Yes, six hours--and only two bookings.

Being the mileage runner that I am, I naturally rejected a conventional routing for my two trips to Los Angeles next month. It took me some time, but I pieced together a nice itinerary that would take me circuitously across the country--with connections through United's hubs--in order to maximize mileage earning and VDB possibilities. 

The problem with nine-segment itineraries is that united.com and United Reservations cannot price ...

Gate lice, those passengers who stand up in the boarding area up to an hour before boarding, have always made me chuckle. Yes, bin space is precious--but I don't think that is why some people line up early on United's red carpet. Instead, I think (no, actually I know) certain passengers just like to show off. It's one thing to line up a little early. It's quite another to have your gold boarding pass with First Class seat assignment visibly sticking out of your navy blue blazer, engage in a ...

I got a kick out of this letter in the Chicago Tribune today. It seems that Mr. Robichaud was so dismayed at the vendors and non-airline staff during his family's trip through O'Hare that he has decided to boycott Chicago!

www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-1017vplettersbriefs8oct17,0,6942613.story

My wife and I have wanted to visit Chicago for quite some time and had even planned one trip, but due to unforeseen problems we had to cancel. Chicago always interested us and ...

 An excerpt from this week's "Middle Seat" column by Scott McCartney in the Wall Street Journal:

David Pykon, a New York hedge-fund trader, says he was given conflicting information by different American Airlines supervisors on daily expenses after his bag was lost on a Thanksgiving trip to Dallas last year. Although he had no clothes or toiletries, he was first told he had to limit his spending to $25 a day. Then he was told $50 a day. Later another official said $75 a ...

I'm finalizing the plans for a trip to South America next month and had to contact both Mexicana and Avianca today via telephone. I was very impressed with the high level of service for a "no status" flyer like me. Hold time was about two minutes for each airline and the agents were courteous, helpful, and profusely thanked me for my business.

Can't say the same for United. Thankfully, I am shielded from having to deal with the United International Call Center or surly U.S. agents, but I shudder to think (vividly recalling what it is like) what most travelers have to deal with--20 minute hold times and incompetent agents--when trying to reach United.

Am I exaggerating?

Short answer: probably not.

I sure thought about it yesterday when it became clear that United will be eliminating regional upgrades, but I have calmed down today.

I'm 1/3 of the way toward million-mile status on United, love Star Alliance, and have generally been satisfied with all aspects of United's performance this year.

Still, American now has a superior upgrade program (let's see if lasts) and a better soft product (though UA has a far superior hard product, in ...

Yesterday United announced it will be implementing a complimentary upgrade scheme starting in Q2 next year. The changes will bring UA's domestic upgrade program closer to those of Continental, US Airways, and Delta.

Details:

First, this was posted on FlyerTalk yesterday afternoon:

Hello all,

We want you to be among the first to know that Mileage Plus will be introducing Unlimited Domestic Upgrades in the second quarter of 2010. 

All ...