To get to DrupalCon, I flew with United on UA840, then onto UA870 on Wednesday. I went with them for 2 reasons, they were cheap and I would earn miles on Thai. I was a little disappointed that my budget didn't stretch to Air New Zealand, I was looking forward to flying with them again after an excellent experience in January. I was really impressed with United.
At check-in I used the business counter, one of the benefits of Gold status. The agent was really friendly and answered my questions about security requirements when flying to the US. When I asked about being moved up to Economy Plus using my Thai Gold status the agent checked and gave me an aisle seat. I was looking forward to the extra 5 inches of leg room.
Next was off to the Air NZ lounge for some pancakes for breakfast - I love that machine. The Air NZ staff were friendly as always.
Boarding was delayed by 10 minutes or so, but staff kept people updated. Take off was really delayed, with not much explanation. The snack was ok, pretzels and a juice, don't expect much more on such a short flight.
In Syndey I had a light lunch in the Air NZ lounge, then off to boarding for San Francisco. There was a queue for economy boarding, while the premium queue was empty. One of the benefits of Star Alliance Gold status is supposed to be priority boarding, but it seems United only offers this to their own elites.
The inflight entertainment on United's 747s is awful, they only offer a shared screen and the radio options are really limited. Good thing I packed some book and my laptop. Dinner was pretty bad, beans, peas, corn and stale mushrooms with some tasteless sauce that was supposed to a curry and rice, the baked beans for breakfast was ok. Through trial and error I have learnt that AVML (Asian/Indian Vegetarian) meals are usually the best vego option, but I will be changing my selection for my return flight.
What really impressed me was the staff, like Air NZ's flight attendants, they seem like real people. The flight attendants engage with the passengers and treat them like real people. My ability to open the economy red wine bottles became a bit of a running joke with one flight attendant. After chatting with staff about Napa valley reds, my glasses of wine started to come from the front of the plane, which was very nice. Tom, the economy purser was happy to have a chat with me about United, which inspired me to write this post. When my laptop battery died the flight attendants let me charge it in business class, unfortunately I checked my AU > US power adaptor so I couldn't do it. I didn't really sleep on the flight, but I enjoyed just about every minute of it, thanks to the good service. The spare seat next to me also gave me some extra room to spread out which is always handy in Economy.
United's planes might be old, the entertainment just as dated, but the staff make up for that. I hope the people who went out of their way to make my flight as enjoyable and comfortable as possible for me get the recognition they deserve, even if they did bend the rules a little.