15 years ago, I loved Delta. Today, I’m pretty brand loyal to United because they actually fly the places I want to go without connecting in third countries and having multiple airlines on one trip. Connecting between airlines is fine when things go well but no matter how close their partnership, it’s not seamless when things go bad. Also their prices are better than the alternatives
That is one area United has a clear advantage. They fly point to point, as opposed to their competitor, who flies too many routes to Amsterdam, and customers have to board another aircraft.
@@meddyven I fly across the other ocean more often (between Seattle and Hong Kong) so it’s Seoul, not Amsterdam but essentially, yes. I still have connecting flights (usually San Francisco but maybe Los Angeles) but not in a third country
The stock mention reminded me of fmr CEO Robert Crandall’s quote: "I've never invested in any airline. I'm an airline manager. I don't invest in airlines. And I always said to the employees of American, 'This is not an appropriate investment. It's a great place to work and it's a great company that does important work. But airlines are not an investment.’"
United is my airline of choice because I live nearest to Newark - I find it’s overhated more than any other airline other than spirit and American. Their old planes suck but their new ones feel so premium and right up there with delta. It’s the flag carrier to me because it’s the only airlines attempting to make its product better as of right now
Haha "overhated" is a good way to put it. They were on the list of the world's most hated companies in 2018 (probably because of Dr. Dao incident, among other things)... so they've had some reputation-fixing to do
Great work, you are spot on. I used to fly on Delta only but now I've been flying United and I like it alot. The Clubs are no where near as crowded as a Delta sky club, and I love the fact that United has the Polaris lounge which is only accessible for those booked in that class, Delta is just catching on with this regard. But the food has got to get better...all and all I'm glad to be flying United!!
Coming from being a continental flier…I fly United exclusively as I’m 25 minutes from Newark and can go basically anywhere in the world from there….I go to Florida monthly and I’m going to Rome next month. I’ll agree on the food aspect on the plane but, their app, customer service, lounges and even their prices are pretty darn good all things considered. Even my United credit card and miles per cent and the rewards are fantastic. Great video!
@@flaps1019Thank you much. Yes I’ll be in Polaris, super excited, 777-200 there and 767-400 coming back. I’ve been in Polaris before but just to Florida when they had to sub a 757-200 for a 737 for whatever reason but I wasn’t complaining.. 😂
@@landscaperconnection Continental loyalist here is as well. Do you know if they have converted that old international Polaris layout on the -200s. The domestic Polaris 777-200 is still horrendous
Last year I flew 18 flights with DL, 15 with UA, and 13 with AA. A few of the DL and UA flights were in domestic first and 1 each were in transatlantic business class. In my opinion, they aren’t different enough in terms of passenger experience to justify spending more or taking a less convenient flight for.
Interesting - did you get to fly with any of the European / int'l carriers? If so, were they noticeably better? Thanks for sharing though - that's a pretty balanced mix of flying, most people tend to fly mostly with 1 carrier especially if they're based near a hub
After flying both united and american in transatlantic business, also agree, no significant difference in in-flight experience. Seems to me that the bigger fight is in the differences between loyalty programs, in-airport lounge experience, and if the airline operates routes you're interested in for miles redemption.
As a Canadian, I've been flying United as my main choice in travel all this year . I feel comfortable with them more than Air Canada 🇨🇦 don't mind connecting in a hub . I did fly Delta very often till 2020. Something just changed with my choice.
I've flown United multiple times. Never had an issue with them. They were fast, reliable and the planes were comfortable. Never understood the deep resentment for the brand. I would avoid American if I could and fly United instead.
One of Delta's critical mistakes was canceling the Northwest 787 orders. Now, they are facing a problem replacing their old 767 fleet. The A350 Is a great product, but is too big for many routes.
Canceling the 787 was absolutely dumb but there is a good 767 replacement for Delta and its the A330-800neo. I know the -900 is the more optimized variant but the -800 can replace a lot of the 767 and even the oldest A330-200.
I have flown United back in July, let me just say this, the flight attendants are wonderful, they are one of the kindest people up in the sky (in my own opinion). Although I didn't try out their new product on their retrofitted 737-900ER's, I will always still fly them.
As a West Coast flier, Alaska Airlines should be your only consideration. The catering is actually delicious, customer service is fantastic, and their airport products at SEA and SFO rival that of SLC and MSP.
Alaska has no wide-body aircraft and a very limited international route structure. Apples to oranges. Moreover, Alaska's first class product doesn't compare to United's Polaris, which is world class.
I think you hit the nail on the head! The end-to-end experience on DL has generally been head and shoulders above the competition, but United has made really big strides to catch up. One thing I’d add is that the addition of Apple Pay for both DL and UA set them apart, allowing travelers to book directly more easily and signaling a more thoughtful experience. That’s a gap that I’ve yet to see AA fill. One area that I’d love to learn more about is DL’s operation. They have an uncanny ability to avoid gate arrival delays (at least at the airports I frequent - RDU, BOS, LGA) that seem to plague other carriers.
Interesting Video ! It doesn't take much in the Airline industry to be in the top position. United has the best hubs of the big 3. They also have a massive amount of 787's on order. In the 1980 & 90's they were the biggest and the best.
I love how people are finally catching on to that the fact that Airlines making the dumb decision to retire their planes during covid was a huge mistake rather than keeping their fleet. American retired their a330-200s, A330-300s 757-200s, 767-300ERs, 777-200s, and ERJ-190s claiming they weren't efficient enough which is very much a lie that I have been trying to get people to realize now for 3 years. Retiring over half your fleet with no new planes being delivered is the most dumbest thing an airline could ever do. Just ask American Airlines and Air France. If you look at Lufthansa fleet they only need 1-2 flights for every route they do while Airlines like United, Delta, Air France and many others who hated on the idea of storing the big high capacity 747s, were looking at Lufthansa and laughing until they realized the in order to meet the same passenger demand as a 747s those Airlines would need twice as many pilots and crew members, twice as many flights if not more and an extra 10%-15% more feul to fill 2 777s vs 1 747. Airlines that originally wanted to hate the a380 are bringing them back. Why? well, isn't it obvious?
Definitely. Some near term cost savings for AA but they're missing out on revenue now. One could make the fleet simplification argument, but they still have a complete hodge podge of Boeing/Airbus planes so doing away with the A330s and 757s didn't really move the needle in my view Lufthansa is another great example! Love to see those a340s and 747s still flying
That’s the beauty of competition, it makes others do better by providing better value. Whether it’s reducing prices, expanding their network and product offerings or simply improving the customer experience. As a leisure traveler, I don’t have any affinity or loyalty to any airline so it’s good to see UAL and DAL compete for all types of market and not just relying on loyal, business travelers and resting on their laurels. Hopefully AAL turns things around as well.
As airlines merge, there is far less competition which leads to worse service and higher fares. There is far less competition today than there was twenty years ago.
Loyal Delta flyer here. Sure, United may be upping their game with food and electronics, but until they get their customer agents and flight crews to actually be friendly to the passengers, I'll stick with Delta. I've got a newsflash for the airlines: If I want a gourmet meal, I don't rely on the airline to serve it to me. I save those occasions for restaurants that are on the ground. When I fly, I expect to be treated with a modicum of dignity and have an airplane whose landing gears and wings don't fall off mid-flight. Until United can address those two factors, I'll stick with Delta.
Until Delta gets their flight attendants and ground crews unionized, I won't fly them. Some of the nastiest employees I've ever met are Delta. This is likely because they are at will workers that can be fired at any time for any reason, at any time, with or without cause, with or without notification. I don't support airline's that treat their employees so poorly let alone spend tens of millions of dollars to spew anti-labor propaganda. Delta, no way in hell!
Very solid analysis. As a frequent flier with elite status on all of the Big three, I think American is in third place by a lot and maybe 4th if we ever get a JetBlue and Alaskan merger. United's new hard product competes well with Delta and United is doing a better job of retrofitting their older aircraft and offering a greater number of premium seats. You also hit the nail on the head with mentioning catering as United's biggest weakness. Worst food of the big three. Well done and I do believe United is posed to compete for the top spot!
I’ve flown over 900,000 BIS miles on United in the last ten months. I’m a big fan. I was Diamond on Delta for a few years; Delta is good, but I just don’t understand the hullabaloo. In some respects it’s better, but overall, United has a better loyalty program. As you pointed out, the international footprint is better too.
