It all depends on what you call flying a lot, and who and what pays for it. For a person who is flying on their company’s ticket, free of charge for themselves, it’s very easy to “fly a lot” by your definition. Everything from their hotels and airfare are paid for.

I purchase my tickets through my own funds, full fare usually. It’s the fact that I had to call 20 times and practically cry to them to make this happen when these really are my miles.

I’m an avid aviation fan, someone that understands the airline industry quite well, and has also seen the decline in service and especially customer service. Airline employees do not like their jobs, or at least that is what it seems. And I can honestly agree with them. As they get frustrated, passengers get frustrated, and heads collide.

Every flight for me is pure joy. I love flying and grew up in a Cessna 335 twin of my dad’s going back and forth from his house to my mom’s after my parents divorce. Therefore, I’m not in anyway “never getting what I want” or always “won’t be happy whatever I get.”

In fact, I’ve seen many people who couldn’t tell a 747-400 from a 757-200 to save their lives throw a fit about missing their flight because they were 10 min too late for check-in and start yelling at the ticket agent. It’s sad really.

Do I not like United? Not at the moment, no. But, they are really just not up to industry standards in quality and customer service. Go to any Asian carrier and it’s simply a delight to fly no matter what class of service you are seated in.

I know United is modernizing their fleet with new amenities, but even the first class seats on the 777′s are worn out. They are the last US major airline to start upgrading, but most US airlines are not up to par with the amenities that are supplied on other carriers outside the US either.

I think it’s just the sad state of affairs with the Airline industry and all part of why you see them collapsing and merging so much. Southwest airlines for example is one of the most profitable airlines in the world, and also rated No. 1 in customer service. I don’t like flying them that much because I prefer to choose my seat and have premium space available such as Business and First and they do not fly international, which is my usual travel, but they are ALWAYS friendly, and they never make you go through so many menus on the phone system. They pick up immediately and go from there.

I wish we had a large international carrier with large modern aircraft that operated like southwest, but with service classes.

Having said all that, I’ve never gotten any better treatment from any other US or UK airline. They are all at least as bad and in some cases worse. I’ve been a high premier member on AA at various times and have never felt like it meant a thing. I recently tried Virgin from LA to Nairobi, Kenya and it was a disaster.

One of the options that one US based agent, a guy after all of these fees, started pressuring me to get a United Mileage Plus visa as a solution to my problem, and by pressure, I mean high sales pressure. I’m very aware of “high pressure sales techniques, having worked in an industry which employed them. I had forgotten about him trying to pawn that off to me. After all, I did call United about fifteen times!

First of all, this WOULD NOT fix my current situation, it might help in the future as he stated that a seat would be reserved for me on any flight, but the last thing I need, or want, is another credit card. There is an offer for it on http://www.united.com, but he stated that I would not get the same offer as he was giving me on the credit card. I’m not sure what he meant by that, and I don’t know if he gets some sort of commission for me applying over the phone, which honestly, I don’t like doing as that information is personal. After 3 or 4 times of me saying I didn’t want it, he finally gave up, or I was going to hang up if he didn’t.

Personally after my experiences flying to Thailand recently, the business class on their 747-400′s is a complete disaster. They say that more than 50% of their 747′s have been converted to the new business class, but it seriously is almost the SAME seat as the domestic first on widebodies. On the United Website, the workhorse of the fleet, the 777′s are NOT being retrofitted with the new Business Class at the moment, as they are concentrating on the new Economy class seat. This is ironic as the 777 is usually used as the MOST premium aircraft on the most lucrative routes such as London, Amsterdam, Tokyo, Dubai, Kuwait, etc. There is a graphic somewhere on http://www.united.com that shows the fleet progress, but I believe it to be untrue. The 767′s are getting priority over premium aircraft, however, their 767′s fly to more leisure destinations, other than Moscow, and they are used on some London Heathrow routes. I’m not sure what United is trying to cater to at this point, but it’s not appealing to me whatsoever.

The PVT’s in international business and domestic first are no bigger than economy, (although PTV’s don’t exist on 747-400”s in economy, which is odd as I don’t believe any carrier in the US continues to not provide PTV’s in economy on the 747, and certainly not any of the international carries. It’s sort of an industry standard now). I felt bad for those passengers back there, no AVOD, nothing. My footrest on the NRT-BKK flight broke, and there was no other seat offered to me…which I guess I understand as the flight was sold out, but the business seats really are a disgrace. Don’t expect lie-flat seats. Or even slanted 180 degree recline seats.

It reminds me of when everyone was complaining about Northwest Airlines being the most terrible airline in the US in the late 1990′s and early 2000′s, and perhaps the western world. Northwest has cleaned up their act, and after I expend my miles, I’m switching back to American or Continental. O’Hare has become somewhat of a hassle, especially through customs, leaving the international terminal, getting on the train, which is OUTSIDE the airport and again passing through security at the United Terminal, is not a fun experience.

I recently flew American, and their 777′s look so my cleaner, fresh, and very business-like. While not the incredible luxury of airlines like Emirates and Singapore Airlines, which is a totally different market, it’s much better than United. The new Business seats on American are a great addition, and the cabin was bright and airy, and most of all, CLEAN! Also, American airlines has taken over, for the most part, International Terminal D at DFW airport, which in my opinion, is probably the best terminal in the United States at this point, and other than American, the addition of KLM services to DFW is a testament….

AA is even using it for domestic flights as well, especially in the evenings, and lets just be frank, the flight for me from Oklahoma City to Chicago is about 2 hours, as opposed to a 23 minute flight to DFW, which is an international gateway, with KLM, British Airways, Korean Air, and Lufthansa and AA hosting huge amounts of flights to Europe, Asia, and South America.

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24 Hours Later and about 5 Hours on the Phone with United Mileage Plus Premier:

The Solution Found Finally After 20+ Calls to United Plus (And it does help if you are a Premier Elite Member)

Well, I tried several times with United to get the fees waived, and finally, I got my mother’s doctor information, date of surgery, and hospital details to United. They waived all of the fees.

My mistake however, was having them credit the miles back to the account, which takes 72 hours, or 3 business days. I FINALLY got through to someone in Chicago who was WONDERFUL! He worked to get my miles, free of charge, re-credited to my account immediately. I requested this because their 40,000 mile promotions are ending within the next week, so I really couldn’t wait for them any longer. He understood, and while I had to hold forever, he came back and told me it was noted on my account, however, he got disconnected from his “resources” twice, and when he tried back the second time, they were closed. Not sure who he was talking to, but he said if I call back at 7AM, the notes were in my account and they would be credit immediately.

I guess trying 20 plus times gets you somewhere. Stayed very nice, but almost begged him, but it was worth it. Still, I’m probably taking my business elsewhere, but keeping my fingers crossed they get credited, which he assured me they would. So not a bad day and HOURS on the phone with United. Thank god for 1-800 numbers!

Phil G

And such a twitch might be the point at which customers realise that Ryanair don’t seek profits by maximising customer service but by eliminating it altogether.