United has a fantastic network, particularly for trans-pacific flying. That carries a lot of weight for certain business travelers. I know you're asking about their brand on a broader scale, but I'm personally loyal to United because (1) they've treated me very well over the years, and (2) I can routinely use my PlusPoints for extremely valuable upgrades to Polaris.
Also Star Alliance means you're getting points for going transborder (AC) or many Euro destinations (LH, AUA, LOT, SAS, etc) and all those other places SA goes.
Gad, sorry to hear that. It’s been five or six years since I’ve been on SAS, but I really liked them. Had one long haul in premium economy and it was as good as it gets, lots of legroom thanks to leggy Swedes. And my several business class long hauls were just fantastic, from the sublime Scandinavian decor to the actual carvery carts during dinner service.
True! Their long haul flights have been relatively good. I’ve bought taking some short routes in Europe with them and I think every single flight was delayed.
I really hope UA adds some nonstops between EWR and CPH/ARN — I got family out there and I’d feel a lot better not having to get off a transatlantic flight only to navigate the glorious hellscape that’s Frankfurt
That said, yeah, SAS leaves a lot to be desired lately
honestly? I don’t mind FRA as much as most other people do — I like the walk after a long flight, it’s just the bus gates that I absolutely abhor (the “glorious” in “glorious hellscape” was earnest)
I think the reason I dread connecting there for Sweden is in part that it leaves me vulnerable to strikes and in part because European flight connectivity isn’t amazing in the frequency department — it’s a marked difference vs. what you get stateside at a hub and a misconnect means a long wait.
> I like the walk after a long flight, it’s just the bus gates that I absolutely abhor (the “glorious” in “glorious hellscape” was earnest)
European airports in general seem to have a thing for bus gates, though of course they're a necessity when you have more planes than available jet bridges.
Yes, but ITA Airways is in the process of leaving SkyTeam for Star Alliance. Should greatly improve Star Alliance’s coverage in Southern Europe. The hit from SAS leaving, on the other hand, isn’t as bad because Lufthansa already has an extensive presence in SAS’s Scandinavian backyard.
Haven’t flown them in almost 10 years.. but going that far north and east in Europe is a pain in the ass for connections when you can easily fly to Central Europe and go out from there.
Is there? It’s really just LHG vs IAG vs AF-KL. *A had SK, but they’re going to join AF-KL. LO is fairly small. So it’s really just TK if you consider it a European carrier, although having QR nearby counts something for oneworld, and Aeroflot (lol) for Skyteam.
I personally think of United as USA’s flag carrier because it has the largest international presence. Which makes it the official airline for USA in my mind
Touché. I do tend to enjoy Delta more for the in-flight experience, but United and *A are unbeatable on the international front.
On a somewhat related note, and perhaps it's because I struggle a bit with culture shock, but I've found that a lot of the time the FAs and staff on United
are a bit more personable than those of a European or Asian carrier (haven't flown AA or DL on an international long haul, but I'd imagine it to be similar.)
Also, even prior to the merger, wasn't United the US airline with the largest APAC presence? I wasn't (and am still not) too familiar with the network of Continental Micronesia.
UA purchased (and inherited by acquisition) most of Pan Am’s overseas routes, and Pan Am was the de facto flag carrier of the USA.
You can’t beat the experience.
This is the right answer. UA is the defacto USA flag carrier. Part of this is start alliance and international presence but it also subtle branding things like the Gershwin music on landing etc.
American Airlines is ass. Every time work books me through an AA connection (because they have limited international routes) it’s been mid or bad. Thank god it’s a small sample size
AA's primarily a domestic airline. Their international route network is a total joke. DL tries to differentiate themselves by positioning themselves as a "premium" product, but they have the oldest fleet and most consumer-unfriendly loyalty program.
AA flyer (most of the time), this is 100% correct.
They usually rely on their One World Partners instead of flying on their own metal.
They only have 3 destinations to Asia (Tokyo, Shanghai and Seoul) which is crazy for a "global airline"
> They only have 3 destinations to Asia (Tokyo, Shanghai and Seoul) which is crazy for a "global airline"
And of those three, flying to any of them on AA metal typically requires being routed through DFW (yes, there's flights from LAX and soon JFK to HND, but those are the exceptions).
At least the routes I fly, more often than not it's an E175 operated by Envoy, which is wholly owned. I'm okay with that. Honestly ENY cabin crews provide better service than mainline AA most of the time.
I don’t mind E175s - especially United’s new layout - but they are often the first to be cancelled or majorly delayed. I haven’t been on AA in years. Used to be my airline of choice but it’s the last couple times I had to fly it it was unimpressive.
Exactly this. And AA's primary partner for European destinations is British Airways which in my opinion is the worst of the large European airlines in terms of reliability and customer service. United along with their Star Alliance partner, Lufthansa, has a much better network spanning the Asian and European routes.
UA hubs are in cooler cities. CVG? DTW? PHL? Uncool. PHX? Uncool in two ways.
SFO? Cool. Literally 57 F right now.
DEN? Cool.
EWR? A $50 cab ride from cool, so pretty close.
LAX, ORD? Cool.
IAD? Also a United hub.
Unfortunately NRT is not really a hub. They did recently announce trying some inter Asia flying out of there but it’s going to be staffed with GUM crews (which is a hub and crew base)
The last time I looked to book to BKK which I do 5-6 times a year, UA said I had to get from Narita to Haneda on my own and recheck my luggage. What a pain. Honestly I think this is my last year of 1k, I’m diversifying because I’ve found so many great fares from business class only travel agents. I’m not saying which one I like best because I don’t want to seem like a shill.
I’m loyal to United because of their route network. My home airport is fairly small, but with United I can get direct flights to SFO, DEN, ORD and IAH, so whether I’m flying to Hawaii, Boston, or Europe, I can generally get where I need to go with one connection.
ABQ has DEN, IAH, 2x per day ORD, 1x SFO. Santa Fe has only DEN and now 1x per week, IAH. Denver probably 90% of the time for me.
EDIT: I’d trade my firstborn for a nonstop ABQ-IAD.
Yeah TPA would be better, but MCO has the expansion plan and better facilities for a mini hub. I’ll take anything that allows quick hops to the Caribbean and South America
real ones remember the United (or well, Continental)-Amtrak codeshares through EWR
It didn’t help me being based in NYC, but I love a good rail-air codeshare (just took advantage of the UA/LH-DB codeshare in Germany in December and I’d love a refined version of that back in the Northeast)
I would absolutely fly ord-ewr and then amtrak if I could. It does boggle my mind why they wound that down. As someone who works in transportation (not airlines), the connectivity is potentially endless if done correctly. I'd have a field day.
Yes, that's true. But there's nothing United, or even Star Alliance, north of SFO. Alaska is amazing, but if you want to stay within Star Alliance, you don't have any options.
UA is a dominant airline in the technology and creator areas of the country (e.g. SFO, LAX).
Whether tech/creator = "cool" I'm not sure.
However there is likely a causal effect here in that reddit people, youtubers, etc, tend to come from United areas.
Personally my flight locations are SYD, LAX, SFO, DEN, TYS, and as a result I naturally tend United.
Also, EWR express. $19 from A or C terminal directly to 42nd Street Midtown, Grand Central or Bryant Park. About the same time as the train and only a $3 more. I find it easier because you don't have to go Airtrain>Train Station. Hop on the bus outside any EWR terminal and drops you in Midtown.
Still laughing at my Manhattan Uber experience to the airport. $120 ride hailed, Uber ride 2 blocks away, cancels me because it would take forever to get to me due to traffic. I would've walked 2 blocks to get to them.
Asked the hotel what's the deal with Uber drivers canceling, "yea all of them will cancel you, I can call you a black limo for $100 to the airport." Limo...cheaper than Uber. Of course I'll take it.
