United Airlines Reviews

by Kynard

I attempted to book an international flight today through UnitedAirlines , and I ended up having to go to the website, because UnitedAirlines demanded that I update my nationality and country of residence (neither of which has ever changed), and then provided no means for me to enter the information. I was sent to a page with a search blank, an apparently decorative search button, and an otherwise empty white screen, with no menu and no capability to manually enter the answers. The “search” button simply does not function, no matter what I type in the blank.

At length, I booked the reservation and reentered my nationality and residence on the website, which indicated that the information would be saved to my profile. However, while UnitedAirlines now shows the reservation, it STILL won’t allow me to make any changes because it STILL demands I reenter my citizenship information in UnitedAirlines . Since, as indicated above, this quite literally cannot be done, UnitedAirlines is now useless for international travel, and I’m going to have to waste an additional hour standing in line to get my boarding pass on paper at the airport. Thanks so much!

by Man Of Progress

I arrived to Louisville international 55 mins before my flight. The line was busy and took 20 mins to get to the check in kiosk. When I went to check my bag, the computer said that I had to check my bag at least 45 mins before departure - see attendant. Normally the airlines attendant will work with you and say something like “let me call down and have a baggage person get your bag” or something like that. This United Airlines worker said - “You going to Houston? You’re wayyyy late.” - and I was like, I have over half an hour still? Anyway, ling story short, I’ve tried multiple options and nothing worked. I missed my flight and have to rebook two flights for later today. I feel as if United was not explicit at all with the hard 45 minute cut off. Normally I’m two hours early, but this is Louisville airport… and I’m TSA pre-checked. Has never taken more than a half hour to get to my gate, and all the other airlines have no issue with my check in. Sorely disappointed by United’s app, and customer service. Currently, I never would to fly United again. The way to turn this from a 1 star to a 5 star would be for United to refund my $600 for the flights I had to purchase for later today, and to update their app to be very clear that you have to be a MINIMUM 45 mins before departure, if you’re checking a bag. We’ll see if United notices! I would have arrived at least a half hour earlier, had I known.

by Jdunknessaweso

We set out for our trip to Florida for my brother’s wedding on Thursday, April 7th, for a 3:07 flight from Newark to Ft. Myers. We boarded hours late, un-boarded, boarded again, taxied out and sat there for hours while other planes came and went. We were told by our pilot that our plane could not handle or navigate the “cross winds” that had picked up at our airport. We are not surprised. The plane was like a sardine can with wings without even a plug for your devices. $500/person to fly 2.40 hours on a plane that can’t take off in wind. We taxied back in, unboarded and were dumped back in the airport without ONE uniformed United representative at the gate. The ground crew booked it out of there, heads’ down, and we were all left to figure things out for ourselves, which did not go well for anyone. Families stranded with children falling apart after, at least for our flight, ten hours of being in that airport. It is one thing to have cancelations due to weather. It is another to be so unprepared that you leave your customers without guidance, comfort or help. It was one of the worst customer service experiences we have ever encountered in any and all the traveling we have done over the years. It shakes our faith in United and in the airline industry as a whole. Going forward, we will be much less likely to book trips that require air travel. Oh, and we missed the wedding since we are still here in NJ waiting for a flight three days later.

by CodyMafatu

UnitedAirlines is not only not user-friendly but it’s counterintuitive. Why do we have to search all over UnitedAirlines just to check in for our flight why do we have to type in our last name when we’re already signed into UnitedAirlines and why do we have to search everywhere to pull up our boarding pass, why do we have to click link after link in order to access the flight information - no one appreciates you rearranging everything every couple of months. UnitedAirlines is one of the worst flight apps I am a frequent flyer and this is by far the worst of all airline apps. How would you like it if somebody snuck into your room and rearranged everything and then you can’t find anything- well that’s exactly how it is every time I open UnitedAirlines and you’ve updated it. You still haven’t found an easy solution - there’s only three things we need from UnitedAirlines one, east check-in and easy access to a boarding pass. Two, easy access to the boarding times and to see flight information, standby information etc. And three, the information on where to go for our gate. Currently, the boarding pass doesn’t even have the gate information and there’s too many links and too many options. it’s unclear, unorganized and confusing. Whoever you hired to create UnitedAirlines was obviously an amateur.

