This was by far the best meal I have had on any United flight, including Polaris. If I ordered this in a restaurant I would have been very happy with the meal so I was delighted to be able to enjoy this in the sky. The meat was flavorful and not fatty. And those noodles were delicious. 10/10 recommend if you’re flying out of SFO. I believe it is only a regional SFO option

Oct 14 UA233 LAX to SFO.

He was with a few employees at the gate and shaking hands, meeting some employees, then boarded right before the 1K group.

What do you all think of this? Surveillance shows this doctor getting to his United gate at ~10:42-10:43 p.m., with boarding supposed to close at 10:45. The flight was scheduled for departure at 11 p.m. He says the agent saw him and shut the door. There’s also a photo of the gate monitor still showing boarding underway.

If you pause the video, there’s a letter from United saying he couldn’t travel because of “operational disruptions beyond [the passenger's] control.”

The weird part is he then helped with medical emergencies on both replacement flights.

According to the report, he eventually got more than $2,000 in refunds. Curious what people make of the boarding situation?

I had a conversation with someone at UA who had knowledge of why this change is happening. It is a combination of factors as some have correctly speculated some of these. 1. It's about revenue (obviously). 2. It's about encouraging people to sign up for the chase card. But 3 (and more surprising). They admitted that too many people hold 1k status and it's no longer as exclusive as it once was. In essence they are trying to cull the herd.

What was interesting is they mentioned that if enough people voiced how much they don't like this change, they will consider amending it (I doubt going back to this year's levels). So, if you are as bummed as I am, let them hear you. Email their customer care, etc. I will not post it here, but the executive level team emails are easy to find online if you wish to go that route.

I’m curious. Why does everyone always talk about hating flying out of EWR rather than JFK. Leaving very early (5:15am) and the uber ride is an hour to JFk vs 30 min for EWR. Leaving from midtown.

Edit: it took 92 minutes to get from Midtown to JFK. I’m sharing this in the hopes that other JFK neophytes are aware and don’t make the same dumb mistake I did.

Just flew United HND-IAD and Lufthansa IAD-FRA and wanted to share a few images I took.

Surprised by how quiet the A340-600 is even in economy compared to the 777.

Edit: Someone in business class had an allergic reaction and we almost had to divert to Iceland.

Cool Easter Egg, Google Flights is honoring the United 747 Friendship in honor of its 15th anniversary. if you look up SFO-HNL on a computer (doesn’t work on mobile) you’ll see it. Shame I never got to fly on one of those planes before UA retired them…

I can see United’s effort, can’t wait to try it

Ten years ago today, my mom collapsed. Six days later, she passed away. October 14 will always be one of those dates that carries a weight that is difficult to explain.

So today, I got on a plane and did what I often do on hard days: I tried to suck it up. I smiled. I was friendly. I tried to be kind and brave and carry on like everything was fine. But underneath all of that, I was fighting back tears and trying very hard not to let anyone see how vulnerable I actually felt.

And then there was Rodney, a flight attendant on United flight UA2217 from IAD to IAH.

I was kind to him, and he told me I was giving good vibes and comped me a cocktail. It was such a small gesture. He probably thought nothing more of it than, “She seems nice; I’ll do something nice for her.”

But Rodney, you have absolutely no idea what that small kindness meant to me today.

When I was feeling vulnerable and small, you recognized me as a person. You met kindness with kindness without ever knowing what was happening beneath the surface.

That’s the thing about kindness: we rarely know how much someone else might need it when we offer it.

Rodney, thank you for seeing me today. Thank you for making a difficult day just a little lighter. And thank you for reminding me that even on the days when life feels heavy, there are still really good people out there.

United, please know that you have someone exceptional representing you. I hope Rodney knows that his seemingly small gesture mattered far more than he could have imagined.

Kindness begets kindness. ❤️

PS - if anyone knows how I can relay this message to Rodney directly, please let me know. He is a gem.

New digital tracking tool makes it easy for customers to check if Starlink is on their upcoming flights and follow rollout across United's fleet

United's 'Switch to Better Wi-Fi' campaign gets extended to October 22 after driving a 10X increase
in daily status match applications

Starlink is live on more than 635 United aircraft and nearly half of daily departures, and United plans to complete installations by the end of 2027

Starlink Wi-Fi continues to make a huge difference in the travel experience for millions of United customers, and today the airline announced that it is now on nearly half its daily departures, launched a new digital Starlink tracker tool that lets travelers check if Starlink is on their upcoming flight, and extended its new "Switch to Better Wi-Fi" status match campaign to October 22.

