All Articles Tagged "united airlines"
Umm… Thanks? United Will Let You Pay $9 To Board More Quickly
AP Photo/Houston Chronicle, Eric Kayne
United Airlines is now giving passengers who haven’t reached Elite status the opportunity to pay $9 to board more quickly.
As far as I’m concerned, there are few things to pay more money for on a flight. The food isn’t good; my seat is reserved, so I’m not concerned about not having a place to sit; and if there isn’t enough room in the overhead, they’ll take your bag at the door of the plane for free. But apparently, people love anything that seems like a perk at a time when air travel is stressful and services increasingly a la carte.
The real kicker here is the reaction from the folks who actually do have Elite or Premier Access status.
“United recently reduced boarding groups from seven to five, causing outrage among many frequent fliers worried about longer lines to board,” writes CNBC. “Now with even more travelers able to access premium boarding for a few bucks, you have to wonder if hard-earned elite-level perks are being diluted.”
It’s true. If you fly a lot on one airline, you deserve the benefits of your loyalty. At the same time, it’s a bit messed up to begrudge other passengers who will be stuck in middle seats with only peanuts and a small cup of Coke on a long cramped flight because you have to wait a few more minutes before you reach your recliner in the sky. We all have to make concessions. Even the Elite among us.
Anyways, this new option will entitle the regular people to board with Group 2. The super Elite people will still get Group 1. The people who want to use the $9 for a cocktail in airport (ahem… over here) will board with Groups 3 through 5. Other airlines, like Southwest, are also doing this sort of thing, CNBC reports.
Oh, Sandy: The Storm May Affect Holiday Airfares, But There Are Still Deals to Be Had
Image: AP Photo/Mike Wintroath
If you haven’t booked your Thanksgiving flights yet, the tickets may cost you a little bit more this year. And the lingering efforts of Hurricane Sandy could be the reason. During the storm period, airlines grounded thousands of flights, causing them to lose revenue. In order to make up their losses, carriers might have to raise airfares.
Holiday travel prices were already expected to be most costly this year. “The average round-trip domestic airfare will be 4 percent to 9 percent higher than a year ago,” reports Tulsa World.
United Airlines just announced that Sandy caused its October revenue to be cut by about $90 million and profit by $35 million because the carrier was forced to cancel nearly 5,300 flights. Traffic in October fell 3.3 percent. “That’s nearly an entire day’s worth of United’s schedule lost. It runs about 5,500 flights a day throughout the world, including those operated by its regional partners,” reports The Chicago Tribune.
Delta, too, was affected, and according to the Trib, the hurricane cut its October revenue by $45 million and profit by $20 million. Both airlines expect the negative impact of Sandy to continue through the month of November.
There are still a few deals to be found, Courtney Scott, senior editor of the online travel website Travelocity tells Tulsa World. According to Scott, the average round-trip domestic airfare this Thanksgiving is $386, including tax—but you can do better. How? Don’t travel when everyone else is. “If you can adjust your travel dates, you can save as much as $288 on your Thanksgiving airfare. We recommend leaving on Thanksgiving Day and returning home on Friday, Nov. 23, or Tuesday, Nov. 27, to see the most savings and avoid the crowds at the airports,” Scott explains to Tulsa World.
Before you travel, also check out Black Travel Girl and U Go Gurl! for travel tips and resources.
Flying the Unfriendly Skies: Kelly Price Starts Petition Accusing United Airlines of Racism
Source: thisisrnb.com
This past weekend, Kelly Price posted on Facebook and tweeted about the poor customer service she and her husband experienced with United Airlines. Now, the singer/actress has started a petition on Change.org blasting what she called the “classist, racist practices hidden in corporate code”.
It started on Saturday night when Kelly Price says that a United Airlines agent in Houston named Stephanie asked her to go to the back of the coach passengers line. Kelly says she was in the line with the Premier and First class ticket holders and that Stephanie didn’t check her ticket first before sending her to the back of the “other line”. The singer alleges that Stephanie then helped the “nonblack man in a suit” instead of her. Kelly tweeted that the co-workers stood by while the agent yelled at her and when Stephanie realized her mistake (and that Kelly was indeed a Premier and First Class ticket holder), she didn’t apologize.
The Queens native kept it classy and filed a formal complaint with United Airlines, but she didn’t stop there.
She has started a Change.org petition titled “Demand United Airlines Treat ALL Passengers Fairly”. According to the website, she is petitioning: The President of the United States, The U.S. Senate, The U.S. House of Representatives, The Governor of CA, The CA State Senate, The CA State House and Jeff Smisek President United Airlines (United Airlines).
