United Airlines: We Don't Care (Sometimes), We Don't Have To (But, Maybe We Want To) ... I'm Confused!

United Airlines, Inc.

77 W Wacker Dr

Chicago, IL 60601

b/t Lower Wacker Dr & Michigan Ave in The Loop

united.com

I do not usually write reviews so many weeks or months after the fact, but being in India for four months where Yelp did not yet exist, I felt compelled to add my two cents.

My first two of three United flights to Delhi were both two hours late and I had to rush through Frankfurt Airport to catch my final flight after already spending close to 20 hours traveling (with 7+ yet to go). I somehow made it!

However, when I recently checked my mileage balance on United.com, my final leg still had not been added to my balance, requiring me to submit a request that still has not been answered.

Airlines in general, and United in particular, just do not care about customer service because they do not have to. They know that most of us will probably purchase the cheapest fare, so it will only be a matter of time before we return even if their service is pitiful, which it usually is ... rude check-in and gate agents, aggressive flight attendants, and poor on-time departure/arrival record ... they should change their motto to: "United Airlines,We Don't Care, We Don't Have To"

As my India trip neared its end, I have to say that United came through with flying colors. 

When one of my wife's return flights in mid-January was rescheduled, leaving her a 30 minute layover to clear immigration/customs, re-check her bag, and get to the next gate (IMPOSSIBLE), we contacted United and were quickly dismissed ... "sorry"! But when we got our travel insurance company involved, they were able to change her flights and get her home in time to attend a meeting at work the following morning.

The saga continued ...

I received a call in early February, three weeks prior to my scheduled departure, informing me that my 84-year old mother had been hospitalized and was not doing well.  I contacted my travel insurance company (Allianz Global Assistance/AGA Service Company /Jefferson Insurance Company) thinking that they would be as professional as my wife's, but after 12+ hours of being ignored (on their 24/7 Hotline), I contacted United reservations in New Delhi.  They were not extremely helpful, but when I was finally transferred to an American employee, she was outstanding.  She quickly found me a flight two days later (i had to get from Southern India to Delhi the next day) and WAIVED THE $300 CHANGE FEE ... without even asking.  I was able to get home to see my mother and spend a couple days of quality time before she passed away on 2/12/2015. At that point I was much happier with United.

and continued ...

Then, just three weeks after my mother passed, my wife received word that her father had suddenly died in Naples, Italy where he and her mom live. I logged-in to my United account to search for "bereavement fares", but even though a link appeared in the search results, there was no such information on their website. It turned out that United discontinued their bereavement fares at some point in the recent past. When I called United Customer Care, a deceiving term, I was connected with their offshore "care" center in Manilla, Phillippines where I was quoted $4000 for a single ticket ... $1600 more than the cheapest fare available on Kayak.com and $2350 more than we eventually paid Delta airlines. Thanks for your compassion United!

I had been prepared to give United 6, 7, even 8, Bombs (3 to 4 stars) because of the recent positive experiences detailed above, but finding out post de facto that 15,000 of the 20,000 miles from the US to India and back I paid dearly for were not eligible for frequent flyer credits (K Class) and the $4000 quote for a last-minute bereavement fare changed my mind. So, I will now have to downgrade my previous ratings ...

CombatCritic Gives United Airlines 3 Out Of 10 Bombs With Room To Grow Or Recede Further ... More Bombs Are Better!

Read More Reviews By CombatCritic, Including United Airlines, On Yelp And TripAdvisor Along With Many Other Reviews And More!

Title: United Airlines: We Don't Care (Sometimes), We Don't Have To (But, Maybe We Want To) ... I'm Confused!

Key Words: United Airlines, United, Airlines, air, plane, airplane, travel, airport, flight, reservation, agent, customer, service, CombatCritic, TravelValue, Yelp, value

Read This Review And Many More On Yelp ... Where I Am An Elite '14/'15 Member

India Jones and the Temple of Gloom

Coffee Temple

Next to Helipad (Aka Car Park), Varkala Cliff

North Cliff, Varkala, Varkala 695141, India

+91 81 29 050685

I had heard that this place was "the best" and being #4 of 59 restaurants in Varkala on TripAdvisor I would have thought it was a sure bet, but nothing is for sure except the grim reaper and the taxman.

