Favorite Airline in United States?

[Arizona Iced Tea]

There are many airlines that fly in the USA. Which one do you prefer the most for domestic flights?
I think United is my choice, mostly because I used to fly a lot with them when I was a kid, so it's a familiarity thing.

[Dr. Arch]

Jet Blue, most comfort and best amenities for your buck.

[Senator Sirius]

United/American/Delta are all the same, nothing special, but not terrible. Lately I've mostly flown American because their prices from Charlotte are usually the best, but there isn't really much of a quality difference as far as I'm concerned. My best flight experience was on American because that was the one time I've flown first class, but for economy I guess edge to Delta? Spirit obviously sucks, and I can't really comment for the other 4 as Southwest is the only one that flies from the Greenville area, and all they offer are flights to Atlanta which are pointless compared to Delta.

[OBD]

Only been on Alaskan, so I'm going to pick that.

Pretty good food and nice connections from my location. Only problem is the lack of seatback screens, and when some PDX derp somehow overfueled a plane and got a flight delayed by 2 hours -_-

[Dr. MB]

Southwest cause you can pick your seats

[Santander]

Anywhere consequential I've ever been in my life, United has taken me there. (perhaps also BA to a much lesser extent) My first solo flight was on United, my first business class flight was on United, my flrst international first class flight was on United. At some point, a company stops being a company and becomes part of your own personal identity. They have more loyal flyers than any other airline in the world, the most flatbed seats in the US, they were the first to introduce flat beds in regular domestic service, and they fly to more international destinations than any other carrier in the US.  The spend requirement for 1K will go up again to $18k a year + 54 flights, but I'll stick around til I hit 4 million miles.

[Donerail]

Southwest is the only airline that serves the airport I fly through.

[Mr. Smith]

Southwest.

Alaska and JetBlue are nice enough, but also very useless if you aren't on or going to one of the coasts [luckily that I am for the holidays]...and I'm still bitter that Virgin America was eaten up.

American and Delta are terrible quality, but American has the better hubs [I particularly like Charlotte], while Delta has the better seats. Still too pricey though.

United breaks guitars, steals luggage for two months, and does the same things American/Delta do.

Kinda leaves Southwest by default, which not only allows free bags and seat choices, but also flies from small airports. No more O'Hare or DFW or SFO...it's all Love, Midway, and OAK! Also the snacks.

[RINO Tom]

United

[Starry Eyed Jagaloon]

1. United
2. Delta
3. American
4. Alaska
5. JetBlue
6. Hawaiian
<big gap>
7. Southwest
<bigger gap>
8. Spirit

[Illiniwek]

JetBlue really isn’t a regular option out of Chicago, so I’ve never been.

I would be a Southwest guy, but I have never found their flights to be cheaper than the Big 3. On the contrary, Southwest is usually the more expensive option when I’m traveling domestically. So I haven’t been on it in years.

United is my go to by default since it gives me the best options flying out of Chicago, especially internationally. It has its issues, but it usually good to me.

[Migrant Crime]

United is cheap.  The cute young flight attendants will give you free booze if you flirt with them.  What else is there?

[HillGoose]

JetBlue slaps.

[Former President tack50]

I have never flown to the United States or in an American airline, let alone domestically. For Spain and Europe:

Norwegian Air is probably one of the best airlines. Low prices and you get free wifi! Browsing Atlas in the sky is priceless.

Binter Canarias is also a really good airline. Any airline that gives food (any food!) in economy is always a big plus for me. Especially considering most of their flights are less than 1 hour long lol. Binter is quite expensive though.

As for worst airline, Air Europa is probably the worst. Nothing good about them that stands out and they are actually more expensive than other options like Vueling or Iberia. Ryanair is the worst in terms of quality but you know what you are getting and it is dirt cheap. Meanwhile for Air Europa you pay a ton for pretty much nothing in return.

If including international flights, Aegean Airlines is probably my favourite airline. Only flew them once, but it was a great experience. As I said, free food is always a plus, and this time it is "proper" food! (Binter usually only gives a small snack, even in their long flights to Portugal or mainland Spain). Plus it was actually relatively cheap, definitely much cheaper than the alternative of Vueling, and not much more expensive than Ryanair.

[BoJack Horseman]

Southwest with Delta as a close #2. The Spirit model of making you pay for every little thing and the “basic economy” crap that all the major carriers are implementing should be banned. I flew AirTran growing up but they were absorbed into Southwest in 2014.

I still think United should have been fined at least a million dollars for what they did to David Dao.

[Santander]

I still think United should have been fined at least a million dollars for what they did to David Dao.

They should get an award. Dao was being a prick.

[BoJack Horseman]

I still think United should have been fined at least a million dollars for what they did to David Dao.

They should get an award. Dao was being a prick.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Trans-America.

Not that I'd ever fly it, but Shirley it's the most entertaining airline in movie history, all together.

[Frodo]

I have never flown to the United States or in an American airline, let alone domestically. For Spain and Europe:

Norwegian Air is probably one of the best airlines. Low prices and you get free wifi! Browsing Atlas in the sky is priceless.

Binter Canarias is also a really good airline. Any airline that gives food (any food!) in economy is always a big plus for me. Especially considering most of their flights are less than 1 hour long lol. Binter is quite expensive though.

As for worst airline, Air Europa is probably the worst. Nothing good about them that stands out and they are actually more expensive than other options like Vueling or Iberia. Ryanair is the worst in terms of quality but you know what you are getting and it is dirt cheap. Meanwhile for Air Europa you pay a ton for pretty much nothing in return.