by Deadharted

I always checkin 24 hours before departure on any flight. I purchased my ticket knowing I did not need to bring a carryon bag or check in anything. I do this because I like to go straight through security and have my boarding pass with me on my phone, and when I land head straight to my shuttle without waiting for baggage and head straight to work. However, trying to check in with United they say because I didn’t have a carryon or checked bag I need to see a ticket agent for my boarding pass! The whole point of basic economy was to not bringing anything to check in. So this forced me to purchase a carryon. So I do, and pay the extra $30, (which was the only charge the representative over the phone informed me of) and I will walk my carryon to the gate with me as I do with all other airlines. But, United says they will still force me to pay an extra $25 gate handling fee on top of the $30 to have them carry it from gate as I board to the plane. What is the definition of a carryon if I don’t carry it on and off myself!? Now I have to wait at baggage claim at my destination to get my carryon?! Ridiculous! Huge joke and will try my best to never fly United! Just another reason to fly a different airline. Thanks but no thanks! United I stand with all my family and friends to never fly United airlines with this experience.

by N50,Jr

I understand the pain airlines have endured for the COVID crisis but they also got a lot of help from my tax money.
I am stunned at the level of avarice United employs to extract money from their customers. Carry on luggage policy for instance. We do not have unlimited funds and it will cost me at least $86 x4 just to bring one standard carry-on bag each for our round trip; or, be restricted to a 9”x10”x17” personal bag. Do you have a concept of how small that is? If the crew decides I am carrying too large of an emergency delay bag (toiletries, change of underwear, a shirt, lots of medicines, phone charger, other flight delay or lost luggage essentials —yes, what do I need if my checked luggage gets lost?) they will charge $75 to take it from the gate to the plane’s hold. Times four?
Plus, we purchased economy tickets but there are no open economy seats available. I now fully expect to be charged for an involuntary upgrade to economy plus. (That’s the extra $86 x 4 upgrade that allows a standard carry-on and you get an extra inch or so of leg room.)
What more can an airline do to alienate potential “loyal” customers?
Yes, I am a little heated at this moment. You have probably sucked the joy out of this trip because I’ll be stewing over this for weeks. Forgiveness will be extremely difficult to earn.

by Marie5555!

Asked to sit in emergency row and they asked to look at my ticket. After seeing my boarding pass they looked at my seating which was all the way in the back and one older lady insisted that I paid the least amount god my ticket and said it costs more to fit in the emergency seating because there is more leg room. As I let her know I may have paid less but it was only because I booked my flight much earlier $200 is not a cheap flight and I paid $700 for a flight for my son at the same time while only flying from Florida to Va 2 hour flight. To that I say she needs to find a new field that doesn't include customer service. She was down right rude and I am wondering as an after thought if it wasn't due to my darker skin color. (I am Hispanic and have been sun kissed due to my vacation for 30 days) The entire emergency seating row was empty with only one passenger seated on the left side of the aircraft. Everyone was already boarded. WILL NOT FLY WITH UNITED AGAIN! SHAME ON YOU! The female who was sitting in in emergency row was about 90 pounds soaking wet... I bet everyone on the flight felt real safe having to depend on someone of that stature sitting in the seat to help everyone.

by Sjdudjsosjxb

I find this site extremely difficult to manage from my cell phone. Even when I’m able to sit and take my time, I cannot find the information I need. Sometimes I’ll try to check other flight options and I end up losing my original option. Trying to find an updated standby list while you’re in a hurry? forget it.
Yesterday, my flight was canceled and UnitedAirlines did not update to show this for almost 2 hours after the cancellation. Today, I went to the gate listed on UnitedAirlines (as a hopeful standby passenger), when I got there the screen said “gate change, ask associate for details”. There were no “associates” to be found. UnitedAirlines still showed original gate. Finally found a monitor which showed new gate. It was .9 mile walk to new gate (literally, not exaggerating). Once at new gate, I asked where I can find the standby list (because I cannot find it on UnitedAirlines ) They laughed at my unrealistic optimism and told me to check UnitedAirlines .
So I used the archaic app to look for additional flight options. When I did this, I apparently removed my name from the existing standby list.... if I ever get home, I will make it a point to delete UnitedAirlines and go back to waiting 30 minutes to speak with a representative on the phone. UnitedAirlines is almost as bad as the airline, itself.