Wow - that's a lot of miles. Hope you're putting them to good use on exciting long haul biz class itineraries! And good point about the hullabaloo... I've had great experiences on Delta but I think management thinks they're more "premium" than they actually are... especially in the international arena
Here are the differences. First outfit their planes with far more first and business class seats than Delta. Second United has been far more willing to take risks and launch new long haul routes. This will only become more apparent as United taking delivery of the A321XLR allows them to add new destinations that Delta cant. And third United is focusing on playing to their strengths. This is why they are adding more capacity to existing routes domestically, especially out of Denver and Dulles.
I fly out of SFO and it's remarkable how United added so much Europe capacity this summer instead of funneling everyone through Newark if they want to go elsewhere in Europe besides London, Paris, Frankfurt and Amsterdam. I never thought in a million years there would be a direct flight in the summer from SFO to Barcelona for example.
@@dknowles60 There are situations where you could argue that United should fly the A380, but they don’t because they don’t own any. Instead they just use multiple smaller planes. And the 757 is likely the same where they could just gauge up to the -300 or down to the 737-700 on those routes. Or they could just keep a very small amount of the type like how they have only 12 737-900s and 787-8s
Flew Toronto to Singapore via SFO return. Great experience on each leg. Flying on one carrier is a real plus. Agreed, the catering needs attention but is acceptable, and the crews made it exceptional and a great value.
Traveled on United Polaris to Singapore last month. Only used them because I couldn’t get anything else on such short notice. My preference would have been one of the middle eastern airlines especially on their premier products.
@@aaronlimitlessPolaris is fantastic. Anytime you have that option, especially long haul, you take that. There is no comparison flying coach, when you get to a European destination, early in the a.m., fully rested and energized, being in Polaris!
This was a great review of United's relative rise. I love their premium seating on the the new A321neo. It along, with the 777-300 are currently my favorite aircraft on which to fly; however, the food issue is still really bad. Looking forward to more United improvement and growth. But in the meantime I have decided to status match with Alaska Airlines. The food they offer is 10x better than United's.
I've never flown Delta. Only American and United. I've just invested in a United credit card as I'm planning continued trips to Scotland going forward, and United just has the best flights and the best prices.
To answer your final question...Yes. I recently flew them on a $50 1hr Basic Economy ticket and the whole experience...from flight management on the app, to check in, to add on's, the aircraft, hard product, crew, onboard service etc. was one big WOW! So good in fact, one might not even need to become elite level anymore. - Red
Here’s what I see happening in the US airline market… there are really two different kinds of low cost carriers here - why I call “American Style” LC carriers - these are the JetBlues, Spirits, and Frontiers. Thy mostly fly the same mainline routes as the majors, i.e., between the mega metro areas (say ~2.2mil pop and larger metros). It looks like the legacies have figured out how to compete well with these operators. The second are “European Style” ULCCs. These are the Allegiants, Breezes, and Avelos. They mostly fly nonstop routes where at least one end is in a small or medium market. They “eat away” at the majors’ use of hubs as funneling points. I mean, if you have the choice of flying nonstop between two medium sized cities then even if the majors offer a better product, most folks would rather not stop in Charlotte, Dallas, SLC, or O’hare on their way a the destination. Theoretically, these low cost airlines will be harder for the majors to compete with and as such, I wouldn’t be surprised if we end up with a more European style market that’s segmented between majors that fly mostly between large metros and ULCCs that serve smaller markets (albeit with smaller frequency.
Agreed, but to fly to smaller airports in the US, you need to have efficient smaller planes (60-110 seats, i.e. A220). The 737’s and A320’s are just way too big to fill. This only works in Europe because it’s culturally easier to induce demand with low fares.
@@lukethompson5558 Breeze operates A220s and has many more on order. Allegiant has a large order of 737Max units that while large, were obtained at bargain basement prices.
@@MaxPower-11 A220 is the perfect aircraft type to fly to smaller markets. Allegiant has been struggling to find lots of profitable routes, and will continue to do so with the 737Max. It’s too big for the small city strategy, in a country where low-fares don’t induce as much demand as in most other areas of the world
Interesting analysis - agreed not all low cost carriers in US are created equal. Will certainly be interesting to see how Allegiant/Avelo/Breeze fare in the coming years - might also add Sun Country to that list 🌞
I live in a Delta Hub City (MSP), so United pretty much always hasme connecting at O’Hare. That alone is enough to put up with the Delta Monopoly for now. Also - I have a lot invested in the SkyTeam (KLM / Air France & Delta), so I get a few nice perks.
As an Australian I am very annoyed with the American and Aus/NZ airlines pricing cartel. Prior to COVID, when Virgin Australia was flying the Australia - LAX Route, I was able on a couple of time purchase J class tickets for betwnn $6 - 7,000 (one of those was all the way to Fort Lauderdale!). Now when I have been looking at J Class fares 3 months out, they are between $14,000-16,000 for the business saver fares. So to me all the airlines on the ANZ to US route are absolutely price gouging their customers with rediculously high fares for nothing better than before. I very much miss VA on these routes as they had the best soft and hard product, and I think kept the others more honest with their fares. Given they are all pretty much charging the same high fares, it very much looks like a cartel operation between the ANZ and American airlines. So yet profits are temporarily up, because we are still in the fever of post COVID travel. Once that settles down, unless airlines are managing their cost side, it won’t be that great.
I'm a United fanboy. Only thing I have to say is they need to speed up their cabin refreshes. Especially when one flight is a one year old aircraft and the next is 20 years old. I recently flew on a brand new A321neo from KSEA to KORD and it was a wonderful experience. Only reason I prefer them over Delta is because even though I am equidistant from Chicago and Detroit, I prefer connecting through Chicago.
I frequently travel with UA, AA and AS. In the last 12-24 months, I have certainly felt the decline of AA and the rise of UA when it comes to experiences. Onboard catering may be the only thing that UA still sucks at now, but hopefully they will catch up on that part soon as well.
Going to be flying an A321 Neo from O'Hare to Houston on United later this month. Then in October to San Francisco on a United 787-800. Looking forward to both flights. Delta is still good, but they are slipping in on time departures and ho-hum flight attendants. Ground staff at both United and Delta still OK though.
The issue is the consistency of the food of UA. UA just needs to improve the consistency of food which could include changing catering companies in order to beat DL.
I find United's catering to be superior to that of Delta. Their Polaris meals are top-notch and they're Polaris lounges rank right up there with the best international airlines in the world. I'll take United over Delta any day.
I used to fly United nearly every week for 5 years and they consistently improved and always had a reliable route network. Plus, I feel Star Alliance is the strongest alliance network. Now I live in a Delta hub city and have switched. While Delta has a better brand experience (for now), I prefer United’s route network, reliability, scheduling, and prices. In addition to the food, one thing holding United back is the service and image of their staff. I can’t tell you how many United flights I’ve been on with inattentive flight attendants and/or crew who lacked the polished appearance of Delta’s staff. This, too, has shown improvement though over the years (I’m guessing due to the older pre-merger staff retiring)
Kirby is lacking in leadership. He refuses to put his foot down on critical maintenance mistakes, that continue to see planes lose tires on takeoff/landing and other key maintenance issues. Plus having Pilots let passengers into the flight deck and touch the controls, during flight. Everyone is scratching their head why United cannot get their act together. Because Kirby is not an action guy. They don't listen well enough to what it's customers want. That is why United is #2, and will remain there.
I’ve seen this coming since 2021. I choose United back then since I’m always out of the country and fly mostly to west coast and Newark (New York). They offer direct flights to the Caribbean/ Latin American country I’m in. I decided to get into the credit card game since using my US debit card is too expensive abroad so I got a no annual fee chase United card. I wanted to go with American or delta bad. However, delta was simply too expensive for me and that I don’t really go to Atlanta often. Then American wanted to get rid of seat back TV’s to “save” fuel. Even though United had some aircraft without screens I decided to go with them after hearing their plans publicly to go that direction. Haven’t been disappointed since.
Excellent however wouldn’t it have been appropriate to ask - isn’t United largely unionized, while Delta is largely non-union? In my mind isn’t that is a crucial difference between UA and DL. Bastian has gone on record (as did Gary Kelly at SWA) for saying that his customers are the Delta staff. Will employee attitudes, union or nonunion, make the difference? Would love to know this youtuber’s opinion!