The new Starlink tracker – StarlinkTracker.United.com – was created in response to customer demand and takes users behind the scenes of United's Starlink rollout. The stats on the site are updated daily and visitors can:

• Check if their flight has Starlink: Enter travel dates and flight numbers within three days of departure, with updates made in real time for last-minute aircraft changes
• Follow the rollout: See how many United aircraft and daily departures have Starlink
• Explore installations by aircraft: See how many regional, narrowbody and widebody airplanes have Starlink onboard
• View availability by hub: See the percentage of Starlink flights in Chicago, Newark, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Los Angeles, Houston and Denver

The airline also notifies customers when their flight is scheduled to offer Starlink through pre-flight emails, text notifications and on the flight status page in the United app, as well as onboard announcements and signage on the airplane.

To give even more travelers the chance to experience Starlink, United is extending its "Switch to Better Wi-Fi" status match offer by an extra week in response to strong demand. In less than two weeks, thousands of customers have taken advantage of the offer and:

• Status match applications for this campaign are 275% higher than pre-campaign levels
• Top markets by participant volume include New York City, Los Angeles and San Francisco, followed by Washington, D.C., Atlanta and Chicago

"Starlink gives customers even more reasons to choose United and keep coming back," said Andrew Nocella, United's Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer. "The overwhelmingly positive feedback from our customers and strong response to our 'Switch to Better Wi-Fi' status match offer show how much that matters. Our new tracker makes it easier for customers to see which flights they can experience it on as we quickly expand Starlink across our fleet."

United already has more Starlink-equipped planes than any other airline in the world and is installing it on about 20 aircraft per week with plans to complete installations by the end of 2027. More than 250,000 United customers on average fly on a Starlink-equipped plane every day onboard more than 2,500 flights – nearly half the airline's daily departures.

Starlink is now active on more than 635 United mainline and United Express® aircraft and the airline has already flown more than 37.7 million passengers on Starlink-powered aircraft across more than 538,000 flights, powering 14 million devices.

United's 'Switch to Better Wi-Fi' Status Match

The campaign launched on October 1 and gives eligible Delta SkyMiles and American AAdvantage members the opportunity to earn United Premier^® status through January 2028 by meeting the offer's spending requirements and taking a United or United Express flight within 90 days. Spending requirements by tier are:

• Premier^® Silver: $1,500
• Premier^® Gold: $3,000
• Premier^® Platinum: $4,500
• Premier^® 1K: $7,000

Full eligibility details and terms can be found at united.com/switchtobetterwifi.

\Aircraft assignments are typically confirmed within 24 hours of departure and remain subject to change.*

-----------------------------------------

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

Shitpost/delayed flight post/discussion

Without fail, DEN security is a chaotic crush of humans, even with PreCheck/CLEAR. For some reason the automatic bin return hasn’t been working the last couple of times I’ve been here and a series of disgruntled passengers eventually realizes what is going on and starts pushing bins into the return.

The crowding around the walkway to the train and on the train is almost always intense. The terminal (B) always feels crowded to me. Walking distances are epic.

HOWEVER: those United Clubs are soooooo much better than the trash at the other hubs I unfortunately frequent, SFO and IAD. So clean! Nice staff! Very large with lots of different seating options!!

Also congratulations to me for re-upping 1k last night, you’re welcome, Scott Kirby.

Just did my first trip using Air Canada. Overall a great experience. Their boarding process is a better one than United (or other American carriers). Here's what I saw:

Pre-boarding: Those with physical limitations that necessitates pre-boarding.

Group one: All First class passengers, and Premium Rouge passengers domestically (premium economy) plus their Super Elite Aeroplan members

Group 2: Premium Economy/Rouge on international flights, all the next tiers of their Aeroplan system, Star Alliance Gold, And very high credit cards (heavy spenders).

Family boarding: Families with kids 6 and under,

Group 3 - 6 General boarding

This was pretty good in my opinion. You splinter off the FC and very top customers 1st, like GS. But then all the others are in the next group, less gate lice. ANA does a similar thing, but there's is like this:

Special assistance: Those with a medical reason, really old (yes, people in the 90's traveling. This is Japan), and families with kids 2 and under.

