Tuesday, December 2, 2025
We didn’t get to the hotel until after 2:00 AM. By the time I finished reworking our itinerary over the phone, it was after 3:30 AM. United rebooked us to Bangkok on ANA. We grabbed maybe two hours of sleep before dragging ourselves back to LAX.
And somewhere between security and boarding, I had a very simple thought:
Why do I keep booking United?
Loyalty. Status. Habit. Whatever you want to call it — it clearly isn’t based on the actual onboard experience or United’s Customer Service. As a Star Alliance Gold member, I am consistently treated better on other Star Alliance airlines than I am on United itself. I was having a hard time with how the crew acted when the pilot said that the flight was cancelled, the crew acted annoyed and made it clear, that the customer service agents would answer any questions that we had. The customer agents started yelling at us to line up according to our boarding group. They acted annoyed. That’s not how any customer should feel.
The difference hit immediately once we entered the Star Alliance lounge where the employees acted like they cared about their jobs. It aain hit when we boarded ANA. The flight attendants looked sharp. Professional. Friendly. Not tired. Not disengaged. Not like they were just trying to get through another shift. The menus — both Western and Japanese — were thoughtfully presented and genuinely appetizing. And when I ordered, I wasn’t asked for my “backup choice.”
That question on United drives me crazy. If I’m paying for a premium cabin ticket, why is “in case we run out” even part of the script? Premium shouldn’t feel conditional.
Service was calm, deliberate, and polished. No shouting across the aisle. No barking instructions over the carts. No visible chaos. It felt coordinated. It felt intentional. It felt like people took pride in what they were doing.
And it wasn’t just the flight.
The ANA lounges were everything Polaris wasn’t the day before — clean, well stocked, good food, actual attention to detail. Nothing flashy. Just well executed.
I slept most of the way to Bangkok. That alone tells you how comfortable and relaxed the experience was.
We landed with several hours before our Singapore flight. For a moment, we considered a capsule hotel just to reset, but availability was limited, so we found a quiet area and waited it out.
Then it was time for Singapore.
After stopping in the KrisFlyer lounge — again, well run and well maintained — we boarded. And once more, the contrast was impossible to ignore. The crew looked composed and put together. When they needed something, they passed notes discreetly rather than shouting across the cabin.
It made me wonder: does United seriously benchmark itself against airlines like ANA and Singapore Airlines? Or has the focus shifted entirely to operational metrics and cost containment?
Because from where I sit, the difference is huge.
By the time we finally landed in Singapore, exhaustion had set in. But stepping into the hotel room, taking a hot shower, and putting on fresh clothes felt like closing the chapter on a rough start.
The trip had officially begun.
Just not the way United intended.
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