@@rickvoit7310 yessir, that is spot on. That has historically been a huge differentiator for Delta and they notoriously paid out $1.4 billion in profit share to their employees in 2023 (apparent equal to one month’s pay). Although to be clear, Delta still has union representation - i.e. its pilots are unionized - but its flight attendants, mechanics, etc are not. It does seem like there’s a unionization movement brewing…. But I don’t think it will happen because the threat of unionization may be enough for these employees to get their way (Delta REALLY does not want to have to deal with more unions)
@@flaps1019 Not long ago I was on a DL longhaul flight with all NW legacy FA's. They grumbled about DL being all nonunion. They wished that they had merged with CO back in the 80's.
Honestly I avoid both United AND Delta because their frequent flyer programs are almost worthless. It used to take ~60K miles for a first class LAX to NYC reward ticket and now it takes 150K miles if you can even get one. I'd rather take a different airline or even American airlines.
Speaking as a United MileagePlus member (SFO), United has been pretty good to me. Their seats especially in Polaris and Premium Plus are pretty good, they aren't opulent like the Asian or Middle East airlines, but that's another universe. I wish they improved their catering though. I'm sure United can spare the money to make their meals, especially their breakfasts more....edible.
Hopefully because delta has a nice product but in reality I wish all 3 American, United, and delta to step their game up to represent us the United States better
I think United can overtake Delta. They've done it before back in their heyday. My family's loyalty and I did no matter what because of family working for them, but I am impressed with their new products flying 787-10 to Hawaii in about 15 days
I have flown on United a combined 46 times between Asia and the West Coast of the USA and have flown on Delta twice. As a lawyer United flyer I always thought that I was missing out by not flying with Delta however, with the two flights that I did take on Delta, I found out that I was not missing out on anything.
United needs to adopt a for-comfort business model. For example, I flew on one of their a321neos back to Houston in economy, and of course they had to go with the ultra-slimline seat design, there was hardly any padding in the backrest and the seat would creak whenever I moved around, the 737-800 I flew from there on had more comfortable economy seats even though they’re older. Also only 30in of pitch compared to other airlines 31in of pitch is laughable.
I loved this video, because you were really honest and accurate. I think United has great potential, but I agree that they HAVE to sort out their business class food, it is almost always disgusting, and get rid of those old 767s.
I fly United routinely and have been very leased with their product with Polaris, First, what I refer to as extra legroom class. I go back and forth with first and extra legroom class on their EWR-PBI route, which I fly four to five times a year. I’ve done Polaris multiple times since 2021 including on their ultra long-haul EWR-JNB route for my 50th and have been more than pleased. (Especially with the birthday card they made for me on my way home from JNB, signed by all the crew members! It was just a few days after the day but made me feel special!) there food, while it could use improvement, with the international airlines I have now flown their business class product, I can say the same thing. I just wish their rum selection was a bit more. I look forward to the next time I fly Polaris and sit in their Polaris Lounge at EWR, which is top notch!
I've been a Diamond Medallion for years now, and for the last two years, there's been a noticeable decline in service both on the ground and in the air. The service is becoming more inconsistent, FAs are getting lazy, and the SkyClubs are just overly crowded. This summer I started freelancing my flights and other carriers like UA are equal or better than DL.
I can't image many people being loyal to an airline going forward unless they live in a hub where there not many other airline options, after the status downgrades recently. Many credit cards are offering 5% cashback when booking on their travel portal, which is becoming a default way to buy tickets for average person and allows them to choose a flight without weighing loyalty. United's online experience is great. I've seen some people comment Delta can just hire some IT people to improve theirs, but technology isn't that simple and for a large company you need many years of focus on intergration before you can deliver a good online customer experience. I also do think international travel will continue to grow at a much faster pace than domestic, so United will start beating Delta on many more categories, but Delta will continue to have the highest margins. I agree airlines are about not making mistakes and think United is chasing at growth too hard. I don't really see why they needed to go out and lease 35 A321neos, those are going to make margin expansion harder going forward. United is also pretty bad at levering their international partners compared to Delta who leverage Virgin, Air France/KLM, LATAM, Aeromexico, Korean Air pretty well. I don't really care about United flying direct to more places in Africa or Asia, I would rather see them leverage ANA, Turkish, Lufthansa Group, Air India better for 1 stop connections to the places I want to go to than random seasonal frequencies.
Yes United is definitely catching up to Delta, however I believe it will be just that. Delta realized that the biggest complains are from the regional markets hence that's why they have ordered over 200 A220 to replace the smaller regional CRJs and fly into Smaller town where the population has increased especially since the pandemic. They have implemented a second back up system incase there is an outage
As long as Delta isn’t unionized they will have an advantage. But Unions make the A220 a far less valuable investment as Delta would need to significantly increase pay to those flight attendants due to the planes weight and scope clauses. A difference however is that Delta and United have different constraints. At United’s key hubs Newark and San Francisco they need to fly larger planes, making the A321 and 737-10 needs. But Delta has smaller hubs in unconstrained markets like Detroit and Salt Lake where a smaller aircraft is more logical
i am Delta Diamond charter member i love/hate Delta. Pre Covid Delta was great. After Covid....no. Not a Premium product they claim. Delta One has a nice cabin but service is inconsistent and the food is yuk...particularly International and long haul. The Asian and Mid-East carriers exceed any US carrier 10000x over. Sad to say. I still hope Delta will be great again
United has the most international destinations and pretty good hubs . With their United Next plan and refurbishing of their planes give a few more years United will be the top US airline. Obviously they have lots to work on like their on time performance but time will tell. American Airlines should’ve kept Scott Kirby.
They couldn't keep Kirby. Parker wasn't willing to give up the CEO role (until he was finally forced out), so Kirby moved on to a better opportunity. I expect it was part of the deal from the start when he moved to UA as president that he would be the next CEO in a relatively short time frame.
I have flown on delta and United both economy and first class and I will say I am far more impressed with United than I was with delta and that was both first and economy. I went on United expecting something like what American has and wasn’t expecting something that is superior than delta.
I find that the United flight attendants are nicer and more attentive than Delta. We are returning from Europe at the end of September and this is going to be our first international flight on United. I’m pretty excited to see how it goes.
UA made a huge gamble during the pandemic and decided to hold onto their widebody fleet and forgo retirements of the older aircraft…while DL went ahead and retired their entire 777 fleet, most likely to cut costs…now, post pandemic, UA has a huge fleet allowing them to be more flexible and try out new markets and right size the aircraft selection to the route.
I have a slew of trips that are international in the coming months that are United, let’s see. As you said their catering sucks, service is ok, network is incredible obviously.
Some flyers might find this a superficial reason to prefer one particular airline over another, and maybe this is just me, but... I find Delta's website to be much more user friendly than United's. It's attractive, easy to navigate, and the booking process is more transparent in the way it displays all the different classes and pricing options up front--including the price for Economy Comfort+ (extra legroom) seats, an important consideration for me when I fly transatlantic. Moreover, the Delta website allows you to view a seat map showing available seats, before you enter any personal info and payment details. I always want to see what seats I can choose, and what they cost, beforehand, even if I'm actually going to book through a credit card portal. United's website seems to lack these user-friendly features, and I find that off-putting right from the start. Another factor: I prefer the 767 and A330 to the 777 (my least favorite widebody), due to the seat configuration. Yes, I know Delta is retiring their old 767s and will be replacing them with new A350s on transatlantic routes, but I'd much rather fly the A350 than the 777. I will say that Delta's catering has deteriorated noticeably in the last few years, and cost-cutting is evident overall. The meals in economy are pitiful--but can United's be that much better? Let's face it--U.S. airlines will never match up to the likes of Emirates, Singapore, JAL, etc.
I last flew Delta in 2019. I flew domestic first class. It was not the greatest experience. The staff didn’t seem to care and the food was at the best disgusting. I have flown United first class ever since. Always a good experience.
Just hit 1K with United. I did like Delta but the locations and price was not favorable. Personally, I don’t feel a huge difference in First/Business Class domestically. Internationally, Delta 1 is smooth but I like United Polaris overall as American can just sit this comparison out.
