So free tickets in United aren't valuable because you would rather sit on the ground than get to travel for free? I fly over 75,000 miles a year with United, mostly international and they aren't any worse than any other American carrier. I travel enough that I'd even be willing to fly AA if it were completely free even though I despise AA and how they used their bankruptcy to avoid paying a judgement I won against them. Free is free though.
Well like I said, not everyone flies that much. I don't come anywhere near 75000 miles a year, maybe somewhere around there for a lifetime total. After my last flight on United (and Delta), I would flat out refuse except maybe first class, but that seems like a waste. I'm pretty tall and 2 hours in I'm just about in tears from the pain in my knees from sitting in those tiny seats. I'd rather pay full price than do that ever again. I try to stick with Jet Blue or Virgin as much as possible because I actually fit.
United is a tradeoff: You suffer until you've flown enough to get up a couple of tiers in their frequent fliers program, at which point they're great as their frequent flier programme is quite generous. If you don't fly much, then I'd avoid them too. When you do fly much (and 75k miles a year would get you to Premier Platinum, their second highest tier) it's a very different situation. Not least because you also earn miles at a higher multiple at the higher tiers.
I am happy never to have to board a United flight again, thanks to US Airways exiting Star Alliance in the AA merger.
Especially with United's latest performance report indicating less than 1/3 of flights operate on time now.
(granted, I still have to avoid AA's hubs like the plague since they shut down for days whenever there's a hint of rain within 500 miles, but at least US Airways is still plenty reliable)
Unfortunately, the mile multiplier you earn at higher statuses only applies to award miles, not EQMs, so it doesn't make it any easier to attain / retain status.
> they aren't any worse than any other American carrier
Which is kind of like saying that Ebola isn't any worse than any other hemorrhagic fever.
(FWIW, I've flown >800k miles. Every one of my "top 5 worst flights" was on an American airline, bar one that involved a planeload of drunken Irish football hooligans and a seatmate who was both lecherous and morbidly obese.)
