USAirways Frequent Flyer Program--Awesome If You Don't Plan On Actually Using Your Miles!

It's pretty much the same story for all US airlines' FF programs in my experience. The award seats on most flights are very few and are snatched up as soon as they are available.

I don't know of any strategy to get around this, frankly. You might try on the Airlines board here at Fodor's....

Did you tell the phone agent, or did the phone agent, to check availability on United?

UA/US are generally more easy to get FF seats than say DL/CO/NW. So, if you find it tough, some people find it even harder.

Also, you may want to try other departure cities. There may not be many FF seats out of Myrtle Beach.

Sad to say but the story you relate is not unusual. It's pretty much the same with all airline FF award programs. There are usually only a limited number of award seats available on any given flight (2 to 4 is the norm) and they are normally "released" 11 months prior to departure dates. Savy travellers will be on the phone with the airline at 12:01AM 330 days out to book their flight. Occasionally airlines will "release" additional seats for award travel as the depature dates get close but there's no set timing or rules that are followed. FYI- the fact that a flight has plenty of empty seats does not mean award seats are available. Sorry this post is not more encouraging but it's a fact of life in the FF Award Seat universe.

I have had good luck using American Airlines and have been member with them for long time. I used to rack up lots and lots of miles on business trips to Europe and am still using those miles to book free seats. I do try to book way in advance and be a bit flexible on dates but so far I have always been able to get two seats when I wanted. Perhaps AA has more seats allocated on each flight. I was also a many mile flier on TWA before Ichan killed it and again I was always to get seats as needed on TWA ff program. I have also found American is very good about using partner airlines as well, for example AA to London then on British Air to Edinburgh, or AA to London then on BA to Munich, both of which I have done. I have no complaints so far with American AAdvantage.

I agree, FF seat scarcity is not unique to US Airways.

This may not be the way you want to do it, but most (all?) programs offer you the option to use more miles (usually twice as many) to get a seat without capacity controls. On US Airways, it's called a "premiun" award. It would mean using 50K mile per ticket instead of 25K, but if you have miles to burn and can't use them any other way, it's worth considering. You say you've been using US exclusively for 15 years, so it sounds as if you should have quite a few miles built up, unless some have expired.

Try using your miles for an upgrade. Here's the way I see it:

I can afford an $800 ticket to Paris. I cannot afford a $6000 first class ticket to Paris. I used 80,000 miles (something like that) to upgrade my husband and myself a couple of years ago. I feel like upgrades are the best use of FF miles if you do that math on what you are saving.

I'm not sure what the price differentials are domestically, but it's at least a 4 hour haul from MB to NM, right? You might think about sitting up front.

Also, do you have enough miles for a premium award? my understanding is that for double the miles, you can bypass black out dates and other controls on US Air.

Sadly, wanted to repeat that this is also the case for FF programs in Canada. For my Aeroplan ( Air Canada ) program, I have to book all "hot ticket" flights a year in advance ( Disney, Vegas, etc. )
For booking domestic flights, we can usually get something a couple of months prior to flight.
I keep saying I'm going to cancel my card, but I have taken 6 big trips with my points that have saved me some serious change.

I have had a similar experience, since I often fly USAir to Philly. Now I have a Capital One Miles award card, and I have always been able to get the exact date I wanted (often flying USair!). I guess it's time for you to change to that type of program...

I fly USAir frequently, direct from LGA to the town where my parents live. I've never had a problem booking a free seat, usually less than 6 weeks in advance.

Perhaps it has something to do with the airport of origin?

Just a couple of thoughts.

1. You are not alone. This is a problem throughout the industry.

2. You waited too long. For award travel in March, February (or even earlier) is way too short a time.

3. Are you looking for "Mileage Saver" or "Premium" award seats? (The premium seats require twice the mileage but have very few or no capacity controls.)

4. Figure you paid (the airline, a credit card company, somebody) around a penny and a half per mile (which is pretty much the average). Most frequent flyers value their FF miles at about 2 to 2.5 cents each. Thus a 20K mile award has a "book" value of $400 - $500. But... a cheap coach round trip flight from Charlotte to Albuquerque in mid-March is $322 (MYR lots higher because of limited service - well worth driving to CLT.)

On the other hand, a first class RT ticket is $1366. For the same 20K miles that would get you a round trip coach ticket (if seats were available) you can upgrade one way to first class from that cheap fare. For another 20K miles you can ride back in FC. Total miles per person = 40K (less than a "premium" coach award) but resulting in you getting a $1360 ticket for $322 plus 40K miles. $1038 in savings divided by 40K miles = something like 2.6 cents per mile. In other words, you've made a profit of a penny per mile on the 40K miles used. Plus - ironic, isn't it - you'll earn miles for the coach ticket that you've upgraded, so the net hit on your FF account will be less than 40K, meaning your yield will be better than a penny. Plus (and no guarantees, mind you) your chances of being able to use miles for upgrade will be vastly better than for the coach award.

