United vs American Airlines

I’m traveling to Madrid next month from Houston and having a hard time picking out of the two for international flights. I’ve never flown with them so any advice is appreciated why you like one or the other. Reading too many reviews has overwhelmed me 😅

I feel like United and American are about on par with each other, and Delta is slightly elevated from those 2. There won’t be a big difference here, I’ve flown all 3 trans Atlantic and American transpacific (operated by Cathay and Japan Air).

I get miles toward American for work & pleasure, so that is my go-to

I fly Jet Blue, haven't flown on either of those airlines in years. Not sure if Jet Blue is an option for you but I love that airline.

Posted by nanochip
I feel like United and American are about on par with each other, and Delta is slightly elevated from those 2. There won’t be a big difference here, I’ve flown all 3 trans Atlantic and American transpacific (operated by Cathay and Japan Air).


I get miles toward American for work & pleasure, so that is my go-to

Don't you always have issues with your flights though?

Posted by nanochip
I feel like United and American are about on par with each other, and Delta is slightly elevated from those 2. There won’t be a big difference here, I’ve flown all 3 trans Atlantic and American transpacific (operated by Cathay and Japan Air).


I get miles toward American for work & pleasure, so that is my go-to

I’ve heard the same for Delta! Though it’s out of my price range 😅 it just seems so competitive between the two so that’s no surprise that they’re on par with each other. Just looking for reliability since it’s my first time flying alone as well

Posted by SeaLion
I fly Jet Blue, haven't flown on either of those airlines in years. Not sure if Jet Blue is an option for you but I love that airline.

It’s not :/ just the two I’ve mentioned heard they’re on par with each other

Posted by WarEternal

Posted by SeaLion
I fly Jet Blue, haven't flown on either of those airlines in years. Not sure if Jet Blue is an option for you but I love that airline.

It’s not :/ just the two I’ve mentioned heard they’re on par with each other

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Oh OK. Yeah I'm not sure. I've heard good and bad things about both airlines. I think those are the airlines you always see stories about people fighting about seats.

Posted by SeaLion

Posted by nanochip
I feel like United and American are about on par with each other, and Delta is slightly elevated from those 2. There won’t be a big difference here, I’ve flown all 3 trans Atlantic and American transpacific (operated by Cathay and Japan Air).


I get miles toward American for work & pleasure, so that is my go-to

Don't you always have issues with your flights though?

click to expand

Most recently, my bf and I both had issues with Air Canada. I was able to cancel my flight in Oct at a full refund without any insurance bought, because of how big of a train wreck they are right now, and I did! I will never use them again. The only other issue I’m thinking recently is that Japan Air doesn’t let you move into empty seats after the flight departs. 15 hour flight and can’t move into empty rows of seats. Make it make sense.

I had a few issues at border crossing into mainland China too. Travel issues in general, something always goes wrong for me. It is what it is

united= superior app, better scheduler

I feel they're about equal. Though, last year for some strange reason, both United and AA were mass-canceling flights left and right. I forget why. But things seemed to have calmed down now. Delta is my preferred choice and I haven't strayed from that. In case your luggage gets lost, I would rely on United, even though when I decided to check in my carry-on at the gate due to it being a full flight, they "lost" it anyway.

Posted by Melantho
Both are meh. Can you go British Airways on that route?

Actually, it just popped up! What are your experiences like? 🙂

American Airlines has nice planes with WiFi access and usb ports on every seat.

United has a good scheduler and they refunded 5 nonrefundable tickets during the winter storm last December.

They are both very similar, IMO. I usually compare the costs of luggage and seat prices. I also just bring carry-ons, so if a carry on is free vs a charge, I will go with the one that is free. How many stopovers vs nonstop.

There is a lot to consider, but a plane is usually just a pane in the end.

Most have the same style of seats.

You can look at the details of the plane before booking to see if they have food service, decent leg room, in-seat power & USB outlets, entertainment and wifi on board.

Many planes outside of America, like British airlines or Air France will have free food and wine, so that's always nice too.