grandmere

The travel section of Washington Post has some suggestions as to how to handle possible bankruptcy of USAirways if you have tix, ff miles, etc.

TopMan

The summary seems to be (all all of this is based on the SUPPOSITION that the company will eventually go into Chapter 7 total liquidation)

1. If you ahve FF miles in the program, ujse them up now.

2. Booking flights on USAirways between now and the end of the year may, or may not be, a safe thing to do; definitely not after the 1st of the year.

3. If possible, use FF miles on PARTNER airlines and not on USAirways.

Will they file for bankruptcy again? Nobody knows for sure. Will they liquidate within six months; nobody knows for sure.

Betsy

Grandmere, I saw this article (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...2004Aug18.html) but nothing about tix and FF mile suggestions. Could you post the URL for that info?

Christina

The article was yesterday, not 8/18, and this is it

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...2004Aug20.html

Topman summarized it nicely though -- that's about what you should do for any airline in serious financial trouble, use up your FF miles ASAP and don't buy tickets far in the future. If you do buy tickets and it's a major investment, consider travel insurance, but make sure it will cover it as many won't cover bankruptcies or list specific airlines they won't. Some insurance won't cover airlines that have a high probability of going under, which makes sense, of course.

Betsy

Thanks Christina. The article above is much more specific than the one I found. I'm considering using USAirways for a trip to Italy in April because from SF their schedule (no weird departure/arrival times) and changing planes in Philadelphia instead of LHR or CDG appeals to me. Guess I'll need to follow the situation closely.

Suki

I don't know how I missed US Air's potential bankruptcy, but about 3 weeks ago I booked 4 tickets to Rome for next March ($526 rt - I thought this was a pretty good price.)Oh well, everyone think a good thought for me. I'd hate to be out the $2,100 and left with no tickets.

Betsy

Suki, what city are you flying from, and what was the source of your tickets at that price?

Suki

Betsy, we are flying direct from Philadelphia, and my source was US Air. I only hope that they will still be flying.

GAC

Suki: you be flying on a brand new Airbus 330-300, with 2-4-2 seating in coach and personal video screens.

Suki

GAC, thanks for that info. Not first-class, but nice.

Betsy

Thanks, Suki. I'd love to find a $550 or less fare from SFO in April. The Airbus doesn't sound too bad either.