To be fair, I made several visits at various times of the day and I have to say the service was dismal nearly every time. On at least three occasions I sat at my table for 15 minutes or more and was totally ignored (I many times purposely do not make a fuss to see how long it will actually take), having ultimately had to either get up and ask for or retrieve my own menu. On one occasion one of the servers, who I will call "India Jones" because of his long hair, unkempt beard, tattered shirts, and "local" Kerala dress (he wears a sarong as a skirt even though he is obviously a westerner), moped around, conserving energy I assume, and lumbered past me at least ten times, never asking me if I needed a menu or wanted to order. I sometimes believe that I am invisible here because employees constantly walk by without even acknowledging my existence. 

Chicken Salad Sandwich - 200 Rupees/$3.20

The coffee and teas are good, coming in large (10 ounce) mugs, but are a tad overpriced by Indian standards.  The food looked good from what I saw others order, but is also a bit more expensive than most places. I have to admit that the only things I tried were the the toast, three large, thick pieces of brown bread with butter and jam (80 rupees/$1.30 - I had to provide my own peanut butter even though the menu claims they make a crepe with it), a large bowl of fruit muesli (100 rupees/$1.60 and not so large) which was not bad and a fair deal, and their chicken salad sandwich (200 rupees/$3.20 with cheese), a huge disappointment.  The bread, a small baguette (see photo above) with sesame seeds on top was the highlight, but what little chicken salad there was oddly enough was served warm, the chicken mostly dark meat and full of gristle, and the mayonnaise had a rather disgusting sweet taste like Miracle Whip, which I loathe. Disappointingly small and lonely on the plate with no garnish, it was one of the worst meals and values I had at any restaurant in my nearly four months in India, considering that a great thentuk and excellent Greek salad costs the same amount in Dharamsala.

The place has potential with its incredible view and open air feel, but the servers need to do something about their simultaneously apathetic and arrogant attitudes and start acting like customers are important.  As far as the food was concerned, I was not impressed, but the coffee and masala chai were pretty good. The only reason I am giving them 5 bombs and not 4 is because they are about the only place on the cliff that consistently opens early (6:30), so if you are an early riser like me, not always by choice, you can at least get a coffee or breakfast with a sea view no less.

CombatCritic Gives Coffee Temple 5 Out of 10 Bombs ... More Bombs Are Better!

Title: India Jones and the Temple of Gloom

Key Words: Coffee Temple, coffee, temple, Varkala, cliff, beach, Kerala, India, restaurant, cafe, food, menu, tea, sandwich, breakfast, view, sea, CombatCritic, TravelValue, TripAdvisor

Cottage ... Maybe, Swiss ... Not, But A Decent Hotel Value

Hill Top Swiss Cottage

Swiss Cottage Complex

Rishikesh, India

Prices: $$$$$

View of Ganges River Valley From Room

Hilltop Swiss Cottage sits in its own small self-contained village atop the hills of the High Bank of Rishikesh’s Tapovan area and a little over 1 kilometer from Laxman (Lacksman) Jhula (bridge), the northern most bridge over the Ganges (Ganga) River in town. The “Swiss Cottage” area has seven or eight hotels and guest houses, an equal number of restaurants (Raasta and Nirvana Cafés, Swiss Garden, and Oasis to name a few), a couple of small markets, a laundry, travel agancies, yoga studios, and massage parlors, so you never even have to leave the hill if you desire. It is a relatively quiet area compared to town, but is an easy walk to restaurants, the river, or numerous ashrams and other attractions.

There are cheaper options even within the Swiss Cottage compound (200 rupees/$3.20 per night and up), but I had a nice, large room with a view of the river valley below, flat screen TV with cable (no CNN or BBC), relatively fast Wi-Fi, and a bath with Western toilet, tub, and a great shower with plenty of hot water for 800 rupees ($13) per night.

The staff are not overly friendly and I got the “evil eye” from numerous locals during my stay, but otherwise I would say westerners are well “tolerated”, unless you are an attractive female in which case you are given a great deal of (unwanted) attention.