The vast majority of mileage addicts will tell you that the best use of miles, especially when "everyday" award seats are scarce, is to use them to ride up front, either as a direct award (especially on longhauls - Europe for instance) or as upgrades. I am a solid member of the that majority.

So don't throw in the towel. Beat them at their own game.

The problem may well be the fact that you are originating in MB. I would guess if you were to drive to CLT this problem would vanish. You might also try flying out of Wilmington (ILM). ABQ is also not a regular US Air flight, in the past it was code-shared (but originated by United). I am sure the current flight is now what used to be an American West flight. For awhile, US Air did not even fly to ABQ. Hope this helps. I am also a victim of the US Air monopoly here in CLT. I feel your pain. You know you could probably fly Hooters Air here to CLT for next to nothing, then use your miles.

Thanks for the commiseration and for the great suggestions. I am considering the options many of you have suggested.

For the record, we have used FF miles with USAir quite a few times over the last 15 years. But not during the past 3 or 4 years.

Also, I did try to redeem the miles in December for a March trip (although I realize even that is not enough lead time).

Typically we try & book them as soon as they become available & we have used them in the last few years for PR as well as Paris & Germany. But we have always planned well in advance. We are going to the Caribbean next month using miles & we booked those flights in November, but had to alter our dates slightly & also had to fly into St. Maarten rather than Antigua.

I have used frequent flyer miles frequently over the past couple of years but in my situation, I'm only booking one ticket.

I've never had any problems booking a ticket to Bufmuck Egypt but I always wait until the last possible minute.

The reason is that whatever seats the airlines don't sell, they start opening for FF miles closer to the date of departure.

So a year out the entire plane my only have two FF seats but by the time the plane flies, there may be ten FF seats.

PS How was the marathon?

GoTravel,

thanks for the tip (I had seen your advice to someone else before, so we do plan to keep trying). Myrtle Beach Marathon was great--hard, but great, as I shaved about 25 minutes off my time for the Marine Corps Marathon (4:06 versus 4:31)!

Litespeed Chick,

you'll love this. I just checked to see if I could upgrade with my miles. Nope, as a regular FF member I am not permitted to upgrade these flights.

That's Great! A couple more minutes and you'll qualify for Boston!

Are you going to run NYC? Tip, book your hotel now whether you run or not. Quikbook has the Park South Hotel for $200 a night which is a steal for that weekend. At least $150 less than everyone else and it is a gorgeous little boutique hotel!

I booked already and if Mr.GoTravel and I don't do Amsterdam or Florence in December I'll either run or volunteer.

Chuck - uh oh. I think was Silver Preferred (touch me) when I did that deal. Now I'm not. I wonder if this means I have 130,000 useless miles?

No, wait. I'm pretty sure I deliberately paid more for my Paris tickets than was necessary just to get the right class of ticket so I could do the upgrade. It was a pain in the ass as I recall. (my husband is tall and broad and really needs the extra room)

2 years ago I used USAir FF to get 2 BC seats on AirNZ to NZ. Recently I used USAir to get 2 BC seats to Greece on Lufthansa. When it works, it is great. I have the feeling that they are more willing to give seats on foreign airlines.

BTW, my opinion is that using double miles for seats just isn't worth it for the usual flight.

I am an US Air FF and tried 2 years ago to use during Winter Break, to Orlando. I called 8 months out and was basically told nothing available. I tried different days but always the same answer. I finally said to an agent is there any suggestion you might make and he searched a little and said if you can leave a couple of days later and also stay a couple of days later and are willing to fly into Tampa instead of Orlando I have 2 seats available. So we did that it worked out fine and we actually stayed in Clearwater for 3 days, had never been to the Gulf Coast. You might aske them for alternative options. It will save you many phone calls.

There is absolutely nothing "new" about this except for one thing, Beach_dweller...after all this time you finally decided to redeem some miles and you found out what a lot of us have known for years..welcome aboard, Newbie..I know it hurts but basically it's true.

Intrepid1, did you get that bedside manner from watching House? Just kidding of course. At least I am in good company.

GoTravel,

I'll probably run a smaller marathon than NYC or Chicago. The big marathon experience at MCM was enough togetherness for me. I might try to talk my better half into Dublin in October.

I just booked a flight on AA using my husbands FF. I booked them on Monday for travel tomorrow (that's less than a week). I got the flights that I wanted. Only downside is they charged double the points. The person on the phone was extremely helpful and took alot of time to find flights that would work for me.

I think all newcomers to FF miles learn this the hard way.

We've gotten 4 FF tix, PHL to St. Thomas over spring break on USAir. The secret was booking early. If I book 9-10 months out, I almost always get what I want.