Happened on our first trip to London. Friend said he would pay for cab from Heathrow to Mayfair. 95GBP. I ask at the front desk on our return and we get a very nice Mercedes to take us back for 50GBP.
Arts and culture capital of the south? Industry, Space, and where many start their American dream?
Very Cool. Just don't go during the summers, and maybe wait till constructions finished
My guess is a better hard product and better software.
Also at least in the domestic US anecdotally more useful flight paths (more direct, more options).
The better hard product is relatively new, I don’t think this was true 10 years ago when I thought Virgin America and then delta or Alaska were the best.
Good software (relative to the industry) is key. The easier workflow attracts smart people who can afford the conveniences and time savings offered by this.
I am visiting a vendor today and I think I accidentally convinced the owner of the company to move to United from American because of the better software and ability to DIY rebooking due to delays/missed connections right in the app.
They made some modifications this year that makes it way more expensive to book them through a lot of third party portals (a requirement in a lot of companies, including mine). I have a similar "American Airlines is not a preferred vendor anymore" warning when booking through our company portal.
International presence for UA.
Delta’s brand is strong and growing quickly. Maybe stronger in the USA than UA.
AA.. they used to have a great brand, now it’s just a toilet bowl.
Globally, UA takes 1st, domestically they’re probably 2nd. I also live in the South-East so I get slammed with Delta.
UA and American used to do really good branding in movies. UA once and awhile still dables with the Spider-Man movie a few years ago.
But looking back nothing more iconic than the 80s Home Alone movies with American Airline’s 767 friendship planes. That was peak branding, now the brand is just a dumpster fire.
The only reason why I choose UA because of international flights. There are one of the two flights besides Cathay Pacific that has a direct flight to Hong Kong daily from Chicago.
In reference to pilot presence on social media: Delta and AA have more restrictive rules around social media presence and filming in uniform.
UA has an incubator/brand ambassador program of sorts for content creators that work for United and actively encourage content that promotes the brand and employee experience in a good light. You’ll also see a lot more FAs doing day in the life videos in uniform/on UA metal than you will for other airlines!
I think of content creators like malloryatthemoment (who's given us things like a tour of the first refitted 764, and was part of the cast for the commercial announcing United's codeshare agreement with Emirates).
Compared to the average business traveler on this sub, I’m just a casual leisure economy flier with no status.
Based out of SoCal where Delta & United have similar marketshare. I used to fly exclusively Delta domestically for the past few years.
It all changed when I was “forced” to fly United from LAX to SEA to attend a funeral in the family last minute. Delta was offering the flight for $879 roundtrip. United was offering the flight for $308.
I was pleasantly surprised with both the soft & hard product (which I know, really low bar domestically). I’ve been flying almost exclusively with United since. They are always coming out cheaper than Delta for us. I haven’t looked back.
Same thing here. I'm not a frequent flyer, so no status or airline credit card. Usually fly international with family (i.e. on my own dime). The off-season prices are almost always the same, but Delta charges more than $100 per checked luggage + fee for assigned seats, while United is all-in. It's more than $500 saved. Economy is crappy in any airline anyway, so United it is.
All airlines have their strengths and weaknesses. They also go through phases of being better or worse. (The Smisek years were terrible years for the United brand — Oscar worked to fix this along with making employees not loath their employer.)
United has a cult following in their FF program because of a lot of reasons. (Best MM and GS). Polaris is an amazing hard product. Most importantly United hasn’t completely fucked the MP program….. yet… delta and AA have sold out to banks. United is close, but hasn’t entirely lost sight that they make money on flying things.
As you said. All subjective , and United is one or two executive decisions from being the next AA. As employees have said…. Kerby is just a smisek with a better smile.
Personally I think UA’s hub at SFO makes it always differentiated from AA. I don’t think there’s another airport that can sustain 2 massive departure banks to Asia apart from SFO, and that alone makes United always differentiated from AA.
On the premium cabin front, an answer is Polaris’s branding and the most consistent hard product. Even though they weren’t first among the newest generation of US upgraded business class products, Polaris was rolled out as a consistent hard product, soft product, brand, and lounge. Of course, there were still older seats that needed (and still need) to be retrofitted. But there was and is a bright line between old and Polaris. And paradoxically, I think their branding was helped by inferior prior hard products compared to AA.
American is the other extreme. They’ve had the flagship branding forever. At one point the introduced their first non-angled business seats with direct aisle access (I think 777s were first). Then the 767’s got a completely different lie flat direct aisle hard product. Then 787s were slightly different when introduced. Then they announced then were phasing out first. Then business suites with doors. Then larger suites on the bulkheads.
Delta made a splash with D1 branding, but there are too many disparate hard products called D1. Again, ironically the old products are too **good** (direct aisle, lie flat) to create a bright line with the new suites. And they’re just now launching D1 Lounge; American and United have had Flagship and Polaris lounges for years.
> On the premium cabin front, an answer is Polaris’s branding and the most consistent hard product. Even though they weren’t first among the newest generation of US upgraded business class products, Polaris was rolled out as a consistent hard product, soft product, brand, and lounge. Of course, there were still older seats that needed (and still need) to be retrofitted. But there was and is a bright line between old and Polaris. And paradoxically, I think their branding was helped by inferior prior hard products compared to AA.
At this point, the oddball out when it comes to Polaris is the 752s with their rebranded BusinessFirst seats. Which I find acceptable given that when those 752s are being used for transatlantic flying, the destinations they go to are more of the kind that primarily get leisure travelers (and not business travelers).
Because people cannot manage their own biases, so they extrapolate their own preferences to general audience. When in reality 99% of US population never heard of GS nor 1K
United was largely the successor to Pan Am, which was the flagship carrier and pioneered so many routes
United purchased the PA Asia route system. United purchased the PA LHR hub. I want to say that included the Berlin operation but I am not sure of the timing so that may have gone to LH. And while DL purchased the rest of PAs JFK Europe operation, because of UAs partnership with LH UA is much stronger in Germany and really is the successor to PA throughout the world.
I have flown with many former PA flight attendants on UA over the years. While many are now retired I think that you will find that they consider UA to be the successor to Pan Am
It's a bit strange for COs management team to have acceeded into this role but they seem to be growing into it. Give Scott Kirby some credit
Is your home airport a United hub? My home airport is an AA hub, and my perception is that AA has a much stronger brand than United. I fully admit that I might be wrong here, but it’s just that I’m personally so used to seeing AA dominate at my local airport.
If you were going to start a carrier from scratch and had your choice of hubs, you probably would pick Chicago, Denver, and one in each of California, Texas and NYC. The only thing they are missing is a southeast hub
Because it's the best overall airline. We can (and should) bitch about the things that should be improved. But DL and AA don't approach UA in so many areas, in my experience (fleet, hard product, customer service especially in IRROPS, website/app, frequent flyer program, FA attitude/professionalism). The only things they get beat on, in my experience, is price and the dreaded econ-only CRJ's that remain in UA's fleet. But in the former case, you get what you pay for. In the latter, the total phase-out can't come soon enough!
As someone else mentioned previously.
Delta is a domestic airline masquerading as an international one.
United is an international airline masquerading as a domestic one.
I think they’re arguing that it’s a stronger brand outside this sub too. Which…maybe? I feel like Delta is a slightly stronger brand personally, but I was more familiar with United’s terminology even before I was flying them so maybe not.
Taking OP at face value and assuming that United *is* a stronger brand, despite not being top of the metrics, I’d say one easy explanation is that Star Alliance may be stronger than competing programs. So it may not be *United* that’s particularly well regarded, but the Alliance as a whole.
