This is a little more geared toward frequent travellers. It details my experience with United, which was overall positive.
Trip report ORD-MXP.
I check in early at ORD on 4/25 and found myself to be #10 on the waitlist for biz IAD-MXP. Lady looked at the list and said I was the 2nd 1P on the list (I bought the ticket 4/24). But she also said 23 had not yet checked in for the flight and it was only 1100. Biz class on the 777 to IAD was nice. Seat 14A and a clear view. Upon arrival at IAD I proceeded to the gate and asked the agent about my position on the waitlist. She said I was #5 and turned to answer a question of a coworker. I peeked over the screen and everyone ahead of me was 1k. She turned around, smiled, and issued me a boarding pass. 9D (my favorite Biz seat on the 777...almost guaranteed to the #1 or #2 off the plane!) Flight takes off about on time.
This was my first international trip. Int’l biz was quite posh. The service was INCREDIBLY attentive. But I always try to zero in on the FA who are working my side of the plane and be extra special friendly to them. It paid off. Only down side of IAD-MXP was the couple with a toddler in row 8. Do any airlines have policies about infants/toddlers in international business flights? The turd was fairly well-behaved and between the ear plugs and noise-cancelling headset I could only hear him when he was screaming bloody murder anyway. The meal was quite good. Wines could have been better. They gave us the tubes for dinner. It reminded me of PremEx’s comment of their purpose being to put them in your nose, page the FA and say you’re ready for another highball! At least there was cheesecake for dessert! Slammed two sleeping pills with a shot of cognac and I was out for 3.5 hours. Woke up for breakfast.
Arrived at MXP about 30 minutes late (which I understand is good performance for MXP at 0745) and got to walk down right in front of the engine. Stopped for a brief kodak moment. I’d never stood next to a 777 so it made up for the bus ride. Passport control was a breeze. No questions at customs. Met up with the rest of the group, who were coming in from DTW and JFK. They were two hours late. So not knowing that I could have went to the SAS lounge in the other terminal I instead trade currency and talk to some other Americanos in the terminal vestibule.
Now the fun begins. We spent the week in S. Pelligrino. After the business was said and done we spent Saturday in Milano, stayed at the hotel Michelangelo (for a half-off $128 per night!) in hopes of taking the bus to MXP on 4/30. Played tourist seeing what would be the typical sites. Sunday morning. Gorged myself on fresh fruit at the breakfast buffet and we found out the bus was full. And the next one. So we took a cab. Cabbie barely understood the word ‘Malpensa.’ We had a map and pointed it out and we were on our way. One of my party says ‘this isn’t the way to the airport.’ We stop in a neighborhood, the driver says ‘un momemto’ and takes off running. At this point we thought we were dead as in ‘ok he’s going to go inside get his buddies and loot us.’ He came back about 5 minutes later (left the meter running). Of course he was French, so this was a step away from the hospitality we’d received from the Italians. We eventually made it to the airport. They took off on NW at 10 which left me waiting until 12:15p for my flight.
I checked in and received seat 13H. So off to the SAS lounge. First time in an international lounge. Made the RCC in the US look like garbage. Maybe even like Rockford. The place was just about empty. Met a few other Americanos who were on my flight. Boarded the flight. 13H is broken. Pretty sad for a UA flagship aircraft. The seat would go from upright to ~full recline in 5 minutes if sitting with your back against it. Thankfully Biz was about 80% full and I got another seat. The service on the way back made me dream about the great service I received on the way out. FA were mostly UA battleaxes who did their basic job and not much else. I ordered the stuffed chicken. THE CHICKEN WAS RAW (quite RED on the inside). The FA said ‘Well these things happen from time to time.’ The desserts were pathetic. Apple pie or cheese plate. Well it only cost me 10K miles so I can’t complain too much. I just slammed wine and cognac and fell into dreamland for a couple hours. The philly steak snack was incredible. More than made up for the lunch that UA tried to kill me with!!! In essence the return leg in International Business was more like domestic business class.
So, on the ground at IAD. Clearing customs was a breeze. 15 minutes after landing (like all of you had told me previously, thanks) I’m asking an RCC about my upgrade IAD-ORD. She says I’m #1 on the waitlist. So I take a break for a Becks dark and some cheese and crackers, call the folks, etc. I walk over to the gate 5 minutes to boarding and the lady says she could have a boarding pass for me in about 10 minutes. I have a bunch of fragiles in my bags and cannot afford to have them checked (I think the wine would stain things a bit). So I board the 763 and goto 16G. First time on an international 767 from UA. So I get on and notify the purser of my waitlist status and the status of not being able to afford to check my bags in the event of full overhead bins. He is accomodating. Well it’s 10 minutes to takeoff and here come the standbys/waitlists. I start getting frustrated and begin to think that I’m going to deal with 16G for a couple hours. I step into the bathroom. And exit to find an FA standing by my seat calling my name and I get moved up to biz in the last row of the center section. Snacktime. More RAW CHICKEN from United. I swear they want to kill me. So I just figure it’s better than what coach gets (nothing) and eat the bread and fruit and slam some more wine. I feel quite good by the time we land at ORD (5 minutes early) and this enables me to get to the bus station just in time to catch the bus back home.
So this is probably long-winded but my first international trip. Many had asked about the service to MXP and about Milano itself. If you’re into architecture and art, you could knock yourself out for a week in Milan. The inn at which we stayed in S. Pelligrino had a wine cellar that was built before John Smith and co. landed in Jamestown.
As far at the overall UA experience I was thankful to get the upgrades but would have been disappointed if I had paid for Business class for the service received. Otherwise it’s 777 for the round trip so at least you get a big stable plane with inseat video. Raw food, crummy desserts and inattentive service on the return gets a ‘D’. The exact opposite on the trip to MXP gets an ‘A’. In light of my overall bias for UAL I’ll give their performance for the trip a ‘B’. This is because I’m on a striving bonus and received triple miles on all paid segments before 5/1! So the miles from the trip more than covers the upgrade miles. Can’t beat that!