Not impressed with United Airlines

Our flight home was uneventful, although I think United Airlines should be ashamed of the way they crowd passengers into seats with no elbow room and insufficient knee room. We could have upgraded ahead of time to slightly more knee room for $49 each but I didn't see a way to do it using frequent flier miles and we didn't want to spend any more money, having spent a lot on travel already.

There are small maintenance issues of the planes too. Getting good sound for the movie is a matter of luck - I gave up on the flight out and was only able to get sound on the way back by using a rubber band to hold the little plug in the armrest. I noticed a previous passenger had used masking tape but it was pretty much torn off. Worse, only one restroom in our cabin was functional so there was a really long line. The reading light for the person next to me was broken, as was one two rows ahead. I noticed that one because someone tried to force it to work and a part came flying off.

I noticed some housekeeping issues too, but it was the little mechanical failures that bother me. Cutting back on maintenance is not what you want in an airline.

Our previous trip was on Jet Blue and I must say it was roomier and well maintained, although the headphones were almost useless. I might fly Jet Blue again but I will think twice about taking UAL, even though I have used them for many years.

By the way, they don't provide free meals any more. I pack food anyway so it isn't a problem for me.