Everything works smoothly once I got to Brussels. Flying with United Airlines from Atlanta to Chicago and Leaving Chicago for Brussels was a nightmare though. Slept at the airport in Chicago because my flight got delayed from Atlanta to Chicago. No accommodation provided because united airlines said I had economy ticket.
Flight left on time, arrived early, pleasant staff provided water, coffee, etc. access to bathrooms was reasonable and were well maintained. blankets were available, lots of entertainment options. LUGGAGE SERVICE WAS GREAT. I got my one checked bag quickly and was able to make a bus connection for a 2 hour bus ride saving me from waiting another 1.5 hours.
we did a return flight from Paris CDG to SFO. This trip was much better than the departing flight SFO to CDG. The food was better quality, the crew was nicer, and the interior of the plane seemed cleaner.
Staff and aircraft were good. However, weather in Houston lee to a ground stop. We were looking at circling behind three other planes until the stop was lifted. Pilot said we didn’t have enough fuel for that. So we flew on to New Orleans as the closest port with immigration and customs staff. Landed there and sat in the plane for two hours plus while staff was sorted. Turned away by ICE. Waited for pilots to be switched out, but after they were approved by ICE. Then had to wait to get a runway because so many planes were ahead of us. Finally took off and flew back to Houston. We all missed our connecting flights because it took too long. Hotel voucher from United was only a link to booking site. Total BS. Finally got a flight out the next day after a night without sleep because all the Houston hotels were booked by rodeo and spring break crowds.
I just think it’s unfortunate that Airlines have completely abandoned the idea of serving any kind of decent or even real food on flights, not even on a four hour flight!? Those days are gone, I guess.
Starlink wifi on the Embraer E175 is an excellent experience. I was able to connect and work from IAD all the way to approach into BTV.
During booking, I kept trying submitting my payment from the Mexican website and it didn't work. After I had the idea to change it to the Canadian website, it worked but I had to be charged the equivalent of 50 CAD more. I received the clear instruction that I would only be able to check-in at the airport and that it was impossible to select a seat 24 hours before departure, that I had to pay 144 CAD to do so, although not only was I able to check-in 24 hours before departure, but I could have selected my seats for free then. All in all, I almost threw $200 out the window due to misleading information. Besides, the app kept crashing, the information to get to the gate on the app was inaccurate, my gate was switched and I was only informed once in the air (luckily I had noticed the departure pannel), I was not addressed in my language beforehand and even if I tried I was immediately answered in English (which meant the crew understood but didn't want to answer accordingly), there was only one snack & beverage service on my medium haul flight and no beverage service on my short haul flight. To be fair, the planes were comfortable, the crew apart from the language issue was helpful, dynamic and engaging, the plane was clean and the directions were clear and direct. United has a lot of potential to be one of my favourite airlines, but the devil is in the details and a lot of them missed the target.
Crew was dismissive. Snacks and refills not offered. Poor business class experience. Bed not comfortable compared to Emirates or BA.
All of the United employees I interacted with were professional and courteous. The aircraft was clean, the food on the flight was good. No complaints here.
Once we got in the air the pilot made up some of the time of the delay. So that was really nice.
