late to the thread, here, but think you made a wise decision; we have often used us air to go overseas, and those flights were fine, but the transfers in Philly are/have been murder. We've paid an embarrasing amount of money NOT to connect in Phil. just to get a direct flight to Mexico! Now, due to using ff miles, we are going through Phil to get to Lisbon in May and keeping fingers crossed that we don't end up sprawled on the floor as our young children did back in August, when we spent longer waiting for our flight back to Pittsburgh than in transatlantic transit!!!! Good luck to you and to us!

Nobody can ever tell you what is going to happen.

the last time we connected on Continental from Europe through EWR we ended up stranded there for 8 hours; the last time we connected thru PHL on USAirways we made it home on time

and both of these happened within the same six months so best of luck and hopefully, you didn't pay a LOT more for the chance to be disconnected.

Wanderful,

UsAir got me to and from France ahead of schedule in July 2008!

beeze. How did you get ff tickets to Lisbon in May on US Airways.
I tried and tried but couldn't get anywhere.
So we are also going in May but from EWR on TAP a Star Alliance partner using US Airways miles.

True, Dukey, and we are hoping the USair dice roll favorably this time. We've never had a problem with the transatlantic limbs of our trips, just the connections stateside. On a brief international trip with three small kids, though, we didn't want to take a chance, so felt it worth the peace of mind to fly direct.
Sher, I was just reading your posts this morning(!);the Lisbon threads have been especially helpful--I've printed up a wad of tips and after I've pored over them properly, expect to get some advice from you guys.... As for our seats, we just made reservations Jan 29, choosing our travel dates based on the first date they had dividend seats available for us. This was for two business div. seats and one div. coach--the other couple had way more miles than we did, and I had to buy my seat in Coachland with my husband. We got the tickets the 31st. I wish I knew how the allocation of seats to ff users is scheduled, assuming there is some system, but in our case it was sheer good luck, I guess. Hope to hear more from you on the Portugal boards! Penny

Hi wanderful: I found your post and your subsequent action to be quite ironic given my most recent experiences.

We rarely check luggage, but my daughter was returning to her year abroad and needed more than a week's worth of possessions. We decided to book our flights overseas to go through JFK rather than PHL. The last time she flew overseas, PHL had indeed lost it.

USAirways/PHL lost my luggage (only checked that because I was bringing home wine) on a flight home the previous time. For this trip and for her needs, we were willing to pay a premium just to avoid the hassle, but luckily the JFK flight sequence worked.

As we were boarding our flight in JFK, my daughter started laughing. "Did you notice? No one yelled at us". Indeed no one in security had screamed incessantly, which has certainly been the standard in PHL. We had no problems retreiving our luggage at our destination.

On my return home, I can't say the entry people were giving out hugs, but no one was abusive (especially to non-English speakers!) the way PHL is.

In any case, my daughter and I are now resolved: we will never fly through PHL again if we can possibly avoid it.

Totally off topic:I also have to find a way to thank an American Airlines representative at JFK. I was struggling to make a connecting flight and was too late to check my large suitcase. She personally walked me through security so that I could gate check it.

US Airways is as good as any other domestic carrier. As others say, buy the best fare and go.

Penny. I am dumbfounded. I checked so often from last September to try to get tickets.
I called US Airways. This is always tricky as you never know if you will be able to understand the person on the phone or if they know what you are asking.
I stopped in when I was flying at the Special Services desk and Nada.

They kept telling me seats were not released yet. I finally got seats because you can join Al Nippon as a frequent flyer and when you sign in to their site, they give you Star Alliamce availibility for where you want to go and there were the seats!

I think you will like Portugal. Have you decided on an itinerary yet? How long will you be able to stay?

Author: DinPa
>>>Saw alot of people getting on board with "airline" wheelchairs, who then proceeded to walk to their seats. Oh, by the way, they didn't use the wheelchair to get off the plane! >>>>>

Just a note here DinPa, a lot of people who have mobility issues don't use or need a wheelchair all the time, but request one for the airport.

The long distance between terminals and the endless lines without the ability to sit down can be very difficult for people with heart problems, breathing issues, arthritis, or joint problems.

Just because you can't see their disability doesn't mean that they don't need or deserve a wheelchair.