Her petition reads:
Profiling passengers is a common thing with air travel. The world has changed and traveling has not been the same since 9-11. The discomfort and sometimes annoying process of getting from here to there is a cross we all bear in this country to insure the safety of all Americans when we travel by airplane. Unfortunately, some use this as a bullying tool.
On Saturday June 23, 2012 I was bullied by Stephanie a United Airlines employee when she assumed I was not a first class passenger and refused me service at the Customer Service/Rebooking counter in Houston. Even once she realized she was wrong she still ignored me and refused to help me. Her co-workers also ignored me. When I asked to see her name on her badge she hid it and began to scream out loud that I was harrassing her in an attempt to have security come an remove me. I am not a terrorist. I am not a criminal. Had Stephanie (The United Airlines Employee) been successful in her attempt to have me removed I would have likely been arrested and certainly not allowed to travel that day.
As American citizens we are entitled to each have the same civil liberties and basic rights. I want United Airlines to have mandatory Cultural Diversity and Tolerance training for ALL employees of their company. I want United Airlines to implement better checks and balances that insure their employees CANNOT misuse their “authority” with customers and passengers. I want a United policy that demands the immediate termination of a United Airlines employee who discriminates or violates the civil and/or consumer rights of a customer/passenger in either of these manners. Classist, Racist practices hidden in corporate code cannot be tolerated. If we don’t speak out this will never change.
After talking about her ordeal, Kelly tweeted: I wish I knew 600,000 miles ago what I know now about @United. 600k that would be the # of miles I’ve flown on YOUR airline in the last 5yrs.
600-thousand miles is a lot and I’d be interested to know if she’s had a negative experience in the past. United Airlines is the world’s largest airline but last year, in a story titled America’s Meanest Airlines: 2011, US News and World Report ranked United as the “Worst Major Carrier”. The LA Times reports that the latest statistics from U.S. Transportation Department show United is the most complained-about airline in America by far.
Kelly says her complaint isn’t about money or fame, but about her civil rights being violated and that no one (celebrity or non) should have to put up with that. More than 500 people have signed her petition so far. Given the track record of Change.org and the major movements it has sparked around the country, it’s likely this petition will reach the necessary eyes and ears in the corporate office, possibly sparking a change in the company…or at least getting Kelly Price a sincere apology.
What do you think about Kelly Price’s petition?
Alissa Henry is a freelance writer living in Columbus, OH. Follow her on Twitter @AlissaInPink
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United, Continental CEOs Pitch Merger
(USA Today) — The CEOs of United and Continental were in Washington this afternoon, trying to convince a Congressional panel that a merger of the airlines would be good for the industry without hurting consumers’ interests. The Wall Street Journal reports from the scene, writing “United’s Glenn Tilton and Continental’s Jeffery Smisek repeatedly said the $3 billion stock swap, which would create the world’s largest airline by traffic, would not lead to increased fares, despite lawmakers’ skepticism. Instead, the combined airline would increase revenue and achieve cost savings by combining their aircraft fleets and running more efficient routes, the executives said.”
United, Continental CEOs Pitch Merger
(USA Today) — The CEOs of United and Continental were in Washington this afternoon, trying to convince a Congressional panel that a merger of the airlines would be good for the industry without hurting consumers’ interests. The Wall Street Journal reports from the scene, writing “United’s Glenn Tilton and Continental’s Jeffery Smisek repeatedly said the $3 billion stock swap, which would create the world’s largest airline by traffic, would not lead to increased fares, despite lawmakers’ skepticism. Instead, the combined airline would increase revenue and achieve cost savings by combining their aircraft fleets and running more efficient routes, the executives said.”
Chicago Economy Likely Winner When Airlines Combine
(Crain’s) — As home of the world’s largest airline, Chicago would be a huge winner in the proposed merger of United Airlines and Continental Airlines. Keeping the headquarters of the new carrier in downtown Chicago would minimize any reduction in the state’s 13,600 United and Continental employees.
Merger Creates World's Largest Airline
(Chicago Sun Times) — United and Continental Airlines said on Monday they’re forming the world’s largest airline in a deal worth about $3 billion. The airline will be run by current Continental CEO Jeffery Smisek. United CEO Glenn Tilton, a longtime advocate of consolidation in the airline industry, will be chairman for up to two years, with Smisek taking over as chairman after that.
United-Continental Combo Would Call Chicago Home
(Crain’s) United Airlines and Continental Airlines are close to a deal that would create the world’s largest airline, based in Chicago with Continental’s Jeff Smisek as CEO and United boss Glenn Tilton as chairman, according to media reports late Thursday.
The airlines contemplate a stock-for-stock merger creating a company with combined market value of more than $6 billion, Bloomberg News reported, citing people with knowledge of the talks. United’s Chicago-based parent UAL Corp. has a current valuation of about $3.6 billion, compared with about $3 billion for Houston-based Continental.
