Redeeming USAirways FF miles
 

Just "for fun" I put some dates in for flight PIT-CDG (USAirways) and seems like there are about 3 days between now and next May that I could actually use them, and then maybe not find a return date. I've never seen it quite so filled up; do you other USAirways folks find there are fewer and fewer ff seats available nowadays?

What with having to fly through PHL (and we had same experience returning in May as posters on that thread--not a good scene), I am thinking of changing my loyalties (and credit card) to Continental since nothing is direct from PIT now anyway. I think maybe USAirways is the only airline that requires only 40,000 miles during low season, but if I can't get a seat,it really doesn't matter.

We have had the same troubles trying to use our USAIR FF miles. I recently spent a few hours on the phone with the rep. having her check multiple dates for travel. And I was only looking for one seat!

Have you considered using the miles to upgrade as opposed to getting a "free" seat?

Part of the problem is that so many people with USAir FF miles raced to use them up.

Are you doing this online or by phone? I was able to get tickets on partner airlines ( United & Lufthansa,& BMI) by calling USAir directly and speaking to a real person.

Godd luck

If I had firm plans for a trip, I would pull out all the stops to find a ff seat (or upgrade--that sounds nice!), but I was just idly surfing about. Of course, there's always some plan on the back burner of my mind! :-)

Thanks, all!

<but if I can't get a seat,it really doesn't matter.>

Actually, if you don't have plans to take trip...you don't need a seat.

I'm not looking to be rude, but if you weren't planning on booking a seat and aren't planning a trip.....why did you post?

If you think USAir is bad in getting seats, you won't find CO any better.

With airlines filling up 80+ % of their seats, and in some cases cutting capacity, FF seats are going to be hard to find, unless you're very flexible with your travel plans.

Also, do USAir.com show UA flights for travel to Europe? Keep in mind you can also take BMI, SAS and Lufthansa You'll need to call to get those seats, but you have more options than you think.

When I last booked a trip to Europe (France) using miles, I called a rep at USAir to find dates that made sense for us. I worked with "sometime from Mid April through May" or "September through October" for a 13-16 day trip we ended up flying into London on April 15 and home from Paris on the 30th. If you are flexible and can work with a good agent over the phone, you are likely to come up with a good plan. Once you've got the flights worked out, you'll have to start planning in ernest. (I also had no luck with the first agent I talked to, but called at a different time on another day and got someone who was terrific.)

I agree with what a pain it is to fly through PHL -- I kept thinking next time I'd be better off driving to Philly and parking there and driving home from there rather than subject us to those horrible international-to-national connection headaches. (Last year we flew British Airways and avoided PHL completely, which was a joy.)

Dick, I said I was looking "for fun" and went on to ask if others were having the same experience with USAirways.

And the "if I can't get a seat it really doesn't matter" referred to it not mattering whether the seat takes 40,000 or 50,000 miles if I can't find use the miles.

Geez........it's really getting brutal around here. I was going to ask a question but I'll just keep watching till someone else asks it....and let them get slapped around.

Larry J

Grandmere. I used some ff miles from US Airways on our trip to Portugal in May.
I started a year in advance, booked with United and still could not get the dates I wanted.
I think it is happening on all ff tickets.
The problem with booking PIT to anywhere on the internet is that we almost never have any choice but to fly through Philadelphia, even though there are other choices...like through Boston. But when the schedules come up, there is Philadelphia as almost the only choice.
And as far as looking for fun , it makes sense to see what choices you might have if you aren't set on a particular destination but would go to any one of several.

The secret to getting tickets using FF miles is to call a year ahead. I have miles on Delta, and called to find out when they were booking tickets through (usually about 330 days ahead). I had dates in mind, and checked early in April to see exactly what days they were booking through. The day they opened flights through March 9, I booked the outbound. I had to call back every two weeks to extend the hold, then on the date they opened April 13, booked my return. Got two business class tickets.

I had originally tried (in March) to get tickets for any dates in October or November, going into any one of several cities...no dice! Tickets, particularly to Europe, are just very very limited, unless you are willing to use double miles to get around capacity controls. I don't think this is limited to one airline...I think they are all the same.

Anne

LarryJ - Ask it on the airline board, and I'll see if I can answer you there. It's a little less "brutal" over there. :D