Full disclosure: I’ve flown United both domestic and long-haul international before and it was… fine. They’re a bit shit in general operation, but that is literally every US airline. Air travel in the US is a lawless bloody fight where chances of survival only favour those with the most metallic of frequent flyer cards. Ever lined up to board a plane, watched the first 5 people get on, then have gate staff tell everyone there’s only room for another 3 rolly bags in the overhead bins? That’s America, baby. Rock, flag, and eagle.
BUT. With that said every time you attempt to board a plane in the States there’s the lingering, unshakeable feeling that things could go (operationally) pear shaped at any given moment.
And when they do, it doesn’t just bork up a little bit, it goes completely arse-over-tit.
The United fiasco has drawn disgruntled ex-customers out of the woodwork in an Ask Reddit thread where people are sharing their own previous horror stories about the airline. And my god, there are some full-on Barry Crockers in the bunch.
There’s this one, from someone a little less than impressed about how ground staff handled their luggage:
This, which leads us to believe United might not actually know how numbers work:
How about a flight from Kentucky to California which dead-set took longer than walking:
Then there’s this story which feels like United were trying to turn ‘Home Alone‘ into a documentary:
But all of those pale in comparison to the staggering lack of empathy show by the airline in this story, from a user detailing their attempts to dash across the country to see a dying relative. It’s… look, it’s fucked.
We’re not in the business of telling you what to do with your money or anything but ahhhhhhh…
Maybe consider Delta.
Source: Reddit.
Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty.
