Southwest Airline To Land In Pittsburgh
 

Beginning in May 2005, Southwest Airlines has announced it will begin service at Pittsburgh International Airport.

I also posted this on the US Forum. But I thought that it will be of interest for those of us in Pittsburgh. It may open up some flights and make foreign travel a little easier if we can get to Philadelphia or DC where we would have more choice on some East Coast International fares.

This will really kill US Airways, I think.

Hope it works out for you, Sher! SW has always been one of our favorites! Trouble is, is doesn't go anywhere I want to go from Orlando!

GO STEELERS!!

Hi, Sher, how are you doing with your plans for Portugal?

I'm still in dilemma over my trip, too, especially since I have invited a couple to go with us who will undoubtedly not book with USAirways.

Southwest may help us, as you point out, but probably not in time for your or my trip.

Hi Grandmere. I have reserved two places to stay for the trip. One with a credit card and one with a deposit. The second apartment is on hold, but the lady cannot make up her mind how she wants the deposit sent. I hate to send a bank transfer because of the extra expense and also a refund if we have to cancel. I really do not expect a refund.
This situation has taken the wind out of my sales for planning on the sightseeing end. All of the itinerary is planned with the places to sleep. I haven't been reading about the places we want to see in depth because I can't seem to get up the energy for what may be a lost cause.
We are going around the same time, aren't we?
I think this thing will go on a little too long for us to get new tickets. We planned this trip with the idea of free airfare and really didn't budget for buying tickets.
I guess it is wait and see.

Not surprising news since USAirways sometime ago announced it was going to be getting pretty much out of Pittsburgh and it would no longer be a hub city. I doubt this will "kill" the airline..there are too many creditors and entities who want it to stay in business. You may be one of those people too if Southwest has no competition and the fares start to go up.

Sher, we really are in the same boat (airplane?) re this. I have reservations at one place, but just can't muster up the energy to go full throttle ahead when there's such a great chance this trip won't take place. --And if it does, there we are w/o reservations at places I want. Whine, whine!

I understand, much too late, that I probably could have bought travel insurance thru www.insuremytrip.com soon after I bought our tix; too late now. Must be done w/in 7-21 days of purchasing tix, depending upon the ins. co.

I've even thought of buying tix on another airline, but they are very expensive for May this year; even expensive for March. In May all airlines are over $600 (inc. USAirways!)--seems like a lot for May; I've never paid that much before to CDG.

Grandmere. Do you know if you can purchase travel insurance on frequent flyer tickets? I didn't think that was possible. I know you paid for one of your tickets and only one is with ff miles.

USAirways execs will know late today if liquidation on 15 January is inevitable.
M

Sher, I don't know about that; I kind of doubt there'd be any insurance that would cover ff tix; however, I did have to pay ~$56 to use my ff points--maybe that would count, if one were already insuring tix that were bought outright. Both your tix are ff-ers?

Mikemo, that is interesting news. Will the public soon be told the outcome of that mtg? And if it doesn't happen this month, is this something that will have to be reworked everything month until. .. ?

That is terrific, especially if US Air goes under. I hope they fly nonstop from PIT to my home town.

The judge has ruled that contracts with the machinists can be voided.
A strike was threatened if this happened so we will see.
I have some sympathy with people whose pensions are chopped and salaries are cut. But where will they go if this airline folds? It isn't as if United Delta or Continental are healthy.
The Southwests of this country cannot absorb a fraction of the people who will be put out of work if US Airways folds.
Grandmere. Yes, both of our tickets are ff.
Travelinwifey. Non of the carriers that have recently come into Pit have helped me with trips to New YOrk, the city I most frequently fly into. Airtran did give us some opportunity to get to the Big Apple for a while, but lost their gate at Laguardia. I would love if Southwest would go North instead of just West. Or since they are now in Philadelphia, I would settle for East from here.

Insuring FF tickets: as far as my research goes, it can't be done. One company was doing it, but I believe they went out of business. I've spent a lot of time researching this and it doesn't seem possible. But, if someone knows something I don't, I would love to know about any possibility of insuring FF tickets.

Southwest in the 'burgh: I can't see how it will help those of us wanting to fly to Pittsburgh. Yes, they may go to Philadelphia, but USAirways is, I think, the only airline flying from Philadelphia to Italy, and maybe several other European cities. So, unless Southwest flys to JFK or Newark, or Boston (none of these are Southwest cities), I don't see how Southwest can help the awful plight that we Pittsburghers who want to fly to Europe are facing.

On the other hand, this will be great for my cousin in Fort Lauderdale, who flys SW for business all the time. She will probably be able to come see us in Pittsburgh on one of her reward tickets.

oops: that should have been "I can't see how this will help those of us wanting to fly to Europe from Pittsburgh"

so sorry

Tuscanlifeedit. I was hoping that a Philadelphia connection would help with Air France. Or maybe they no longer fly to Europe. But that is not Italy. It would still mean a double connect through Paris.
The only hope we have gotten lately is International Air. They fly to the D.C area and then we can connect with Lufthansa. But aren't they failing too?

Have any of you other 'Burghers heard anything about the possibility of Lufthansa coming to PIT if USAirways folds? There was a bit in paper about it a couple of months ago.

Because for many people there is certainly more at stake here in the USAirways situation than easy access to Europe, it does seem self-absorbed to be complaining about this; however, it sure will make traveling from PIT a lot more difficult. Just commiserating. . .

Hi Sher, yes, USAIR is very good for us because they have the most convenient nonstop flights between Las Vegas and PIT:) And when we are lucky we can fly round trip for around $200, so I really don't want them to go under.

I fly US Airways whenever I can. It supports the local economy. Also, we do get great connections from PIT with the carrier. Of course, some flights have been chopped since the new schedules. I never thought the fares were tremendous, but I have been happy with the connections. US Airways was the best choice for a long time. It isn't as if we have many airlines to choose from here.
The one thing I hated about flying to Europe with them is the connection through Philadelphia. If you call for tickets, they agents always seem to route us through Philadelphia. We have gotten stuck there more than once. Even when booking on their site, it seems Philadelphia was the only choice.

But, I still would like to see them come out of this.

Grandmere. I didn't hear anything about Lufthansa.