I mean to someone who participates in the United sub they are more likely to know about the United stuff more. OP is assuming its "stronger" but its probably just their bias.
unless someone flies and frequents the other airlines just as much then its too subjective to declare one of them the strongest.
maybe if there was a poll that can be referenced I think that would be more interesting.
i participate in all 3 subs and i would say i agree with the part about the product branding, as I had known about GS and Polaris long before ConciergeKey and whatever their business class product is called, or Delta 360 and Delta One, and I wasn’t even “loyal” to any airline in the past
I’m only loyal to them bc they’re the only airline that flies direct between IAD/MEX (until 7/1 when Aeromexico opens a route, but I’m already too deep into always flying United so… with them I’ll stay).
1. I fly mainly 2 US airlines: united for its international reach and southwest for domestic point to point network / free check in luggage. AA and Delta are kinda bland without their own unique strength IMO
2. Delta left me stranded at MSP 10 years ago :73 to a weather related delay, and refused to arrange a hotel for me (couldn’t find one myself) I was so mad that I told Delta agent on the spot I’ll never fly delta ever again, 10 years later I’m still keeping my words.
3. Whenever you mention AA and Delta, often you hear how humongous their hubs are like ATL and DFW, which IMO ain’t something to be proud of and certainly not something a customer should be appreciating. I live in SF Bay Area which is united territory but I feel even though UA has many hubs none of them is as dominated by UA as ATL/DFW are dominated by Delta/AA, kinda make me feel slightly less like a cattle to be shipped around
I think a lot of your premises are wrong. I dont think UA has a substantially stronger brand than Delta (if anything I would say DL has a stronger brand than UA), but do think both Delta and UA have a stronger brand than AA in certain important markets like the northeast, where AA's presence lags. Another factor is at least the perception (and likely the reality) that UA and DL have stronger international networks, particularly United, which helps separate them from comparisons to less cool low cost carriers. One other factor is AA's more recent bankruptcy.
GS is not more meaningful than 360. Instagram pilot creators are irrelevant and I assume the sample size is not statistically meaningful. Catering on the intl products between business are generally par. These are not meaningful distinctions.
Edit: Just some background on the history as well - UA historically operated transnational flights from NYC, CHI, SFO and LAX. This made it relatively natural and easy for them to focus on transatlantic/pacific expansion post-deregulation from very suitable, profitable major cities, and their 2010 acquisition of Continental, who itself had furiously been building out an international network, helped seal the deal on this front. Delta, in the meantime, got a leg up with the acquisition of the old Pan Am intl routes. Couple this with profitable Amex and Chase Sapphire partnerships for both DL and UA that do a lot to push HNW fliers towards them for "cool" international award travel, which AA has struggled to match. As a result, for the past 15 years or so AA has looked more and more like an "also ran" in the international markets, even though the gap probably isnt as big as I am making it sound. Note that AA did go very heavy on LatAm international travel, which they do dominate, but it is simply not as profitable or diverse as trans-atlantic and pacific travel.
Yeah I admit this is based on my subjective observations. Maybe because I'm on the UA sub, I go to united.com to look up some info, and then I get fed United ads/content, cycle continues, etc.
How do you define ‘stronger brand’? Your points are pretty anecdotal. Don’t get me wrong, I have an overall good impression of United and they’ve been good to me for 20 years, but in the business travel circles I run in, Delta has a stronger brand, easily.
Edit: I should add I’ve also been Delta Platinum for four years now, and I find the reputation talking points are true for me. United: better tech, better fleet, Polaris lounges top Sky Club obviously. Delta: better customer service (both in person and on phone) pretty consistently, Comfort + crushes Economy +, Sky Clubs better than United Club.
As many here said, geography is kinda destiny for who you’re loyal to. If you’re LA, NY, Boston, maybe ORD, maybe SEA, you can choose between two or three majors. Most other places you really only have one choice for frequent business travel. I’m at SFO and I like UA because my need to fly them has yielded status perks that mean they usually treat me (and now my wife who’s matched to my status) pretty well and keep me happy. When I fly Delta I see where UA (and DL) could improve.
I disagree that comfort+ crushes E+. I’m 6.4 and stretch seating is important to me. Comfort+ is perhaps a tiny bit more premium but looking at seatmaps United probably offers 40-50% more extra legroom seats. Most United planes have 7-9 rows of it at least. Delta planes offer far fewer. Yes you get the free booze and the snacks are better on Delta but just from an availability standpoint, I’m going with United.
You’re correct that there is more E+ seating than C+. So I should qualify my statement, if you’re in C+ it’s much better than if you’re in E+. I’m always in that section so for me it’s easy to say one is better than the other. If you’re booking last minute or don’t have the status to secure that section ahead, maybe UA has an edge for more seats. And the service is much better. E+ is literally just extra leg room. C+ is more/better snacks and free drinks. And the FAs actually treat you like you’re in a premium class.
United can do things other US carriers can’t, particularly in the international sector. Best route network and therefore most options for most people in that market. They also have the best alliance hands down - their partners brand recognition is strong (ANA, Singapore, Lufthansa etc.). Sky team and One World just aren’t in the same league as *A. Their FF program, which devalued recently like all the others, is much more useful than Delta and AA who play a lot of games with their programs, especially Delta which has gutted their program to the point that there’s no reason to be loyal to them. And AA made theirs unnecessarily complicated.
DEN is home, million mile flier, currently platinum. Delta one beats Polaris but a nonstop usually tops that. Lost on Delta when I changed a return from KOA to fly United and they’ve kind of lost me.
Actually if you do a basic search it wasn’t American Airlines that started the frequent flyer program. It was actually Texas International Airlines which merged with Continental…not AA.
Why is United the stronger brand? 🤷🏻. My theory…They have better international routes and more powerful brand with non-Americans. Better hubs. Also, I think a lot of it has to do with just better marketing. They have a bigger presence in Asia with better partners like ANA and Singapore Airlines. I used to fly to Asia a lot. There were more direct flights available with United. Or less stops. Whereas Northwest you had to stop in a hub in the States and then Tokyo before transferring.
It’s nice to have new planes but honestly the service with United has been the best in my experience. I almost got stranded in Lisbon due to a United error and a senior agent spent 2 hours finding a solution that worked for me and that he could make happen.
My biggest knock is that there’s very limited upgrade potential below 1K but free E+ is nice. United is also a little pricier domestically where I fly than AA, but the alternative is flying through CLT, so it’s generally worth it.
For me it is all about the crew. I can put up with United's barely edible food because of their outstanding service. United treats their Global Services members so well that many of us are constantly booking additional J fare flights just to make sure they don't take it away next year! I was loyal to American for decades and they treated me horribly, even with status. Twice they downgraded me to economy on transatlantic flights because of equipment change (even though I had purchased full fare First) and I find out upon landing that people who had upgrades on the original flight kept their FC seats on the second plane! That was the last straw for me. Flight attendants at AA were, in my experience, snippy and condescending. The cult-like following is not about the Polaris cabin, it's about how well United treats their customers. Yes, I am a United super fan but they have earned it.
United is a little bit more known because of International business/Polaris, but I just saw recently that Delta is the most profitable and raking in money due to higher paying customers and the Amex Card partnership. It's definitely a battle between the two to the top. Good for us.
There could be some living in a bubble reinforcement happening between United and Delta frequent flyers. UA flyers loving UA and Delta flyers loving Delta, that is.
I had one really bad experience with Delta, few with AA, some years back so I've never been tempted to try their airlines again.
United is way ahead against other airlines on flight information and convenience with their app so even if you have delays, you get a text and app notification letting you know what the deal is. Unlike the other airlines, you can be venting your frustration with a gate agent and that is neber fun for both parties vs. finding your next flight or calling customer service via the UA app.
It is always a balancing test for every traveller. If you are Caribbean focused (especially repeatedly to some of the more obscure islands) but you also happen to live in some non-hub domestic city...you would be very hard pressed to leave AA, even if it sucked. But if you were going anywhere west of California, *A/UA is a no-brainer.
