Why I fly United
I’ll be logging some serious air miles this year, so before I booked my first flight in January, I had a decision to make: which airline?
Back when I traveled heavily, I flew Continental. They had conveniently located hubs – Houston when I was in New Mexico, Newark when I was in NYC – and weren’t Delta.
But from Knoxville, Continental is expensive and inconvenient, leaving Delta, United, and US Air. US Air planes tend to be scruffy and loud and old and their teams are rude and mirthless – no thanks.
Down to Delta and United. I chose United because a) they’re not Delta and b) I like that they give me options, even if I have to pay for them.
Delta sucks. Their flights are frequent and well-timed, but unless you fly 50,000 plus miles, you’ll never, ever, ever get upgraded out of Atlanta. And they do little things that drive me nuts, like not letting me choose my seat when I check in if the flight is more than x% full. That’s crap. If I wanted to get there early to wait in line to get a good seat, I’d fly Southwest. Last thing: I get that your flight attendants are here for my safety, but can we not make it such a grumpy experience?
So I fly United because they’re not Delta, but also because they give me a thousand options. When I check-in, I’m given the privilege of paying extra if I want to board first, get a better seat, or upgrade completely. I love it. Sometimes I do want to pay $40 to go to the front of the line; other times, not so much. And I’ll happily pay an extra $5 to sit farther forward than everyone who’s not willing.
Now if only you’d offer outlets.
