Our flight was delayed 2.5 hours from Lisbon to DC so we missed our connection to Seattle that would have arrived at about 9 PM. The agent initially said we had to stay overnight in DC and there were no other options to put us on to get us to Seattle. While on board I discovered a flight via American he could have put us in but by the time we arrived in DC that was sold out. We were then put on a flight to San Francisco that was also delayed then arrived in San Francisco and our flight to Seattle was also delayed so we ended up not arriving until 2:15 am. Our son could not pick us up so we ended up having to pay over $100 to Uber home. This is the second trip with United that the flight has been delayed causing us to miss an evening in Las Vegas and we were given nothing.
Had a one hour delay due to mechanical issue. I didn’t think I’d be able to make my connecting flight, but they waited for me and greeted me when I arrived to help things run smooth.
Staff were good. My seat was in need of repair, but for a short flight was not problematic. Usual basic snack and drink setup that you'll find on any US carrier. Over, a decent, basic flight.
Lufthansa was great from Lisbon to Frankfurt. The United Airlines flight from Frankfurt to Denver was very cramped. In that tight space, when the seat in front was fully declined I could barely move. I'm a fairly small person, I can't imagine what a larger person would feel like.
I would have liked an opportunity to move to a different seat ( even would have checked in my hand luggage)as I had health issues where I didn't have to clamber over the passenger next to me to for toilet use/ movement [ She was a highly unpleasant neighbor to sit next to]. In addition, I found that my European phone plan had run out of data and so I was not receiving emails from yourselves on airport wifi to be able to check in online and verifications difficult as did not accept the ticket number I had. I asked for an extra blanket but was told there was none. Then I saw other passengers receiving them. I couldn't eat the food and asked for snacks : Stewardess said " on the way" but they did not bring. The best bit was the check in process in Lisbon. Very efficient. However, I did not understand why we had to collect our bags at Washington then go through customs again. It was not explained. I also with my leg and health issue had approximately mile walk to the gate ( which then changed) . There appeared to be no moving walkways or help provided.
United left one of our bags back in SFO but that’s not my real complaint. The complaint is how it all went down. So we checked in the day before online and were told we could use the quick drop for luggage. So the next day I used baggage quick drop curbside at SFO. The agent mistakenly didn't tag my bag as he put my bag on the conveyor belt untagged. We immediately alerted him he had not tagged the bag. I walked with him to the baggage service office to find my bag and tag it. We waited outside the office for 10 mins. He came out and said everything was ok and the bag was going to be tagged and on my flight. We received a text that one of our bags was on the flight but the other was not. I alerted my first class flight attendant immediately upon boarding the flight. She was helpful and said she’d get it sorted out right away. She called over the gate agent. The gate agent used my bag number and looked over information on her device. She said my bag was on the flight. The flight attendant was standing with her, looking at the device, and also said “yep it’s on the flight”. During the flight the flight attendant made reference to how reassuring it must feel knowing the bag was on the flight. Upon arriving to IAD we received a text that my bag was not on my flight. The text said my bag would arrive to my final destination LIS 24 hrs late. I understand that mistakes happen. I was totally ok with my bag mistakenly not getting tagged at the quick drop. I was fine with walking down to baggage services to tag my bag. But, what I am not ok with is that the United staff said they fixed the mistake two different times, assuring me twice that my bag would be/was on the plane…and it wasn’t. I expected better attention by the employees, for them to do what they said they were going to do. We also spent extra money to upgrade our seats to first class, including the entire return leg from Lisbon to San Francisco because we wanted a smoother and more relaxing travel experience. Our money was not well spent. We will not be using United for travel going forward.
Checked my bag despite paid the seat upgrade and there was plenty of space available in the overhead bin.
The flight crew was fantastic. The flight attendants were incredibly considerate, kind and attentive.
One of the best flying experiences I’ve ever had.
The flight from Lisbon to Newark was much, mush better then flight from Newark to Porto.