by TheGordonFamily

I have always enjoyed United when we have used this airline, but this time was very disappointing. Only 1 day before our trip, we had looked to see what size baggage we were allowed and came to find out—not only were we leaving and coming at different times—but our layovers had changed from around 1 hour to 5 HOURS— both ways—with our plane changes in a DIFFERENT CITY! The disrespectful part? WE WERE NEVER NOTIFIED BY THE AIRLINE. When we agreed to purchase these tickets with no refund—4 months before—paying close attention to the times & layovers, & committing to our purchase, we expected United to honor their end of the deal or, at the very least, let us know! These changes greatly affected our travel plans because we were visiting our elderly parents on the farm who needed to travel several hours to pick us up from the airport and take us back. Fortunately, my husband called & after several hours of being on hold, getting disconnected & so forth, the United representative helped us fix some of the bigger issues. And—I am grateful for that— but due to the unexpected changes & never being notified, I can only give United 3 stars this time around.

by Robertallenpayne

I dislike leaving a “review” when I really need to submit a product complaint, but United leaves me no other obvious choice to submit feedback about UnitedAirlines . Overall, it’s a great app. But now that you must put in your card information into UnitedAirlines in order to make purchases on board, there’s a problem. I am NOT going to verify my card every time I check in for a flight. That’s just stupid. I do it once, and that should be it. I take at least two flights a week on United. So at least twice a week I’m being asked to verify a card that I verified less than 4 days ago. You may say that “we need to verify the card is still in your possession” or some other reason. Sorry. But that’s your problem. If you require us to use UnitedAirlines instead of presenting a card, then there are certain risks you accept. Sure. Some guy that flys once a year? Make him verify the card. Your Platinums? Stop hassling us. It’s easier for me to skip on board purchases than to have to go through a verification every time I check in. Especially since I have to click all the extra boxes now because some people are too stupid to know to not fly if they have Covid and that they have to wear a mask. I hate the dumbing down of America to its lowest common denominator. So ease up on the card verification or go back to taking cards in flight.

by United Passenger NC

I haven’t flown in 15 years, so I decided to take United after hearing good things about them. My experience was less than enjoyable. After deplaning in Houston and being unfamiliar with airport, I discovered my my next flight was leaving from a gate clear across the airport, so rushing through to arrive at my gate on time, I discovered the plane was delayed for over an hour due to bad weather in NJ. Then, they call us to board only to find out that there was a problem and we would be delayed another 15 minutes, not a huge deal. However, these delays continued for another 2 1/2 hours! We were given ridiculous excuses, one after the other, without a sincere apology or the truth. Perhaps the airline thought we should all understand and comply without a genuine explanation or compensation. They did allow us to watch a movie for free, but still charged for alcohol. When you have friends or family waiting for you at your final destination and it turns out to be 3:00 am, I think the responsibility lies with United to be sure everything is taken care of before asking passengers to board.

by RB Dawg

I’ve been using UnitedAirlines since about September. Worked great. Like everything about it. The last 2-3 weeks it seems to not work correctly. I had flights canceled then rescheduled and seem not to be able to use UnitedAirlines . When the flight is done it should get off UnitedAirlines . No need to see my flight from yesterday. I’m now trying to check in and it shows my flights from yesterday and today, even the canceled one. It needs to clear out. I have shut UnitedAirlines down cleared it from history. Sign in and same thing. How am I supposed to check on flights this way. I then tried to put in my reservation number and name and have to tap the screen several times and wait. I know it’s not my phone because if I tap “search” once it tells me I have to put a reservation number and name. Duh! I’m trying but it won’t let me unless I tap my screen 20-50 times. Then I have to go through the same tapping for my name. Very frustrating. This needs to be fixed asap. I gave it a 4 star because when it’s working I really don’t have any complaints. I like it better than American Airlines app.

by Mkc58

I was prompted yesterday to go on another flight with no change fee. It wasn’t obvious that the flight options were for the *following* day. I selected, realized I made a mistake, and called right away to correct. I was then on hold more than a half hour, and two agents and an hour later I received no help. All after a day when i traveled to be at a funeral.

