I did not have an international plan on my cell phone though I was keeping in touch with my family members in the USA and India via email and Facebook messaging through the internet. The London Heathrow Airport only provided passengers with free Wi-Fi internet for 45 minutes; after the 45 minutes, I was left with no means to contact my family. No internet voucher or some sort was available to the waiting passengers. Though finally two of the United Airlines staff members offered their cell phones for quick calls. With regard to the original aircraft, the initial problem was NOT fixed hence the waiting... Following a number of hours, ANOTHER airplane was assigned to take the flight. While all of this information was slowly being revealed to the waiting passengers, I really did not understand why the disabled aircraft wasn't fixed prior to "assigning" it to be in service? As I'm somewhat young, this delay wasn't a hardship for me though the wait with scarce information was frustrating. I felt empathy for the elderly passengers (including those who spoke very little English) and adults traveling with children. Instead of 08:00 am, the flight took off in the afternoon after 13:00 pm. The additional thing that set me off internally was the fact that only turkey sandwiches were served as a snack during the flight. It should be common sense to airline companies that flights to India include a number of vegetarian passengers. I'm a vegetarian (born & raised as one) and when initially booking the flight, I called United Airlines and specified vegetarian food items for myself - though I found out this was useless. In addition, the flight attendants were very rude. Note, I am a patient person and it takes A LOT to upset me. Anyhow, due to this mishap (that would have been prevented by United Airlines had they conducted a quality check of the aircraft BEFOREHAND and prior to taking off), I lost precious time to spend with my family AND I missed my grandfather's funeral - which the latter was the intent of my trip. I understand unexpected occurrences with travel do occur and safety precautions are appreciated, but the way the passengers and myself were treated while awaiting departure in London was beyond unbelievable. Instead of reaching Mumbai on Thu., Dec. 5, 2013 around 21:40 pm, I reached on Sat., Dec. 7 after 12:00 am. Overall, this experience of mine with United Airlines was awful and gave me tears. I've decided to choose other airlines OVER United Airlines. They do NOT deserve my business. read more

I fly with united alot ok but I heard that if you fly on the 747s they dont have personal entertainment on economy only on first class and business class. This is not fair there spoiling all those passengers on first/business class just because your on economy doesnt mean you don't deserve personal entertainment that not fair. If your planning to fly out of here with United or come to London with this airline best advice make sure you don't take the 747 take the boeing 777 instead. read more

Come on United you and your US peers put our Nation to shame. I have no beef with your flight attendants. Sure Korean and Singapore's are young and hot but yours are professional and experienced. I do despise your amenities though. Seat back entertainment in Economy has been behind the curve for over a decade so skip the "we're working on it" crap. read more

It's United... But it isn't all bad. T2 is really nice, though the United gates are quite far from the center of the terminal and lounges. United does a better job with boarding here than in other European airports, as the agents seem to actually understand the 5 group process. They enforced premier access but kind of screwed up for group 2, as we ended up being allowed to board just before group 3, so there wasn't much benefit of "priority boarding" there. Before boarding, you also have to go through an additional passport check and receive a sticker. Unfortunately, they still use an ancient 747 on the sfo route, which means constant delays/cancellations, and spotty wifi. However it's supposed to go away in the fall. Catering was quite decent though, for economy in United. Overall ok, but nothing special. Psa: take the later 777 flight to sfo to avoid delays. read more

I have had nothing but trouble with United airlines, I have called multiple times requesting handicap accommodations which have yet to be provided. I think it is ridiculous that everyone I have spoken to seems to have there hands tied but can not point me in the direction of someone that can help. I am especially appalled that seemingly simple accommodations can not be made to ensure the health and safety of there passengers. I will not be flying this airline ever again! read more

How exactly can I rate my experience with United Airlines as "Worst Customer Service Experience Ever" THE STORY: We were at the airport and our international flight was cancelled for 2 days because the aircraft had maintenance/technical problems. United presented this maintenance/technical problem as an 'extraordinary circumstance' as a justification for the cancellation of the flight and as a defense to avoid paying monetary compensation to its passengers. I mentioned to them that unless we know the full conditions surrounding these 'extraordinary circumstances' and can review and fully understand the details of these circumstances and supporting evidence, it is too difficult to asses whether United has a legitimate claim. For example, suppose the aircraft Captain has spilled his pre-flight cup of green tea over the aircraft flight management computer, thus grounding the aircraft. Arguable this might conceivably be an extraordinary circumstance (as he does not spill tea every day - but it is not an unknown event) but it is certainly an event that could reasonably have been avoided. Take the example one step further, what if the flight management computer developed a spontaneous internal fault; is this an extraordinary circumstance? My point is that a large aircraft has (literally) millions of working components and inevitably these fail. If a spontaneous failure of an aircraft component caused the grounding of an aircraft, very few flights would leave the ground each day, at least not as scheduled. Which then led me to ask, did the components that caused our cancellation have a backup, what was the maintenance regime applied to that component(s), was this followed and where is the evidence that the proper protocols were followed, etc? NOTE: United never bothered to answer my inquiries. In order for me or any passenger to know any of this, a detailed maintenance/technical investigation would be needed to understand the legitimacy of their claim and whether it came within the allowable realm of an 'extraordinary circumstance' and whether United had taken all reasonable measures to avoid the circumstance. As consumers, we do not have access to these details (or knowledge of their proper functions since we typically are not airline specialist) and have to take your 'extraordinary circumstances' claim at face value - which I am sure you can understand, is difficult. Simply put, in our situation, the use of 'extraordinary circumstances' as a means to deny our request based on EU Regulations is the equivalent to ''the dog ate our homework''. I say this because an airline could, in almost every situation, discover some form of disruption to the operational harmony which the airline could then present as an 'excuse' to justify that an aircraft could not leave the ground. Since an airline is not omnipotent, any set-back(s), when considered in isolation, justifiably can be said to be beyond their control. Therefore, what appears to be relevant is how, in any particular set of circumstances, an airline prepares and/or reacts to each and every set back. It is then that the maintenance/technical problem(s) excuse is conveniently used (in favor or the airline) as a means to validate flight cancellations as an extraordinary event - which is the case in our situation. The key point is which party has the burden of justifying the cause of the cancellation (the airline) and also the burden of dealing with any supposed ambiguity (the passenger). Basically what United did was present this vague 'extraordinary circumstances' to their advantage and as a consumers we are left to simply believe what they tell us and accept their supposed 'goodwill' which accounts to nothing in terms of the personal time and money United has wasted - time and money that we will never get back and that a 'goodwill' certificate will never cover. IN SHORT: Flight cancellations happen all the time and all customer's ask is that the airlines not act as if it was our fault or claim "extraordinary circumstances" as a means to keep giving us the runaround, especially if the circumstance could have been avoided. HOW THIS STORY ENDED: I took this to the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and they too did nothing to resolve my complaint with United other than refer me to a lawyer - which I'm sure is typical of most consumer related stories. The consumer has no rights when dealing with large corporations so my plan is to review United Airlines on every single review board that I can find. read more

