Help! What's up with USAir??

[Guest]

Here's my frequent flyer story. I used to be a Medallion member with Delta, but switched my allegiance to United when Delta changed its policy in which discounted fares only counted half towards Medallion status. Well, in the over three years I've been with United, one on the silver level (Premier), and two on the gold level (Executive Premier), I must say I've been very unhappy. I never seem to be able to upgrade, even when I was at the EP level. I basically have well over 300,000 miles I never seem to be able to use (I couldn't even upgrade to or from the SF Bay Area to Denver recently).

Then I got an e-mail from US Air, which I thought was a phishing e-mail, because it said I would have gold status as of 3/1/07. But just yesterday, I looked at the account on USAir's website and, sure enough, I had gold status. This is really weird because I've only flown US Air once in my life, and that must have been 10 years ago. They just aren't big here in the SF Bay Area. I wish they had let me know sooner, or I would have made other travel arrangements for early this year. But what are your experiences with US Air, especially if you've had elite status? Are you able to upgrade? Also, do all America West flights qualify for elite status? Should I make the switch??

[Guest PWIT]

USAir is in the StarAlliance. You can use your United Points on USAir and vice versa.

[Traveler North]

I have never had any problems with USAirways which I use frequently, even to go overseas. Never had a problem with frequent flyer points.

America West and USAirways have completed their merger. Points on either are usable on merged airline.:-) :-)

[+ Charlie]

My experience with United over the years has been that upgrades with frequent flyer miles are nearly impossible, but award flights are available IF you make the reservations far in advance (like three months). It is also almost impossible to talk to a human being about it, since all you get on the phone is a computerized voice. I recently tried to use a voucher for a free flight (given for voluntarily giving up my seat on an overbooked flight), but there was no option for telling the computer voice that I wanted to pay with a voucher; I had to keep giving uninterpretable answers to the computer until it finally switched me to an actual customer rep.

[ted]

With all the cutbacks customer service at any airline is a thing of the past. USAIR is awful in Philadelphia, in the rest of the country they're fine. So if you don't come thru PHL often they are a viable choice. I've actually gotten upgraded on United fairly regularly, but I'm a 1K flier. Problem is you can't book it-if it happens it happens, but its pot luck so on those flights where you really want it its very frustrating to be told no seats are available for upgrade even months in advance

[Guest Merlin]

US Airway points are almost impossible to use. If you call 6 months ahead, there are no seats available. Haven't tried to upgrade. I use United and can usually get a seat. Frontier is the best if you are traveling in their territory. Round trip for 15,000 points and a point per dollar when you use their credit card. I got a Capital One card because it promises to be easier to use, but only then learned that it takes 35000 points for a round trip. Haven't used it since.

[thewheel]

The pre-merger Dividend Miles program was great. Post-merger it's not so hot. I am a Silver Preferred and this will be my last elite year with them.

 

They are currently reducing the number of 1st class seats system wide. The 320's on the East went from 16 F down to 12 F to match those on the West side. The change resulted in the addition of 2 more rows of coach seats. In doing so they removed a closet and put all of the emergency equipment in the FC overheads. Stupid move, which they admitted finally last week was bad, but the closet and space are gone.

 

They also squeezed 4 additional Y seats on the East 319's to match the West configuration. In doing so they reduced seat pitch throughout the entire aircraft down to West standards.

 

The 321's are suppossed to start this week going down to 16 F from 26 F seats. Another stupid move that will surely backfire.

 

East and West will be on one operating certificate late this year. The reservations systems combine on March 4. DO NOT FLY US THE WEEK OF MARCH 4!

 

To put it lightly, the East operation is a business airline, while the West is a leisure airline. Unfortunately the old West management is in charge, and they run things accordingly, when they run them at all. They've been too busy as of late trying to purchase Delta.

 

A lot of preferred's are leaving or have left, especially for UA and E+ and CO.