Today, when I went to check in, the message was clearer that you were looking for people to change flights. I have been a customer and mileage plus customer for decades. Also a credit card holder. I am extremely disappointed in the service and considering canceling my card, and United as airline of choice. It’s clear United dramatically overbooked flights the entire weekend, which is irresponsible from my perspective. While I was on the phone with agents last night, I could hear other agents fighting with customers like me in the background. Please try to be better to customers in the future.
Thank you

by Natttttt D

I flew United for the first time in a while and I found that, compared to other airline apps, their flight statuses were updated the most frequently/accurately. It told me about delays before the gate clerk even knew. As you could’ve guessed, this unfortunately means that I was on a delayed flight which caused me to miss my connection on the last flight out of Newark for the night. UnitedAirlines let me know right away when my connection took off, preventing the hassle of running to the gate to check, and immediately presented me with options for next steps. It provided the next United flight out of Newark and guaranteed me a seat, while also showing me flights out of nearby airports, like LaGuardia and JFK, in order to more accurately assess options and get to my destination as soon as possible. Thank you so much for alleviating the stress in a tough situation! I’ve never booked a flight using UnitedAirlines , so I cannot speak on that, but my experience was great.

by Pltandy

Access to my ‘ticket’ and flight information is so quickly is awesome! Wow, I remember having to go down to a ticket office(30 min) and spend an hour having someone else tell what they thought my flight options were (60min) and then having to print a ticket and keep up with it(never) and then strategically place the ticket where I can present it to 4 different people so I can make it through the airport including checking in for flight (60min+) then security, gate agent, and flight attendant all while stopping to check the board for which gate (15min) and any updates and heaven forbid I have a connecting flight and another flight coupon! Only complaint is I seem to have to closedown UnitedAirlines to get it to update added reservations - even if I made the reservation with UnitedAirlines . But maybe that is because I have gotten so used to having the information right away! It actually seems like UnitedAirlines , through notifications, gets the updated flight information quicker than the gate agents and flight crews! Makes me feel like a seasoned traveler - Well Done! Keep those updates coming.

by ADT Fan In Distress

What goodness does an app add if the “state of the art” Entertainment technology is useless when the plane WiFi does not work? Many upset customers, Bose and iPhones ready, asked the attendants if this was common. “It happens all the time”. Coast-to-Coast without Entertainment.

What good is it to be able to “manage” your miles when United uses de PQM miles scam to credit miles (got less than 30% of my true miles credited, it will take me years to build enough miles to get a domestic free ticket)? But it won’t happen because I avoid United with passion and even cancelled their credit card. What’s the point?

My problem with United is United, not UnitedAirlines . United has forgotten its customer focus and to reward loyalty. Forget even the flying experience, just take a European carrier and compare. United apps would be really useful if they were built on a platform of customer service, clearly what United is not about anymore. So I avoid United at all costs, gone to better carriers with more inferior apps.

by GooseVarg

Overall a good app from a developer’s perspective. There are a few improvements to make with in flight wifi entertainment. 1. Navigating to the in flight entertainment was tricky. The menu option is tucked away under “more options” and the instructions do not point the user there. My guess is it was supposed to auto detect that you are connected to a united wifi access point and show you in flight options on the dashboard and that didn't work. If that’s not an existing feature, it may be a good feature to add (rather easy to implement). 2. I wasn't able to continue watching the movie I started a few hours ago on my first flight. Ford v Ferrari disappeared. However, i noticed it does take me back to where I left off during the same flight (but sort of flakey and may need additional testing there). 3 Lastly, i kept being disconnected from the access point every few minutes. This is most likely the cause of the router and not UnitedAirlines .