Having flown both options; I still prefer Delta for a premium experience; I will use an example from my last United flight; I had to beg for a can of diet coke that Delta easily gives out in First Class. I was not asking for an alcoholic beverage but a diet coke and that felt like pulling teeth; meanwhile on Delta if I asked for a diet coke they just handed me a can without question. Even the flight attendants on United felt less attentive to the needs of the passenger in first class compared to Delta where they would continually ask if you needed a beverage if you were empty. Both experiences left me with a bit of a love hate between the two as while Delta is more expensive depending on the route the experience was more premium and you felt cared for while United was a bit cheaper but you also didn't get the personal attention you would expect; the food is another matter altogether as the food on Delta is just universally better and while United has some seatback entertainment its left to their newer fleet meanwhile Delta has been hard at work refreshing the older product.
@@djtexas4993 yeah it was odd, flying from Phoenix to Newark which is well over 4 hours of flying and you don't get a whole can.... was sitting in last row on a 737 Max 8 in FC and the gentlemen next to me had to ask for a whole can twice. Mind you we had to stop the FA to ask for a drink; I've never had to do that on Delta which is why it felt odd.
I think Delta had mass exodus when they make changes with their loyalty program. I was one of the loyal customer and transitioned into United. Product is similar or better than Delta. United customer service and lounges still need to catch up.
Because food seems to be such an issue with traveling I would love to see the airline, no matter who you're doing business with and take their top tier premium customer for a tour of a catering kitchen in a major hub.For example, United at Newark, Delta in Atlanta, or American in Dallas. It is amazing once you go through and see what goes on in those catering kitchens on a daily basis 7 days a week 365 days a year that any food ever gets on an airplane. A tour itself would be overwhelming to say the least to see what goes on in the catering world.
Personally I don’t. United has a culture problem and unfortunately due to its size that’s going to take generations to change. Regardless of Delta’s issues, their culture leaves the customer with a much more satisfied and positive experience. Despite its hard product and food Delta’s employees just care and leave you with a great experience. Every time I fly United not recently as JFK is my preferred airport I walk off saying that was a horrible flight as my last redeye on them with a lie flat seat had no pillows or blankets the crew could careless and upon arrival I discovered them in the bulkhead compartment. Guess they don’t do security checks either 🤷♂️ Great video Keep Climbing ✈️
As a certified United Airlines loyalist and a flight reviewer I gotta say that United has really done a great job in recovering from what they were known for 10 years ago. I think a big part of their success is they have been focusing on the customer service aspect, I have no doubts that they will surpass DL and become the biggest airline in the United States.
United is caught up/has already surpassed Delta in terms of their international and long haul products. Domestically, they are still catching up, mostly due to lack of available aircraft.
United and Delta are on the same level right now. One might be slightly ahead of the other in category A, but lag in category B. But my thing is this...why are flyers (myself included) actively looking for a better long haul flying experience on foreign flagged carriers? It's because of one word that did not appear in your video...and that word is hospitality. Foreign carriers absolutely destroy all American carriers in this department. If United wants Americans to quit flying on Singapore to Singapore, or Japan & ANA to Tokyo, then they have to invest in their flight attendants to train and enable them on how to present genuine, warm, welcoming hospitality and they have to WORK on the flight, not simply serve a poorly presented meal and then disappear. Until that day arrives, it's 100% irrelevant whether United, Delta or American is going to be the "flagship" because regardless of title, they're light years their foreign competitors.
I fly American Airlines there already good enough but I suggest to add inflight entertainment maybe meals on flights over 4-5 hours I hope they would add inflight entertainment 😃
To make $1,000,000.00 in aviation ya must start with $10,000,000.00 Don’t forget the airlines had to use their loyalty rewards programs as collateral for govt loans post virus. Not their planes, gates or ground equipment…their aviation resources, but their loyalty rewards programs
I disagree about the United cabin experience; it is far superior to that on Delta; I routinely fly both (and for the record, I'm Delta Medallion) and have had exceptional service when in First Class; case in point; on a flight when snacks came through I said I was really craving some beef jerky; the FA went back to coach and brought me a "food for purchase" box that was loaded with salami; later, after I had pre-ordered my meal I wanted to change it; no problem. Delta food is exceptional, I'll give you that; but the customer service aspect of United is far superior, and I mean FAR superior.
Don't know what goes on behind the scenes, but as far as the passenger is concerned, United delivers a superior product. It's my number one airline and I'll always fly it over Delta any day.
The fact that United offers to charge you to hold a price if you're unsure of booking makes me not want to fly with them. And they're so stingy with their points and charging for watching their backseat TVs. United just sucks. Delta is just far better.
Never had the opportunity to fly United as they are not an option however as a mostly aa flyer who had to take a delta flight recently it left me unimpressed. The customer service was so so the seat was the same as on American the only and I mean only advantage was just could text my wife and kids in the 2 short flights. That was nice. Aside from that the customer service ranked right next to my worst aa flight ever. Not bad by any means but I definitely felt no magic.
They must certainly are NOT stealing delta’s cheese because their catering is still a disaster 😜. But yes I do agree they’ve really turned themselves around the last couple of years. I used to be loyal to American until they introduced oasis, so I became a free agent. Then once United announced their massive cabin refurbishment I became loyal to them. And im now on my third year as a 1K
Have you flown Delta recently? They're catering is horrid. I'll take United anyday. Not to mention United Polaris lounges are some of the best in the world. Delta doesn't even come close.
I've been flying United and Delta consistantly over the last 2 years. I think currently Delta has the better flying experience. Delta aircraft are usually cleaner and more updated with better food. United is getting better, but their planes are always dirty and the food in my opion is inedible. all that being said I think that both are giving eachother a run for their money. American Airlines is still a trash airline and their customer serivce is a flaming dumpster fire.
15 years ago, I loved Delta. Today, I’m pretty brand loyal to United because they actually fly the places I want to go without connecting in third countries and having multiple airlines on one trip. Connecting between airlines is fine when things go well but no matter how close their partnership, it’s not seamless when things go bad. Also their prices are better than the alternatives
That is one area United has a clear advantage. They fly point to point, as opposed to their competitor, who flies too many routes to Amsterdam, and customers have to board another aircraft.
Great perspective!
@@meddyven I fly across the other ocean more often (between Seattle and Hong Kong) so it’s Seoul, not Amsterdam but essentially, yes. I still have connecting flights (usually San Francisco but maybe Los Angeles) but not in a third country
Their app is singlehandedly destroying all other airline apps
Who's app?
Specifics please. No one believes a random comment on a UA-cam video.
The stock mention reminded me of fmr CEO Robert Crandall’s quote: "I've never invested in any airline. I'm an airline manager. I don't invest in airlines. And I always said to the employees of American, 'This is not an appropriate investment. It's a great place to work and it's a great company that does important work. But airlines are not an investment.’"
Geez, Bob, how did you even survive as AA’s ceo with this attitude-implicitly indicating your airline’s ownership was stupid investing in it? SMH.
United is my airline of choice because I live nearest to Newark - I find it’s overhated more than any other airline other than spirit and American. Their old planes suck but their new ones feel so premium and right up there with delta. It’s the flag carrier to me because it’s the only airlines attempting to make its product better as of right now
Haha "overhated" is a good way to put it. They were on the list of the world's most hated companies in 2018 (probably because of Dr. Dao incident, among other things)... so they've had some reputation-fixing to do
Technically speaking all the legacies and most of the budgets are flag carriers.
I’m sorry your airport is Newark
@@alexmaldonado740 United Million+ miler here out of LAX, my experience thru EWR has always been fine.
Great work, you are spot on. I used to fly on Delta only but now I've been flying United and I like it alot. The Clubs are no where near as crowded as a Delta sky club, and I love the fact that United has the Polaris lounge which is only accessible for those booked in that class, Delta is just catching on with this regard. But the food has got to get better...all and all I'm glad to be flying United!!
Coming from being a continental flier…I fly United exclusively as I’m 25 minutes from Newark and can go basically anywhere in the world from there….I go to Florida monthly and I’m going to Rome next month. I’ll agree on the food aspect on the plane but, their app, customer service, lounges and even their prices are pretty darn good all things considered. Even my United credit card and miles per cent and the rewards are fantastic. Great video!
