First of all, words can not express how grateful I am to even have the opportunity to experience the .001% of travel. I give all that credit to the travel bug that bit me years ago, and all of the wonderful people I’ve met over the course of the years that I’ve been able to share my passion of miles and points with.
I remember that feeling of my first time I ever flew in first class. I took my first flight up front from Newark to the Bahamas in March of 2011, and I felt like I was on top of the world. Since then, I appreciate the fact that life had blessed me with many more opportunities to travel luxuriously.
I understand that traveling is a privilege, but I also know that it’s a competitive market out there. Some of my most out-of-this-world and memorable flights included flying first class on Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific, where the experience is so surreal that you forget you are 37,000 feet in the sky all together. It makes getting to Asia a pleasant experience rather than something that’s dreadful. That’s not exactly how I felt after returning from Seoul on United’s GlobalFirst product.
Ok maybe dreadful is a harsh word, but when they’re marketing round trip tickets in the 5-digit range, you set the bar high. Granted I purchased the ticket for 4-digits during a mistake fare, I almost wish I would have just used miles to get to Asia.
Here’s where United falls short in GlobalFirst:
THE FOOD: I put much emphasis on this one because I’d be lying if I said the food was edible. There’s so much to say about the embarrassing catering that I almost feel like  it deserves a post of its own. You know the catering is terrible when the flight attendant can’t even identity the the meat that’s floating around in the atrocious dumpling soup that I’d been grossly burping up for days later (TMI, I know). You know catering is not right when the way the main course looks is equivalent to 3-day old elementary school lunch. You know something’s missing in the catering department when minestrone soup is advertised on the menu and you’re all of the sudden you gag as you sip the saltiest mushroom bisque(??) that somehow made its way onto your tray table.
Let’s also not forget that there’s absolutely no rhyme or reason to the menu design. To start – one coconut shrimp with a middle-eastern quinoa salad on the same plate, followed by a spicy Mexican soup, followed by a beef skewer with a side of Asian vegetables, and then the same, boring “create your own sundae” for dessert. You’re also invited to an “array of mid-flight snacks” which include bags of Cape Cod potato chips (which seemed to be the best thing the entire flight was stocked with… no wonder why they ran out after an hour), packaged vending machine cookies, frost-bitten bananas, and some chocolate candies.
As a simple solution, I truthfully would have enjoyed a $10 soup and salad combo from Panera Bread instead… or even a Whopper value meal from Burger King. I’m not even kidding.
The Service: To be honest, some flight attendants should not be in the service business at all. I may be shooting myself in the foot (because I’m also in the SAG-AFTRA union), but there’s something about union members that feel they’re entitled to a continuous increase in pay and benefits without ever increasing their output. In my opinion, while there are exceptions, I find most of United’s flight attendants to be outright rude, snobby, and genuinely annoyed while doing their jobs. For instance, there’s been many occasions where I felt like I was “inconveniencing” them for simple service requests. I never felt that way on other foreign carriers. In fact, the service is so good and over-the-top on other carriers, that at times, I felt “undeserving” of any kind of special treatment. At the very least, good decent, attitude-free service should be expected on a “competitive” first class product.
Missing “Luxury”: There’s nothing luxurious about United’s GlobalFirst service. Infact, in a previous post I wrote, a reader left a comment saying this: “And there lies one of the issues with UA, in my opinion. Nobody is debating whether 20k miles is “expensiveâ€, but rather if the difference between UA’s J and F is worth the small cost. If the benefits of UA’s F cabin only marginally outweighs it’s J cabin, then what’s even the point?”
Aside from a slightly-larger seat, United seriously lacked in the “luxury” department. Caviar? No. Expensive champagne? Nope. Heck, Pajamas?! Of course not. Sorry to sound like a diva, but when Singapore Airlines offers all of the above, PLUS designer bedding (not that I really cared, but…), then I think it’s time to step up the game.
I know there’s a lot of “first world problems” in this rant, but their lack of in-flight amenities truly made the flying experience completely underwhelming in my opinion, and the catering is down-right embarrassing (trust me, I this is me being nice). I don’t intend for this post to rip UA a new a**hole, but perhaps if enough people actually express their opinions about their dissatisfaction with something, then maybe there will be some changes. Maybe.
After all, in recent news, American Airlines does deserve their kudos for listening to catering complAAints and doing something about it…
Please feel free to share your thoughts and experiences…
You didn’t pay full price or even close and got a big flat bed seat. Sounds like you got more than a fair deal – even in business class for that price.
It’s whines like this “give me better food on my mistake fare” that give our hobby a bad rap.
