I recently switched my travel to United Airlines after some less than pleasant experiences with American Airlines in April which caused us to miss a family wedding. After a month and thirteen flights, I felt like I had a good sample to make a comparison between the two. I realize that this is incomplete because it does not factor in things such as extreme summer or winter weather since all of this travel was during a relatively tame spring month. Also both sets of data do not have any international flights since my job does not require this yet for me. So with those qualifications let’s jump into the details!
Most airlines have a thing called a status match challenge where you can take your current status to another airline as a trial and if you meet certain requirements you can be granted full status on that airline. For American, I am a Platinum member which corresponds to a Premier Gold on United and also Gold Medallion on Delta. I did quite a bit of research when choosing between United and Delta to do the status match. Based on my prior experience with United and my lack of experience with Delta I decided to go with United. I may opt to try Delta after July 1st since it is beneficial to start and complete the status challenge at that point.
There were a few categories that I wanted to touch upon that I consider to be important decision points in choosing an airline. Some of these categories are not exactly quantifiable and could be influenced by bias. However, I just wanted to cement some of my thoughts here to reflect upon in the future.
Boarding Process
The boarding process might not be as important to some people, but it does impact quite a few things in how enjoyable the flight ends up being. Both airlines have extensive preboarding groups, but United allows their top status, Premier 1K, to board during preboarding. American only allows their Concierge Key fliers to preboard and there are not set qualifications for that level.
American handles their first class boarding the best reserving it entirely to board in group 1. This ensures that the first class gets seated first and they can start with the preflight beverage service. With United, group 1 is all the remaining status flyers except the lowest level Premier Silver. This can end up being nearly half the plane depending on the route. American spreads out their status members from groups 2 through 4 to allow a more even distribution and making sure the higher status flyers can get access to the all important overhead space. With United you could be a higher status flyer but lose convenient overhead space unless you get lined up early.
Winner: American Airlines
One Time Performance
Outside of one IRROPs flight, only one other flight experienced any delay that resulting in a delay at landing on United. I know that one month of flying does not give a huge comparison sample, but my American flights are regularly delayed and have resulted in missed connections or changes to flights due to the fact that I would miss my connection. It is extremely rare for American to ever begin boarding when they are scheduled to which is extremely frustrating even if we do land on time. This is probably because American pads their flight times to compensate for being terrible at time management.
Winner: United Airlines
IRROPS
My first set of United flights got off to a rocky start because my connection was delayed and eventually cancelled due to airplane maintenance. I don’t fault United as much because it was a partner airline flying under United Express. I felt like United should have been more proactive about this one particular flight because by the time I arrived the plane was already five hours behind schedule and they should have rebooked me ahead of time. That said, they did the best to remedy the situation by not giving me any hassle with a free hotel stay and many meal vouchers. The staff was also very helpful getting us information as it became available to them.
American has had quite a bit more IRROPs during my time traveling with them and usually when things go bad it does not end well for that trip. I will give American credit for being quicker to rebook when things start falling apart but just due to the fact that IRROPs tend to happen more often with them I have to say United is the winner in my smaller sample of flying.
Winner: United Airlines
Upgrade Conversion
Of my thirteen flights, on United I was upgraded three times which is 23%. Two of those flights were greater than 500 miles. On American, my average is 33% of which only one was greater than 500 miles. American also requires 500 Mile Upgrades for each multiple of 500 miles if the flight is greater than 500 miles if you are Gold or Platinum. You are granted four additional 500 Mile Upgrades every time you earn 12,500 EQM (Elite Qualifying Miles). On both airlines when I have been added to the list to the longer flights I am usually near the middle of the pack with zero chance to get the upgrade. However, one time on American I was upgraded on an Airbus A330 which I was able to enjoy the lie down seat.
Winner: American Airlines
Companion Benefits
On both airlines, you can potentially have a companion upgraded to first class with you. With American you need to spend the 500 Mile Upgrades if granted the upgrade for your companion. There are some additional upgrades such as Main Cabin Extra (AA) and Economy Plus (UA) and Preferred seating for both. In the case of Main Cabin Extra you can bring 8 companions with you and Economy Plus you can only bring one with American Platinum and United Premier Gold. For both airlines you can have 8 companions in Preferred seating. Main Cabin Extra also allows for free drinks including beer and spirits. Most of my flights are solo, but when I do have companions it is good to have a higher limit to get them to better seating options.
Winner: American Airlines
Available Planes
This category was extremely difficult to choose the winner. American only barely edges out United because the interiors of the planes are better maintained on American than United. If I were just looking at types of planes it might fall to United because all of my 777 and 757 trips have been on United. However, the Embraer 175s are my favorite plane and make up much of my American travel. American also frequently has the Airbus A321 which is also one of my top choices.
Winner: American Airlines
Same Day Flight Change
United is the clear winner in this category as I have used this benefit many times with them and it is almost nonexistent on American. United will allow you to pick any flight as long as it has the same origin and destination. It can be completely different routing and times and there is no charge at this status level. For American you must use the same routing and it costs $75 to change unless you pick the standby option.
Winner: United Airlines
Hub Airports
It is difficult to give the airlines credit/fault for the airports they call hubs, but overall the United hub airports are much nicer than the American hubs. DFW is my favorite airport, but the United hubs at SFO, ORD, IAH, and even EWR outclass American just about any where else it operates its hubs.
Winner: United Airlines
Overall
Just based on this set of flights, I do not think that I can declare a winner just yet. I did appreciate the regular operations on the United flights, but their United Express partners were a bit inconsistent just on the plane appearance. I have a set of flights this upcoming week with American so we will see how that goes. I may need to try Delta in July before I can make a final determination.