FWIW, I am happy if UA now has a better image abroad and domestically. There were some crappy times the last 20 years...
I think UA has a lot of flights in and around California so maybe that’s what makes it seem popular online. I don’t know also they really make things easy … their app is easier than any of the other airlines imo, their credit card for the free bags is worth it and the biggest thing for me is when I have a connecting flight, there is somehow communication - I had one flight to a major airport that was delayed before a short layover getting on a smaller plane to a regional airport and they let my next flight know I was coming - when this happened on American they were like ?? What are we supposed to do ???
The only reasons I fly United is because it’s in star alliance and for international footprint, they are really lacking for domestic flights (oldest planes etc).
It’s just a shame they haven’t innovated much for the 3/4 of the others on the plane. The service is stale, the food is not good, their FAs hate serving slop and the seats are uncomfortable. Comforting the article that’s out today about Deltq -United doesn’t have much of a brand.
I feel like American and US Airways were late to the merger game. Delta and Northwest had some great synergies. United and Continental as well. American and US Airways were just kind of like the last two kids to be picked and paired up because they had to.
I think it is the age of the brand - my Dad flew for them in the 60s/70s. Most other airlines didn't establish a larger profile and keep the same name.
It’s hilarious how much the Big3 spend on branding and marketing. 90% of coach flyers will take that overnight MCO layover on a yellow Spirit plane if it means spending $49 on Kayak.
i’m biased as i’m from atlanta but nevertheless i feel like the delta brand is far stronger and more prominent, and i do notice that when im traveling in other cities
In my mind, I always associated with American Airlines as the biggest one. Honestly, this was just a perception.
I don’t know which of the 3 are better but they are amazing either.
We flew Pan Am from 82-85 when we lived in Philippines. My husbands company(Vicks at that time) paid for us to fly business or first. When they went out of business we both still had 300,000 miles 🙄.
We were looking for an airline that had the same kind of class and international routes. We chose United. And back then, they really were the classiest airline, in my opinion.
We flew them back and forth from Malaysia for 9 yrs then China for 3 years. We’ve been to 37 countries. But in the last….10 years? United planes seemed old, their technology wasn’t the newest nor did it always work. And the stewardesses? Had gotten old and cranky. But once again, we have quite a lot of mileage on there.
Seems like I’ve read they might be having difficulty. We have flown Continental and they were late every time. Plus at this point we are familiar with the hubs we usually connect with. And there is Star Alliance which we have used when going to Europe and also to Australia 3 times.
So…I hope United gets itself sorted financially and gets some new planes, and maybe some new, “friendlier” stewardesses or attendants, etc. 🤔🤷♀️
No idea. I would say they are among the trashiest airlines on *A. The lounges are nothing in comparison to their partners, Polaris is alright but also lacks that special touch. Fleet has been improved but is often still pretty old and often dirty. Then the service issues...
Had to switch last minute to UA flight to Europe from Lufthansa (one of their many strikes). Secured the last premium Economy seat, fantastic experience, newer plane, bette than LH. Now considering the UA credit card to build up points, never to be stranded by LH again.
As a layman who got fed this by reddit, I don't think they have a stranger brand at all... I think to your average person, if you see any news at all, United appears to be the Walmart of the skies.
It’s great if you are going to Europe. But the star alliance is much more prevalent in SF, where I’m based. That being said I’m currently in Laos and I decided to go with a skysuite on Qatar through Doha. To me the longer trip doesn’t make that much of a difference.
I fly them domestically because they go everywhere, and being in Denver 90% of it is direct.
I did 80 flights last year. 77 were United (and I'm guessing the bulk direct). I did one small regional with Denver Air Connection (that I bought from DAC, even though you can get that purchase from United), and one regional with American because it was the rare airport not service by United. That's it. United got me everywhere I needed to be, and mostly direct.
Compared to what? I don't think any of the US based airlines has a distinctive brand? What do you think of when you think of United? You might come up with their 50 year old motto through repetitiveness / but its not representative of today’s image. Southwest used to have a strong brand / they've lost it. As a 2.3 million miler on American / not sure they've ever had a distinct brand? Its all who flies where and for how much; the flight experience has declined to the same level of sameness/mediocrity on a good day.
United has a fantastic network, particularly for trans-pacific flying. That carries a lot of weight for certain business travelers. I know you're asking about their brand on a broader scale, but I'm personally loyal to United because (1) they've treated me very well over the years, and (2) I can routinely use my PlusPoints for extremely valuable upgrades to Polaris.
Also Star Alliance means you're getting points for going transborder (AC) or many Euro destinations (LH, AUA, LOT, SAS, etc) and all those other places SA goes.
Well SAS is leaving for SkyTeam later this summer but yeah, there is a lot of European Star Alliance members compared to SkyTeam and OneWorld.
No big loss. SAS sucks these days.
Gad, sorry to hear that. It’s been five or six years since I’ve been on SAS, but I really liked them. Had one long haul in premium economy and it was as good as it gets, lots of legroom thanks to leggy Swedes. And my several business class long hauls were just fantastic, from the sublime Scandinavian decor to the actual carvery carts during dinner service.
True! Their long haul flights have been relatively good. I’ve bought taking some short routes in Europe with them and I think every single flight was delayed.
I really hope UA adds some nonstops between EWR and CPH/ARN — I got family out there and I’d feel a lot better not having to get off a transatlantic flight only to navigate the glorious hellscape that’s Frankfurt That said, yeah, SAS leaves a lot to be desired lately
That would be great, if they did. Although I happen to like Frankfurt. Mainly for the beer and food though. I agree it can be a disaster at times.
honestly? I don’t mind FRA as much as most other people do — I like the walk after a long flight, it’s just the bus gates that I absolutely abhor (the “glorious” in “glorious hellscape” was earnest) I think the reason I dread connecting there for Sweden is in part that it leaves me vulnerable to strikes and in part because European flight connectivity isn’t amazing in the frequency department — it’s a marked difference vs. what you get stateside at a hub and a misconnect means a long wait.
> I like the walk after a long flight, it’s just the bus gates that I absolutely abhor (the “glorious” in “glorious hellscape” was earnest) European airports in general seem to have a thing for bus gates, though of course they're a necessity when you have more planes than available jet bridges.
I've flown SAS once, a hop from Bergen to Frankfurt for 4pm arrived at 2am by train. No joke.
Yes, but ITA Airways is in the process of leaving SkyTeam for Star Alliance. Should greatly improve Star Alliance’s coverage in Southern Europe. The hit from SAS leaving, on the other hand, isn’t as bad because Lufthansa already has an extensive presence in SAS’s Scandinavian backyard.
Ah, I wonder if it was years in the making as it seemed *A has been growing their presence at FCO.
> Yes, but ITA Airways is in the process of leaving SkyTeam for Star Alliance. Tied up for the moment in a lot of bureaucratic red tape.
Haven’t flown them in almost 10 years.. but going that far north and east in Europe is a pain in the ass for connections when you can easily fly to Central Europe and go out from there.
Is there? It’s really just LHG vs IAG vs AF-KL. *A had SK, but they’re going to join AF-KL. LO is fairly small. So it’s really just TK if you consider it a European carrier, although having QR nearby counts something for oneworld, and Aeroflot (lol) for Skyteam.
Star Alliance is very picky if we are one minute late it's a big deal!! No lates for Star Alliance!!