Amazing - safe travels to Rome! Are you flying up front?
@@flaps1019Thank you much. Yes I’ll be in Polaris, super excited, 777-200 there and 767-400 coming back. I’ve been in Polaris before but just to Florida when they had to sub a 757-200 for a 737 for whatever reason but I wasn’t complaining.. 😂
@@landscaperconnection Continental loyalist here is as well. Do you know if they have converted that old international Polaris layout on the -200s. The domestic Polaris 777-200 is still horrendous
Last year I flew 18 flights with DL, 15 with UA, and 13 with AA. A few of the DL and UA flights were in domestic first and 1 each were in transatlantic business class. In my opinion, they aren’t different enough in terms of passenger experience to justify spending more or taking a less convenient flight for.
Interesting - did you get to fly with any of the European / int'l carriers? If so, were they noticeably better?
Thanks for sharing though - that's a pretty balanced mix of flying, most people tend to fly mostly with 1 carrier especially if they're based near a hub
After flying both united and american in transatlantic business, also agree, no significant difference in in-flight experience. Seems to me that the bigger fight is in the differences between loyalty programs, in-airport lounge experience, and if the airline operates routes you're interested in for miles redemption.
As a Canadian, I've been flying United as my main choice in travel all this year . I feel comfortable with them more than Air Canada 🇨🇦 don't mind connecting in a hub .
I did fly Delta very often till 2020. Something just changed with my choice.
Rule number 1: Never invest in airlines...
Or just short 'em 😂
I always fly Delta. But I do hear United has improved.
I've flown United multiple times. Never had an issue with them. They were fast, reliable and the planes were comfortable. Never understood the deep resentment for the brand. I would avoid American if I could and fly United instead.
One of Delta's critical mistakes was canceling the Northwest 787 orders. Now, they are facing a problem replacing their old 767 fleet. The A350 Is a great product, but is too big for many routes.
Canceling the 787 was absolutely dumb but there is a good 767 replacement for Delta and its the A330-800neo. I know the -900 is the more optimized variant but the -800 can replace a lot of the 767 and even the oldest A330-200.
Great video. Meanwhile American can't even figure out they should be embarrassed they aren't part of the conversation....
I have flown United back in July, let me just say this, the flight attendants are wonderful, they are one of the kindest people up in the sky (in my own opinion). Although I didn't try out their new product on their retrofitted 737-900ER's, I will always still fly them.
Flight crews are very hit or miss on US carriers.
@@John-bi1lvmaybe the us carriers should pay FA better to get better quality
As a West Coast flier, Alaska Airlines should be your only consideration. The catering is actually delicious, customer service is fantastic, and their airport products at SEA and SFO rival that of SLC and MSP.
Alaska has no wide-body aircraft and a very limited international route structure. Apples to oranges. Moreover, Alaska's first class product doesn't compare to United's Polaris, which is world class.
Continental should have merged with Alaska.
I’ll take UA or DL any day of the week. What I avoid like the plague is AA.
I think you hit the nail on the head! The end-to-end experience on DL has generally been head and shoulders above the competition, but United has made really big strides to catch up. One thing I’d add is that the addition of Apple Pay for both DL and UA set them apart, allowing travelers to book directly more easily and signaling a more thoughtful experience. That’s a gap that I’ve yet to see AA fill.
One area that I’d love to learn more about is DL’s operation. They have an uncanny ability to avoid gate arrival delays (at least at the airports I frequent - RDU, BOS, LGA) that seem to plague other carriers.
AA’s tech has always been lagging!
Interesting Video ! It doesn't take much in the Airline industry to be in the top position. United has the best hubs of the big 3. They also have a massive amount of 787's on order. In the 1980 & 90's they were the biggest and the best.
I love how people are finally catching on to that the fact that Airlines making the dumb decision to retire their planes during covid was a huge mistake rather than keeping their fleet. American retired their a330-200s, A330-300s 757-200s, 767-300ERs, 777-200s, and ERJ-190s claiming they weren't efficient enough which is very much a lie that I have been trying to get people to realize now for 3 years. Retiring over half your fleet with no new planes being delivered is the most dumbest thing an airline could ever do. Just ask American Airlines and Air France.
If you look at Lufthansa fleet they only need 1-2 flights for every route they do while Airlines like United, Delta, Air France and many others who hated on the idea of storing the big high capacity 747s, were looking at Lufthansa and laughing until they realized the in order to meet the same passenger demand as a 747s those Airlines would need twice as many pilots and crew members, twice as many flights if not more and an extra 10%-15% more feul to fill 2 777s vs 1 747. Airlines that originally wanted to hate the a380 are bringing them back. Why? well, isn't it obvious?
Definitely. Some near term cost savings for AA but they're missing out on revenue now. One could make the fleet simplification argument, but they still have a complete hodge podge of Boeing/Airbus planes so doing away with the A330s and 757s didn't really move the needle in my view
Lufthansa is another great example! Love to see those a340s and 747s still flying
That’s the beauty of competition, it makes others do better by providing better value. Whether it’s reducing prices, expanding their network and product offerings or simply improving the customer experience. As a leisure traveler, I don’t have any affinity or loyalty to any airline so it’s good to see UAL and DAL compete for all types of market and not just relying on loyal, business travelers and resting on their laurels. Hopefully AAL turns things around as well.
As airlines merge, there is far less competition which leads to worse service and higher fares. There is far less competition today than there was twenty years ago.
Loyal Delta flyer here. Sure, United may be upping their game with food and electronics, but until they get their customer agents and flight crews to actually be friendly to the passengers, I'll stick with Delta. I've got a newsflash for the airlines: If I want a gourmet meal, I don't rely on the airline to serve it to me. I save those occasions for restaurants that are on the ground. When I fly, I expect to be treated with a modicum of dignity and have an airplane whose landing gears and wings don't fall off mid-flight. Until United can address those two factors, I'll stick with Delta.
Until Delta gets their flight attendants and ground crews unionized, I won't fly them. Some of the nastiest employees I've ever met are Delta. This is likely because they are at will workers that can be fired at any time for any reason, at any time, with or without cause, with or without notification. I don't support airline's that treat their employees so poorly let alone spend tens of millions of dollars to spew anti-labor propaganda. Delta, no way in hell!
Very solid analysis. As a frequent flier with elite status on all of the Big three, I think American is in third place by a lot and maybe 4th if we ever get a JetBlue and Alaskan merger. United's new hard product competes well with Delta and United is doing a better job of retrofitting their older aircraft and offering a greater number of premium seats. You also hit the nail on the head with mentioning catering as United's biggest weakness. Worst food of the big three. Well done and I do believe United is posed to compete for the top spot!
I’ve flown over 900,000 BIS miles on United in the last ten months. I’m a big fan. I was Diamond on Delta for a few years; Delta is good, but I just don’t understand the hullabaloo. In some respects it’s better, but overall, United has a better loyalty program. As you pointed out, the international footprint is better too.
Wow - that's a lot of miles. Hope you're putting them to good use on exciting long haul biz class itineraries! And good point about the hullabaloo... I've had great experiences on Delta but I think management thinks they're more "premium" than they actually are... especially in the international arena
I so do not miss that kind of intensive travel. Ages you and never home.
Here are the differences. First outfit their planes with far more first and business class seats than Delta. Second United has been far more willing to take risks and launch new long haul routes. This will only become more apparent as United taking delivery of the A321XLR allows them to add new destinations that Delta cant. And third United is focusing on playing to their strengths. This is why they are adding more capacity to existing routes domestically, especially out of Denver and Dulles.
I fly out of SFO and it's remarkable how United added so much Europe capacity this summer instead of funneling everyone through Newark if they want to go elsewhere in Europe besides London, Paris, Frankfurt and Amsterdam. I never thought in a million years there would be a direct flight in the summer from SFO to Barcelona for example.
lets see the Delta 757 can fly out of air ports on a very hot day the A321XLR cant
@@dknowles60 true, but the 757 can’t fly as far and burns more fuel. The amount of situations where those advantages are needed is not many
@@TysonIke but will always be needed
@@dknowles60 There are situations where you could argue that United should fly the A380, but they don’t because they don’t own any. Instead they just use multiple smaller planes. And the 757 is likely the same where they could just gauge up to the -300 or down to the 737-700 on those routes. Or they could just keep a very small amount of the type like how they have only 12 737-900s and 787-8s
Flew Toronto to Singapore via SFO return. Great experience on each leg. Flying on one carrier is a real plus. Agreed, the catering needs attention but is acceptable, and the crews made it exceptional and a great value.
