Complaint Letter to United Airlines

I've been contemplating writing a letter to United Airlines for a long time and today I finally did it. Below is the text. In the spirit of fairness, I will update with any response United may have.

Dear United Airlines,

I recieved an e-mail from you on February 20th. This e-mail did not say that my Premier Membership was expiring and that I was getting demoted to General Membership (even though that was exactly what was happening). No, the closest indication I had to my fate was in the subject line which read: Regain elite status in just 90 days. The e-mail went on to outline how great it is to have elite status and upon further investigation into my account I found that indeed I am now a General Member. This left me wondering What did I do to lose elite status?

If I didn't fly enough miles with your airline in the last year, it is because I have come to dislike your airline very much in the past year. I would like to take this time to recap all the ways United Airlines let me down and how it soured our relationship. If, after you hear my story, you still wish to keep me a General Member I will accept your decision, but every decision has its consequences, United, which you will find out about shortly.

My problems started early last year. I booked tickets from Singapore to Chicago and back again with my frequent flyer miles (evidently round trip tickets are the only kind you can purchase using miles). My fiance booked similar tickets a few days later, and we called up United Airlines in Singapore to attempt to get the two tickets on the same flights. After weeks of calling everyday and talking to numerous people (many who said it was impossible), we finally sorted it out even though it cost quite a bit of money.

On our way to Chicago, our itinerary had us stopping through the Tokyo Narita airport. We made sure every step of the way to clarify to United that we required Muslim meals. It was even printed on our tickets! However, on our first leg of the journey only one Muslim meal came, the other was the standard fare. Then our connecting flight in Tokyo had to have a generator replaced. United put us up in a hotel room overnight and gave us flight vouchers (which we thought was a nice gesture - mine was $150 because I was Premier at the time and my fiance's was $100 because she has General membership), but these vouchers were only good for travel within the United States! For us, this rendered them completely useless.

Circumstances demanded that we stay in Chicago for approximately six months. We left to go back to Singapore (we actually were going to Malaysia both times, but United doesn't serve Malaysia so we had to take a bus across the border) in November. Prior to this the customer service woman for United assured me we were sitting in Economy Plus (because of my Premier status my fiance was upgraded with me). However, as soon as we boarded we found we were not on Economy Plus, but Coach (every flight before this had been Economy Plus). I alerted the flight attendant, who talked to some people, but then informed me that I had to get off the flight (like an idiot) and go back to the gate agent to get it changed. The gate agent reluctantly changed the tickets but made it clear that she "Shouldn't be doing this".

On a recent Thai Airways flight from Kuala Lumpur to London, I had trouble getting credit for my miles (which is not entirely United's fault, it is also Thai Airways fault), and had to contact Mileage Plus Customer Service repeatedly just to learn why my flight didn't qualify. I am still waiting to hear the final word on this issue. I was told on January 28th that I will be notified within 60 days - which should be the end of this month. Now I understand that my Premier status is getting taken away, and I'm left wondering, how much I am supposed to take?

Over the last year I have had the good fortune of flying many different carriers. I have flown some of the best flights and some of the worst. In terms of my quality of service and overall satisfaction United falls almost at the bottom of the heap. Only budget and small airlines (like LAN) were worse. To United's credit, on one flight I did have the best flight attendant I have ever known, but I'm sure he'll be leaving you soon to find a more reputable airline. I just don't feel like I've been treated well. Gaining Premier membership was the last time I remember being happy with United Airlines. I think that is pretty sad.

It is important to alert you that I have been a United Mileage Plus Visa card holder for the past two and a half years. In that time I have never made a late payment, and never given any indication of being anything but a model of financial responsibility. For further proof you need look no further than my credit score, which at the time of this writing stands at 775. I actually took the liberty of reduceding my credit limit because I was worried about someone stealing my card and making a $20,000 transaction! In the past year, on this credit card (which gives 1 mile per dollar spent as I understand it), I spent a total of $1x,xxx. Whatever trouble this economy is in right now, it should be noted that I did my part last year to prevent it.

I don't make threats, because I think they serve no purpose at all. However, from a practical standpoint, I don't see any value in flying United Airlines if I do not have Premier membership. I also see no value in having a United Mileage Plus Visa card. I hope we can resolve this matter and continue our relationship, because as sour as it has become as of late I have always had hope that United could be the best airline in the world. I still think it could be. I would be more willing to share my wealth of knowledge with you on how to please airline customers, if you will only let me know how.

Sincerely,

Kyle