As for the flight attendants. Changing up your own attitude can go a long way to warming up even the most hardened of flight attendants. Try not coming in thinking ‘most UA flight attendants are outright rude.’ Trust me an underlying assumption like that will show in your actions, however subtle.
Greg,
Your view on this is rather myopic. You are focusing on the fact that Angelina got a low price on her flight (somewhat begrudgingly I might add) and using that as justification as to why she deserves a poor experience.
So she got a good fare so what?that’s UA’s fault not hers. Anyway way this fare afforded her the opportunity to experience the product and comment on it. It’s not like UA knew she was onboard and had paid little for her flight and therefore downgraded the food and service. No this is the regular offering on the route that people paying full price receive and Angelina’s point is that it’s in no way worth the full price they charge, and I would agree!
Angelina,
Thanks for taking the time to say what needs to be said. I for one pay for lots of business class tickets and there’s NO WAY I’m going to pay for the seat, service and meal quality UA offers. As you indicate there are so many other quality choices out there (including the much improved AA 77W in limited markets) that flying UA is just wasteful.
When I do fly UA (on award miles) it is only because there is no other option. My last flight in F from ORD-HKG had a pork chop as the main. Not sure where UA is spending it’s catering $ – but it certainly isn’t on a quality food experience.
The good news is – UA have no where to go but up.
Some facts…
Acadia is a Michelin starred restaurant in Chicago and serves a pork chop. So guess it was a pretty good main.
The topic here is first class, not business class.
UA gets away with it because of US corporate contracts, while OZ / KE have the Korean contracts. In fact, OZ with its great product only flies one flight a day with first. The other is business only. **There is not enough first class demand to support that extra flight even with an outstanding product**
AA is effectively exiting the first class business as all 772s are losing it.
Expect UA to follow suit soon with an all 2-cabin product and direct-aisle access on former 3-cabin planes.
Reality is lie-flat is ‘good enough’ for 80% of paid business / first class fliers. And anyone with true discretion of their travel dollar is wasting it on any US carrier unless schedule / connections are more convenient.
Last year, I had the opportunity to fly United First and all passengers were in the cabin were flying on miles or upgraded using miles. I think the product is so terrible that they cannot sell any seats. People actually pay for their first class seats on asian carriers.
it is not a first world whine. The UA product is simply inferior, in fact disrespectful, on so many levels. Few in their right mind would pay cash for first class on UA. I would not even use miles for it. There is much that could be done to improve this service if anyone at UA cared. If spending that kind of money you don’t take the greyhound you spend your money where you get a worthwhile product.
It should not matter if she got her tickets on a fare mistake or through miles redemption, the standard of service should be the same for all passengers of the same cabin.
She admitted that her problems with UA is “first world problems” but if I really want to fly with UA on a revenue ticket, I expect more for my money. And that starts with the service quality of flight attendants.
I am a UA 1K and remain loyal to them purely because of Economy Plus and the occasional upgrade to Business Class. The best FAs are mediocre, but the average FA is cold and disinterested and the bad ones are indescribable. The food is poor, whether in Economy or Business, they charge for alcohol, the IFE is either ok or 70s style or non-existent, the domestic flights are truly terrible whichever class you are in and I could go on. However, E+ makes it all worthwhile – there used to be other advantages but current management has stripped them away.
I have a Business Class 11 hour flight coming up next week and I can already picture the cheap wine, the strange food, the abysmal breakfast and the borderline hostile FAs. However, the seat goes flat and I only paid Economy, so I don’t complain too much.
But why on earth would anyone pay for it, when all its overseas competitors offer a much better product at the same price? Well, it’s clear to me why – the route I fly has UA and two foreign airlines. One foreign airline has 1.2 times the capacity, the other 2.5 times the capacity, plus it’s got a much higher relative number of premium cabin seating than UA, so has about 3.5 times UA’s premium cabin seats. It only offers upgrades rarely, whereas UA almost always does. I conclude that UA’s customers who actually pay for Business either work for the US Government which is in the business of giving UA hidden subsidies by forcing people to fly it, or are people who value miles way above what they are really worth, or are people who simply don’t have any idea. A poor business model.
Or people who fly UA because of corporate contracts. Remember, UA can connect from throughout the US, the foreign carriers can’t. And that entitles the corporates to volume discounts.
AA is no different.
How is their product to ICN any better? A tired 772 with angled seats.
Yes that will change as they refurb them, but at the cost of losing first class (and a whole bunch of business class seats soon). And UA will follow suit soon.
What you described is the model for all US based airlines.