I don't think it's unusual for any airline not to have FF seats only one month out. I don't think anything USAir told the original poster was out of line. It's just how the "game" is played, and nothing to do with customer loyalty.

Beachdweller, USAir has flyers who earn 130,000 miles in ONE year (v. your 15).

While I have been frustrated at times trying to redeem my US Air FF miles with US Air, I have had reasonable luck with their code share partners. I was able to book on Lufthansa from the US to Italy with US Air FF miles.

Christine - it is my understanding that any airline will give you a FF seat for double points.

In my opinion, this would only be worth it to me if this was a really expensive flight.

Or if you just can't afford a ticket otherwise! If you already have the miles, and don't use them, that's a bigger waste than using them on an inexpensive ticket. This is especially true for people who rack up a majority of their miles on business travel they didn't pay for in the first place.

I have enough miles for 5 free tickets on US Air and have not been able to use them as the free flights are never available. Several months ago I gave up on US Air and got the Captial One card, which others have told me will get me a free ticket as long as there is a seat on the plane. I no longer use my US Air card, but hope to someday cash in the free tickets.

Ya I know about the double miles but am short on money at the moment. So in this situation it was best for me to use them. May not get used otherwise as we don't fly all that often for vacation--usually drive.

karens,

I appreciate your comment, and I know you are right about the current status of USAir's FF program.

But to clarify, I have redeemed my FF miles several times over the past 15 years, and until this last time, I had no problems whatsoever getting flights 1-3 months out. (And for this flight I did check in December for a March departure, not just one month out). So I think FF programs have changed quite a bit over the years. But I agree with your implied suggestion that I get with the program, so to speak, and jettison the past.

I see, beachdweller.

I view this from both sides of the fence. While we take several trips a year, it would take me a very long time on my own to earn a free flight. My husband is now a gold (but more often a silver) level FF. He puts up with a lot of hassles flying and I think he deserves the "perks".

While I would like to say we give our loyalty to USAir and deserve something in return, in reality, we live in Phila, a USAir dominated airport, so that is that we fly USAir. If we don't, we don't fly direct and we don't have the option of choosing b/w many different flights. I'm sure USAir knows our loyalty comes more from lack of choice than because we think they are such a wonderful airline. (They are not).

What did irk me was that a new USAir credit card gave the same boarding privilegs to the cardholders that a silver level FF has. I don't think it's fair that someone who signed up for a credit card last week gets the same boarding privileges as my husband, whose racked up 1,000s of miles (and 100s of delayed flights, uncomfortable flights, etc.). (NOTE: I think it's great to earn miles with a credit card - it's just I think people who fly 50,000-100,000 deserve some sort of privledge that a credit card holder should not).

Unfortunately, you need to learn how to play the FF game in order to benefit. I've had many friends say they don't bother any more b/c they can't redeem flights. It's truly not that big of a deal for us to book our vacations 10 months out. (I enjoy travel and the planning; I'm the type who knows where were going this summer - AND next summer). If you're more a "fly by the seat of my pants" type traveler, FF miles are not for you.

Karens,

well-said.

I feel your pain. I have been a loyal customer to Northwest Airlines for several years....only because they fly out of my airport to my usual destination in Europe....NOT because they are a great airline. I could curl your hair with stories of how they screwed me over and over. (Once, separating my seat from my 2 children on a transatlantic flight and shrugging of the "inconvenience" of it. I was on my own to beg passengers to change places with us.)
Anyway, I flew to Europe once a month for a year and a half and racked up plenty of FF miles with a "Platinum" status (does not help much of anything). I then tried to redeem FF miles to upgrade to first class on a transatlantic flight and was told that it was only possible to do if I first bought the most expensive domestic ticket (about $1500). THEN I could use 80,000 miles to upgrade (one way!). Since the cheap domestic tickets were only $500 at that time, I just could not justify wasting the extra 2 flights worth of money to upgrade.
I will say though that I have redeemed Northworst FF miles for several trips within the U.S. and once upgraded on a flight to Hawaii and have never had a problem getting seats for those trips. Delays, cancellations, lost luggage, and nasty airline personnel were another problem. I'm not surprised they are making minus profit.

I did take a final flight to Europe in February last year and got a "cheap" first class ticket for $1600 and so splurged. I was actually quite horrified at how the flight attendants absolutely kiss your ass in first class when they are the nastiest people back in the cattle car section. The difference is disgusting.

If Southwest airlines flew everywhere, I would ALWAYS fly them. Their FF program is absolutely awesome!

I just booked a non stop flight from SFO to Bos and return non stop with 25k miles on United. Booked Feb. 25th for a Sept. 26 flight. Only had miles for 1 so purchased a ticket for spouse on same flights for $338. All done on line and had no problems at all. Buck