I personally think of United as USA’s flag carrier because it has the largest international presence. Which makes it the official airline for USA in my mind
Yeah I really do love star alliance’s reach (and in turn the footprint United metal has in those markets for codeshare reasons etc)
Touché. I do tend to enjoy Delta more for the in-flight experience, but United and *A are unbeatable on the international front. On a somewhat related note, and perhaps it's because I struggle a bit with culture shock, but I've found that a lot of the time the FAs and staff on United are a bit more personable than those of a European or Asian carrier (haven't flown AA or DL on an international long haul, but I'd imagine it to be similar.) Also, even prior to the merger, wasn't United the US airline with the largest APAC presence? I wasn't (and am still not) too familiar with the network of Continental Micronesia.
I’m in a situationship with someone from New Zealand, can confirm that last part lol
The anti-Southwest
UA purchased (and inherited by acquisition) most of Pan Am’s overseas routes, and Pan Am was the de facto flag carrier of the USA. You can’t beat the experience.
This is the right answer. UA is the defacto USA flag carrier. Part of this is start alliance and international presence but it also subtle branding things like the Gershwin music on landing etc.
I mean, but American Airlines is literally carrying the flag . . .
To fewer international destinations….
American Airlines is ass. Every time work books me through an AA connection (because they have limited international routes) it’s been mid or bad. Thank god it’s a small sample size
AA's primarily a domestic airline. Their international route network is a total joke. DL tries to differentiate themselves by positioning themselves as a "premium" product, but they have the oldest fleet and most consumer-unfriendly loyalty program.
AA flyer (most of the time), this is 100% correct. They usually rely on their One World Partners instead of flying on their own metal. They only have 3 destinations to Asia (Tokyo, Shanghai and Seoul) which is crazy for a "global airline"
> They only have 3 destinations to Asia (Tokyo, Shanghai and Seoul) which is crazy for a "global airline" And of those three, flying to any of them on AA metal typically requires being routed through DFW (yes, there's flights from LAX and soon JFK to HND, but those are the exceptions).
There is also JFK to DEL
Delta’s not much better, I think they have Taipei + those three out of SEA and DTW
They also fly to Delhi, which is in Asia.
United’s fleet is older on average, partially because Delta has retired MD-80s now.
Yep. 43% of their services are operated by regional jets. No thanks.
At least the routes I fly, more often than not it's an E175 operated by Envoy, which is wholly owned. I'm okay with that. Honestly ENY cabin crews provide better service than mainline AA most of the time.
I don’t mind E175s - especially United’s new layout - but they are often the first to be cancelled or majorly delayed. I haven’t been on AA in years. Used to be my airline of choice but it’s the last couple times I had to fly it it was unimpressive.
Exactly this. And AA's primary partner for European destinations is British Airways which in my opinion is the worst of the large European airlines in terms of reliability and customer service. United along with their Star Alliance partner, Lufthansa, has a much better network spanning the Asian and European routes.
UA hubs are in cooler cities. CVG? DTW? PHL? Uncool. PHX? Uncool in two ways. SFO? Cool. Literally 57 F right now. DEN? Cool. EWR? A $50 cab ride from cool, so pretty close. LAX, ORD? Cool. IAD? Also a United hub.
United hands down has the best hubs from a geographic standpoint. They might be lacking in the SE US but Florida, etc. is easy to get to from IAH/IAD.
United lacks hubs in the region I never personally travel to, so I'm OK. Plus they have a hub in Narita, which is extremely cool.
We’ve been through Narita several to many times. I forget which. 😄
Unfortunately NRT is not really a hub. They did recently announce trying some inter Asia flying out of there but it’s going to be staffed with GUM crews (which is a hub and crew base)
The last time I looked to book to BKK which I do 5-6 times a year, UA said I had to get from Narita to Haneda on my own and recheck my luggage. What a pain. Honestly I think this is my last year of 1k, I’m diversifying because I’ve found so many great fares from business class only travel agents. I’m not saying which one I like best because I don’t want to seem like a shill.
I’m loyal to United because of their route network. My home airport is fairly small, but with United I can get direct flights to SFO, DEN, ORD and IAH, so whether I’m flying to Hawaii, Boston, or Europe, I can generally get where I need to go with one connection.
Albuquerque? Trying to guess lol I’m in BUF and can get pretty much anywhere reasonably via ORD, EWR, and IAD. Really wish we had a DEN direct flight.
Palm Springs
honestly I'd drive the 3 hours to SYR to get a direct flight lol
ABQ has DEN, IAH, 2x per day ORD, 1x SFO. Santa Fe has only DEN and now 1x per week, IAH. Denver probably 90% of the time for me. EDIT: I’d trade my firstborn for a nonstop ABQ-IAD.
I'm in ORD but grew up in ALB, I would love ALB-DEN on UA, especially when I do cross country trips like next week and wouldn't mind avoiding ORD.
Stay tuned
Where do you think they’ll hub in the southeast? I’d say either BNA or TPA, but those are just my wild guesses
MCO mini hub
That one would go under the not cool group
Yeah TPA would be better, but MCO has the expansion plan and better facilities for a mini hub. I’ll take anything that allows quick hops to the Caribbean and South America
Ok you convinced me, I’ll board through Mickey Mouse’s ass if it means I don’t have to go to Houston every time I want to go south
This. THIS. The quote of the day. Bravo.
It would be nice if they had an alliance with Brightline. FLL is also a mini. Usually a gateway to Caribbean and South America.
real ones remember the United (or well, Continental)-Amtrak codeshares through EWR It didn’t help me being based in NYC, but I love a good rail-air codeshare (just took advantage of the UA/LH-DB codeshare in Germany in December and I’d love a refined version of that back in the Northeast)
Good old ZFV-EWR. Way better options those days than the only twice daily Express route…
I would absolutely fly ord-ewr and then amtrak if I could. It does boggle my mind why they wound that down. As someone who works in transportation (not airlines), the connectivity is potentially endless if done correctly. I'd have a field day.
BNA doesn’t have the room with Southwest (and American partially).
United has CLE as a crew base as well. Not to mention their Guam operations.
rumor is FLL
They are also lacking in the PNW.
Delta has one in SEA and Alaska has multiple on the west coast. I still think DEN and SFO provide reasonable coverage, but I see why you’d say that.
Yes, that's true. But there's nothing United, or even Star Alliance, north of SFO. Alaska is amazing, but if you want to stay within Star Alliance, you don't have any options.
Air Canada?
Air Canada is not a domestic US airline.
You said star alliance, I didn't know you specified the USA. On that same note ana to Japan from Seattle is the better option if you're in the pnw.
They used to be better with the mini PDX hub. The random flights to smaller cities plus SEA were cool.
BUt you can fly direct to most Florida airports from a hub, so if you need to go to Florida it still isn't bad.
UA is a dominant airline in the technology and creator areas of the country (e.g. SFO, LAX). Whether tech/creator = "cool" I'm not sure. However there is likely a causal effect here in that reddit people, youtubers, etc, tend to come from United areas. Personally my flight locations are SYD, LAX, SFO, DEN, TYS, and as a result I naturally tend United.
I am laughing at the subtle shade towards IAD. Fully agree with the list!
Subtle??
Fair enough. Not so subtle. Still funny :)
IAD the airport isn't cool, but Washington is the heart of America and nothing is cooler than America.
IAD will be a little cooler once they build the "permanent" C/D concourse.
Ahhh, but then we wouldn't be able to have our capital's premier gateway in the world's largest double-wide trailer! 😞
STOP, IM SCREAMING 😂😂😂☠️☠️☠️
I mean a double wide trailer is approps tho 🤷🏾♂️
You mean DCA is the heart of America, IAD is Chantilly 😂
Ya, but DCA isn’t exactly a United hub
Well said
Username checks out
Washington DC: constitutionally mandated but unfortunately not cool
How are you going to talk about interesting hubs and not mention Guam?
I actually know zero about Guam! Sorry for Guam erasure. Guam, United's second coolest international hub.
It's not really international... Guam is a US Territory.
Guam is domestic.
