United airlines transatlantic

spitonmedickie

Not the most technical or high brow of threads I know but hear me out!

Any opinions on flying transatlantic with United (Dublin - EWR or IAD), would be cattle class. Asking because I'm a really fidgety flyer and at least if the entertainment was ok, seats ok and food ok I'd have some hope of getting through it!

errlloyd

I flew United into IAD and out of EWR in August. (and actually on to San Francisco).

Everything was pretty good. I remember eating all the food (and I'm kind of fussy). My seats were comfortable. The one downside is both times I've flown United there have been delays. Relatively serious ones. But the actual in flight experience was fine.

John_Mc

Delta were great when I flew them. Would highly recommend

Calhoun

Flew with them in may, flight out was good had decent inflight entertainment and screens. Interconnecting flights and the flight home was all about their new wifi entertainment system which relies on you having an app.

The big downside to it is that it relies on your own device, apparently you can charge it but I couldn't get the plug under the seat to work. In addition the service would drop allot I would estimate it was down for nearly half the flight.

As someone who has flown allot with United over the past couple of years I wouldn't recommend them, feels verymuch like Ryanair now and would only choose then if process point was right but would bring my own entertainment.

Naked Lepper

they are one of the best for trans atlantic, wide body planes - good entertainment and the wifi is unlimited (unlike aer lingus who charge by the 5mb), they also offer free food and drinks - wine/beers, etc.

some of the new 777 aircraft on this route require you to bring your own device to stream the media (whether ipad or phone) - others have TV's built into the back of the headrests. best to bring your own ipad and charger if you have one

errlloyd

Oh I actually remember now that the seats had a mount for your own device. I really liked that because usually plane touchscreens are kinda **** quality. This allowed me to mount an HD tablet with good brightness.

VG31

Naked Lepper wrote: »

some of the new 777 aircraft on this route require you to bring your own device to stream the media (whether ipad or phone) - others have TV's built into the back of the headrests. best to bring your own ipad and charger if you have one

They're switching from the 777 to the 787-10 which have IFE at each seat on DUB-EWR this summer.

Henry Ford III

Flown a good few times (SNN-EWR) on their 757's. Older aircraft and a bit cramped in economy.

Business class was nice however.

realdanbreen

errlloyd wrote: »

I flew United into IAD and out of EWR in August. (and actually on to San Francisco).

Everything was pretty good. I remember eating all the food (and I'm kind of fussy). My seats were comfortable. The one downside is both times I've flown United there have been delays. Relatively serious ones. But the actual in flight experience was fine.

You do know that if your flight is delayed for 4 hours or more that you are entitled to either €600 refund or an airline voucher for $800.

errlloyd

realdanbreen wrote: »

You do know that if your flight is delayed for 4 hours or more that you are entitled to either €600 refund or an airline voucher for $800.

Only on flights in and out of the EU, both times it was delayed during transfers in the US

Nijmegen

Their record for transfers is abysmal in my experience. Myself and colleagues have all been caught for 24+ hour (thanks to Atlantic schedule to Ireland) delays by United more than AA or Delta. One delay for me saw a 3 hour connection buffer eaten up because they were waiting on a pilot they needed to dead head. Talk about customer centric.

Dardania

errlloyd wrote: »

Only on flights in and out of the EU, both times it was delayed during transfers in the US

Interesting one - were you on a ticket that included the connections?

Jude13

Did delta from Amsterdam to Washington KLM code share, never ever again. Though they had great staff.

It was archaic. Old plane, wonky seat, seat very short so my head lolled over it. Also had a kid behind me which constantly booted my chair, there were no other seats and the parent ignored the staffs request. So I ended up standing for most of the flight near the galley. The staff gave we two 50 dollar vouchers for my inconvenience even though I didn't complain to them.

So at least it wont be the worst US carrier.

Nijmegen

Jude13 wrote: »

Did delta from Amsterdam to Washington KLM code share, never ever again. Though they had great staff.

