GIVEAWAY: Free United Club Passes

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Easy, straight forward, simple.  It’s been a while since I’ve done a giveaway, and I have 2 United Club passes valid until 2016 sitting here burning a hole in my pocket.

How to win?

Just leave a comment here letting me know what you think of United Airlines right now.  Doesn’t need to be terribly detailed.  Like them?  Hate them?  Maybe a reason why?

You can enter once every 24 hours.  Pleas don’t go nutzo in the comments section.

I’ll select two lucky winners on Saturday, November 1st so you have until just before midnight on All Hallows Eve to spook me into selecting you as the winner.

Good luck!

121 Comments

  1. my friend was a gate agent for united. He was about 5 feet tall and when out drinking he always did “the plane boss the plane”. Funny as hell.

  2. As a former frequent flyer on Continental in Houston (IAH), I have mixed feelings about United, especially after the merger. I still like the United website and the relative ease booking award tickets. However, I haven’t been so happy with inflight service, food or punctual departures/arrivals. Just one example ………….recently flew United first class SFO-IAH. Absolutely horrible in every way. Hope United can “get its act together” after the merger!

    1. oldfox, there are certainly some very small signs of improvement, but since the merger I have been largely disappointed with the in-flight product. I like their route network out of IAD.

  3. In spite of UA’s apparent hostility toward its customers, I was happy that I was able to book a flight to Tokyo on Mileage Plus miles this year.

  4. They are not one of the bigger players in my home airport, but my limited experience with them has been positive.

  5. I think United has gone way down hill, unfortunately. I recently flew United Global First and the food was horrific. Also, in econ international, unlike DL, UA does not provide any alcohol and the foot is abysmal. While I have trips planned on UA (and could really use the passes!!), I’m not looking forward to them.

  6. I know many complain about them, but I’ve had good luck. For award travel, in my experience they have the best booking website, best routing rules, and best availability among U.S. airlines. Not perfect by any means, but better than the competition.

    1. Dave, I agree that I’ve had good luck finding award space on UA, especially intl partners. I wish they hadn’t raised the price of partner awards so much. That was a big blow for me.

  7. I have a love-dislike relationship with United. But the more I travel on ultra low-cost carriers, the more I appreciate them.

  8. I like United fine but usually don’t fly them because of their nasty terminal at Dulles. It would look a lot less gross from inside the club … just sayin.

  9. they let me make a change to my kolkata to traverse city, mi award booking with no fee or mileage penalty….so, i guess you could say i’m in love (esp since i’m a volunteer teacher in rural india and couldn’t have afforded the fee!

    would LOVE the passes to break up my long layovers in hong kong and chicago!!

    thanks,
    rh

  10. I don’t like the new revenue-based rewards program, but I do still like the routing options offered on their rewards-booking website.

  11. I fly them frequently non-stop IAD-SEA. Generally on time, however it has been very hard to get upgraded post-merger. When I do get upgraded – I find the first class amenities somewhat mediocre.

  12. Not too in love with UA. They only fly RJs into my home airport, they’ve gutted their redemption chart and seem to copy all the horrible things DL is doing to SkyMiles.

  13. The persistence of United mailings introduced me to “travel-by-points”…I owe them for my new found traveling passion.

  14. like it so far as there doesn’t seem to have devaluation soon as it already went through. way better than delta imo

  15. I like United right now, but only because I just completed a flight in row 1 in PS from LAX to JFK. Excellent overall experience, even if the rest of my travels with them have left much to be desired (especially the regional flights I seem to get stuck with around 90% of the time).

  16. Like them overall. Good apps and website – everything is good really until oversell situations and cancellations happen.

  17. UAL in my opinion is turning the corner. After merger with CA I believe they now provide a great anchor for Star Alliance. Combined with great airlines like Air Canada there is no finer way to travel the globe. Everywhere I land an Air Canada plane it is obvious the synergy these two great airlines have!

  18. CO used to be “The Proud Bird with the Golden Tail” focusing on customer service. The “new” CO/UA now seems to focus more on short term Stock market price [think: leaders focusing more on their bonus] than a yearly stream of happy, loyal customers. This shows in the decisions they make about us with the marketing spin of “enhancements”. This is not good for the long term success of the brand or for us.

  19. I’m not impressed this year, As platinum member, i didn’t get upgraded once this year. On my last list, I was #40 on the upgrade list on a 737 plane.