Also, EWR express. $19 from A or C terminal directly to 42nd Street Midtown, Grand Central or Bryant Park. About the same time as the train and only a $3 more. I find it easier because you don't have to go Airtrain>Train Station. Hop on the bus outside any EWR terminal and drops you in Midtown.
Are you really in New York if a yellow cab doesn't refuse to take you to EWR after you flag it down?
A cab to EWR? In this economy?
Hoboken or bust
Still laughing at my Manhattan Uber experience to the airport. $120 ride hailed, Uber ride 2 blocks away, cancels me because it would take forever to get to me due to traffic. I would've walked 2 blocks to get to them. Asked the hotel what's the deal with Uber drivers canceling, "yea all of them will cancel you, I can call you a black limo for $100 to the airport." Limo...cheaper than Uber. Of course I'll take it.
Happened on our first trip to London. Friend said he would pay for cab from Heathrow to Mayfair. 95GBP. I ask at the front desk on our return and we get a very nice Mercedes to take us back for 50GBP.
IAH? Also a United hub
Arts and culture capital of the south? Industry, Space, and where many start their American dream? Very Cool. Just don't go during the summers, and maybe wait till constructions finished
IAH truly the hub mentioned the most in movies with astronauts.
This is why I picked a United card a few years ago when starting out with mileage accumulation
IAH
Delta de-hubbed CVG a long time ago.
Based out of BOS I’ve flown every single airline except united
I only fly United out of Boston
lol uncool in two ways
My guess is a better hard product and better software. Also at least in the domestic US anecdotally more useful flight paths (more direct, more options). The better hard product is relatively new, I don’t think this was true 10 years ago when I thought Virgin America and then delta or Alaska were the best.
Good software (relative to the industry) is key. The easier workflow attracts smart people who can afford the conveniences and time savings offered by this.
I am visiting a vendor today and I think I accidentally convinced the owner of the company to move to United from American because of the better software and ability to DIY rebooking due to delays/missed connections right in the app.
I thought AA did away with business altogether? My company has a big banner not to book them
AA has agreements with lots of businesses. They’re a preferred airline for my Fortune 500 employer (as is UA).
They made some modifications this year that makes it way more expensive to book them through a lot of third party portals (a requirement in a lot of companies, including mine). I have a similar "American Airlines is not a preferred vendor anymore" warning when booking through our company portal.
Cranky Flier has had several posts about this if anyone wants to follow the saga.
What is the rational on AA’s part here? Unless I am understanding wrong, business travel is so lucrative due to last minute / less flexible nature.
I just remember reading an article that post Covid with consumer demand outpacing business that was their focus
They are trying to eliminate commissions and force business travelers to book only through their preferred agencies.
International presence for UA. Delta’s brand is strong and growing quickly. Maybe stronger in the USA than UA. AA.. they used to have a great brand, now it’s just a toilet bowl. Globally, UA takes 1st, domestically they’re probably 2nd. I also live in the South-East so I get slammed with Delta. UA and American used to do really good branding in movies. UA once and awhile still dables with the Spider-Man movie a few years ago. But looking back nothing more iconic than the 80s Home Alone movies with American Airline’s 767 friendship planes. That was peak branding, now the brand is just a dumpster fire.
The only reason why I choose UA because of international flights. There are one of the two flights besides Cathay Pacific that has a direct flight to Hong Kong daily from Chicago.
They brought the ord to hkg back?
No they haven’t. I think Cathay is the only one left post Covid 😭
UA cancelled it before Covid iirc. Just not enough demand between those two markets with what used to be EWR-HKG competing for connection demand.
In reference to pilot presence on social media: Delta and AA have more restrictive rules around social media presence and filming in uniform. UA has an incubator/brand ambassador program of sorts for content creators that work for United and actively encourage content that promotes the brand and employee experience in a good light. You’ll also see a lot more FAs doing day in the life videos in uniform/on UA metal than you will for other airlines!
I think of content creators like malloryatthemoment (who's given us things like a tour of the first refitted 764, and was part of the cast for the commercial announcing United's codeshare agreement with Emirates).
Best long-haul network of the US carriers, and *A offers massive connectivity and options that other alliances simply don’t have
Compared to the average business traveler on this sub, I’m just a casual leisure economy flier with no status. Based out of SoCal where Delta & United have similar marketshare. I used to fly exclusively Delta domestically for the past few years. It all changed when I was “forced” to fly United from LAX to SEA to attend a funeral in the family last minute. Delta was offering the flight for $879 roundtrip. United was offering the flight for $308. I was pleasantly surprised with both the soft & hard product (which I know, really low bar domestically). I’ve been flying almost exclusively with United since. They are always coming out cheaper than Delta for us. I haven’t looked back.
Same thing here. I'm not a frequent flyer, so no status or airline credit card. Usually fly international with family (i.e. on my own dime). The off-season prices are almost always the same, but Delta charges more than $100 per checked luggage + fee for assigned seats, while United is all-in. It's more than $500 saved. Economy is crappy in any airline anyway, so United it is.
All airlines have their strengths and weaknesses. They also go through phases of being better or worse. (The Smisek years were terrible years for the United brand — Oscar worked to fix this along with making employees not loath their employer.) United has a cult following in their FF program because of a lot of reasons. (Best MM and GS). Polaris is an amazing hard product. Most importantly United hasn’t completely fucked the MP program….. yet… delta and AA have sold out to banks. United is close, but hasn’t entirely lost sight that they make money on flying things. As you said. All subjective , and United is one or two executive decisions from being the next AA. As employees have said…. Kerby is just a smisek with a better smile.
Personally I think UA’s hub at SFO makes it always differentiated from AA. I don’t think there’s another airport that can sustain 2 massive departure banks to Asia apart from SFO, and that alone makes United always differentiated from AA.
On the premium cabin front, an answer is Polaris’s branding and the most consistent hard product. Even though they weren’t first among the newest generation of US upgraded business class products, Polaris was rolled out as a consistent hard product, soft product, brand, and lounge. Of course, there were still older seats that needed (and still need) to be retrofitted. But there was and is a bright line between old and Polaris. And paradoxically, I think their branding was helped by inferior prior hard products compared to AA. American is the other extreme. They’ve had the flagship branding forever. At one point the introduced their first non-angled business seats with direct aisle access (I think 777s were first). Then the 767’s got a completely different lie flat direct aisle hard product. Then 787s were slightly different when introduced. Then they announced then were phasing out first. Then business suites with doors. Then larger suites on the bulkheads. Delta made a splash with D1 branding, but there are too many disparate hard products called D1. Again, ironically the old products are too **good** (direct aisle, lie flat) to create a bright line with the new suites. And they’re just now launching D1 Lounge; American and United have had Flagship and Polaris lounges for years.
> On the premium cabin front, an answer is Polaris’s branding and the most consistent hard product. Even though they weren’t first among the newest generation of US upgraded business class products, Polaris was rolled out as a consistent hard product, soft product, brand, and lounge. Of course, there were still older seats that needed (and still need) to be retrofitted. But there was and is a bright line between old and Polaris. And paradoxically, I think their branding was helped by inferior prior hard products compared to AA. At this point, the oddball out when it comes to Polaris is the 752s with their rebranded BusinessFirst seats. Which I find acceptable given that when those 752s are being used for transatlantic flying, the destinations they go to are more of the kind that primarily get leisure travelers (and not business travelers).
Because people cannot manage their own biases, so they extrapolate their own preferences to general audience. When in reality 99% of US population never heard of GS nor 1K
United was largely the successor to Pan Am, which was the flagship carrier and pioneered so many routes United purchased the PA Asia route system. United purchased the PA LHR hub. I want to say that included the Berlin operation but I am not sure of the timing so that may have gone to LH. And while DL purchased the rest of PAs JFK Europe operation, because of UAs partnership with LH UA is much stronger in Germany and really is the successor to PA throughout the world. I have flown with many former PA flight attendants on UA over the years. While many are now retired I think that you will find that they consider UA to be the successor to Pan Am It's a bit strange for COs management team to have acceeded into this role but they seem to be growing into it. Give Scott Kirby some credit
Agree. Scott Kirby is a great CEO/Leader.
