USAir STINKS !!! Who to give our business to ???
 

Also posted in the "Airlines" forum...

After our Honduras trip, (award via Cancun) I am thinking about saying goodbye to this
very disfunctional airline. Not the first
of many messes, but they couldn't get us from OAK-
TUS and back without it being an all day process as well as switching us to Southwest because they could not make our PHX connection!!!! I mean, Good grief-this is a
hop, not India !!!

That's just one example....

So, who do you like for air travel ?
We will want continental US-MX-Central America- Caribbean-Europe possibilities.

Shall we flee to CO ? UAL ? AA ?

I've been to flyertalk, I would appreciate
hearing from Fodorites-

Thanks !

R5

Unfortunately, the last 3 times I have flown on 3 different airlines, that airline has become my new least favorite. I have in the last year vowed never to fly United, AA, or Air Tran again - but I know I will because choices are limited on many routes. Dealys, packed planes, ever-changing equipment and schedules, and customer non-service people seem to be the new reality.

My opinion is that even though no one wants to pay more for anything, we are getting what we pay for - a bad experience for a cheap fare.

There are two sides to every story which is probably why people still fly on USAirways.

USair is based in Phoenix, so of course it is going to be difficult to fly out of tiny Tucson airport. You picked a complicated connection from a second-tier airport, so why is this the airline's fault???

I disagree, Dukey. I think people fly USAirways b/c they are stuck with them.

I fly out of PHL where USAir is the predominant carrier. We can fly direct on USAir or connect with someone else. I've received better service and attitudes on Delta and United, but stick with USAir b/c of schedules and availability, not b/c I think it is a great airline.

In a recent Consumer Reports poll, USAir scored dead last, so there are quite a few people not very happy with USAir.

Article in today's Boston Globe saying airfares are on average 15% lower than last summer. Again, we are getting what we pay for. While some of the newer airlines are regularly rated higher in customer satisfaction, they serve financially profitable routes only - and one of the consequences of legacy airline financial problems is those of us flying less popular routes have even fewer options than before.

But put me alone on the USAirways relative happiness list, however. I dislike it less than I dislike several other airlines.

Have to agree with Karens on this one. I also fly out of Philly and if I didn't "have" to fly US Air I wouldn't. The service is usually awful, the flight attendents often surly and if they don't lose your baggage it's a miracle.

Just a week ago I flew to Frankfurt on Lufthansa and flew back from Frankfurt on US Air. There was a distinct difference.

"Flee" to whomever can get you wherever you want to go. We are at a major USAir hub and fly it all we can because it is a direct flight. I fly whatever gives me the cheapest fare.
In case you aren't "up" on the recent news, all carriers are suffering from lack of ontime performance. The airways are tres bizzy.
And they may have scored "dead last" recently after their merger with AirWest, but they are still flying--a good thing for the country. Air transportation is the closest thing we have to mass transit. it is pretty crucial.
AND they did put you on another airline just to get you home--seems as if they tried to accomodate you.
You must have been satisfied LONG enough with their service to get an award ticket or two.

I reside in CLT so my options are limited. However, over the course of time I would say that US Air is a middle-tier airline & I have expereinced few problems. If it is problems you seek, try Win-Air in the Caribbean. As mentioned prior, driving to PHX would have been preferred to trying to fly out of TUS, which severely limits your flight availability. Lufthansa IS one of (if not my) favorite airlines as well. Many things to consider when flying US Air include not flying on Fridays & not connecting in PHL or DC. You just won't be on time, or make your connections. These may be more a function of the airports than the airlines, however.

USAir isn't the problem....PHL is. PHL is an awful airport and I avoid it whenever possible. I also avoid EWR and LGA like the plague.

Wow, I heart US Airways and PHL. Seems like whenever I stray from either, I wind up with loooong delays. Longest delay I've had out of PHL so far was 40 minutes on arrival -- in a blizzard. That's compared to the two hours we circled over EWR during a bit of drizzle.

I agree with the poster who pointed out that US Airways put you on a different airline to complete your connection, which seems accomodating; many airlines would have simply put you up in an airport hotel until their next flight out was available.

Wow...I'm glad to hear someone likes Lufthansa. We're flying SW to LGA, taxi to JFK for int'l flight next week . I just trust SW over any domestic airline, plus they have the best FF program. After a near miss due to weather delays in LGA, they still got us on the last standby plane. Customer service...plus that of ATA affiliate...seems top priority to them. I'm sure Britney Spears wouldn't fly them, but I'll always stick with SW whenever possible.

