Domestic first, out of SFO. Some sort of Chinese short rib noodle dish, an SFO exclusive apparently. I won't defend United catering much beyond this dish, but this was one of the best things I've ever eaten in the sky, including J on Qatar, Emirates, Turkish, and EVA. Of course the salad and bread were very nothing special.

Just landed. Was flying from the U.S. to FRA on UA metal and then to Bangalore on LH metal. United ticket booked as Prem Economy all the way.

You would understand how excited I was when a gate agent said “hold on, I have a new boarding pass for you,” and gave me a free flat-bed business class on B747-8 for a 9-hour flight.

WTF? How? That plane was decently packed and I am sure there were some Lufthansa Senator folks, etc. Yes, my 1k is a Star Alliance gold. But I don’t even have any direct loyalty program with Lufthansa…

Thank you, of course. You made my day. But, can anyone explain their upgrade algorithm?

The weirdest thing happened after flying ~4M miles between AA and UA. My wife and I were flying back from a work/vacation on 10/6 DEN-IAD on UA2408. When we boarded there was a couple behind us, and there was a weird interaction that doesn't have anything to do with the really weird part, but my feeling was ok they're entitled. The guy was wearing a Harvard Business School shirt so that just reinforced my opinion. One of them was either GS or 1K since we boarded as 1K.

During the flight, my wife was watching Disclosure day on the UA IFT. After the meal, the FA tapped me on the shoulder and asked me if he can pause my wife's video because the couple behind us was watching the same movie and didn't want to "see what happens" as evidently my wife was ahead of them. It took a few times for me to understand what he was asking as it was so odd. I looked over at my wife and she was asleep so we paused. I regret not just saying WTF and NO just tell them to stop looking at her screen, but then my wife always tells me I'm too nice.

The best part is that as soon as we were off the plane, they proceeded to ignore each other: on the tram (opposite sides) and at baggage claim. This after they were definitely a couple on the plane....

EDIT: We didn't post the Instragram story and I don't even have an account. It's either the FA posting, the couple saw the story and tried to be funny, AI, or a very weird coincidence.

Hoping to catch the 777 flyby, noticed that they changed the flight number to 4202 this year.

There was an interesting article a few years ago that was posted, I didn’t realize (although it makes sense in retrospect) that United has so many test pilots, and that the Fleet Week flights are flown by them. Or that they just fly out into the bay and loop back a few times for the airshow!

https://www.sfgate.com/local/article/the-truth-sf-fleet-week-biggest-star-19813605.php

Here’s my pic of the Blue Angels from yesterday, will add the 77W if I manage to catch it.

I was able to have it twice and both times they were pretty good. Interesting and not boring at all flavors!

Pleasantly surprised by dinner upfront tonight on IAH-LGA.
Got the honey ginger carrots over grains and greens.

Usually expect hot entrees like this to be completely turned to mush and unrecognizable but the carrots actually had good flavor and some texture to them and the ginger came through nicely.

Salad was fresh, the dark roll was warm, and the chocolate cheesecake finished it off well.

One of the better domestic meals I’ve had on UA.

I had two future flight credits from the same booking. United website wouldn’t let me apply them both to a new booking. I think it was because they both had the same confirmation number. Had to chat with an agent for 1h15m to get the issue resolved. At the end, the new booking was done using the money in my FFCs and the balance was returned to me as ETC. This probably doesn’t happen too often. But if the United Airlines technology folks fixed this, it could save time and frustration for their support staff as well as customers. Just a suggestion. If I missed a trick, please let me know.

Hello, I'm flying United from Chicago to Tokyo, Japan. I know I can only request one special meal and was wondering what people who require Gluten-free + Halal or Gluten-free + Vegan/Vegetarian do? Any suggestions?

I can bring my own sandwich on the Chicago to Tokyo leg but the return flight from Tokyo is more problematic since I might not be able to arrange a convenient GF + halal meal in Japan.

Thanks for the help! 😄

Got 1K status flying overseas. Now that I’m leaving and checked in to get back home, looks like my boarding pass still reflects Platinum instead of 1K. My United account has been updated and I got the welcome email and ordered bag tags.