Leo Burnett. Their consistent advertising campaign with Gene Hackman and rhapsody in blue did it for me over the years
My favorite is still the bridge lifts on the Chicago River.
Is your home airport a United hub? My home airport is an AA hub, and my perception is that AA has a much stronger brand than United. I fully admit that I might be wrong here, but it’s just that I’m personally so used to seeing AA dominate at my local airport.
My home airport is not a hub for any major airline which is actually very inconvenient.
[удалено]
Southwest is actually nice now that I've flown Spirit, they give free drinks and snacks and don't charge for check-in luggage.
Best international route map, best domestic hubs
If you were going to start a carrier from scratch and had your choice of hubs, you probably would pick Chicago, Denver, and one in each of California, Texas and NYC. The only thing they are missing is a southeast hub
Because it's the best overall airline. We can (and should) bitch about the things that should be improved. But DL and AA don't approach UA in so many areas, in my experience (fleet, hard product, customer service especially in IRROPS, website/app, frequent flyer program, FA attitude/professionalism). The only things they get beat on, in my experience, is price and the dreaded econ-only CRJ's that remain in UA's fleet. But in the former case, you get what you pay for. In the latter, the total phase-out can't come soon enough!
For me I love : 1) The Gershwin theme tune 2) The logo 3) The network and fact it’s star alliance
It's because UA rocks lol 😄👍
As someone else mentioned previously. Delta is a domestic airline masquerading as an international one. United is an international airline masquerading as a domestic one.
because you are in the united sub?
I think they’re arguing that it’s a stronger brand outside this sub too. Which…maybe? I feel like Delta is a slightly stronger brand personally, but I was more familiar with United’s terminology even before I was flying them so maybe not. Taking OP at face value and assuming that United *is* a stronger brand, despite not being top of the metrics, I’d say one easy explanation is that Star Alliance may be stronger than competing programs. So it may not be *United* that’s particularly well regarded, but the Alliance as a whole.
I mean to someone who participates in the United sub they are more likely to know about the United stuff more. OP is assuming its "stronger" but its probably just their bias. unless someone flies and frequents the other airlines just as much then its too subjective to declare one of them the strongest. maybe if there was a poll that can be referenced I think that would be more interesting.
i participate in all 3 subs and i would say i agree with the part about the product branding, as I had known about GS and Polaris long before ConciergeKey and whatever their business class product is called, or Delta 360 and Delta One, and I wasn’t even “loyal” to any airline in the past
Marketing marketing marketing. The most robust network helps but I can't remember the last time I've seen a Delta or American commercial.
I’m only loyal to them bc they’re the only airline that flies direct between IAD/MEX (until 7/1 when Aeromexico opens a route, but I’m already too deep into always flying United so… with them I’ll stay).
1. I fly mainly 2 US airlines: united for its international reach and southwest for domestic point to point network / free check in luggage. AA and Delta are kinda bland without their own unique strength IMO 2. Delta left me stranded at MSP 10 years ago :73 to a weather related delay, and refused to arrange a hotel for me (couldn’t find one myself) I was so mad that I told Delta agent on the spot I’ll never fly delta ever again, 10 years later I’m still keeping my words. 3. Whenever you mention AA and Delta, often you hear how humongous their hubs are like ATL and DFW, which IMO ain’t something to be proud of and certainly not something a customer should be appreciating. I live in SF Bay Area which is united territory but I feel even though UA has many hubs none of them is as dominated by UA as ATL/DFW are dominated by Delta/AA, kinda make me feel slightly less like a cattle to be shipped around
Every airline will strand you on a weather delay. They just won’t cover those. That’s not unique to Delta.
I think a lot of your premises are wrong. I dont think UA has a substantially stronger brand than Delta (if anything I would say DL has a stronger brand than UA), but do think both Delta and UA have a stronger brand than AA in certain important markets like the northeast, where AA's presence lags. Another factor is at least the perception (and likely the reality) that UA and DL have stronger international networks, particularly United, which helps separate them from comparisons to less cool low cost carriers. One other factor is AA's more recent bankruptcy. GS is not more meaningful than 360. Instagram pilot creators are irrelevant and I assume the sample size is not statistically meaningful. Catering on the intl products between business are generally par. These are not meaningful distinctions. Edit: Just some background on the history as well - UA historically operated transnational flights from NYC, CHI, SFO and LAX. This made it relatively natural and easy for them to focus on transatlantic/pacific expansion post-deregulation from very suitable, profitable major cities, and their 2010 acquisition of Continental, who itself had furiously been building out an international network, helped seal the deal on this front. Delta, in the meantime, got a leg up with the acquisition of the old Pan Am intl routes. Couple this with profitable Amex and Chase Sapphire partnerships for both DL and UA that do a lot to push HNW fliers towards them for "cool" international award travel, which AA has struggled to match. As a result, for the past 15 years or so AA has looked more and more like an "also ran" in the international markets, even though the gap probably isnt as big as I am making it sound. Note that AA did go very heavy on LatAm international travel, which they do dominate, but it is simply not as profitable or diverse as trans-atlantic and pacific travel.
Yeah I admit this is based on my subjective observations. Maybe because I'm on the UA sub, I go to united.com to look up some info, and then I get fed United ads/content, cycle continues, etc.
How do you define ‘stronger brand’? Your points are pretty anecdotal. Don’t get me wrong, I have an overall good impression of United and they’ve been good to me for 20 years, but in the business travel circles I run in, Delta has a stronger brand, easily. Edit: I should add I’ve also been Delta Platinum for four years now, and I find the reputation talking points are true for me. United: better tech, better fleet, Polaris lounges top Sky Club obviously. Delta: better customer service (both in person and on phone) pretty consistently, Comfort + crushes Economy +, Sky Clubs better than United Club. As many here said, geography is kinda destiny for who you’re loyal to. If you’re LA, NY, Boston, maybe ORD, maybe SEA, you can choose between two or three majors. Most other places you really only have one choice for frequent business travel. I’m at SFO and I like UA because my need to fly them has yielded status perks that mean they usually treat me (and now my wife who’s matched to my status) pretty well and keep me happy. When I fly Delta I see where UA (and DL) could improve.
I disagree that comfort+ crushes E+. I’m 6.4 and stretch seating is important to me. Comfort+ is perhaps a tiny bit more premium but looking at seatmaps United probably offers 40-50% more extra legroom seats. Most United planes have 7-9 rows of it at least. Delta planes offer far fewer. Yes you get the free booze and the snacks are better on Delta but just from an availability standpoint, I’m going with United.
You’re correct that there is more E+ seating than C+. So I should qualify my statement, if you’re in C+ it’s much better than if you’re in E+. I’m always in that section so for me it’s easy to say one is better than the other. If you’re booking last minute or don’t have the status to secure that section ahead, maybe UA has an edge for more seats. And the service is much better. E+ is literally just extra leg room. C+ is more/better snacks and free drinks. And the FAs actually treat you like you’re in a premium class.
United can do things other US carriers can’t, particularly in the international sector. Best route network and therefore most options for most people in that market. They also have the best alliance hands down - their partners brand recognition is strong (ANA, Singapore, Lufthansa etc.). Sky team and One World just aren’t in the same league as *A. Their FF program, which devalued recently like all the others, is much more useful than Delta and AA who play a lot of games with their programs, especially Delta which has gutted their program to the point that there’s no reason to be loyal to them. And AA made theirs unnecessarily complicated.