It was archaic. Old plane, wonky seat, seat very short so my head lolled over it. Also had a kid behind me which constantly booted my chair, there were no other seats and the parent ignored the staffs request. So I ended up standing for most of the flight near the galley. The staff gave we two 50 dollar vouchers for my inconvenience even though I didn't complain to them.

So at least it wont be the worst US carrier.

In fairness the kid could fly on any airline. It's an issue with the US3, there can be such inconsistency in hard and soft product. On United I've flown with great crews and those who treat you like dogs. I tend to find Delta friendlier all round. The fleets all 3 fly are also highly inconsistent. I flew to Boston on Delta with a really great 757 product in business, and back on a 767 via JFK that was ancient crap.

realdanbreen

errlloyd wrote: »

Only on flights in and out of the EU, both times it was delayed during transfers in the US

Not so. I had a flight from Shannon to Philly delayed by 7 hours a few months back. €600 or $800 voucher was what I was offered.

yrreg0850

I have used then frequently from SNN to EWR and, have never had problems with them.
Don't have much option as our so called "National Airline" more or less ignore SNN.
EWR is great for onward connections .

errlloyd

Dardania wrote: »

Interesting one - were you on a ticket that included the connections?

Come to think about it, I was.

realdanbreen wrote: »

Not so. I had a flight from Shannon to Philly delayed by 7 hours a few months back. €600 or $800 voucher was what I was offered.

Sorry that should say "in or out" of the EU. Eitherway the flights United delayed for me were Chicago - Oklahoma and SF - NYC.

ongarboy

I flew into IAD and onto ORD and back to DUB last summer with UA and couldn't fault it whatsoever. I'm 6'2" but don't recall leg room or space being an issue. The food and inflight entertainment was fine too and above all, no delays on any of the flights. I got a much more competitive price that a comparable EI/Jet Blue quote for the dates/destinations. I'd consider flying UA to Chicago or DC over EI for future trips again. I've never been to EWR so can't comment on that route.

errlloyd

Actually come to think about it, one of those flights I was delayed on was one ticket from Dublin. Does anyone know if I can check how delayed a flight was just under 2 years ago?

n97 mini

Did DUB to EWR (and back) with United at Christmas. No complaints. The plane had been retrofitted with IFE in the seatbacks and it worked quite well.

marno21

yrreg0850 wrote: »

I have used then frequently from SNN to EWR and, have never had problems with them.
Don't have much option as our so called "National Airline" more or less ignore SNN.
EWR is great for onward connections .

It's not our national airline. It's a private airline owned by a British-Spanish airline group who are under no obligation to provide any flights to anyone. They are the only full service airline providing US flights ex Shannon all year round and apparently will be providing both Boston and New York JFK next winter with the new A321s.

Dardania

errlloyd wrote: »

Come to think about it, I was.



Sorry that should say "in or out" of the EU. Eitherway the flights United delayed for me were Chicago - Oklahoma and SF - NYC.

Could be eligible> https://www.caa.co.uk/Passengers/Resolving-travel-problems/Delays-cancellations/Your-rights/Your-rights-when-you-miss-a-connection/

yrreg0850

marno21 wrote: »

It's not our national airline. It's a private airline owned by a British-Spanish airline group who are under no obligation to provide any flights to anyone. They are the only full service airline providing US flights ex Shannon all year round and apparently will be providing both Boston and New York JFK next winter with the new A321s.

The way SNN is treated by EI is on going for many years. There has been a slight improvement since it went private.
At one stage they even transferred the SNN-LHR flights to Belfast .
There is no big deal with them saying they will provide SNN-BOS/JFK next year, these flights were removed years ago.
Before the compulsary stopover on the JFK _DUB flights was scrapped, EI used every excuse to over fly.

Tenger

yrreg0850 wrote: »

The way SNN is treated by EI is on going for many years. There has been a slight improvement since it went private.
At one stage they even transferred the SNN-LHR flights to Belfast .
There is no big deal with them saying they will provide SNN-BOS/JFK next year, these flights were removed years ago.
Before the compulsary stopover on the JFK _DUB flights was scrapped, EI used every excuse to over fly.