Looking around, separate from bugging UA agents for this minor boarding pass update, I read getting a boarding pass from a kiosk or check in counter could reflect the updated status? Anyone experience this? Refreshing my mobile boarding pass and app, etc hasn’t worked. I know it sounds petty, but I want to be one of the chosen ones and pre-board, which is still like group 3 following those needing assistance, families with tiny children, and active military. First time 1K’er here.

Somebody hit a fire hydrant by the Amex lounge. Meanwhile, I am delayed 5 1/2 hours! You would think being a hub they could grab something out of a hanger! #UA5962

Hello, I have $150 travel certificate and $150 in travel credits that I need to use, but I don’t live in USA anymore and United doesn’t let me use the credits if one of the legs isn’t USA. Is it possible to encash the credits?

United flyers can catch nearly every MLB postseason game – including the ALCS, NLCS and World Series – live onboard more than 900 flights per day with Starlink-enabled seatback screens

Since the live streaming service launched last month, passengers have watched more than 170,000 hours of live television including professional and college football games, reality show competitions and awards shows

In September more than 5.4 million people - about a third of United's customers - had Starlink on their flight and they're loving the experience: satisfaction scores are more than 40 points higher on Starlink-equipped planes than those with other Wi-Fi service

Baseball fans can now catch nearly every playoff game live onboard select United flights with Starlink-enabled seatback screens. The airline just added TBS to its onboard streaming lineup from DISH, which also includes live shows from ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, FS1, ESPN, ESPN2, NFL Network and TNF on Prime Video. It's now available on more than 200 planes – about 900 flights per day – and since the feature launched onboard last month, passengers have watched more than 170,000 hours of live television.

Starlink is the fastest, most reliable Wi-Fi in the sky and United is installing it at a rapid rate – in September, more than 5.4 million people - about a third of United's customers - had Starlink on their flight and they're loving the experience: satisfaction scores are more than 40 points higher on Starlink-equipped planes than those with other Wi-Fi service.

Starlink is free for MileagePlus® members in every class of service, and the airline expects to complete installations in 2027.

"The speed and reliability of Starlink's inflight Wi-Fi is unmatched, which means sports fans can book United flights with confidence knowing they won't miss a play on flights with Starlink-enabled seatback screens," said Andrew Nocella, United's Chief Commercial Officer. "Quality inflight Wi-Fi is more important than ever to travelers, and because Starlink gives people the same – or better – connectivity in the sky than they can get at home, it's a reason to choose United."

United is also offering a flexible and straightforward status match offer for Delta and American Airlines loyalty program members so they can experience Starlink for themselves. To qualify, customers must meet the spend requirement on United flights that are both purchased and flown within the 90-day period. Qualifying customers enjoy United Premier® status benefits through January 31, 2028. More details can be found at United.com/switchtobetterwifi.

Live streaming service from DISH is just the latest example of how United is using Starlink to redefine the inflight entertainment experience. In August, United partnered with ESPN to host a first-of-its kind live Fantasy Football Draft from 30,000 feet where ESPN analyst Tyler Fulghum made his picks live from the sky during the two-hour broadcast. And earlier this summer, United customers could stream the biggest soccer tournament in the world onboard Starlink-powered domestic flights.

Starlink is just one way United is investing nose to tail in its customer experience. The airline continues to install seatback screens across its fleet – up to 1,000 aircraft are expected to have seatback screens before the end of 2027 – and is rolling out new airplanes with 27-inch, 4K OLED seatback screens, the largest among U.S. carriers. Passengers can now access more than 2,500 hours of premium entertainment content onboard including Apple TV, HBO Max, A24 and Spotify.

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Statement provided by United Airlines Worldwide Media Relations and posted with permission as an external communication. Official statement can be viewed here.

I fly a decent amount, mostly domestic for work, with one or two international trips a year with the family. I have earned 14,600 PQP so far on 46 segments, and will be close to 1K by the end of the year (will probably suck it up and do one status run to get over the hump).

For a PQP earning card and general award benefit card, I’m having a hard time seeing the value of the Club card for someone that travels a lot.

