United Airlines is on a roll.
The carrier just announced an exciting 13-route global expansion, is fresh off introducing all-new Polaris business class suites, is on the verge of adding a fancy plane to the lineup, has improvements coming to the economy cabin, and will soon add some of its biggest-ever lounges to the network.
But while new planes, lounges and business-class suites are impressive, sometimes it’s the smaller day-to-day travel improvements that matter even more. To that end, United has two more announcements this week that could help when travel disruptions strike — or when you’re simply pressed for time between flights and need something to eat or drink.
Getting on an earlier United flight is becoming easier during disruptions
When flight disruptions happen, getting on with your journey as quickly as possible is usually the main goal.
United is making that easier with a new function in its app. It will allow delayed customers who are rebooked on a later flight to keep their confirmed seat while also selecting up to three earlier United flights to the same destination to wait for on standby.
The big addition here is that United will actively monitor seat availability on those three flights and text delayed passengers if a seat opens up. Passengers can then decide whether to take the earlier flight or remain confirmed on the later one.
This is a much easier process than running from gate to gate to ask about standby availability or obsessively refreshing the app to see if a seat opens up.
Related: What to do in case your flight is delayed or canceled
United is testing food delivery at the gate
If you’ve ever wished you could have a meal, a drink or even something like a charging cord waiting at the gate when you landed, you may be in luck.
At nine gates (gates C125 – C138) in Terminal C at Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR), United now offers functionality that allows customers to order a selection of sandwiches, salads, drinks, kids’ meals, chips, candy and travel essentials (such as select over-the-counter medicine, travel pillows and charging cords). These orders will be waiting at a designated pickup shelf at the gate.
Eligible customers will receive a predeparture push notification via the United app or an email with a link to place an order. Participating airport restaurants will include Nonna’s Kitchen and Victory Grill.
This test is scheduled to extend to Houston later this year, after which United plans to evaluate interest for possible future expansion to other airports.
If that happens, United shares that it would integrate the service into seatback inflight entertainment screens. That would mean you could order a drink and a sandwich from the air to have waiting at the gate when you arrive.
Bottom line
In TPG’s Best Airlines of 2026 study, United Airlines came in a very close second, just behind Delta Air Lines.
With continued innovations and route expansions, along with improvements in a couple of metrics that dragged its ranking down, the airline has a very realistic chance of overtaking Delta in next year’s report.
In the meantime, though, it’s often the less flashy improvements that make travel noticeably easier. Being able to hold onto a confirmed flight while United looks for an earlier option and having food waiting at the gate when you land are both improvements I’m personally very excited to see.
Editorial disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.