by 8627352

Had booked a round trip from EWR to Delhi. While the flight to Delhi was smooth, the return flight (August 11) was delayed by over 18 hours. After haggling with a United representative on the phone for over 45mins I was told that I could only be given a flight back option from Mumbai if I made my own arrangements to fly to Mumbai. I needed to get back to Newark by Sunday and did not have many options, I was finally given an option to fly via Munich with about a 4-5hours layover in Munich. While I my original booking was on ‘Premium Economy’ my booking on Lufthansa was done on a regular coach class and was given a middle seat to travel overnight. At Munich I went to the Miles and More lounge and presented my United Club pass (knowing that they are part of Star Alliance), however, they said that the United Club pass is not acceptable at their lounges. So I had to sit around the Munich airport for the next 4-5hours. Overall, was a painful experience and I expected better service for a Premium Gold member.

by 26z3sailedawayxn5p

I flew in from EWR to GDL and the my one suitcase WAS NOT PUT ON THE PLANE from Houston to GDL. I was told that I am to wait for my luggage and that it would arrive sometime the next day. When I tried to phone United and gain information where is my suitcase and when it will arrive, I was transferred to a company in India and the horrible experience continued. Hours of waiting to speak to a person, lies over lies and promises to attend to my issue that were not meant to be kept. At that point I lost my trust and asked to leave the suitcase in the airport and I will pick it up by myself. I was promised that my suitcase will wait for me in the airport. The next day I drive an hour to the airport to find out that my luggage is on the United truck and the driver is in front of my rented accommodation, with no one to receive my suitcase. The company in India promised I will be able to get my suitcase in the airport and they lied again. At this point me and my suitcase were in limbo.

I am a long time United/Continental customer and I was VERY DISAPPOINTED with the way this was handled. It costed me TWO days of my precious vacation.

Rivka Soloway

by Qf5ve

I love UnitedAirlines. It’s like Fedex plus Amtrak. Thank you United for making a quality product that actually helps me. I don’t ordinarily even leave reviews, but I fly a lot and I truly appreciate that UnitedAirlines makes flying more convenient. Dear people who made this thank you for adding all of those seamless features. And thank you for the in airport texts and updates too. Thanks to your app, instead of having a hair-pulling experience due to holiday traffic surrounding the airport, I was able to rebook my flight from the uber, eat a leisurely enjoyable dinner in the airport while charging my phone and taking a conference call, purchase a couple of magazines, and stroll happily to the correct gate with a confident awareness of the flight status. I had important things in my checked bags, so when I arrived I didn’t stress when the bags took a while to come out at baggage claim because I checked UnitedAirlines and knew they had arrived and were on their way to me. In conclusion, I love you.

by !;'wjzhyueneb

I was waiting to board a flight with a group of friends In Phoenix when a lady complained we were too loud. Customer service agent Angela Jackson came over and asked if we had been drinking. The answer was “yesterday” And she said we couldn’t fly. I was continuing with the boarding process and got on the plane. After everyone boarded she came onto the plane to get me off. I complied and the next conversation was absolutely ridiculous. The flight attendants looked at her like she was crazy. Everyone confused as hell. But she is “the boss” and it was done. Proceeded to say she couldn’t put me on the next flight because there is not enough time to “sober up” then told me I would be re-evaluated. When I asked what the evaluation process would be she told me to “stop” or I could talk to the police. She admitted that it is TSA that does the screening and is trained for that. To overbook flights and operate in the way she did to get us off the plane was highly unprofessional and she was claiming she was the highest ranked supervisor at the airport. Never have I felt so disrespected I cannot believe that United would put someone like Angela Jackson in charge and unchecked. Would not answer simple questions about my itinerary. Would not outline Or set any expectations. Ridiculous.