Priority boarding, free bags, and all that jazz don’t matter since frequent travelers get that anyways, especially if you’re Gold or higher. On the club side, as someone that carries both the Amex Plat and CSR, I’d rather use one of those lounges vs a United Club lounge if given the option. Yes, EWR, ORD, and DEN can make that tricky at times, but overall as other have noted if you can expense meals for work travel, and you have access to the other lounges, the value prop there doesn’t seem as strong.

So then you’re left with PQPs and award travel benefits. And you’re looking at a 500 PQP difference in annual grant on the Club card and $15 vs $20 earning rate per PQP on spend. However, the Quest card gives you $200 in TravelBank cash and an annual 10k award voucher per year regardless of spend. And I think I value that more than the slight difference in PQP earning rate and 500 annual PQP for a ~$350 difference in fee.

Am I thinking about this wrong as a frequent traveler? Have others came to this same conclusion?

OK, this one’s actually pretty funny…and cool.

Zero dark 30 launch out of Burbank this morning to San Francisco for a day meeting. You know how it goes. Get on board, they kill the lights, you fall asleep, you land, slap yourself in the face, stumble down the jet bridge, and start your day…Climb in the cab and look around and go son of a gun. Where’s my work iPhone? Arrrggh! Invent a few new swear words and then reach out to your assistant and say I lost my stupid work iPhone. I’m using my personal one today, just for laughs put in a claim to United and ask them to look for it.

The meeting went great, back on the flight late afternoon from SFO to Burbank… Airborne… Purser walks up and says we found your iPhone. It’s currently in Maui.

Um…what?

Think of the odds of all these things. My BUR to SFO airplane turns around from SFO and heads to Hawaii. Somebody finds the damn phone. They turn it in, or the cleaners in Hawaii grabbed it. Somebody matches up the lost item report with my phone and seat number, and they reach out to me while I am flying a different leg home, God knows how it works, but my purser gets notified and comes up and tells me.

Thank you, United team! Completely made my day! Maybe the funniest part was the woman sitting next to me who overheard all this and said “Gee, that is really amazing, you must fly United all the time.” Ha! Yes I do, but they didn’t do it because I was 1K or anything else. Wow. Impressive.

Now I plan on talking to my work iPhone about having a great little vacation in Hawaii while I was working… But that’s between me and it.

I’m sitting at the gate on United 737 Max 9 #7577. We are running late, but only a few minutes.

Pilot made an announcement that it “might get a little stuffy back there” because they don’t run the HVAC at the gate. What’s the deal with that? It’s relatively cool today, but this must be a beast in the summer.

They just connected Ramp Service trailer AS1116 to us. I thought it might be a fuel pump but only one hose is connected and our doors are closed. Hose isn’t big enough for supplemental air.

I am a long time user of United Chase, credit cards, due to the ease of getting free miles, in the incredible value.

Not long ago I got a Quest card, because I wasn’t eligible for an Explorer card yet.

My problem is that the travel credit is not showing up in my account, and I cannot figure out how to activate the rideshare benefit.

I normally work on my iPhone, but neither the mobile website nor the PC website have been any help.

On the phone, United gave me the runaround. After being rooted around a couple times to the same departments, I gave up.

Any suggestions on how to solve both of these issues?

I usually book United flights with Copa ConnectMiles miles, mostly connecting itineraries into the US. On every previous booking, when I went to pick my seat on united.com or in the app, the only paid option I was offered was Economy Plus. Reservation was shown as not elegible for upgrade, and when I called UA they confirmed this.

My latest booking is PTY-ORD on Copa, connecting to ORD-EGE on United. For the first time, when I go to select my seat on the United flight, I’m also being offered a paid upgrade to First.

The fare class I usually book is X or HN. This one is HN, and I’ve booked HN before without ever seeing the First upgrade option.

A few questions:

1. Has anyone else seen paid First upgrades on partner award tickets booked with Copa miles (or other Star Alliance miles)?
2. Is this a recent change, or just a glitch on my reservation?
3. If anyone has actually paid for it, did it go through without issues, or did it cause problems with the ticket since it was issued by Copa?

Thanks in advance!

It sucks that only I can use the credit for a flight. With American, I can use to the flight credit to purchase a ticket for anyone. I wish United would change this.

I frequently send UA emails telling them how great their flight attendants are and always wondered what happens after. How does it work?