Their restaurant, The Oasis, was empty every time I walked by and other than a pot of coffee and an omelet my first morning I steared clear because the place was absolutely freezing. There were also a couple of characters there, one Dutch (I believe) and the other appeared to be from the Middle East, that were odd to say the least. The Dutch guy tried to whistle tunes with no melody and went off on a couple of Indian men for no apparent reason and the other guy kept whispering something to me I could not undertsand while looking at me like he wanted to slit my throat. Unnerving, so I ate breakfast at Raasta Café from that point forward.

They have their own yoga studio and meditation hall, but when I stopped by at the appointed times on my first morning, I had apparently awoken the instructor who appeared at the door disheveled from sleep and not ready for a class as advertized. Nothing opens before 8am in the compound, so if you are an early riser be prepared to keep yourself occupied until then. The room did have a small fridge and a boiler (kettle) for hot water, so you can buy some coffee, tea, milk, or soft drinks to have in the room (no alcohol because Rishikesh is a "dry" town).

Being December and in the foothills, Rishikesh is chilly when the sun goes down and the room (and everywhere else for that matter, because India apprently has not figured out central heat yet) was freezing. When I booked the room on Booking.com I clearly saw “heater” advertized in the room, but when I arrived there was none to be found. I asked the manager and he told me that I had reserved the “standard” room without  heat, but when I checked my reservation again I was in-fact correct and he quickly brought me a heater, a small space heater that barely kept the room warm.

CombatCritic Gives Hill Top Swiss Cottage 6 Bombs Out Of 10 … Bombs Are Good!

Title: Cottage Maybe, Swiss It Is Not, But A Decent Hotel Value

Key Words: Hill Top Swiss Cottage, hilltop, Swiss, cottage, Tapovan, Laxman Jhula, laxman, lacksman, jhula, jhula, Rishikesh, India, hotel, review, Raasta, Nirvana, CombatCritic, TravelValue, YouTube, Facebook

A Tavola Con Te ... Delicious, Authentic Italian Cuisine in Rishikesh, India

A Tavola Con Te
Badrinath Road, Tapovan Sarai (Laxman Jhula) 
Rishikesh 249192, India

Phone: +91-812-685-9654

Website

Prices: $$$$$

A Tavola con Te was recommended to me by Maria, an acquaintance from Columbia whom I met in Dharamsala. She told me that an Italian couple had just opened a restaurant and guest house in Rishikesh and that they made wood fire oven pizza, so I had to go there on my first evening in town.

The owners are from Milano (Milan) and have recently moved to Rishikesh. The property is up an alley off of the main road, so use TripAdvisor's directions or GoogleMaps and follow the signs up the alley about 1oo meters and look for the gate with a sign on your left. From there you meander another 50 meters or so past some houses and through a garden to the restaurant and Namaste Guest House.

They have a small terrazzo (terrace) that is nicely done with bamboo roof and decorative cement pillars, overlooking the garden, giving the dining area a rustic feel, and making me feel as if I were in an agriturismo in Italy. There are also a couple of tables on the grass under the stars (or sun), but no indoor option.

They serve pizza from 5:30 PM on, so do not expect it any earlier as the oven is lit around 3PM and takes a couple hours to reach the proper temperature. I ordered the "Buffalo", a 14 inch pizza with imported Italian (Vesuvio) tomato sauce, mozzarella di bufala (buffalo mozzarella - a specialty of Campania, Italy), and fresh basil leaves, a favorite of pizza napolitana (from Naples, Italy) lovers, which I am one.

My pizza was very good although a little dry because the tomato sauce was very thinly spread and the heat of the wood oven had dried it out. A little more sauce (or fresh tomatoes) or some olive oil (preferably olio picante) drizzled over the top prior to serving would have been wonderful, but I wolfed down my pie nonetheless as it was very tasty and the best pizza I have had since I was in Italy last. 

