Would like some input on American and United airlines

Flying sucks. Don’t spend more than you have to.

Ok thanks all. is there anything "different' about them? For instance southwest has the unassigned seats thing, spirit has the "chrage you for every single add on you chose" thing...is there anything about united or american that's out of the ordinary that a first timer would want to know in advance?

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Book whichever is the cheapest. Easiest way to tell if you are a boomer is if you have the mentality of "I will never fly United."

Every company has bad apples, bad experiences, etc. I have had great experiences with Spirit and horrible experiences with American. It just depends on each situation.

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I'm 36 years old.

I will never fly United anymore.

I went back and looked at my flight history since COVID for another post on this board.

Since 2020:

United

8 out of 15 flights delayed
2 out of 15 flights completely cancelled
Total 10/15 flights (67%) flights either delayed or cancelled

Reasons: Weather (3/10), Plane broken (2/10), Improper crew scheduling (5/10).

Delta

1 out of 26 flights delayed

Reasons: Weather (1/1)

But sure - call me a boomer. OP, flying both United and American has a high likelihood of being a shite show. Just prepare to be disappointed.

What are your needs?
Where exactly are you flying to and from?
What time of year?
What is the nearest airport to you?

I recently switched from being a Southwest fan boy to flying whoever is cheapest. Spirit and AA helped me out recently. I only flew with a backpack on Spirit and a backpack w/ carry on for AA. Both out of different airports. AA for BTR to PHX (Phoenix, AZ) because it was cheaper to fly out of BTR, less travel time, and better time options than MSY (I live in EBR). Normally that's not the case, but the flight happened to be cheaper out of BTR and marginally less travel time both in the air and driving if I had to go to MSY.

Some areas fly better than others specific to the airline. Dallas/Love Field has a big SWA hub. Delta flies to Atlanta and DC out of BTR often.

Everyone will charge for bags unless you have their credit card. Spirit charges for anything not a personal item (bigger than a backpack). You pay to pick your seats on most airlines. There are benefits to that if that's something you value. I don't care where I sit. Get me in and out of the plane safely is all I need. First class is dumb. Paying several hundred dollars extra for a bigger seat is very dumb to me. Economy seating isn't very comfortable but you're usually not flying very long on most flights. I know some people that refuse to sit anyone but first class. It's a major preference of theirs.

Ultimately, price dictates 99% of people's travel plans, along with logistically figuring out where to fly out of to reach their destination. I save 2 hours round trip of driving if I fly out of BTR but my options are super limited as to where I fly and it's almost never a one way flight. My preference is being on one plane and being done quickly. Layovers have a chance to have a delay because of any issue that comes with operating a plan.

Do you collect miles? Use a airline credit card? Status? I live in Houston so flew continental/united. Was able to get million mile status. Collected almost 2 million miles. You just have to make the system work for you. If you seldom fly, then go with the cheapest. I am retired now and don't fly much but when job took me everywhere, united treated me well. Lots of free upgrades.

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I would add that direct flights are better than connections

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I figured that went without saying

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and airlines with several flights to your destination/hub are better than airlines with few.

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Now that I'll absolutely agree with. Flying through airports/airlines with only a couple of runs of your route per day is just asking for trouble if a delay hits.

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I pretty much exclusively fly American. Mostly because of my travel rewards card through them but also I've had very little issues flying with American versus others. Other than a few delays here and there I've always gotten to my destination with my bags.

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What are your needs?
Where exactly are you flying to and from?
What time of year?
What is the nearest airport to you?

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I average 2-3 roundtrips a month and have flown 5 major US airlines so far this year out of MSY. For me direct flights over everything else, then time of flight (arrival/departure), and last cost of ticket/airline are about the same level importance. Have had decent (gold) status with both Delta and United in the past, and currently A+ preferred with SW, but will lose that in 2 months.

Overall, I've had good and bad with all airlines. These days the only way I would stick to a single airline is if the closest airport was a major hub for 1 airline, or the closest airport is a small airport with only a few directs, so I have to connect thru a major hub. Which would suck.