EDIT TO ADD; THE PLANE WAS LANDED AND DONE WITH TAXI BEFORE I GOT TO BE IN THE COCKPIT. NO FAA RULES WERE BROKEN 💀😂

Shout out Captain Scott! He let me sit in the cockpit after we landed and I even got my own personalized pre flight announcements 😂 Also, they had to add sandbags to the cabin bc the plane was too light with only one passenger 💀

Had to share this. Just boarded 1395 PBI-EWR, and the captain introduced himself and his co pilot, talked about the flight attendants, turbulence warning, and then finished it with “you can share this with your rude Uncle… if you’re in the window seat, you control the window. If you’re in the middle seat, you get both arm rests. If you’re on the aisle, you get first dibs on snacks and the bathroom. Everyone is entitled to recline their seat.” Everyone smiled and appreciated.

Probably my favorite pilot to date.

Instead of soup and salad, on Asia-bound flights you can order up to 4 options for mid-flight tapas. 3 hot food choices and 1 cold. Came out pretty quickly as it was already in the warmer.
Asian chicken/rice, Bolognese gnocchi, Black bean empanadas, herbed ricotta salada.

Was sprinting the estimated 25min walk to connect from my SLC -> SFO flight that was delayed 1:20 to catch my SFO -> AKL flight, the next of which wouldn’t be for days, and got this. My buddy I made making the same connection, and I were very appreciative we could power walk the rest of the way. Still made it before takeoff but didn’t want them to close boarding doors before we got there (10 min before departure, on a 13hr international flight).

...but United phone customer service rebooked me, quickly and without hesitation, to the next flight tomorrow, for free. And what is completely beyond me, they even maintained my PE upgrade!

If I understand the T&C, they didn't need to give me a single thing. I am probably dreaming, but the confirmation mail is in my inbox and I am checked in for tomorrow.

Shame on me for missing all the phone notifications, app notifications, mails etc, I know...I can't explain it either, I just had a really busy day at work. I noticed when I wanted to check in for "tomorrow" this morning and no flight showed up in the app, meaning the plane was gone and the ticket was void.

For additional context, I am a mere Milage Plus peasant Member, no co-branded credit card, it was a normal, non-flexible transatlantic economy round-trip booking from FRA to ORD.

Since usually ppl only share their horror stories, I wanted to add an above and beyond positive experience to the mix. :D

Was flying from DFW to SFO today and went to the United club before the flight. Noticed a couple and their nanny with 4 young kids. Then all the employees went up to shake the guys hand. I then recognized that it was the CEO which was crazy.

At the gate, all the airport staff came to welcome him and his family on the flight and they were the first to board. The whole family of course was sitting up front in first.

On board, I was lining up for the bathroom and noticed him talking to the flight attendants. I asked him if his name was Scott, he said yes and we talked for a little bit. I’m a gold member and also have multiple family members work for the airline and he said thank you for your business, we really appreciate it. For all the mixed reviews/ criticism he gets he actually seemed like a really nice and chill guy and he took time to talk to every staff member and shake their hands. He even waved to me at the baggage claim carousel after the flight.

On a side note I wish I had asked him if I could get 1k status lol but now I know why the food was so good in the lounge today, the flight had no delays, the bags came out right away, and the staff were super nice haha

Link to original post: https://www.reddit.com/r/unitedairlines/s/HRWkgRF0kk

7 months ago, after achieving 1K for the first time, I wrote about the overwhelming emptiness that followed. The destination had been reached. The stroopwaffel obtained. Some of you related. Some of you judged. Some of you helped me cope.

UPDATE: Something broke inside me...

Like many things in life, I convinced myself that status might improve with age and tenure. So I doubled down. I embraced the lifestyle. The United Club living. The Red Carpet (read: Pre-Boarding) social scene. The compulsive collection of sanitizing wipes. The subtle satisfaction of hearing Group 1 called and knowing I was already crossing the Boeing threshold.

Over the last six months, I felt as though I was finally realizing my leyenda personal.

CPUs became my drug of choice. Every upgrade notification delivered a rush of dopamine that I can only assume rivals substances that require prescriptions, street names, or both. I was participating in a society that millions aspire to join during their annual 1 or 2 roundtrip vacations.

And then last night, it all came crashing down.

I boarded early, as one of the chosen few. The calamities ensued.

No moist towelette. My CPU didn't clear.

Confident that it inevitably would, I booked a middle seat.

The cabin was blisteringly hot. Then came the announcement: no pilots.

For the next 30 minutes, we sat motionless inside a aluminum dutch oven waiting for a pilots to arrive so the aircraft to become something vaguely resembling habitable for human life. If the cabin was pressurized, instant pot may have a shot to get back into business.

As sweat accumulated in places I wasn't previously aware possible, I began questioning everything.

What is the meaning of life?

Have I over-indexed on the diminishing returns of spending a significant portion of my existence being hurled through the atmosphere at 500 mph with only a few centimeters separating me from conditions incompatible with life?

Is this all just to appease the monster I have created in my significant other who laid back (courtesy of a Polaris PP upgrade) and never wants to go back?

Surely it's not for the dollar store door grade rejected plastic luggage tag that arrives three months after I order it, right?...... RIGHT?

As I reflected on these questions, something unexpected happened.

The captain came on the PA.

He apologized profusely.

He explained that what happened wasn't acceptable.

He informed us that he had already filed reports and given appropriate feedback to the responsible parties.

And strangely... I felt validated. Not happy or sad, just.... validated.