Traveled on United Polaris to Singapore last month. Only used them because I couldn’t get anything else on such short notice. My preference would have been one of the middle eastern airlines especially on their premier products.
And Polaris wasn’t good enough for you? Many people would love to have a chance to fly business or first. Be more thankful in life.
@@aaronlimitless I am plenty thankful. If you worked as hard as I do,you too could enjoy the good life!
@@aaronlimitlessPolaris is fantastic. Anytime you have that option, especially long haul, you take that. There is no comparison flying coach, when you get to a European destination, early in the a.m., fully rested and energized, being in Polaris!
I doubt you work hard at all. You sound entitled. Regardless, I'll take United Polaris over anything else. Suck on that.@@Harsharan1
This was a great review of United's relative rise. I love their premium seating on the the new A321neo. It along, with the 777-300 are currently my favorite aircraft on which to fly; however, the food issue is still really bad. Looking forward to more United improvement and growth. But in the meantime I have decided to status match with Alaska Airlines. The food they offer is 10x better than United's.
I've never flown Delta. Only American and United. I've just invested in a United credit card as I'm planning continued trips to Scotland going forward, and United just has the best flights and the best prices.
To answer your final question...Yes. I recently flew them on a $50 1hr Basic Economy ticket and the whole experience...from flight management on the app, to check in, to add on's, the aircraft, hard product, crew, onboard service etc. was one big WOW! So good in fact, one might not even need to become elite level anymore.
- Red
Here’s what I see happening in the US airline market… there are really two different kinds of low cost carriers here - why I call “American Style” LC carriers - these are the JetBlues, Spirits, and Frontiers. Thy mostly fly the same mainline routes as the majors, i.e., between the mega metro areas (say ~2.2mil pop and larger metros). It looks like the legacies have figured out how to compete well with these operators. The second are “European Style” ULCCs. These are the Allegiants, Breezes, and Avelos. They mostly fly nonstop routes where at least one end is in a small or medium market. They “eat away” at the majors’ use of hubs as funneling points. I mean, if you have the choice of flying nonstop between two medium sized cities then even if the majors offer a better product, most folks would rather not stop in Charlotte, Dallas, SLC, or O’hare on their way a the destination. Theoretically, these low cost airlines will be harder for the majors to compete with and as such, I wouldn’t be surprised if we end up with a more European style market that’s segmented between majors that fly mostly between large metros and ULCCs that serve smaller markets (albeit with smaller frequency.
Agreed, but to fly to smaller airports in the US, you need to have efficient smaller planes (60-110 seats, i.e. A220). The 737’s and A320’s are just way too big to fill. This only works in Europe because it’s culturally easier to induce demand with low fares.
@@lukethompson5558 Breeze operates A220s and has many more on order. Allegiant has a large order of 737Max units that while large, were obtained at bargain basement prices.
@@MaxPower-11 A220 is the perfect aircraft type to fly to smaller markets. Allegiant has been struggling to find lots of profitable routes, and will continue to do so with the 737Max. It’s too big for the small city strategy, in a country where low-fares don’t induce as much demand as in most other areas of the world
Interesting analysis - agreed not all low cost carriers in US are created equal. Will certainly be interesting to see how Allegiant/Avelo/Breeze fare in the coming years - might also add Sun Country to that list 🌞
I live in a Delta Hub City (MSP), so United pretty much always hasme connecting at O’Hare. That alone is enough to put up with the Delta Monopoly for now. Also - I have a lot invested in the SkyTeam (KLM / Air France & Delta), so I get a few nice perks.
As an Australian I am very annoyed with the American and Aus/NZ airlines pricing cartel. Prior to COVID, when Virgin Australia was flying the Australia - LAX Route, I was able on a couple of time purchase J class tickets for betwnn $6 - 7,000 (one of those was all the way to Fort Lauderdale!). Now when I have been looking at J Class fares 3 months out, they are between $14,000-16,000 for the business saver fares.
So to me all the airlines on the ANZ to US route are absolutely price gouging their customers with rediculously high fares for nothing better than before. I very much miss VA on these routes as they had the best soft and hard product, and I think kept the others more honest with their fares.
Given they are all pretty much charging the same high fares, it very much looks like a cartel operation between the ANZ and American airlines.
So yet profits are temporarily up, because we are still in the fever of post COVID travel. Once that settles down, unless airlines are managing their cost side, it won’t be that great.
I'm a United fanboy. Only thing I have to say is they need to speed up their cabin refreshes. Especially when one flight is a one year old aircraft and the next is 20 years old. I recently flew on a brand new A321neo from KSEA to KORD and it was a wonderful experience. Only reason I prefer them over Delta is because even though I am equidistant from Chicago and Detroit, I prefer connecting through Chicago.
I frequently travel with UA, AA and AS. In the last 12-24 months, I have certainly felt the decline of AA and the rise of UA when it comes to experiences. Onboard catering may be the only thing that UA still sucks at now, but hopefully they will catch up on that part soon as well.
Going to be flying an A321 Neo from O'Hare to Houston on United later this month. Then in October to San Francisco on a United 787-800. Looking forward to both flights. Delta is still good, but they are slipping in on time departures and ho-hum flight attendants. Ground staff at both United and Delta still OK though.
The issue is the consistency of the food of UA. UA just needs to improve the consistency of food which could include changing catering companies in order to beat DL.
It's not so much the catering company. It's much more about the budget United allocates for meals.
I find United's catering to be superior to that of Delta. Their Polaris meals are top-notch and they're Polaris lounges rank right up there with the best international airlines in the world. I'll take United over Delta any day.
@@meyer8199 That's hilarious that Polaris meals are top notch. Now I agree with you on the Polaris lounges in general.
@@meyer8199 maybe you have gotten lucky with UA’s catering.
I used to fly United nearly every week for 5 years and they consistently improved and always had a reliable route network. Plus, I feel Star Alliance is the strongest alliance network. Now I live in a Delta hub city and have switched. While Delta has a better brand experience (for now), I prefer United’s route network, reliability, scheduling, and prices. In addition to the food, one thing holding United back is the service and image of their staff. I can’t tell you how many United flights I’ve been on with inattentive flight attendants and/or crew who lacked the polished appearance of Delta’s staff. This, too, has shown improvement though over the years (I’m guessing due to the older pre-merger staff retiring)
Great content!
Kirby is lacking in leadership. He refuses to put his foot down on critical maintenance mistakes, that continue to see planes lose tires on takeoff/landing and other key maintenance issues. Plus having Pilots let passengers into the flight deck and touch the controls, during flight. Everyone is scratching their head why United cannot get their act together. Because Kirby is not an action guy. They don't listen well enough to what it's customers want. That is why United is #2, and will remain there.
I’ve seen this coming since 2021. I choose United back then since I’m always out of the country and fly mostly to west coast and Newark (New York). They offer direct flights to the Caribbean/ Latin American country I’m in. I decided to get into the credit card game since using my US debit card is too expensive abroad so I got a no annual fee chase United card. I wanted to go with American or delta bad. However, delta was simply too expensive for me and that I don’t really go to Atlanta often. Then American wanted to get rid of seat back TV’s to “save” fuel. Even though United had some aircraft without screens I decided to go with them after hearing their plans publicly to go that direction. Haven’t been disappointed since.
Excellent however wouldn’t it have been appropriate to ask - isn’t United largely unionized, while Delta is largely non-union? In my mind isn’t that is a crucial difference between UA and DL. Bastian has gone on record (as did Gary Kelly at SWA) for saying that his customers are the Delta staff. Will employee attitudes, union or nonunion, make the difference? Would love to know this youtuber’s opinion!
@@rickvoit7310 yessir, that is spot on. That has historically been a huge differentiator for Delta and they notoriously paid out $1.4 billion in profit share to their employees in 2023 (apparent equal to one month’s pay). Although to be clear, Delta still has union representation - i.e. its pilots are unionized - but its flight attendants, mechanics, etc are not. It does seem like there’s a unionization movement brewing…. But I don’t think it will happen because the threat of unionization may be enough for these employees to get their way (Delta REALLY does not want to have to deal with more unions)
@@flaps1019 Not long ago I was on a DL longhaul flight with all NW legacy FA's. They grumbled about DL being all nonunion. They wished that they had merged with CO back in the 80's.