My wife, being from Napoli (Naples), would complain about the crust because Neopolitans (napolitani ... my wife will kill me when she reads this because she is actually Sicilian and refuses to admit that her family has lived in Naples most of her life) are pizza snobs because pizza was invented there and Naples admittedly has the BEST PIZZA IN THE WORLD. Pizza crust in Naples is a science and nowhere else on Earth will you find such soft, yet crisp on the bottom crust and fresh, flavorful toppings as you will find in Napoli.

The crust at A Tavola con Te is definitely "Northern Italian", indicative of pizze (pizzas) in Rome and north and considering the fact that Il Pizzaiuolo (pizza maker) is from Milan, appropriate to the situation. I prefer the crusts in Naples, but who am I to complain because it was very good, not burnt, and crispy but still a tad chewy. Bravissimo!

I returned a few days later for my birthday dinner and everyone wished me well, very thoughtful of them to remember! I started with the pumpkin (zucca) soup, which was creamy, rich, and excellent, but just lukewarm, not hot, and accompanied by four slices of warm bread.

For my entree, I had the vegetarian lasagna (250 rupees/$4.00), a decent size slab that was, again, not very hot and layered with pasta, melanzane (eggplant), bechamel and tomato sauce, and cheese. The eggplant was a bit chewy and the lasagna needed a little more mozzarella, but otherwise it was quite tasty.

Having had the panna cotta after my previous dinner, my birthday dessert had to be the tiramisú (170 rupees/$2.70), layers of savoiardi cookies soaked in espresso, and encased in sweet mascarpone cheese, then sprinkled with cocoa powder ... delicioso!

On my next visit I tried the Pizza Vegetariana (260 rupees/$4.10), coming topped with mushrooms, eggplant, onion, bell peppers, spinach, tomato sauce, and mozzarella. Again, the pizza was very good, but a bit dry and with a negligible amount of mozzarella. Being 50 to 100 rupees (80 cents to $1.60) more than the "average" equivalent pizza in many restaurants in India, I would expect a bit more sauce and cheese, even if they are imported and more expensive than the varieties most Indian restaurants use.

FYI - I am much harder on Italian restaurants than I am on others because Italian food is my passion and expectations are exceedingly high, particularly when Italians are in the kitchen. So do not get me wrong by thinking I was unhappy with any of my meals here because I was not and they were the best I have had in my two months in India. A few minor tweaks and this place will be THE BOMB ...

1.  They could use some antipasti on the menu (bruschetta, cheese platter, olives/grilled vegetables, insalata caprese, etc) and bread because the pizzas and pastas are not filling enough on their own. 

2. The lights are a bit bright on the terrace at night, so some lower voltage bulbs and candles or lanterns would provide a cozier, more intimate feel.

3. Portions could be just a tad bigger for the price and attention to detail, ensuring that food is appropriately warm and not too dry, will go a long way in satisfying hungry customers.

I really want this restaurant to succeed because the owners are extremely nice and have positive, professional attitudes, the location has great "bones", the food is very well done, and the prices are reasonably fair. Please visit A Tavola con Te and tell them CombatCritic sent you because I want to come back next time I am in Rishikesh ... a presto (see you soon)!


CombatCritic Gives A Tavola con Te 8 Bombs Out Of 10 ... More BOMBS Are Better!

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Title: A Tavola Con Te ... Authentic Italian in Rishikesh, India

Key Words: Rishikesh, A Tavola con Te, tavola, con, te, Italian, restaurant, ristorante, food, pizza, pasta, Himalaya, Himalayas, Dalai Lama, dalai, lama, CombatCritic, TravelValue, travel, value, TripAdvisor

Rishikesh, India: Raasta Café: Hey Mon, Roll Me A Great Big … Cinammon Roll

Raasta Café

Swiss Cottage Area

Rishikesh, U.P India

Prices: $$$$$

I ate only one meal other than breakfast at the Raasta Café and it was not great. The reviews on TripAdvidsor were terrific, but the food was underwhelming. It is a nice enough place, like most restaurants in India, open-air and extremely cold in December, and the staff (mostly Nepali from what I gathered) nice enough, somewhat indifferent, and efficient.