Yes, because the stopover increased their costs for very little revenue. It also increased wear and tear on their aircraft.

The JFK/BOS were stopped for 6 weeks for about 3-4 years running as they were not profitable. Now with the B757 they are viable year round.

The removal of SNN-LHR in favour of BFS-LHR was a bargaining tool by EI to try to force the closure of their SNN base.

NSAman

Flew them once and never again. Seats were not comfortable, the cabin was overly warm, food was pretty poor.

This was a while ago, so cannot say what the current situation is with them.

poisonated

I believe Newark is over priced and don’t accept cash in many places. I hear United is ok though. As long as you do EXACTLY as they say haha

theguzman

I prefer United, they at least don't move the plane to Dublin and cancel Shannon passengers bi-weekly. You have between a 1-14 to 1-28 chance that your flight to New York will be cancelled if you fly Aer Lingus from Shannon as they value Dublin passengers more and are too miserly to have a spare TATL aircraft on standby for such eventualities.

HTCOne

Jaysus the auld chip on the shoulder of Shannon folks is still as staggering as ever. Maybe if folks actually used the place then it wouldn't be the first flight to get the chop when something goes tech.

EI's sole function is to make profits. Cutting the lowest yielding and least busy flights when necessary make sense.

A320s arrive into dub with freight and pax bound for North America. These pay the bills.

I work in aviation in Shannon. The airport held aviation and tourism back in this country for decades and cost us untold jobs to protect a smaller number here locally. The airport is independent now and yet it still struggles to make routes work, so the auld blaming Aer Rianta / DAA/ EI rings hollow. If the pax were there, other carriers would swoop. ORD with UA failed, DL downgauged on JFK and reduced the season, Norwegian bailed for the winter, UA pulled EWR for the winter, AA reduced the season on PHL......but it's all a Dublin conspiracy, right?

As for the US3, it's been a while since I used them but for years they failed to invest in their cabins and as such they could be really ratty (US Airways 757s/ 767-200s anyone?). But they're pumping serious money in now. Thing is when you've got the guts of 1,000 aircraft to do, it takes time.

You'll be good on the UA 78k if you book that on DUB-EWR. 757s/767s/777s can be a mixed bag as they tend to have mixed fleets, ie some for domestic and some more premium cabins for international, but then they complicate this by using "domestic" configured aircraft without PTVs on select international routes, such as the UA 777s on DUB-EWR last year. ( I think these are coming back briefly before the 78k takes over)

The DL B764s will get new cabins eventually. I think their 330s already have them. Not sure about the AA 330s, but the 787s should be decent.

Jude13

Nijmegen wrote: »

In fairness the kid could fly on any airline. It's an issue with the US3, there can be such inconsistency in hard and soft product. On United I've flown with great crews and those who treat you like dogs. I tend to find Delta friendlier all round. The fleets all 3 fly are also highly inconsistent. I flew to Boston on Delta with a really great 757 product in business, and back on a 767 via JFK that was ancient crap.

I agree, however without the kid booting me being a pain in the ..., the seat actually moved from its bolted position slightly, which is unnerving, the seat was too small in height so my head could not rest on it, the tv's in the aisle were ancient and the one near me only half came down. Also the seat was very thin so if a kid decided to boot you in the back you really felt it. It was such a let down after a lovely first leg with KLM from Muscat.

It's put me off delta for good. (again not the kid, the plane)

LeakRate

Jude13 wrote: »

I agree, however without the kid booting me being a pain in the ..., the seat actually moved from its bolted position slightly, which is unnerving, the seat was too small in height so my head could not rest on it, the tv's in the aisle were ancient and the one near me only half came down. Also the seat was very thin so if a kid decided to boot you in the back you really felt it. It was such a let down after a lovely first leg with KLM from Muscat.

It's put me off delta for good. (again not the kid, the plane)

Delta don't operate any international routes from /to IAD, United and KLM are the only metal on that route.

Jude13

Apologies, it was the return Boston to Amsterdam on a KLM code share which was a Delta plane.