Dude, love it - you don’t even need to take a flight to make an engaging and interesting video. Loved the education.
🙏
Honestly I avoid both United AND Delta because their frequent flyer programs are almost worthless. It used to take ~60K miles for a first class LAX to NYC reward ticket and now it takes 150K miles if you can even get one. I'd rather take a different airline or even American airlines.
Speaking as a United MileagePlus member (SFO), United has been pretty good to me. Their seats especially in Polaris and Premium Plus are pretty good, they aren't opulent like the Asian or Middle East airlines, but that's another universe. I wish they improved their catering though. I'm sure United can spare the money to make their meals, especially their breakfasts more....edible.
Hopefully because delta has a nice product but in reality I wish all 3 American, United, and delta to step their game up to represent us the United States better
I think United can overtake Delta. They've done it before back in their heyday. My family's loyalty and I did no matter what because of family working for them, but I am impressed with their new products flying 787-10 to Hawaii in about 15 days
"Can?" United already has overtaken crappy delta.
I have flown on United a combined 46 times between Asia and the West Coast of the USA and have flown on Delta twice. As a lawyer United flyer I always thought that I was missing out by not flying with Delta however, with the two flights that I did take on Delta, I found out that I was not missing out on anything.
United needs to adopt a for-comfort business model. For example, I flew on one of their a321neos back to Houston in economy, and of course they had to go with the ultra-slimline seat design, there was hardly any padding in the backrest and the seat would creak whenever I moved around, the 737-800 I flew from there on had more comfortable economy seats even though they’re older. Also only 30in of pitch compared to other airlines 31in of pitch is laughable.
I only fly Delta because I live by a Delta hub. If I had to fly another airline I definitely prefer United over American
Currently flying SWest because I have companion pass until Feb 25’. After that no more… United and Delta only. I live in Chicago so huge United hub
I loved this video, because you were really honest and accurate. I think United has great potential, but I agree that they HAVE to sort out their business class food, it is almost always disgusting, and get rid of those old 767s.
I fly United routinely and have been very leased with their product with Polaris, First, what I refer to as extra legroom class. I go back and forth with first and extra legroom class on their EWR-PBI route, which I fly four to five times a year. I’ve done Polaris multiple times since 2021 including on their ultra long-haul EWR-JNB route for my 50th and have been more than pleased. (Especially with the birthday card they made for me on my way home from JNB, signed by all the crew members! It was just a few days after the day but made me feel special!) there food, while it could use improvement, with the international airlines I have now flown their business class product, I can say the same thing. I just wish their rum selection was a bit more. I look forward to the next time I fly Polaris and sit in their Polaris Lounge at EWR, which is top notch!
Thanks for sharing - hope you enjoyed South Africa that sounds amazing!
I've been a Diamond Medallion for years now, and for the last two years, there's been a noticeable decline in service both on the ground and in the air. The service is becoming more inconsistent, FAs are getting lazy, and the SkyClubs are just overly crowded. This summer I started freelancing my flights and other carriers like UA are equal or better than DL.
I can't image many people being loyal to an airline going forward unless they live in a hub where there not many other airline options, after the status downgrades recently. Many credit cards are offering 5% cashback when booking on their travel portal, which is becoming a default way to buy tickets for average person and allows them to choose a flight without weighing loyalty.
United's online experience is great. I've seen some people comment Delta can just hire some IT people to improve theirs, but technology isn't that simple and for a large company you need many years of focus on intergration before you can deliver a good online customer experience. I also do think international travel will continue to grow at a much faster pace than domestic, so United will start beating Delta on many more categories, but Delta will continue to have the highest margins.
I agree airlines are about not making mistakes and think United is chasing at growth too hard. I don't really see why they needed to go out and lease 35 A321neos, those are going to make margin expansion harder going forward. United is also pretty bad at levering their international partners compared to Delta who leverage Virgin, Air France/KLM, LATAM, Aeromexico, Korean Air pretty well. I don't really care about United flying direct to more places in Africa or Asia, I would rather see them leverage ANA, Turkish, Lufthansa Group, Air India better for 1 stop connections to the places I want to go to than random seasonal frequencies.
Very interesting, thorough and thought provoking!!! 👍👍
Yes United is definitely catching up to Delta, however I believe it will be just that. Delta realized that the biggest complains are from the regional markets hence that's why they have ordered over 200 A220 to replace the smaller regional CRJs and fly into Smaller town where the population has increased especially since the pandemic. They have implemented a second back up system incase there is an outage
As long as Delta isn’t unionized they will have an advantage. But Unions make the A220 a far less valuable investment as Delta would need to significantly increase pay to those flight attendants due to the planes weight and scope clauses. A difference however is that Delta and United have different constraints. At United’s key hubs Newark and San Francisco they need to fly larger planes, making the A321 and 737-10 needs. But Delta has smaller hubs in unconstrained markets like Detroit and Salt Lake where a smaller aircraft is more logical
Let's not over exaggerate the 220 order. Total orders currently stand at 145.
i am Delta Diamond charter member i love/hate Delta. Pre Covid Delta was great. After Covid....no. Not a Premium product they claim. Delta One has a nice cabin but service is inconsistent and the food is yuk...particularly International and long haul. The Asian and Mid-East carriers exceed any US carrier 10000x over. Sad to say. I still hope Delta will be great again
United has the most international destinations and pretty good hubs . With their United Next plan and refurbishing of their planes give a few more years United will be the top US airline. Obviously they have lots to work on like their on time performance but time will tell. American Airlines should’ve kept Scott Kirby.
They couldn't keep Kirby. Parker wasn't willing to give up the CEO role (until he was finally forced out), so Kirby moved on to a better opportunity. I expect it was part of the deal from the start when he moved to UA as president that he would be the next CEO in a relatively short time frame.
I have flown on delta and United both economy and first class and I will say I am far more impressed with United than I was with delta and that was both first and economy. I went on United expecting something like what American has and wasn’t expecting something that is superior than delta.
I find that the United flight attendants are nicer and more attentive than Delta. We are returning from Europe at the end of September and this is going to be our first international flight on United. I’m pretty excited to see how it goes.
UA made a huge gamble during the pandemic and decided to hold onto their widebody fleet and forgo retirements of the older aircraft…while DL went ahead and retired their entire 777 fleet, most likely to cut costs…now, post pandemic, UA has a huge fleet allowing them to be more flexible and try out new markets and right size the aircraft selection to the route.
if delta needs the &&& there are a lot to be Had, It was Richard Anderson CEO pf delta that Purchase a 777 for 10k
I have a slew of trips that are international in the coming months that are United, let’s see. As you said their catering sucks, service is ok, network is incredible obviously.
Some flyers might find this a superficial reason to prefer one particular airline over another, and maybe this is just me, but... I find Delta's website to be much more user friendly than United's. It's attractive, easy to navigate, and the booking process is more transparent in the way it displays all the different classes and pricing options up front--including the price for Economy Comfort+ (extra legroom) seats, an important consideration for me when I fly transatlantic. Moreover, the Delta website allows you to view a seat map showing available seats, before you enter any personal info and payment details. I always want to see what seats I can choose, and what they cost, beforehand, even if I'm actually going to book through a credit card portal. United's website seems to lack these user-friendly features, and I find that off-putting right from the start.
Another factor: I prefer the 767 and A330 to the 777 (my least favorite widebody), due to the seat configuration. Yes, I know Delta is retiring their old 767s and will be replacing them with new A350s on transatlantic routes, but I'd much rather fly the A350 than the 777.
I will say that Delta's catering has deteriorated noticeably in the last few years, and cost-cutting is evident overall. The meals in economy are pitiful--but can United's be that much better? Let's face it--U.S. airlines will never match up to the likes of Emirates, Singapore, JAL, etc.
I last flew Delta in 2019. I flew domestic first class. It was not the greatest experience. The staff didn’t seem to care and the food was at the best disgusting. I have flown United first class ever since. Always a good experience.
Well at least United got rid of TED and Delta got rid of SONG
@@ronparrish6666 haha TRUE
Great content. Love it.