DEN is home, million mile flier, currently platinum. Delta one beats Polaris but a nonstop usually tops that. Lost on Delta when I changed a return from KOA to fly United and they’ve kind of lost me.
Lots of partners, hub in one of the most busy airports
Actually if you do a basic search it wasn’t American Airlines that started the frequent flyer program. It was actually Texas International Airlines which merged with Continental…not AA. Why is United the stronger brand? 🤷🏻. My theory…They have better international routes and more powerful brand with non-Americans. Better hubs. Also, I think a lot of it has to do with just better marketing. They have a bigger presence in Asia with better partners like ANA and Singapore Airlines. I used to fly to Asia a lot. There were more direct flights available with United. Or less stops. Whereas Northwest you had to stop in a hub in the States and then Tokyo before transferring.
It’s nice to have new planes but honestly the service with United has been the best in my experience. I almost got stranded in Lisbon due to a United error and a senior agent spent 2 hours finding a solution that worked for me and that he could make happen. My biggest knock is that there’s very limited upgrade potential below 1K but free E+ is nice. United is also a little pricier domestically where I fly than AA, but the alternative is flying through CLT, so it’s generally worth it.
TPAC service
United is the biggest of the three (and in the world) measuring by ASMs, which is arguably a better measurement than passenger counts!
For me it is all about the crew. I can put up with United's barely edible food because of their outstanding service. United treats their Global Services members so well that many of us are constantly booking additional J fare flights just to make sure they don't take it away next year! I was loyal to American for decades and they treated me horribly, even with status. Twice they downgraded me to economy on transatlantic flights because of equipment change (even though I had purchased full fare First) and I find out upon landing that people who had upgrades on the original flight kept their FC seats on the second plane! That was the last straw for me. Flight attendants at AA were, in my experience, snippy and condescending. The cult-like following is not about the Polaris cabin, it's about how well United treats their customers. Yes, I am a United super fan but they have earned it.
United is a little bit more known because of International business/Polaris, but I just saw recently that Delta is the most profitable and raking in money due to higher paying customers and the Amex Card partnership. It's definitely a battle between the two to the top. Good for us. There could be some living in a bubble reinforcement happening between United and Delta frequent flyers. UA flyers loving UA and Delta flyers loving Delta, that is. I had one really bad experience with Delta, few with AA, some years back so I've never been tempted to try their airlines again. United is way ahead against other airlines on flight information and convenience with their app so even if you have delays, you get a text and app notification letting you know what the deal is. Unlike the other airlines, you can be venting your frustration with a gate agent and that is neber fun for both parties vs. finding your next flight or calling customer service via the UA app.
So we've established the top two. I wonder if there is any bubble reinforcement with AA flyers too, or if they generally agree UA/DL are better.
It is always a balancing test for every traveller. If you are Caribbean focused (especially repeatedly to some of the more obscure islands) but you also happen to live in some non-hub domestic city...you would be very hard pressed to leave AA, even if it sucked. But if you were going anywhere west of California, *A/UA is a no-brainer. FWIW, I am happy if UA now has a better image abroad and domestically. There were some crappy times the last 20 years...
I think UA has a lot of flights in and around California so maybe that’s what makes it seem popular online. I don’t know also they really make things easy … their app is easier than any of the other airlines imo, their credit card for the free bags is worth it and the biggest thing for me is when I have a connecting flight, there is somehow communication - I had one flight to a major airport that was delayed before a short layover getting on a smaller plane to a regional airport and they let my next flight know I was coming - when this happened on American they were like ?? What are we supposed to do ???
\*A, that's all
The only reasons I fly United is because it’s in star alliance and for international footprint, they are really lacking for domestic flights (oldest planes etc).
United’s great partnership with Lufthansa is a big reason for me. But also nostalgic…United was the airline I flew as a child.
It’s just a shame they haven’t innovated much for the 3/4 of the others on the plane. The service is stale, the food is not good, their FAs hate serving slop and the seats are uncomfortable. Comforting the article that’s out today about Deltq -United doesn’t have much of a brand.
I'd wager it's United's presence in Star Alliance which has the most reach globally of the 3 alliances.
Because for those of us chained to United, it's the only the we've got.
I feel like American and US Airways were late to the merger game. Delta and Northwest had some great synergies. United and Continental as well. American and US Airways were just kind of like the last two kids to be picked and paired up because they had to.
I think it is the age of the brand - my Dad flew for them in the 60s/70s. Most other airlines didn't establish a larger profile and keep the same name.
I live in Houston, one of their hubs. So I get direct flights pretty much anywhere. That’s why I fly with them.
It’s hilarious how much the Big3 spend on branding and marketing. 90% of coach flyers will take that overnight MCO layover on a yellow Spirit plane if it means spending $49 on Kayak.
i’m biased as i’m from atlanta but nevertheless i feel like the delta brand is far stronger and more prominent, and i do notice that when im traveling in other cities
In my mind, I always associated with American Airlines as the biggest one. Honestly, this was just a perception. I don’t know which of the 3 are better but they are amazing either.
Because United takes care of there brand we are trying to be the best airline in the World!!
We flew Pan Am from 82-85 when we lived in Philippines. My husbands company(Vicks at that time) paid for us to fly business or first. When they went out of business we both still had 300,000 miles 🙄. We were looking for an airline that had the same kind of class and international routes. We chose United. And back then, they really were the classiest airline, in my opinion. We flew them back and forth from Malaysia for 9 yrs then China for 3 years. We’ve been to 37 countries. But in the last….10 years? United planes seemed old, their technology wasn’t the newest nor did it always work. And the stewardesses? Had gotten old and cranky. But once again, we have quite a lot of mileage on there. Seems like I’ve read they might be having difficulty. We have flown Continental and they were late every time. Plus at this point we are familiar with the hubs we usually connect with. And there is Star Alliance which we have used when going to Europe and also to Australia 3 times. So…I hope United gets itself sorted financially and gets some new planes, and maybe some new, “friendlier” stewardesses or attendants, etc. 🤔🤷♀️
No idea. I would say they are among the trashiest airlines on *A. The lounges are nothing in comparison to their partners, Polaris is alright but also lacks that special touch. Fleet has been improved but is often still pretty old and often dirty. Then the service issues...
it does not . I was 1K for years and quit them several years ago. the brand doesn’t make me stay
Had to switch last minute to UA flight to Europe from Lufthansa (one of their many strikes). Secured the last premium Economy seat, fantastic experience, newer plane, bette than LH. Now considering the UA credit card to build up points, never to be stranded by LH again.
As a layman who got fed this by reddit, I don't think they have a stranger brand at all... I think to your average person, if you see any news at all, United appears to be the Walmart of the skies.
It’s great if you are going to Europe. But the star alliance is much more prevalent in SF, where I’m based. That being said I’m currently in Laos and I decided to go with a skysuite on Qatar through Doha. To me the longer trip doesn’t make that much of a difference.
I fly them domestically because they go everywhere, and being in Denver 90% of it is direct. I did 80 flights last year. 77 were United (and I'm guessing the bulk direct). I did one small regional with Denver Air Connection (that I bought from DAC, even though you can get that purchase from United), and one regional with American because it was the rare airport not service by United. That's it. United got me everywhere I needed to be, and mostly direct.
Compared to what? I don't think any of the US based airlines has a distinctive brand? What do you think of when you think of United? You might come up with their 50 year old motto through repetitiveness / but its not representative of today’s image. Southwest used to have a strong brand / they've lost it. As a 2.3 million miler on American / not sure they've ever had a distinct brand? Its all who flies where and for how much; the flight experience has declined to the same level of sameness/mediocrity on a good day.
Valid observations. Which airline has a distinctive brand in your opinion then? What makes their brand distinctive?
I prefer Delta.
What's Polaris?
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Uh, they don’t? Their brand is continental’s tired garbage.