I recently flew United Airlines on a trip booked by the Government. While United remains the “contract carrier” for military and government travelers on most routes, United Airlines does not honor those travelers with which it has a contract. Frontier Airlines does not charge Government travelers on the Government fare for bags nor does it charge all military members and their families for checked bags (with or without orders). Now, that’s a “contract carrier” in my opinion!
In any case, I flew United and as usual was not impressed. I am just glad the flight was only 45 minutes and was a local/regional flight but I have to say, I am very disappointed that United is the Government’s contract carrier because they offer very little for what the taxpayer pays. For example, a commercial flight round trip to the same destination I went to was $92 inclusive of all taxes and fees (excluding bag fees). The taxpayer paid $240 R/T for me to go to this destination plus $50 for bags R/T. Nice! $200 more is the premium we pay to use United as the “contract carrier” and we do not get the flexibility to switch flights either because even Government travelers have to pay the price difference. So, I am not sure really why we use United Airlines. And the recent news is that they merged with Continental - good God, could United get any worse? Answer: Why, yes, they can!
