United airlines

[kingslug]

All i can say is..if you can avoid this clusterfuck of an airline..do so.
Besides their planes falling apart...
They appear to be unable to transport people on ones thst do work.
40 in our group...ALL had a nightmare getting out of Aspen.
Bumped
Bumped off the plane trying to board.
Sent to other airports...you find a ride.
Luggage sent by fedex...
Flights cancelled..wait..not canceled..yup..canceled..or not.
They should just shut down until thry figure out how to run an airline..
Tix are too expensive for this bs.

 

[RH29]

Southwest is the way to go when skiing. Two free bags and (despite a couple major meltdowns the last few years) very reliable and organized.

SWISS was a nice experience as well, minus the agent at Newark trying to convince me that I had to pay extra for skis that are very clearly included as per their policy.

 

[Zand]

Both times I've been to Jackson I got stuck flying United because JetBlue doesn't go there. Didn't really have any issues logistically but holy shit are their seats awful and cramped. Most uncomfortable flights I've ever taken. They make Frontier and Spirit feel like I'm sitting on my couch.

 

[abc]

Probably nothing to do with the airline.

I had the exact experience flying out of Aspen, also in the middle of a storm. Bumped, not bumped, get on the plane. Nope, plane not taking off. Get off and get in line to rebooked. Yeah, the next flight is 2 days later. No lodging at any price because of X game is in town? Well, not our problem. Yeah, you can get yourself to Denver and hop on a connecting plane…

5 strangers got into a rented SUV, drove to Denver in the storm. The guy from California didn’t know how to drive on snow, I had to take over. But it’s a long drive. I couldn’t handle it after 2 hours driving in a blizzard. Had to hand over to him again (the rest are all from the non-snow region). Got to Denver at 11pm (our flight from Aspen was 11am). Slept under the chair (chairs had arm rest, can‘t lay flat on it) till the next morning‘s 6am flight.

It was American (Or Delta, I forgot).

But it all ended well enough. We all got home by the end of the next day. Even got a refund of the segment of Aspen->Denver we didn’t use. Paid for the rental SUV and some.

Aspen is a hellish airport to fly in and out of.

 

[kingslug]

Thankfully if i go back..ill be driving.

 

[jaytrem]

I still remember being shocked when they kept the United name when they merged with Continental. They've had a horrible reputation for ever. Continental was pretty good in my book. Definitely went down hill after the merger.

On an Alaska Air plane right now. I've had pretty good luck with them. Just gotta hope the doors stay on.

 

[BenedictGomez]

They make Frontier and Spirit feel like I'm sitting on my couch.

That is....... definitely not the case. All the majors score much higher than both of those cheapy airlines on comfort, on-time, customer service, yada, yada, yada. United is actually one of the higher ranked domestic carriers.

Frontier is literally the lowest rated airline in America (I will never fly them, dont care how much cheaper it is) and scored the worst comfort rating, and Spirit is the second worst rated. These budget airlines generally have the worst comfort because they have to pack people in with extra seats at the expense of any legroom, that's a "cost" for having the cheapest fares. I recently had to fly Spirit last minute for a funeral in January and the lack of legroom was like nothing I've experienced before. I had to turn slightly sideways because my knees hit the seatback in front of me. And it's not like I'm 6'5" either, I'm a hair under 6'0".

The likely culprit here for his experience was not with United per se, but simply flying into/out of a very tiny airport like ASE. If your plane has issues? You're screwed. But that's the same with any airline in any microscopic airport anywhere.

Frontier is the worst US airline in 2023, and Spirit isn't far behind, according to recent study — see the list of the top 10 airlines

One passenger who flew Frontier in July said it was a "horrible experience" and that the "seats are uncomfortable".

www.businessinsider.com

 

[Tonyr]

Thankfully if i go back..ill be driving.

We go out to that area a decent amount and I've never flown into the Aspen airport as it is so hit and miss. Flights get diverted to Grand Junction all of the time, it really is a coin flip getting in or out of that airport especially in the winter.

The Aspen airport hasn't had any updates since the 50s or 60s and the town for whatever ever reason is fighting making the landing strip wider and longer so this experience isn't going to get better anytime soon.

In any event, the majority of the time we've been out there we've flown into Denver, stayed overnight, then drove to Aspen the next morning. With no traffic it's around 3.5 hours from Denver and the drive is beautiful. The other way to get there is by flying into Eagle Vail, the drive to Aspen Snowmass is an hour and a half and that airport is much more reliable. Although we've had some problems there too but your percentages of getting in and out of Vail is substantially higher than Aspen's airport experience.

 

[Zermatt]

You could fill in any airline and make these complaints work at any given time. Toss in remote, mountain airfields with high cancellation rates and that's what you get.

Southwest? Give me a break, the entire airline melted down for a week in 2022 at the busiest time of year. On a good day they operate a flight schedule that guarantee all but the first flight of the day will be delayed.

 

[KustyTheKlown]

agree that it is silly complaining about the logistics of flying out of a tiny airport in a tiny canyon at 8000 feet in the midst of a 4 foot storm cycle.

either pay for the luxury of flying into aspen and accept the totally reasonable risks that come with it, or drive to denver and rent a car like the poors.

 

[jimk]

Thankfully if i go back..ill be driving.

Flew to the Caribbean in Dec 2022, but otherwise most of my travel is by car the last five years. The slog west in Jan can be intense winter driving, but the drive east in May/June can be really fun while exploring many National Parks and other points of interest. Don't miss air travel, but I get it. You do what you have to do to enjoy our great sport.