If including international flights, Aegean Airlines is probably my favourite airline. Only flew them once, but it was a great experience. As I said, free food is always a plus, and this time it is "proper" food! (Binter usually only gives a small snack, even in their long flights to Portugal or mainland Spain). Plus it was actually relatively cheap, definitely much cheaper than the alternative of Vueling, and not much more expensive than Ryanair.

How about the bigger, better known European (and British) airliners like Lufthansa, Air France, KLM, and British Airways?

[Mr. Smith]

I have never flown to the United States or in an American airline, let alone domestically. For Spain and Europe:

Norwegian Air is probably one of the best airlines. Low prices and you get free wifi! Browsing Atlas in the sky is priceless.

Binter Canarias is also a really good airline. Any airline that gives food (any food!) in economy is always a big plus for me. Especially considering most of their flights are less than 1 hour long lol. Binter is quite expensive though.

As for worst airline, Air Europa is probably the worst. Nothing good about them that stands out and they are actually more expensive than other options like Vueling or Iberia. Ryanair is the worst in terms of quality but you know what you are getting and it is dirt cheap. Meanwhile for Air Europa you pay a ton for pretty much nothing in return.

If including international flights, Aegean Airlines is probably my favourite airline. Only flew them once, but it was a great experience. As I said, free food is always a plus, and this time it is "proper" food! (Binter usually only gives a small snack, even in their long flights to Portugal or mainland Spain). Plus it was actually relatively cheap, definitely much cheaper than the alternative of Vueling, and not much more expensive than Ryanair.

What of Aer Lingus or Swiss?

[Santander]

How about the bigger, better known European (and British) airliners like Lufthansa, Air France, KLM, and British Airways?

Lufthansa, BA, and AF are all among my favorite airlines. All are very mean on short-haul services.

Lufthansa
Good:
Highest PRASM of any airline in the world - people are willing to cough up big $ to fly Lufty
Extremely consistent service across the network
Synonymous with reliability
Excellent route network
Excellent First Class (world's largest buyer of caviar) and ground services
Best-trained pilots and mechanics in the world, extremely professional ground and cabin staff
Some great (Austrian) to above average (Swiss) subsidiaries
Best JV partners in the world (A++ with United/Air Canada, J+ with ANA)

Bad:
Mean in European economy class - weighs cabin bags and has stingy limits
Some sh**t subsidiaries (Eurowings, Brussels)
Many short flights operated by Eurowings
Frankfurt airport is terrible to transit
No free checked bags for Senator on Light fare
Rigid rule-followers

BA
Good:
A symbol of freedom around the world
Massive number of flights to New York
Strong commitment to the financial services industry
Lots of famous people to rub shoulders with in the Concorde Room
When the service is good, it's great
Easy to qualify for Silver/Gold if you fly lots of business class
Never weigh bags, even on the cheapest fares
More willing to bend the rules than Lufthansa

Bad:
When the service is bad, it can be really bad
Appalling business class product (except the new suites on very few planes)
Sub-par first class product, minus the Concorde Room
One of the worst labor relations in the industry
Heathrow T5 sucks
Seat selection costs $$$ even in full-fare business
Terrible sister airlines (Iberia, Aer Lingus)

Air France
Good:
La Premiere is a true aspirational product
Great food and wine in all cabins (champagne even in economy), rivaled only by Austrian and Turkish (both Do & Co)
Characteristically French service

Bad:
Characteristically French inconsistency in enforcing rules
CDG is a dump
KLM, Delta, Virgin are bad JV partners

[Former President tack50]

How about the bigger, better known European (and British) airliners like Lufthansa, Air France, KLM, and British Airways?

What of Aer Lingus or Swiss?

Interestingly, never flown any of them depite all being much larger and well known airlines. I am not even sure they even operate from my nearest airport (LPA); definitely not the case for Air France or Lufthansa for example.

Off the top of my head, the airlines I have flown in are:

Domestically in Spain:

Iberia
Air Nostrum (Iberia subsidiary)
Vueling
Air Europa
Spanair (defunct)
Binter Canarias
Islas Airways (defunct)
Ryanair
Norwegian Air

Internationally:

Iberia
Vueling
Binter Canarias
Ryanair
EasyJet
Norwegian Air
Aegean Airlines
TUI Fly

Almost all of my travels are either with Spanish airlines or with low cost airlines. I am pretty sure that between all of those the only famous and non low cost airline is Iberia.

[falling apart like the ashes of American flags]

I have no clue because the only things I look at are times and cost.

[YE]

Southwest but that’s because it has so many connecting flights to and from Las Vegas.

[You Don’t Mess With The Zohran]

I've never been to the US so can't really say, though I did get an opportunity to go on a United international flight than had stops at Sydney and Melbourne. Was nice, but the circumstances made it nicer than what I suspect it otherwise would be.

Out of those I have flown:

* Qantas is always very solid, though I've only flown domestic with them. International could be a different story.
* Jetstar is very much a "what you see is what you get" sort of deal. It's fine for short flights.
* China is generally fairly solid and fairly decent value for money (PE costs like $1000 cheaper than other PE's), though I was disappointed that they used a short-haul plane for a 4 hour flight (hence lacking a lot of the perks of longer haul flights)
* I've flown with a couple of New Caledonian airlines to New Caledonia but remember nothing about them. Neither seemed to stand out one way or another.
* Used some regional airlines when travelling around Myanmar, which were OK for the purpose. Given that the flights generally lasted around 20-30 minutes hard to expect too much that's fancy.

I'll get the chance to talk about British Airways, Vueling and easyJet in a few months time