American,United or Delta?

[Kiwi cop]

It seems that the Kiwi covid border closures are now officially over.

Three American airlines have announced they are about to, or recently already have, recommenced flights between the USA and New Zealand.

American Airlines will be adding Auckland to LA flights to their Auckland-Dallas service from December, for the southern summer period.

United currently operates Auckland to San Francisco, but will be adding Auckland to LA and Christchurch to San Fransisco (the only South Island direct flight to the US), also from December.

Delta, which has never flown to Kiwiland before, will also operate Auckland to LA but from October.

Now I have to admit, neither Karen or I want to visit San Fransisco, and we are not particularly fussed about LA, except as an arrival/departure point at the start/end of a road trip.

We have been to Dallas, and while we would like to spend more time based in Fort Worth it will probably be as part of an LA to Savannah and then on to Nashville trip in late 2025, which is where the Auckland to LA flights are of interest.

United currently co-share flights with Air New Zealand (their Auckland - Houston flights are on an Air New Zealand 787 Dreamliner) and we will be booking with them for the Houston-Nashville flight on next years visit. Their fares are slightly less than Air New Zealand (even on the same flight/aircraft) so may be of interest when we come to book 2025's return visit.

But what we would like to know is: are any of these airlines providing a better service than the others, or do any of them have an especially negative reputation?

Or are we better off sticking to Air New Zelaand?

 

[Faulkner]

Is there not a boat option? Flying commercial these days is nothing short of horrible.

 

[demkofour]

Flew United recently from Key West to Dulles and then LaGuardia. We left Key West LATE, missed our connector at Dulles (but they graciously booked us a flight for two days later). They wouldn't remove our checked bags (but graciously made arrangements to get them to LaGuardia the next morning even though we weren't getting there)
After renting a car at Dulles and driving home to Long Island we had to drive to LaGuardia twice to finally retrieve our bags which were never loaded on the plane as promised.
BUT, with all of this aggravation, United still had our money. Talk about terrible customer service!

 

[jeffrefrig]

I fly Chevrolet. If it can't get me there, I don't go.
Good luck on your vacation and have a good time.

 

[johngalt]

The only airline I've flown recently is Delta. Probably no better or worse than any other major airline. They all seem to be in collusion to get as close to the line of unacceptable service as possible.

Flight delays are more a function of the departure and destination cities than the airline (except for southworst).

When I lived in Cincinnati and flew to Milwaukee, the puddle jumper was never late. Same for flying out of Minneapolis. My flight delay rate through Chicago is 100%.

 

[rkittine]

Since I am a retired pilot from one of these airlines mentioned I am biased, but being truthful I tend to prefer Non-US airlines over our home grown ones.

 

[Onomea]

We prefer Delta to UA, in terms of service, but have not flown American in probably 20 years. My experience is US airlines tend to have pretty shoddy service. My guess is you're better off sticking with Air New Zealand.

 

[6518John]

. . . But what we would like to know is: are any of these airlines providing a better service than the others, or do any of them have an especially negative reputation?

This is akin to asking, "are any of the deck chairs on the Titanic better than the others?"

 

[wood714]

If I was making a trip from New Zealand to the US, this would be the way I'd want to travel.

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtlF-6TnMuo[/ame]

 

[MDF4]

A different perspective;


Interphone:


Captain, guy in gold 3 says it's too cold...
Put a blanket on him
Captain, guy in Gold 3 says it's too hot...
Take the blanket off

Captain...guy in Gold 3 wants to know if we'll be on time...
We're ahead of schedule
CAPTAIN...guy in Gold 3 says it's too bumpy...!
We're waiting for altitude clearance...
CAPTAIN...oh never mind!!


Think I'm kidding...try riding on left sometime

 

[Farmer17]

We've been taking a lot of vacations the last few years on all the US airlines you mentioned and can't think of one that's better or worse than the others. They all have problems you just have to hope for the best. I just got back from Grand Cayman yesterday on American Airlines and things went pretty well but they now charge if you want to sit together which of course, most people would want and that cost an extra $135. Checked bags cost an extra $60 round trip per bag. I use to travel so much I could sleep like a log in an airplane seat but these seats were so cramped and uncomfortable I didn't sleep at all and I was dead tired getting home at 2am.

 

[THE PILGRIM]

Show me the money!
I would book the best fare.

 

[Dave_n]

Air NZ preferable to any US airline. From a number of years flying to both Aussie land or Kiwi land. Dave_n

 

[CH4]

Delta
American


United

Although Philippine Airlines is almost always late, I prefer most Asian carriers. Working in Asia, that's what I fly most of the time and happy about it.

 

[Hairtrigger]

I am a Delta traveler, knocking on my 2nd million miles
A couple times a year I am forced to use American so I do not lose my miles
I really dislike AA

 

[pawncop]

Mrs. Pawncop and I recently traveled to Hawaii via America Airlines. We flew economy, direct from DFW to Honolulu and returned with another direct flight. Both flights left on time, were fairly smooth, arrived on time without any issues. For a seven hour flight I did think the food was awful and attendant attention was nonexistent. But as far as getting from point A to point B in timely and safe fashion it met the criteria.

As an aside, we had a wonderful time on Oahu.

 

[Alk8944]

Is there not a boat option? Flying commercial these days is nothing short of horrible.

According to information on the Internet the time from New Zealand to the West Coast is 26 to 76 days by ship. Would you really consider this as an option to even a lousy trip by airline?

 

[Squarebutt]

All else being equal, the 787 Dreamliner would be my choice for such a long ride.

 

[coltle6920]

Maybe the OP should be asking which airline has the most unruly passengers. Hardly a day goes by without something making the news.

 

[16thVACav]

I am a Delta traveler, knocking on my 2nd million miles
A couple times a year I am forced to use American so I do not lose my miles
I really dislike AA

You don't have to fly on AA to retain your miles. You can buy something from one of 1200 companies that participate in the AAdvantage program and your mileage is good for another 18 months. I usually buy a Christmas present for my wife from Sur La Table each year and my mileage is preserved. See American Airlines AAdvantage eShopping: Shop Online & Earn Miles for details.