High Praise - United Airlines

A rare case of me giving praise to of all industries in the world, the airline industry. I'd like to praise Chicago's hometown airline, United for once again a pleasant customer service experience.

I've flown several airlines over the time I've been traveling. United, American, Continental, Northwest, Midwest Express, America West, Spirit, Southwest, and Delta domestically in the U.S.; United, Iberia and Aer Lingus to Europe; and United, Bangkok Airlines, Thai Airlines, and Vietnam Airlines in Southeast Asia.

It's really easy to say which airlines I liked the best and which ones will never see another dollar of my money. Domestically, I'd choose either United or American and would probably give a nod to Northwest in an absolute pinch, but the rest not a chance. To Europe, I definitely preferred United or Aer Lingus. I actually had a flight attendant wake me out of a dead sleep on an Iberia flight to ask if I wanted to eat.

In Southeast Asia, I really enjoyed flying Bangkok Air and Vietnam Airlines. Bangkok Air is a boutique airline that services a huge number of cities in Thailand, China, Cambodia, Myanmar, and Laos. The majority of the cities served are in Thailand and China, but the planes are on time and the service was stellar. I've only flown them twice, to Siem Reap, Cambodia and from Koh Samui to Bangkok, but I would highly recommend them.

Back to my customer service experience with United Airlines. When I'm about two to three months out from my estimated departure date, I usually start checking airfares. I go direct to the airlines and look at cheap fare consolidators to try and find a deal. I had a couple real compelling deals from a few Asia based air carriers and still decided on United. I decided to go with a known commodity where I've had very few issues. The only issue is people putting their seatback into my lap.

Well, in searching diligently, I noticed a United fare from the consolidators cheaper than the web fare. I decided to give a call to see if I could talk them into giving me the lower fare. I really didn't even get to that as the rep had the lower fare already and explained that sometimes the web fares were higher. Kind of sad since I was well prepared to pay the higher fare. Yes, brand loyalty is foolish and companies like United do get to take advantage of that from customers like myself.

The other pleasant experience was when I called back today. Because I've actually flown a lot on United, I've achieved their "Premier" status with my frequent flier miles and have access to the Economy Plus section that has more leg room.

I wanted to make sure that I had my seats there and gave a call. No problems, they already had my seats set up and knew my preference for the window seat. I know the airlines do take a beating from customers and in the media and some of it is truly justified, but it is nice when things from them in the booking process go off hassle free.

The cluster map on the sidebar is really filling up and I'm really surprised in the number of hits that are coming in from out of the U.S. If you do come back, and I promise to get some more photos up this weekend before the Sunday night Washington Redskins football game, drop a note in the comments section and let me know where exactly you're looking at this infrequently updated blog from. Thanks.