I have flown UA Global F several times and never had a problem. Comfortable seat, excellent IFE, good service. I suppose i am a bit spoiled because out of HNL we get the Narita based crews, who are the best in the UA system. And I love Economy Plus, which i can’t get on those fancy Asian carriers.
Yeah, United’s GlobalFirst isn’t so hot — United’s CFO even says that it’s pretty much the same as business class: http://www.bloomberg.com/video/u-s-airlines-face-crushing-taxes-united-cfo-GlCvIX~YSMSfwOmRFt_uow.html
United is closing the GlobalFirst lounge in LAX and I don’t think any new longhaul deliveries are being configured with three cabins. At least AA (while reducing the number of planes with F) is still getting new 777s with F and has a three-cabin transcon product.
I’m glad you managed to get this on a mistake fare so at least you didn’t spend big bucks on a sub-par experience, but I remember seeing these fares and deciding not go simply because it was United and knew I probably wouldn’t enjoy the experience… maybe you can chock it up to a comfortable mileage run and a lesson learned!
Angelina – good post. I haven’t flown United F yet but have a trip booked over the holidays SFO – HKG on the 747. I would like to try the product just to compare to others (I’ve flown Lufthansa and Singapore F) and honestly I just feel lucky to have snagged two saver seats to HKG. Other option is likely to be EVA J assuming it opens up closer to departure. Which would you choose?
Thank you for this post. Personally I think the cabin crew of Asian carriers have an age limit. I’ve never seen anyone over age 45. Whenever I fly UA, the younger crew (under 40) tend to be nicer and provide better service than the older folk. That’s just my observation though.
If anything, I wish UA would brand their GlobalFirst as BusinessPlus since it just seems to be a slight upgrade from Business class.
I am an ex-Continental Premier Plat and ex-UA 1K (am based in EWR) so I’ve been on a good number of flights. Overall I have a bias towards CO flight attendants and I think they provide good service but not as over-the-top as their Asian carrier counterparts.
Angelina —- would you ever do this mileage run again if the same offer pops up again next week?
You have just proved why UA raised prices on their partner redemptioUAns
UA F < UA BF < UA GF < SQ C < SQ F
No wonder they now charge more – you get what you pay for
Totally agree with you Angelina… having paid for United First between Australia and the United States several times — as well as having redeemed for miles when I haven’t been able to get business class on Air Canada — I echo your frank comments about the rude attendants and the terrible food. I think the last time they had pajamas was 2005.. In their defense, there is the odd attendant who is fabulous… There’s one guy based in San Fran who is always very nice and upbeat and the woman in the first class lounge in LA is wonderful. For similar prices you can fly Emirates or Singapore and it is a joy…
I wonder what paid position at United this “Greg” holds. I can’t recall the last time I’ve seen such a blatant apologist. Paraphrasing: “Yes, United’s premium product sucks, but it’s better than their economy product so shut the f*** up.” “Yes, it sucks because they’re relying on organizations so myopic that they’ll choose an American airline with horrible service over a less expensive foreign carrier with an order of magnitude better service.”
I flew United international First once. I was so underwhelmed that I have no interest in ever trying it again. I’ve found American Airlines interantional first a substantially better experience in the past (though I’ll have to reserve judgement as to what the experience will be like with the US Air merger). But first — and even business class — on carriers such as Cathay Pacific, Lufthansa, Emirates, Etihad, Thai, Qantas, Finnair, Korean, Asiana, KLM, Air China, British, and even El Al and Sri Lankan (all of which I’ve flown, often on paid fares) all have offered better service than United First. United First was the very dreg bottom of any international first OR business class that I’ve flown to date. Yes, it’s better than their own coach class internationally. So yes, Greg, based on that outrageously low benchmark I guess you can say that United is doing an amazing job with their premium cabin service.
I completely agree with the original post, and nb summed it up perfectly as well. I am 1k 2 million miler and cannot begin to list the problems I have had on united. When I complain I am told that I
Complain too often. I agree that the FAs are frequently rude or seem to not care about their jobs or passengers. I don’t understand why united lets this type of dissatisfying service continue. I was over the moonbwhenbthey stopped service to bangkok. Narita to bkk is now code share with ANA and even in economy the flight has better service better food and nicer FAs than united biz. Unfortunately I fly from a united hub so It’s not easy to switch to another airline.
Absolutely agree! Just a month ago i flew UA global first right after flying SQ Suites. What a disappointment. I would have flown another carrier, however UA had the flight at the time i needed.
I just booked UA from Ord to Fra in global first on miles. It was the only flight that suited my schedule. Other flights got me there too late or a day later than I needed to be at my final destination. At least its an award flight :) After flying EK in business, I know it won’t be amazing but we’ll see.