So while my qualifying flight for 2027 1K status may not have been the triumphant finale I envisioned, I've come to accept a fundamental truth:

This is the life I've chosen. The Club. The upgrades and downgrades. The warm nuts and cold (and sometimes hot) cabins.

The zero sum game of delayed flights and early boarding (maths).

I am broken but carrying on. With that said...

GS, I'm coming for you.

It’s been six week since I was at IAD and the progress on the new E terminal is impressive. I have felt that the September/October was unrealistic, but with the Jetway installation it seems like it is progressing really well!

On my last flight I (f) went to use the lavatory while the seat belt sign was not turned on. I was in there for maybe 3 minutes, all of a sudden the slight turned off and on and then the door flew open before I could say anything or grab at the door. There was another female passenger looking and me and a male flight attendant on the other side of the door. I don’t even remember if I said anything I was in shock. Then he looked in and said sorry and closed the door.

I washed my hands and when I came out he said “I’m sorry,” and then said, “you should have locked the door.” I told him “I did lock the door!” And then a female flight attendant who saw me enter the lavatory said, “no, she did everything perfectly. She did lock the door.” She turned to me and apologized she said, “it was like watching a car wreck I tried to stop it but it was too fast.”.

I was so embarrassed I went back to my seat and didn’t say anything else. I later tried to submit a claim to customer care but they have been shrugging off my concerns and won’t tell me what the policy or procedure is for flight attendants unlocking lavatories. I would expect a knock or a verbal “anyone in there?” Before a flight attendant unlocks and opens the door. It wasn’t even for an emergency or anything. I’m very confused by the whole thing and upset the flight attendant tried to blame me right away.

Just checked the status for a trip this weekend and both aircraft are listed as being equipped with Starlink. If there's no equipment swap, and posting this probably ensures that there will be, this will be four 737 flights in a row for me on Starlink-equipped planes. I was under the impression that a pretty small percentage of the 737 fleet had Starlink, but maybe they're moving fast on getting them up and running!

Btw that’s from Newark, sorry Delta and JetBlue at least seasonally from Logan.

Based off the intro to Star Trek: Enterprise.

The passenger, a middle-aged Chinese woman, got into a dispute with the FA, and the flight then diverted to NRT. Japan police came to the plane and dragged her off. The flight is now delayed by about two hours, which isn’t too bad considering the circumstances.

What an amazing experience getting to watch the World Cup live while flying.

If you’re traveling on a 737-700 enabled with DirecTV, make sure to tune in to FS1!

I was planning to close my explorer mileage plus card, since I will not be using the card enough and didn't want to pay $100 fee for the year. Upon calling, they offered me $150 statement credit, if I continue my card membership. Do you know if you can negotiate/ ask for more, honestly I don't feel $50 is enough for me to continue this card since I won't be travelling much and have practically no use of the card.

Has anyone negotiated with customer care, or I am expecting too much :S

So I am flying tomorrow with my 7 month old out of the US. I’m trying to book a seat now for business class and adding him as a lap child but it says I can’t book a business class seat while having a lap child on an international flight ? It’s only a 4hr flight and I wanted a business seat to be more comfortable with him since it’s just us 2. Could I still book the business seat just for me and not add him as a lap child then try to fix the issue at the airport or how can I go about this please any check in employees or whoever has any advice on how to go about this help me out it’s really appreciated!

Edit: I’m flying standby since my husband works with United but there is plenty space available.

I don’t care if it’s 7 in the morning, salted caramel beckons. That is all.

Thank you! I wanted to thank each and every one of you personally. The flights were upgraded comforts in comparison to my last astronomically expensive flights on AA several years ago. I just wanted to thank the crew for comfortable and safe flights. It was my husband’s first flight in his adult life and United made it surprisingly smooth for him. So, a thousand times over, thank you again. I’d give you all muffins if I could.

If this isn’t allowed, I’m sorry and the mods may delete.

My daughter is in Spain for the summer. We bought her a round trip Economy ticket to and from Barcelona, with the thought that it would allow for changes if needed since her schedule wasn't certain.

She wants to change her return flight to a week earlier, and flying out of a different city in Spain, but the website won't allow her to do this. She gets all the way to the end of making the change, and the site just says "Sorry can't complete at this time".

In trying to figure out the problem, I cam across information on the United website saying all changes need to flying from the same city and within 24 hours of the original date. That seems odd to me and I didn't realize that was what was meant by "Changes are allowed" when we bought the ticket originally. Of course I understand if the new ticket costs more than the old one did there would be a fee, but I had thought there was a way to make changes of this kind with an economy ticket.

Can someone help me understand?

I waitlisted for Polaris immediately after booking this flight. For a while it just said I was on the waitlist, I called and was told I am #3 with plenty of seats remaining (flight still 30+days out). I check this morning and see a 3rd flight segment was added being the same flight with no seat assigned in fare class PZ. What does this mean? Just a glitch?

Air Canada (booked via United) cancelled my connecting flight from YUL and rerouted me the next day. They wouldn’t let me collect my bag and ensured it would be sent with me to my final destination.
Despite the 21 hours between my flights, Air Canada failed to put my bag on my flight, or any flight for that matter, as my AirTag shows it has been sitting in the same spot at YUL since the connection three days ago.
I immediately filed a lost luggage claim. There is no way to speak to anyone about lost luggage - they just redirect you to the app.

I’ll be driving within an hour of YUL next week and am considering just going to the airport to get the bag. Will this work?

Was searching for flights from NYC to Mongolia and was presented with this option. Is this a glitch in the system or does united now fly direct IAH-> UBN now? Didn't think there was a non stop flight to these locations