I received this email within minutes of landing. While it is a nice touch, I don't blame United for mother nature and choppy air encountered enroute. I would find an email more valuable if they "reached out" for things that United actually does control. Like having enough meals on board so that when they get to you seat, they don't say "we only have blah left. Or making sure that the plane has blankets and pillows.
And indeed when our plane returned to the gate last week for a 2 hr mechanical delay, causing us to misconnect in IAD for a TATL flight, we received no email. I rebooked us on a less convenient route via LHR while we were parked at the gate at SFO, or else we'd have been spending Thanksgiving in Dulles.
I did not get a letter from United. On November 18th, flight UA/Express 6528 from LAX to PHX , usually a 50 minutes flight,was two hours late. I was curious about the delay and inquired with the crew. I was told the delay started with the first morning flight as the paperwork the flight captain needed to fly was not available and in order... "...the crew had been trying to catch up with the schedule from that point on..." I sent a note to the 1K desk twice to inquire but so far without response, just an acknowledgement my email had been received and stating "...For post-travel and all other inquiries, we are currently experiencing an increased volume due to our peak travel season. As a result, it will take us longer than normal to respond to you..."
Yes! Last week I had to settle for a horrible chicken salad instead of a delicious ham sandwich. I'm wondering how hard it is to have a couple more of the tasty options on hand when there are only 8 seats in the cabin and one option is obviously going to be more popular.
I much prefer the chicken salad to the ham sandwich, and they are usually out But I can't remember the last breakfast flight I was on that I had an option other than eggs... where my 2k miles...
It's hit or miss. I flew SFO-HKG and we were delayed by maybe 30 minutes due to fog, and made up 10 minutes in flight, so we ended up being just 20 minutes delayed. I had an email from UA waiting for me when I arrived in HKG, offering 10,000 miles, $250 e-cert, or 20% off any economy ticket. It pretty much only happens to me on international flights, not domestic -- I wonder if they are just more proactive on those routes.
We had a few minutes of what I would call medium chop, but the rest was light chop. Also the Captain had warned us before takeoff that we would encounter some turbulence and had instructed the flight attendants to remain seated, so they didn't start the cabin service until about 45 minutes into the flight.
I hear about all of these pro-active mails from UA, but have yet to receive one myself. Might just be a lowly 1P/Plat, but they should be mailing all customers they have mail addresses for on a flight. As for what kind of compensation to offer, that they can distinguish between elite levels, fare paid etc. ... But the gesture of sending that e-mail should be uniform.
I'm hoping it changes when I reach 1K this month. I'm already getting better responses to complaints/suggestions as a Plat, but nothing proactive.