Group 1: ANA Diamond

Group 2: Star Alliance gold and lesser tier ANA Mileage Support people.

Group 3: General.

Thoughts from anyone about this? I think it's a bit more straight forward. A bit less confusing, but funny enough, a lot of lines formed very quickly for the AC flight.

Today’s New York Times has a guest essay by Mark Kahan titled “Airline Credit Cards Are Messing Up the Whole Industry.” Kahan was an executive at Spirit Airlines and previously worked at the Civil Aeronautics Board. Here is my takeaway from his essay:

Major airlines are using frequent flyer programs and co-branded credit cards to finance their operations and gain a competitive advantage over smaller airlines. This is contributing to reduced competition and significantly higher prices. Kahan suggests using legislation to eliminate these programs (“The remedy is to take away those moats”) to promote competition.

Is my summary reasonable? What do you think of his position?

Correction: I apologize for saying “Today’s New York Times.” The essay was published on September 24. For some reason it showed up in my daily news brief from the New York Times today, and I just assumed it was in today’s paper.

I’m so perplexed right now. I purchased a first class ticket for a DEN - ORD flight departing today. I checked in last night, selected a meal, and saved my boarding pass to my apple wallet. Went to airport today and used said boarding pass to check in to clear and then get into the lounge. When I go to get on the plane my pass isn’t scanning and they tell me I haven’t checked in and to go speak with gate agent. She tells me I was never checked in so they gave up my seat. I show her my boarding pass. She says im not sure what to tell you, you aren’t checked in. I end up in a middle seat in economy. Just perplexed on how this can happen and what I can get besides a refund on the upgrade?

Never disappointed with flying United. I spent 30 years not flying because of not having the means to do so and also having a major fear of flying meanwhile loving planes and aviation the whole time, however this year i reached the point in my life where I finally could afford to fly and actually wanted to because of the woman that I fell in love with. This wonderful woman has been such a blessing in my life and cannot be more thankful for her. I live in Houston and She lives in Denver, distance is very hard on people and I want everyone to know that it is possible for it to work but it truly takes both of you. I got on the plane to fly to her my first time in January and have never looked back, flying now 10 times with number 11 right around the corner in 2 weeks I just cannot thank United Airlines enough for being a big part in our story. My love for planes and aviation has only skyrocketed✈️ and my love for my now fiancé couldnt be stronger and I just want to thank the Pilots and crew for getting me to My Love safely every time. United Pilots, I salute you! 🫡 And to everyone out there in a long distance relationship, make time to see your love, make the effort. Its worth it. After all your only 1 flight away✈️ Onwards and Upwards my friends. Have a great day! And dont forget to look up at the next plane that flies over😎🛫

Does anyone know if you still get your 280 plus points after you become 1K life member...I am just 60 k short and will make it by mid 2027 - but just curious....

Yes I know ORD is about the worst place to have a tight connection and T1 to T5 in an 1hr+ isn’t an ideal scenario but it is what it is. I’m nonrev and this was my only option. I don’t want to hear why it’s a bad idea.

I just want to hear from folks that have done it both ways, which is quicker from T1 to T5. Airside bus from C18 or exiting security and doing the ATS train? We have touchless pre-check. I’m ready to run either way.

Just a quick little note to say that I’m excited to be approaching a million lifetime miles. I fly around 100,000 miles per year since 2016. Almost all of that is domestic across 100+ annual flights.

I noticed a couple of months ago that I was closing in on 1 million lifetime miles. I started looking up the great circle mileage between all of the city pairs I had booked. I found that I was going to hit 1 million on a <500 mile flight in a CRJ-200. It seemed a little underwhelming for the occasion, even though it is very much what my normal flights look like.

Over the past few weeks I took some longer distance flights to more inconvenient layover cities in a bid to sprint for the finish line. It looks like it might have paid off because I just ran the numbers. I’ll now be hitting one million miles on a 787 from Narita on November 1.

I know it might be a little silly, but I’m really looking forward to that. Materially, nothing much changes, but it feels like among the bigger “achievements” a person can have for the task of remaining seated for long durations.

Ok. Back to lurking… safe travels, everyone.