 

[crystalmountainskier]

Aspen is the problem. The runway is too close to mountains so all flights divert or cancel in any sort of weather. The runway is also too small and can only accommodate one aircraft type. In fact every flight into and out of Aspen is operated by the same carrier - SkyWest. They are the only ones certified to fly there no matter what the plane says on the side.

 

[kingslug]

agree that it is silly complaining about the logistics of flying out of a tiny airport in a tiny canyon at 8000 feet in the midst of a 4 foot storm cycle.

either pay for the luxury of flying into aspen and accept the totally reasonable risks that come with it, or drive to denver and rent a car like the poors.

Its the way they handle it..i knew it was risky..but even getting here was a shit show
1 flight attendant didnt show up..150 people had to totaly reroute all over the place...
Baggage all over the place..
I wouldnt have minded driving from denver.

 

[MidnightJester]

Its the way they handle it..i knew it was risky..but even getting here was a shit show
1 flight attendant didnt show up..150 people had to totaly reroute all over the place...
Baggage all over the place..
I wouldnt have minded driving from denver.

Were any of the Airport craziness out of your own pocket Money wise??
Did they find the other flights at airports for you?
What was the cost of your original flight? Any bump checks to the people on the flight?

 

[kingslug]

No idea yet
2 extra days at hotel so far
Im ok with it so far..
A lot of people wondering where their skis are..fed ex has them ..no emails about location
Some are very concerned

 

[Edd]

This is good info, because I’ve pondered flying in before. Never considered the risks of that specific airport. Glad I went in 2014 when it was “cheap” . Assuming I’m not priced out permanently, I’ll drive again from Denver someday.

 

[KustyTheKlown]

This is good info, because I’ve pondered flying in before. Never considered the risks of that specific airport. Glad I went in 2014 when it was “cheap” . Assuming I’m not priced out permanently, I’ll drive again from Denver someday.

if you dont mind driving, i stayed in a perfectly adequate studio apt airbnb in carbondale for like $1000 or so for 6 nights. 40 min easy drive to snowmass

there also seem to be a few hotels in basalt that are not crazy

 

[machski]

Probably nothing to do with the airline.

I had the exact experience flying out of Aspen, also in the middle of a storm. Bumped, not bumped, get on the plane. Nope, plane not taking off. Get off and get in line to rebooked. Yeah, the next flight is 2 days later. No lodging at any price because of X game is in town? Well, not our problem. Yeah, you can get yourself to Denver and hop on a connecting plane…

5 strangers got into a rented SUV, drove to Denver in the storm. The guy from California didn’t know how to drive on snow, I had to take over. But it’s a long drive. I couldn’t handle it after 2 hours driving in a blizzard. Had to hand over to him again (the rest are all from the non-snow region). Got to Denver at 11pm (our flight from Aspen was 11am). Slept under the chair (chairs had arm rest, can‘t lay flat on it) till the next morning‘s 6am flight.

It was American (Or Delta, I forgot).

But it all ended well enough. We all got home by the end of the next day. Even got a refund of the segment of Aspen->Denver we didn’t use. Paid for the rental SUV and some.

Aspen is a hellish airport to fly in and out of.

^^^^^THIS^^^^^^
Aspen is a one way in, opposite way out airport for all Jet aircraft, That means we have to land to the South and takeoff to the North, no exceptions. As such, mosts can only do both with a 10 knot or less tailwind and tailwinds are very often a factor to one or the other at ASE. Not to mention the approach requirements to be able to land there. The airlines that operate there (BTW, they are all regional partners of the mainline brands, none are the actual mainlines) have special approaches they use and have special wind allowance procedures to try and maintain schedule and safety with the oft tailwind scenarios. Not to mention the pilot crews are pretty much dedicated for month long bids to flying into and out of ASE to maintain proficiency. But some of that allowance means heavy weight penalties for takeoffs or landings and thus bumping passengers. Flying into and out of Aspen on the lowest priced tickets is still quite expensive, but if you buy those, you are the first to be bumped off in these scenarios. If you insist on flying into ASE, I would highly recommend you buy the highest tiered ticket (IE priciest) for your cabin class you can or just don't fly in there. Use EGE or just suck it up and drive from DEN.

 

[abc]

I’m done flying into and out of small mountain airports. Of the few times I flew into smaller airports, only the flight into Jackson went smoothly on both legs.

Apart from the chaos of trying to get out of Aspen, I also had a flight cancelled on our entire group when we went to Telluride (Montrose airport). We were scheduled to be there for a week. When the flight got cancelled, the rescheduled flight was 2 days later!!!

As we were in a group booking, no refund expected for the missing 2 days of lift ticket or lodging. So effectively, we pay for 7 days and got 5 days.

So, some in the group got busy and started to blast everyone with alternatives. Turned out, another airline had plenty of seats available to a nearby airport. So a quick decision by consensus was for to rebook as many as possible to that flight. I didn’t make the cut. But fortunately, I had a lot of FF mile on that airline so I (and a couple others in the group) book ourselves a seat using my FF and join the rest of the gang on the bus ride to Telluride. My roommate miss the cut also. But she was too late to book herself a seat using FF (I offered, but she didn’t respond so it was taken up by another in the group), ended up paying double to get a seat.

I now only fly to major airports and rent a car. It almost came up less expensive anyway. (Ok, I’m usually flying out of NYC. So direct flights to major airport tend to be relatively cheap and with lots of flight times to choose from. I can understand if you’re flying out of Hartford or Burlington, the advantage of flying into major airport is less clear).

 

[crystalmountainskier]

I’m done flying into and out of small mountain airports. Of the few times I flew into smaller airports, only the flight into Jackson went smoothly on both legs.

Lumping them all together is foolish. JAC, EGE, HDN, MTJ, GUC don’t have this problem. SUN does.