  20. If I win the passes, I promise to push and shove my way to the front desk, citing “I’m somebody, I’m somebody”. Then, once inside, I will find the exact set of seats with the best view, one for me, one for my feet, one for the plates of food I will be getting, one for my luggage, and an extra, so I don’t feel claustrophobic. I will rummage through my luggage a minimum of 4 times, looking for various and sundry items, all of which will eventually be found elsewhere. I will drop at least one pair of underwear during all this searching. I will liberally help myself to the free alcohol. I will be so tipsy that at least one plate of Chex mix will go flying… giving the floor surrounding my fortress a nice, crunchy texture. When I leave, I will neglect to pick up my crumpled napkins, dirty plates, and half full of melted ice glasses. But, since it will be my first trip to the lounge, I will be blissfully unaware that any breach of protocol has occurred, and I will smile broadly and act like the VIP I am…. so— I’d love those passes!

  21. I like United well enough. I tend to focus more on United for the miles, but when the mileage plan switches in 2015, that will probably change. I do like their long hauls to Europe in Business/First Class, though!

  22. Not a big fan of United right now. I’m Platinum, but I’m mostly switching over to American as their program appears to be a better value these days. Essentially, the United Mileage Plus program devaluation is causing me to vote with my wallet…

  23. Like their award availability. Was just in their lounge at SNA. Not very impressed, but better than waiting at the gate.

  24. Not well disposed towards United at the moment. Cheapest RT Business class award seats to South America for all but 1 day in Jan. 2015 are currently going for 300K points. Ouch!

  25. United doesn’t thrill me much these days but I have 300,000+ miles to use….. after that, I don’t know….. I would love those passes for long connection times….. they usually run 4-5 hours, and I love getting away from the chaos that is Newark.

  26. I could certainly stand it if United made it a little easier to search for specific awards. If I search for non-stop award flights from X to Y, why does the calendar show the Saver First availability exists on day X only to show me that its actually flights with stops? Which means I have to click through every day on the calendar, one by one, waiting… waiting… waiting, make a note, etc. Seriously…

  27. United is my best option to fly to Thailand from Columbus, Ohio right now. I can fly to ORD or IAD and then one more stop to Bangkok. Flying via Washington DC in December.

  28. Right now I’m liking them, although I still don’t like their buggy website. Yesterday I was able to book three r/t economy award tickets w/1 stopover and 1 open jaw without a problem. Finding space to Europe in November/December was, surprisingly, a breeze. But they really need to improve the functionality of the multiple destinations option.

  29. I am “in Like” with United. Their website performed perfectly and I was able to book a round-trip flight to Istanbul for only 60,000 points. My seatmate is paying $980

  30. I have mixed feelings. United has gotten me to some great destinations this year very cheaply (Italy for $136 rt and Hawaii for $318 rt). However, their service is a mixed bag. Flight crews are sometimes friendly and other times not so much. I also dislike that they don’t serve any free snacks/food on their plane to Hawaii when it is the same distance as NY-Europe.

  31. Overall okay. Mostly good people, but top-level Execs need to better balance customer experience with fiscal responsibility.

  32. Usually I’m not a big fan, but I just got free video streaming on one of their newer planes and that’s given them a LOT of brownie points

  33. I hate United airlines for their extremely customer hostile attitude. I have only had bad experiences when dealing with United.
    The only reason to like them is that they are a Chase UR transfer partner.

  34. Somehow, I like United’s design. Prior to merger, they have one of the more intriguing design branding, which was sadly blended post-merger.

  35. I have liked United innovation of late. The rol-lout of the Beta “use your own device” entertainment system is really cool. I just wish they had added plugs at the seats, as the Beta sure drains your battery!

  36. I’m a UA Platinum, so I’m at least loyal to the airline, as far as that goes. They’re finally catching up on the in-flight technology front, although the fragmentation of offerings is a bit frustrating (wifi on one, only personal device entertainment on another, DirecTV on another, mish-mash of planes with power, etc.). Hope they get it sorted sooner than later.

  37. First time I flew United was 1968. Newark to LAX. Those were the glory days of aviation. Lots of room even in coach, good food and friendly, happy passengers. What a mess the airline industry has become. I still fly United, but only first class, and even up front It isn’t as good as coach was in the old days.

  38. You know how United says there’s so much Wi-Fi in their fleet now? How is it I continue to get on no Wi-Fi flights then? Over and over again?

  39. United is an unavoidable evil in my life, unfortunately. However, I try to pay the extra when I can to get out of hub captivity.

  40. I haven’t flown united in a long time. They have not been competitive with prices for the leisure traveler.

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