USAir STINKS !! Take business to which carrier ?
 

After our Honduras trip, (award via Cancun) I am thinking about saying goodbye to this
very disfunctional airline. Not the first
of many messes, but they couldn't get us from OAK-
TUS and back without it being an all day process as well as switching us to Southwest because they could not make our PHX connection!!!! I mean, Good grief-this is a
hop, not India !!!

That's just one example....

So, who do you like for air travel ?
We will want continental US-MX-Central America- Caribbean-Europe possibilities.

Shall we flee to CO ? UAL ? AA ?

I've been to flyertalk, I would appreciate
hearing from Fodorites-

Thanks !

R5

If you like Latin America, then American is probably the right airline for you.

Where are you based at?

rkkwan-SFO or OAK-we live a good 2 hours
(as the traffic crawls)north of either.
Prefer SFO-have you got any ideas ?

Thanks,
R5

razzle, I share your feelings concerning US. They are, by far, the WORST of the legacy carriers! If you think they're bad now, you should have flown them in the Allegheny (or, as I refer to them, "Agony") days.

Try CO. They have a strong Central American network (via IAH) and they're continuing to build a strong network in Europe (via EWR). While their Caribbean network is not as strong as AA, they do reach most of the major destinations (again, via EWR). Plus, their OnePass frequent flyer program is one of, if not the last of the legacy programs that do not have an expiration date for accrued miles, and their service is, IMO, one of the best for the US legacy carriers.

I would like to promote Continental, but they don't have a strong presence at SFO, with flights only to IAH, EWR and CLE.

But you can earn miles and CO's EQM on Alaska, which can take care of your West Coast and certain Mexico travel.

Another problem is that most of CO's flights to Europe depart from EWR, and it's a long narrow-body flight between SFO and EWR. They do partner with Virgin, so SFO-LHR on Virgin may work.

Air France is another partner that can earn you Onepass miles, and they fly SFO-CDG non-stop. [Only issue is that discount coach tickets only earn 50% EQM, if elite status is important to you.]

If SFO is your favorite then UA should be your choice. They are a major player at your home port and could get you to all the above listed destinations with zero or 1 connection. UA considers AA as the main competitor so whatever AA does, UA will match (in most cases). Their FF program is good, award availibilty is above average, and many good partners in the StarAlliance.

If you gain ANY status with UA, you will be able to pick seats in the Economy+ section for free. Although still economy service, you will get an extra 4-5 inches of space in front of you. Makes a big difference during long flights.

But UA isn't strong in Mexico, Caribbean or Central America.

Anyways, UA and US are partners, and as mentioned, the dominant carrier at SFO. So, the OP can easily try them out with little to lose, by continuing to get miles into Dividend Miles.

I would probably go with Alaska as they have excellent west coast coverage, numerous codeshares and mileage plan partnerships with American, Delta, Northwest and Continental, and an excellent FF program in which you can obtain status fairly easily. Internationally, they partner with AA, BA, Qantas, KLM, Air France and Lan, so your bases are well covered on that front, too.

Also don't forget that Virgin America is homeported at SFO and will be flying pretty soon.

Living in Chicago, I can tell you United is awful. They cancel flights much more often that AA, you can never get an upgrade, and forget trying to rebook when something does go wrong (they don't have enough employees).

We love AA. Used to be FF w/ UA, but quit that after 911 when their service tanked.

AA has many, many routes in Central and South America.

I hate to say it, but I am with you. After the merger of America West and Usair I was hopeful that they would stabilize and customer service would rebound, but the opposite has occurred. From friends that work there, I have been warned to go elsewhere. Their new CEO apparently has the view that you can do anything to the customer if the tickets are cheap enough. At least out of SFO you have lots of choices, out of PHL you're talking connections. Also, apparently it's just going to get worse, their labor unrest is just growing. I was at the airport the other day and I have never seen such unhappy employees. My last three flights with them have all been delayed. It's just no fun to fly them anymore, but I am shrinking from Southwests cattle car. MOO!