by Atomik81

Tried using the in flight entertainment on my IPhone on two separate trips to no avail. I’m an IT Engineer with a PhD in computer science so I’d like to think I know a few things about making stuff work however I tried almost the entire flight to make the movies play. I finally asked the flight attendants what the secret was and neither of them knew. One checked the system to make sure it was on and then came back to tell me that someone in first class had it working on their iPad. Well congratulations to them up in first class! Maybe that’s the secret us regular passengers back in coach would like to be entertained as well. I travel weekly for my job and all my apps and devices are all fully updated so I’m thinking this is just a crappy app/system. The trailers play without issue just to tease you about the fantastic movie you are about to watch but then like a kid who’s parent tells them “no you can’t have that ice cream” all your hopes and dreams are shattered into a million pieces. My recommendation for the best results with UnitedAirlines: Delete it and fly on American instead where the planes are newer and their stuff works as it should, Otherwise the only entertainment you are going to get is spending your whole flight trying to get UnitedAirlines to load your movie.

by Dawwg

When they send you your confirmation email they should give you the heads up that you need to bring a device for each of your kids for your transatlantic trip, AND that you need to have pre-loaded that device with the United App. We were traveling in Spain, and my data plan when I travel is limited, as it is for most travelers. And suddenly I’m facing a transatlantic trip with no movies for my kids. Which is fine if I know ahead of time, but not if we’ve all been trained for decades that transatlantic trips have movies for kids. Instead I’m scrambling to try and download UnitedAirlines onto my and my husband’s phones, using our limited international plan. Needless to say it doesn’t work, because UnitedAirlines is too big for international data plans to download. And they don’t even do you the curtesy of providing you WiFi so you can actually download it. My kids’ device has no cellular plan so it was simply not an option to download it onto their device. So, United messed up YET AGAIN in having ANY empathy for their travelers. They institute these unilateral changes and give no heads up, and no way of remedying the situation when you find out about it in the last minute. They are truly amongst the worst airlines out there, and I guess this should be no surprise.

by Chris Nunes

I was paying for a flight and had to come to another airport to get a flight because one of the company employees told me I was late for checking (I was on time and I had 15 minutes yet) and while I was waiting him to see what was going on, someone else came 10 minutes after to help him. After 10 more minutes, while he understood the mistake, my flight was gone.
After that, I took a plane with no internet from DC to Texas (I was paying for it and instead of telling us that they were having some issue, they kept saying that the issue would be solved in a fez minutes). Also, I was paying more so I could have a seat with a window view, but they put me in the middle seat.
Coming back, they’ve changed again my seat for a middle one very on the back of the plane, without plugs and where I couldn’t almost fit my legs (and believe me, I’m a short guy). This flight was also paid to have a window view and plugs to charge my phone. On that time, we had internet, but I couldn’t use it because doesn’t matter if you plan ahead with them and pay more, you’ll seat whenever they want you to seat.
At home, it took a long time and many calls so they would give me my money back for the seats I’ve paid for and the internet I was never able to use.
And about UnitedAirlines , it was normal and it got my entire battery while using it.

by Jumpinjack8901

11 delays on our flight down from Sioux Falls to San Fran for a memorial service of a friend who passed away. Then they cancelled after midnight. Sent a crew from San Fran to pick us up but they ‘went illegal’ the ticket agent said. Did not put us up in a hotel and had to sleep on a chair in the airport.
Then had to switch airlines just to get a flight out then next day.
ON THE RETURN FLIGHT days later they started the delays before we even got to the airport. Went right to customer service when we found out this would make us miss our connecting flight. They said they booked us on the first flight out in the morning, but that was a lie. When we got back to the Denver airport they had not booked us and we were just on stand by for the next night. They did put us up in a hotel that smelled like skunks, after waiting for 2 hours to get to it. Ended up losing 2 full days in the airports because of United. This was our first and definitely the last experience we will ever have with them. Nothing but excuse after excuse, from maintenance, mechanical, fuel spill, you name it. Also said it was weather related but there was blue sky where we were flying into. When I told the ticket agent that excuses are one thing but lying about booking us on other flights are another, she got up and walked off. Wasn’t mean with her, just flat exhausted and at my end. Just stated a fact in a calm, quiet voice. Never, never, never again.