I need to fly roundtrip from Boston to Utah. America West Airlines comes up with a competitive rate on my search, but I don't know anything about them -- reliability, reputation, etc. Please help. Thanks!

Hey Eileen:

I used to fly America West all the time, but that was about seven years ago. They were okay then, but have had a lot of financial problems. I think that they and Continental are now jointly owned. What I liked about America West was how easy it was to rack up miles and upgrades. Plus, they have hubs in cool places like Vegas and D.C., and have a liberal policy on stopovers--that is, I could choose to skip my Vegas connection, fool around for a while, and then take a later flight, with no penalty.

On the other hand, America West regularly leads all airlines in monthly percentage of customer complaints--and by a wide margin.

The point is, I guess, is that you'll get there--but you'll likely be late.

I have flown a few times with AM WEST and will never fly with them again. Had nothing but problems from missing my connecting flight to rude employees. NW or Contential is much better.

I have used America West a few times- and once just recently. They are using the NW / Continental terminals now at O'Hare and in Reno NV. Our tickets even had CONTINENTAL on them. I wasn't delayed any more than on any other airline this summer. In fact, we had a very nice crew both times. I would only take them if remaining on the same plane for the next leg of your journey. If you have to switch planes there are too many factors that could delay you. Had some good advise from a pilot; if you leave in the mornings you will have a much better chance of getting off on time. The pm flights everywhere seem to be delayed further by extensive taxi time- was his observation. It's better than ATA, I think.

Eileen, I have to add my complaints about America West. I've flown with them (I think) only four or five different times, and all have been miserable. In particular they are terrible for cross country travel, as their routes are sevral short hops cobbled together (I changed planes three times between LA and Boston!)

I just started to tell two different terrible stories, and they were so long winded I deleted them! Suffice to say that you will suffer all the same indignities you've come to expect with other airlines, but you'll change planes more often! I have finally made my last trip.

I've flown AWA at least 50-60 times over the past 10+ years.
I haven't found anything about their product/services to rant about. No more delays than American/United/Delta.
Planes same as any major carrier. Nice terminal in PHX.
I've read the customer satisfaction polls over the years as well. I just haven't run into any problems myself.

Absolutely the worst airline - ever! I have too many tales to tell about them in this very short space.

Eileen, I've flown AW a number of times . This particular airline has it's good and bad points. They have the best rates flying from the East coast to the West coast. I've also gotten several free trips from them because of their notorious practice of overbooking. For some travelers this is good, for many others this is bad. The cleaning people could also do a better job of cleaning their planes. All in all, I would say that AW is NOT very reliable if you really need to be somewhere on a particular day and time. I realize that these things happen but the last time I flew with them, they had overbooked the plane by 19 people. I made out by volunteering to get bumped but many others just can't do that. So, if the price is right and you're not to pressed for time, fly them. I can't imagine all of their flights being screwed up.

We call that company America Worst Airlines in my family!

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AWA is no better or worse than any other airlines, IMO. I was booked on a business flight last May (within Calif), and the return flight was overbooked by about 20 people. I voluntarily bumped myself, and got a free flight.

I used the free flight a couple of months later on a flight from Calif to Wisconsin. We only had to change planes once, at their hub in PHX. Had no problems, and arrived on time both on the flights to Wisconsin and back to Calif.

I just flew AWA again on another business flight earlier this week. We were 10 mins late leaving Orange County - no biggie. For the return flight, our plane had mechanical difficulties, but they swapped planes, and although we were late getting back, we did get back. (Orange County closes at 11:00pm, and we could actually feel the pilot increase speed mid-air to make it to the airport before closing.

For the price, one cannot expect a luxury flight. But, overall, I've been OK with them. At least they've never lost my luggage, as NorthWest did. (one airline I REFUSE to fly on EVER again!)

Over-booking is the least of your worries when you fly this company! I'd flip a coin between riding a Greyhound Bus or flying AWA.

Thanks for the input. I thought I would compare rates between Northwest and America West and since there really wasn't much difference, I looked at the stopover cities. Given the fact that we're flying in Dec. and since America West has layovers in AZ and Northwest has layovers in cold weather cities, what about those factors?
Thanks!

Eileen:

If I remember correctly, Northwest's hubs are Memphis, Minneapolis, and Detroit; America West's are Phoenix, Vegas, and Columbus. I think your only concern in December would be Minneapolis, so a long as your planning avoids that, there really isn't much difference between the two, is there?

Now for all those America West detractors out there, I'd like to know if anyone has anything complimentary to say about Northwest.
I haven't had any problems with AW, but of the perhaps 12-14 times I've flown NW I've been delayed at least 3 times, cancelled once (forced to stay overnight against my will) and haven't noticed many happy employees.
Customer satisfaction surveys commonly place NW at or near the bottom, and on this one I agree.

Guess we all have different experiences with different airlines. We fly Northwest lots and have not had any problems at all and have never been more than 15 minutes late and usually are early. We also fly into and out of Mpls. many times during the year and have never been delyed by weather but have been delayed by weather in many other spots (Chicago, Detroit, Salt Lake City, Kansas City and Denver), so can't assume that Mpls. weather will cause problems. We do business in MN and have rarely had any weather delays at all, even in the winter. Have had more trouble with Delta, American and United Airlines than we have ever had with Northwest.

While I've not flown NW, I've been forced to fly AWA several times and never (I'll repeat) never had a good experience with AWA. I've been delayed and canceled from Pheonix & Vegas so unfortunately, weather should not be factor for consideration. Consider taking the bus before flying AWA!

For god sakes...don't do it. AWA consistently has had the worst on-time performance (>50%) and overbooking stats in the industry for the past year or two (though UA seems to be giving them a run for the money). I used to fly them about 25 times per year. No more. They SUCK.

topper ([email protected]

Regarding Northwest:

Our family of four had a Christmas eve flight to Sacramento last year. I called 3 hours before the flight to see if it was leaving on time and they told me that the flight we were connecting to in Minneapolis was canceled and it was not possible to get to Sacramento until the next day, Dec. 25, and NW would get us there then. I said that was not acceptable, and, complainingly, they transferred us to an America West flight that got us to Sacramento just 2 hours after our originally scheduled NW flight. Wonder what would have happened if we had driven to the airport without calling first?

In our case, America West saved the day!