Just hit 1K with United. I did like Delta but the locations and price was not favorable. Personally, I don’t feel a huge difference in First/Business Class domestically.
Internationally, Delta 1 is smooth but I like United Polaris overall as American can just sit this comparison out.
Having flown both options; I still prefer Delta for a premium experience; I will use an example from my last United flight; I had to beg for a can of diet coke that Delta easily gives out in First Class. I was not asking for an alcoholic beverage but a diet coke and that felt like pulling teeth; meanwhile on Delta if I asked for a diet coke they just handed me a can without question. Even the flight attendants on United felt less attentive to the needs of the passenger in first class compared to Delta where they would continually ask if you needed a beverage if you were empty. Both experiences left me with a bit of a love hate between the two as while Delta is more expensive depending on the route the experience was more premium and you felt cared for while United was a bit cheaper but you also didn't get the personal attention you would expect; the food is another matter altogether as the food on Delta is just universally better and while United has some seatback entertainment its left to their newer fleet meanwhile Delta has been hard at work refreshing the older product.
Strange they wouldn’t give you the can. Im used to seeing United FAs constantly give passengers the whole can .
@@djtexas4993 yeah it was odd, flying from Phoenix to Newark which is well over 4 hours of flying and you don't get a whole can.... was sitting in last row on a 737 Max 8 in FC and the gentlemen next to me had to ask for a whole can twice. Mind you we had to stop the FA to ask for a drink; I've never had to do that on Delta which is why it felt odd.
@@ShadowFox_2090 in FC that’s wild, and should be mentioned on the survey . On all my United flights it’s never been like that.
It's United all the way for me !
I think Delta had mass exodus when they make changes with their loyalty program. I was one of the loyal customer and transitioned into United. Product is similar or better than Delta. United customer service and lounges still need to catch up.
Because food seems to be such an issue with traveling I would love to see the airline, no matter who you're doing business with and take their top tier premium customer for a tour of a catering kitchen in a major hub.For example, United at Newark, Delta in Atlanta, or American in Dallas. It is amazing once you go through and see what goes on in those catering kitchens on a daily basis 7 days a week 365 days a year that any food ever gets on an airplane. A tour itself would be overwhelming to say the least to see what goes on in the catering world.
You can find PLENTY of UA-cam videos of such tours
Personally I don’t. United has a culture problem and unfortunately due to its size that’s going to take generations to change. Regardless of Delta’s issues, their culture leaves the customer with a much more satisfied and positive experience. Despite its hard product and food Delta’s employees just care and leave you with a great experience. Every time I fly United not recently as JFK is my preferred airport I walk off saying that was a horrible flight as my last redeye on them with a lie flat seat had no pillows or blankets the crew could careless and upon arrival I discovered them in the bulkhead compartment. Guess they don’t do security checks either 🤷♂️ Great video Keep Climbing ✈️
As a certified United Airlines loyalist and a flight reviewer I gotta say that United has really done a great job in recovering from what they were known for 10 years ago. I think a big part of their success is they have been focusing on the customer service aspect, I have no doubts that they will surpass DL and become the biggest airline in the United States.
Thanks for weighing in - love your videos man! Tons of great first hand data points on both United and Delta, have you ever flown DL long haul?
@@flaps1019 Planning on it, however I am trying to keep my star alliance status so I need to fly United the most.
Not much of a difference between United, Delta and American. It depends on where you are flying to, direct flights, etc....
Exactly. Someone finally gets it. AA has the youngest fleet in the industry….
Seems that the one thing everyone can agree on is that American is not currently part of this conversation.
United is caught up/has already surpassed Delta in terms of their international and long haul products. Domestically, they are still catching up, mostly due to lack of available aircraft.
I flew with United and AA last year from GRU on business and the service was basically the same.
I still prefer Latam 🇧🇷
They just need better food and bigger lounges.
United and Delta are on the same level right now. One might be slightly ahead of the other in category A, but lag in category B. But my thing is this...why are flyers (myself included) actively looking for a better long haul flying experience on foreign flagged carriers? It's because of one word that did not appear in your video...and that word is hospitality. Foreign carriers absolutely destroy all American carriers in this department. If United wants Americans to quit flying on Singapore to Singapore, or Japan & ANA to Tokyo, then they have to invest in their flight attendants to train and enable them on how to present genuine, warm, welcoming hospitality and they have to WORK on the flight, not simply serve a poorly presented meal and then disappear. Until that day arrives, it's 100% irrelevant whether United, Delta or American is going to be the "flagship" because regardless of title, they're light years their foreign competitors.
9:17 all UA does is send 757’s to DUB, OPO, EDI, SNN, BRU, and ARN to name a few
I fly American Airlines there already good enough but I suggest to add inflight entertainment maybe meals on flights over 4-5 hours I hope they would add inflight entertainment 😃
To make $1,000,000.00 in aviation ya must start with $10,000,000.00
Don’t forget the airlines had to use their loyalty rewards programs as collateral for govt loans post virus.
Not their planes, gates or ground equipment…their aviation resources, but their loyalty rewards programs
Remember Kirby is a bean counter.
Great analysis with data to back up your message👍 Not the usual subjective BS.
I’ve never flown United cause I’m not interested in getting beat up if my flight gets oversold.
Well that's old, old news.
background music is wayyyy over the top
I disagree about the United cabin experience; it is far superior to that on Delta; I routinely fly both (and for the record, I'm Delta Medallion) and have had exceptional service when in First Class; case in point; on a flight when snacks came through I said I was really craving some beef jerky; the FA went back to coach and brought me a "food for purchase" box that was loaded with salami; later, after I had pre-ordered my meal I wanted to change it; no problem. Delta food is exceptional, I'll give you that; but the customer service aspect of United is far superior, and I mean FAR superior.
Just depends of a given flight crew. It's very variable on both.
If you only knew everything that goes on behind the scenes at UA...😢
Don't know what goes on behind the scenes, but as far as the passenger is concerned, United delivers a superior product. It's my number one airline and I'll always fly it over Delta any day.
The fact that United offers to charge you to hold a price if you're unsure of booking makes me not want to fly with them. And they're so stingy with their points and charging for watching their backseat TVs. United just sucks. Delta is just far better.
I don’t like expensive airlines
Try still delta new planes
Never had the opportunity to fly United as they are not an option however as a mostly aa flyer who had to take a delta flight recently it left me unimpressed. The customer service was so so the seat was the same as on American the only and I mean only advantage was just could text my wife and kids in the 2 short flights. That was nice. Aside from that the customer service ranked right next to my worst aa flight ever. Not bad by any means but I definitely felt no magic.
They must certainly are NOT stealing delta’s cheese because their catering is still a disaster 😜.
But yes I do agree they’ve really turned themselves around the last couple of years. I used to be loyal to American until they introduced oasis, so I became a free agent. Then once United announced their massive cabin refurbishment I became loyal to them. And im now on my third year as a 1K
Have you flown Delta recently? They're catering is horrid. I'll take United anyday. Not to mention United Polaris lounges are some of the best in the world. Delta doesn't even come close.
Hahahaha fair point - and appreciate you weighing in, have followed your channel for a while, keep up the great work!
No because there was a united plane literally lop sided on the end on the runway
I really don’t’t understand all the hype about Delta. I much prefer United.
WAKE UP DELTA
Its Delta for me 🔺
My condolences.
7:14 Delta literally has 2 Team USA planes 😂
EXCUSE ME MY HOMETOWN ALBUQUERQUE TO NEW ZEELAND BETTT
Are Delta Flight Attendants moving towards a Union???🤔🤔
Not really.
@@John-bi1lv hmmmm??? I have friends that work there that don’t seem to be happy with the current working conditions. Just curious??
Thank you for the response!!!
@@robertspink1972 You will hear that at any airline.
The slop they serve upfront is embarrassing. It’s a microwaved stouffers meal
That's why I don't fly Delta. United has superior catering.
I've been flying United and Delta consistantly over the last 2 years. I think currently Delta has the better flying experience. Delta aircraft are usually cleaner and more updated with better food. United is getting better, but their planes are always dirty and the food in my opion is inedible. all that being said I think that both are giving eachother a run for their money. American Airlines is still a trash airline and their customer serivce is a flaming dumpster fire.