United Airlines Posts

United Airlines Undermines Star Alliance

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United Airlines' decision to count spending only on tickets issued by United for purposes of earning elite status marks a fundamental blow the concept of airline alliances, undermining its Star Alliance partners and begging the question, will airline ...

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Minimum Spend Requirements for Elite Status Coming to United in 2014

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United Airlines has announced minimum spend requirements in order to achieve elite status starting in the 2014 program year. Similar to Delta, there will be a waiver from this requirement for those who place at least $25,000 on a MileagePlus co-branded credit card issued by Chase, but 1Ks ...

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United MileagePlus trumps Delta SkyMiles, once again

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For me, travel shopping generally is a long, thought-out process that involves hours of brainstorming, planning and creative thinking in order for me to produce the perfect, optimal itinerary that suits my needs. Overthinking doesn't even begin to describe my traditional approach to designing the ...

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Photo Finish Averts Singapore Airlines Suites Disaster

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There was no photo incident on this outbound trip, but a photo finish at San Francisco International Airport rescued my Singapore Airlines trip from the jaws of destruction.

In July 2012, almost 11 months ago, Singapore Airlines updated their systems and in doing so temporarily (and ...

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American Airlines announces new route: Miami - Milan, IT

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Edited: 14:20 PM US CMT to include AZ seasonal flight to LAX, which was omitted at time of publication

This one has been circulating the rumor mills for the better part of a decade now, but at least the news is official: beginning November 21, 2013, American Airlines will fly nonstop from ...

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New Thai Airways Flight - Los Angeles to Osaka

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Thai Airways no longer flies to Bangkok non-stop from Los Angeles, its only U.S. destination, but does provide service via Seoul and starting next year, via Osaka as well.

With the new flights just loaded into the schedule, Thai has made generous award space available on the new route. ...

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United 787 Review

2013-05-21-15.24.49

Finally, the 787 is flying again and I was able to snag a seat aboard one of United’s first flights after the grounding! United started flying the 787 again on May 20th between IAH and ORD and will continue to roll out the plane on a number of routes before the June10th debut ...

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United is Finally Redeeming themselves

2013-05-21-08.36.30

Is it just me, or are things FINALLY starting to get better over at Continental/United? I had not flown their airline since I flew to the Philippines last year and had a less than desirable experience. Yet, this week, while flying from San Diego to Houston and then onward to Chicago on the 787 I ...

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United Baggage Subscriptions Are Overpriced and How to Avoid The Fees

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United has re-introduced the annual subscriptions for baggage and Economy Plus access, which were briefly discontinued after the merger, and from my initial impression I'm unamused with the offerings. The subscriptions are more complex than ever before, with different price points for different ...

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Aeromar Award Space Now Bookable with MileagePlus at united.com

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Transportes Aeromar, a Mexico City-based carrier that serves various cities in Mexico as well as McAllen, Texas, formed a partnership with Continental Airlines in 2010 and uses MileagePlus as its loyalty program. With about 100 flights a day within Mexico, the carrier fills a void in the United ...

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United Airlines Unveils New Uniforms at Newark Airport

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As part of its commemoration of 25 years in Terminal C at Newark Liberty International Airport, United Airlines set up a catwalk this morning in order showcase new uniforms for pilots, FAs, and ground staff.

With CEO Jeff Smisek on-hand, the new uniforms were modeled and will debut ...

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A great day on United, but some concerns: Channel 9, etc.

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I've had some struggles with recent travels on United, but (knock on wood) I'm pleased to report my last few trips have been smooth.  My trip back home this week from Philadelphia was about as good as can be for a domestic short haul trip.

Dusk behind the ...

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United Phone Agents Do Not Always Know All The Rules

Apply for Barclaycard(R) Arrival World MasterCard(R) - Annual Fee

Booking complicated United Award trips have become increasingly more difficult via United.com. I found, from my own experience last week, that United.com would often times tell me that saver space tickets were not available if the ticket required more than 2 stops. However, due to my advance ...

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United BusinessFirst from Tokyo to Seattle: Trip (Ro)Ports

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Yesterday, I wrote about the first leg of my journey home from the Philippines to the U.S. last fall, from Manila to Tokyo on All Nippon Airways in Economy. This post is a continuation of the trip from Tokyo to Seattle, trying out United's BusinessFirst product for the first ...

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All Nippon Airways Economy from Manila to Tokyo: Trip (Ro)Ports

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Photo of JA 609A, the All Nippon Airways (Air Japan) 767 I flew from Manila to Tokyo on October 29, 2012. 

Earlier this winter, I published two of my trip reports on airliners.net reviewing my 787 experience in All Nippon Airways Economy from Seattle to ...

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United Releases 787 Domestic Schedule

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If everything goes as planned, next week I will be flying on the recently grounded but finally flying Boeing 787 Dreamliner! While planning a get away, using miles, I noticed that next week United's 787 will be making revenue test runs between Denver and Houston, Houston and Chicago, and Los ...

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5 Reasons to Purchase a United Club One-Time Pass

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United Airlines offers one-time passes to its United Club for $50, available online or at the club check-in counter ($45 if purchased on the United mobile app). Is it worth it?

With clubs in 38 airports around the world (and multiple clubs in several hub airports) there is a good ...

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United Airlines Shines in Transatlantic Business Class

I returned home from Europe yesterday and would be remiss if I did not mention what superb flights I had on United for both the outbound and inbound journey.

You'll have to wait on the trip reports—Afghanistan and the Caucuses are coming first—but my Chicago – Frankfurt ...

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New Seats, Wi-Fi, Streaming IFE Coming to United Airlines Airbus Fleet

United Airlines is refreshing its Airbus fleet and UAInsider has provided a bit more insight into the pending changes.

New RECARO seats in United Economy and Economy Plus, which will result in an additional half-inch of headroom an almost a full inch of additional knee space on standard ...
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Wrap up of my recent streak of delayed flights on United.

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Unfortunately, I've been on quite a run of delayed flights lately.  I've had business trips several weeks in a row, and each trip had some significant delays. I summarized them in these posts: Delayed from Philadelphia, delayed into Las Vegas, and Los Angeles delays.

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