United MileagePlus show total delay time

For all the frequent flyers out there

September 03, 2023

If you’ve been on a plane before, you’ve likely been delayed. Whether it was bad weather, a mechanical issue, or a disgruntled passenger, there are many reasons you might not make it to your destination on time.

I vividly remember waiting 6 hours for a replacement battery to arrive for the plane I was supposed to take, but then they just canceled the flight and we had to rebook for the next day.

United (and almost every other airline) likes to reward their customers with miles. At this point, I probably have enough Southwest rewards points to fly around the globe a few times. One day…

Anyways, what if instead of just showing how many miles you’ve earned, they also showed some less savory metrics like how many hours you’ve lost with delayed flights?

Just showing people a number would be depressing. However, this could get interesting if it was spun as some sort of reward program. This could also tie into the experience where someone has to take another flight if a plane is overbooked. Overall, airline UX feels like it is rife with opportunity.

Have a friend who is constantly getting delayed? Send them this newsletter.

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