The milk coffee (40 rupees/$.65 for a cup, 95 rupees/$1.55 for a large pot) was very weak even though I ordered it “strong”, so I bought my own Folgers instant coffee and spiked the pot each morning in order to get my caffeine fix. On most mornings I had their peanut butter toast (40 rupees/$.65), a nice brown bread with sesame seeds but barely enough peanut butter to cover the toast (sgould have bought my own peanut butter too I guess). I tried their “homemade” pastries a couple times, but they were basted wCombatCritic's Travel Value Ezineith egg and had that definite “raw” egg taste which was not appetizing, so I stuck with the toast.

My one dinner consisted of paneer mata (90 rupees/$1.60), which was supposed to be a spicy spinach dish with cheese (curd) cubes, and some garlic and butter roti (flat bread – 30 rupees/$.50 each). The paneer was obviously the spinach soup from the menu with some cheese tossed in and although not bad tasting was both unfulfilling and not filling. The roti were OK, but reminded me of whole wheat tortillas with some butter and garlic added. Neither were very good.

I found a few good restaurants in town, including nearby Nirvana Café (Indian/Continenal), A Tavola con Te (Italian/pizza), and Ramana’s Garden (Organic / Vegetarian /Eclectic), so I was not too upset by Raasta’s boring food. It is the one place in the area where people seem to congregate and the Wi-Fi is resonably fast, so it is worth a visit if staying in one of the “Swiss Cottages”.

CombatCritic Gives Raasta Café 5 Bombs Out Of 10 … More Bombs Are Better!

Title: Rishikesh, India: Raasta Café: Hey Mon, Roll Me A Great Big … Cinammon Roll

Key Words: Raasta Café, café, Swiss Cottage, Swiss, cottage, menu, Tapovan, Laxman Jhula, laxman, lacksman, jhula, Rishikesh, India, review, Raasta, CombatCritic, TravelValue, YouTube, Facebook

Consider Yourself ENLIGHTENED: Bistro NIRVANA Is Trendy, Eclectic, and Reasonably Priced

Bistro Nirvana

Swiss Cottage Area Rishikesh, U.P. India

Bistro Nirvana came highly recommended by a friend I met in Dharamsala, but I only had a coffee there until the day before I left because I did not like the “vibe”. It is a very nice place with bamboo, wood tones, and a Polynenesian feel, but all but one table is of the “Eastern” variety with low tops, seating mats, and a little too uncomfortable for this disabled Veteran. 

The young “Bohemian” / hippie-wannabe crowd is drawn to this place, the ones with the dreadlocks (not sure why caucasians want to waste their time or money on dreadlocks, but whatever floats your boat) and nose-in-the-phone silence, just like in Dharamsala, so that also put me off a bit. The staff is friendly, but indifferent just like everywhere else in Rishikesh in general and the Swiss Cottage complex in pariticular.

Anyway, the food was really good! I ordered the Dal Makhni (130 rupees/$2.05), black lentils slow cooked overnight with garlic, onions, butter, and crème and a garlic and butter nan (50 rupees/80 cents). The dal were superb, arriving in a good size copper pot, perfectly warm and the best $2 I have spent in a long time at a restaurant. The nan was also very good, not looking enough to get me through my dal at first, but there was more than met the eye and I was satiated … after a piece of their legendary Banoffee pie (60 rupees/$.95) of course. The pie was rich and sweet, tasty with banana cream and toffee (caramel) atop a thick, chewy biscuit (cookie) crust, being almost too rich, but I polished it off just the same.

CombatCritic Gives Bistro Nirvana 7 Bombs Out Of 10 … One Bomb Deduction For Low Tables and Too Many Dreadlocks … Bombs Are Great!

Title: Consider Yourself ENLIGHTENED: Bistro NIRVANA Is Trendy,  Eclectic, and Reasonably Priced

Key Words: Bistro Nirvana, café, Swiss Cottage, Swiss, cottage, Tapovan, Laxman Jhula, laxman, lacksman, jhula, jhula, Rishikesh, India, hotel, review, Nirvana, CombatCritic, TravelValue, YouTube, Facebook

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Key Words: VPN, PPTP, protocol, virtual, private, network, Netflix, Google, YouTube, gmail, free, proxy, Mac, PC, US, worldwide, secure, travel, value, TravelValue