[+ bigjoey]

united airlines is the worst. a true story:

a close friend and his wife were in first class seats that they had paid for and not using points; he is a large man and flies first class because he needs the extra room (and can afford it as he is very wealthy). the man had over 400,000 miles with united as he flies overseas regularly on business. about 10 minutes before take off, as he and his wife were all settled into their seats enjoying a preflight drink, they were informed they were being bumped and the choice was to move to the back of the plane or take the next flight.

 

who was bumping a paying first class passenger? a couple of flight attendents! it seems that their union contract guaranteed them first class seats when they fly and they wanted their seats. the man and his wife got off the plane never to fly united again. he tried writing the president of united twice but never got a reply. this was about 4 or 5 years ago.

 

as for myself, i fly them as a last resort and on the last 4 flights, they have lost the luggage that was mine or person with whom i was traveling on 2 of those occasions for a 50% record! the united staff tends to be unfriendly and the planes not as fresh and well kept as other airlines.

 

the best domestic airline i fly is midwest airlines. they constantly rank high in all the surveys. a true story: while flying from new york to kansas city at dinner time, the flight was delayed for a couple of hours due to a mechanical problem. while we waited at the gate to board, the staff knew were were missing dinner so they brought boxes of sandwiches, chips, drinks, etc. to the gate and handed the food out to the waiting passengers! the seats are 4 across rather than the 6 at other airlines so those of us a little wider have some extra room. after about 10:00AM all flights serve fresh baked chocolate chip cookies to all the passengers; the smell of the fresh baked cookies is wonderful. their food is decent. the staff is friendly. the only downside is they are out of midwest so unless you live there you do not get to experience them.

[+ ArVaGuy]

I suggest you check out http://www.flyertalk.com this is a message board dedicated to frequent flyers and will give you the low down on nearly every airline you can imagine. Go to the forums section and scroll till you find the US Airways board. I use this site frequently and since I am about to clock over 30,000 miles thus far this year by March 1 it's been a handy tool for me.

 

Another source for information would be this blog called The Ticket http://www.travelskills.com/ticket.htm. It's Delta centric but also covers the whole spectrum. And finally, try the Frequent Flyer Crier for even more info. (Can you tell I fly a lot?)

 

As for the failings of the airline industry I am of the opinion that we got the system we wanted. Everyone wanted cheap flights and this is what you get - declining service levels, bankruptcies, and major hassles. Prior to deregulation the Civil Aeronautics Board, precursor to the FAA, set the price structure and determined which markets the airlines could serve. At least this is my understanding of how things worked for the most part.

 

Essentially the government set the high and low for ticket prices and the airlines charged within that rage and thus competed on service. What you get in first class these days would not have qualified for coach back in those days. When the industry was deregulated the entire structure had to change and we are still feeling those effects. The paxs may not like it but that $199 transcontinental ticket sure was a deal on Priceline.

[BgMstr4u]

Yes... airline deregulation. October 28, 1978. Thank you, Jimmy Carter. A gift that keeps on giving.

[+ BenjaminNicholas]

Eek... Join me in the 'can accumulate, but never use' mileage club. Membership is free and i'm currently working on about 3.4 million miles with CO, but never seem to find decent reward tickets.

 

I've gotten comp status into AA's upper-tier, so now am hoping that AAdvantage will produce better results for some international upgrades and free tickets.

 

If your current program isn't cutting it for you, cut em' loose. If you do fly a decent amount, any airline worth their salt will salivate to get your business.

 

 

BN

[Guest]

Thanks for the great advice! I'll check those websites out!

[+ ArVaGuy]

Where's My Seat?

 

>Thanks for the great advice! I'll check those websites out!

 

Glad to help out. And here's another site if you want to find out where your seat is located on the aircraft. Check out http://www.seatguru.com for information about equipment configurations for each of the major airlines. Everything from seat pitch, video, laptop ports and more is available by aircraft type and airline.

 

It's a great way to determine if US Airways seat 6C on that 757-200 is decent or next to the lavatory. This is a good tool for some prebooking research while planning your travel.