My wife and I recently flew from LHR to LA and then a month later, back to LHR via Washington (Dulles). That flight was delayed,by 11 hours, but in my experience that is nothing unusual when flying internally in the USA and trying to get outof the USA!!!!!!!!. As an ex Global Services member, with around 16 years of flying with United I expected much better. We paid for upgrades at the time of booking our flights, with miles and copay!!!!! Imagine my horror when we arrived back home to find that United had taken 14 (FOURTEEN) amounts of $550 out of my Credit Card Account?????. This was obviously a fraudulent and illegal action by United and it has now taken me a week to get some of the monies credited back to my account. United still owe me for 2 amounts of £550 as well as all the ancillary costs I have now incurred as a result of United illegal and fraudulent actions. Needless to say trying to contact anyone with some authority in the States is hopeless and I have to say most of the United staff I have spoken to should be sacked. I am now in the process of issuing a writ against United Airlines!!!!!! As someone who ran my own Business for 50 years had I run my company like these people I would now be on the dole!!!! I have never been so poorly treated in my life!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!. No one cares or ever replies to correspondence. The only way to get anything done is clearly to sue them and let the world know how arrogant and useless they really are. Richard Bowden read more

United is horrific. Deserves a negative five stars. Case in point is UA 935 on Feb 8, 2013. Flight was diverted to Shannon Ireland due to mechanical issues. Long story short - had to spend TWO nights in Shannon. Fix didn't work, so when we tried to leave again on Saturday ran into mechanical issue (initial problem NOT fixed); then they finally brought in a new plane on Sunday. Arrived 48 hours late. Communication from the crew was horrific, hotel they put people in was a joke (20 minutes away when there was a perfectly good hotel within walking distance of the airport!). The merger between Continental and United hasn't gone well. They are losing elite customers like me left and right. After this flight, I'm going over to AA or Delta. I've had enough... read more

would not fly again, delays leaving LHR (regular according to forums), missed connection at NY.. then put on the very last flight out to our destiation (also delayed) several hours later, 2 very tired children- one with special needs - and one set of frazzled parents. Now have to fight to get compensation as we were on through tickets. CAA agree, County Court Judgement issued and still ignoring.. tried desperatly to resolve at an earlier stage, but they treat customers very very poorly on flight and off. Go Virgin Airways! read more

In July we flew from London Heathrow to Houston to start our USA holiday. As it was an organised tour, we had no control over the airline used and after reading all the negative reviews on United I definitely was not looking forward to our flights with them. We flew Economy Plus on a Dreamliner which was very comfortable, I particularly like the lighting system which fools your brain into thinking that you have had a full night sleep. The atmosphere inside the cabin is not as dry as on other planes and this one did not catch fire, always a bonus. From Houston to Las Vegas, we were then on "cattle class" very cramped seats on a very old Airbus which had seen better days, no food unless you were prepared to pay a ridiculous amount but we did get free water, tea and coffee. We then flew from San Francisco to Honolulu on a Boeing 777 which wasn't too bad. We then flew back from Honolulu to Los Angeles on a Boeing 737 which was very cramped and not comfortable at all for a 5 hours flight with again no food provided apart from water, tea and coffee. We then flew back to London Heathrow on another Boeing 777 where we were lucky enough to be upgraded to Economy plus with 2 of us on 3 seats, which made it fairly comfortable. Atmosphere in this plane was definitely very dry and no fancy lighting. All the luggage arrived undamaged and at the same time as us. The only thing that was weird was that my suitcase had been opened, damaging the lock in the process, I thought that it had been the TSA but after contacting them they assured me that if they had opened it they would have left a note inside. Nothing was taken but I had to cut the lock! We were very lucky that all the flights we took with United were on time. The same cannot be said a couple of weeks later for friends of ours who were delayed 6 hours from London Heathrow to San Francisco and again from Phoenix to London Heathrow by 5 hours with no explanation given. So on what we have experienced I have to rate them fairly high but I would be very wary to use them again as we might not be so lucky next time. read more