Lufthansa is great, particularly if you have kids. They 'save' the bulkhead row seats for families w/small children. Several times we have had the entire row even though we didn't purchase a seat for our little one (those days are now past). + they are genuinely nice & considerate. I've only flown them from CLT-MUC but they have always been great.

I've had pretty good experiences with USAIR. I know that a lot of people complain about this airline but truly I have not experienced any problems flying with them. They are here in Syracuse and I've flown with them many time even through PHL and no problems what so ever. No delays either. I'll be flying with them through PHL on my way to Sweden in July and I hope they still please me. As far as the flight attendants they have been about the nicest people to fly with from my experience.

I always felt it was just fate if things went wrong with air travel, but my last flight (DCA to MSY for Jazzfest) on USAirways convinced me to put them on my naughty list.

The flight was cancelled at boarding time, with the plane sitting right at the gate, with no explanation at all. Just a loudspeaker announcement saying, the flight is cancelled. Then another announcement saying, sorry, we can't get you to New Orleans until next week(after Jazzfest, of course, the reason most of us were flying.)

The problem wasn't the cancellation. Things happen. I understand.

The problem was that they offered no solutions.

They put no extra agents on to help re-book, made no effort to help anyone, had us stand in line to try to rebook with all the people trying to check in, and generally didn't seem to care. At all.

My clever DH asked if they could put us on a flight to Pensacola where we have family, figuring we would borrow a car and drive to N.O. from there.

The closest they could get us was Mobile, the next day, so we missed a day or our vacation, were out for a night at the B&B that we didn't use but paid for, and had to pay for a car rental. Of course, the airline isn't liable for any of that.

Lucky for us we live in DC, because people from out of town were told they couldn't have hotel vouchers because of the cherry blossoms. Really? No rooms, even in Virginia? No help, no sympathy, just stone faced coldness.

Then, they didn't even do anything to help us get our luggage back. There truly was almost a riot, and the airport cops had to TELL them to make another announcement to let us know what was going on.

All in all, just the worst response to a cancelled flight I have ever scene.

My loyalty stays with AA. Sure they have cancellations, and late flights, like any other airline. But...whenever that has happened to us they seem to put forth effort to fix the problem and to actually want to find a solution beyond just "sorry" in a dead tone of voice, like USAir.

I love USAirways.

The airline I abhor is Delta and Spirit.

I really think it is 1/2 dozen of one and six of another.

All airlines suck in the customer service department because it isn't about the passenger any longer.

LLinda - I assume you're actually on ATA metal into LGA rather than a SW plane, but did want to mention that we've had very good experiences on LH. We've flown them 7 times in the last 3 years and have found service to be good (sometimes very good), very decent food, generous with drinks - though seats in coach are, well... seats in coach and pretty much like other airlines.

I've had problems with most of the major airlines too. Last time I flew on USAir into PHL they lost my luggage (although I have flown into PHL many times and have no problem with the airport). My bigger issue with USAir was the lousy attitude at the airport, not so much the fact that they lost my bag, which wasn't the end of the world.

I had a lousy experience with American over the Christmas holidays, where they truly acted like they didn't care about me the passenger. Actually, from now on I'm going to try to fly Southwest whenever I can, because I've never had a bad experience with them, and they do still seem to care about their passengers.

I received an email from USAir today and here is part of their letter
"So, first things first. You may be weary of us apologizing for the tough times we had this spring due to the migration of our reservations system, but here it is: We sincerely apologize for the numerous failures. After a pretty nice start to the merger we’ve learned some tough lessons through all this and received some very helpful advice from many of you, some of which we’re applying already and some of which is unprintable. So thank you for sticking with us as we climb back on the horse. "

It goes into more detail about the problems they are having and their planned solutions.

Don't know if this makes you feel any better, but at least they acknowledge they have problems and are working to correct them.

I have had bad experiences with USAir also and try not to fly with them.
I find Southwest Airlines to be reliable, generally friendly, and I like the open seating. The fares are very competitive.

Some people are nice and go out of their way to help you. Some people aren't and offer no help. In my experience, every airline hires both types. It's a crapshoot if you'll get good customer service. =)

For example, we were trying to get to NY the day after the northeast had a huge rainstorm and there were enormous delays. PHL- where we were supposed to connect- was still closed. Our USAir rep went the extra mile and more to reroute us to our destination. It was a quick trip and coming home we ran into the lingering delays; when we asked the USAir rep in PHL for help- nada. Same airline, different people, different outcome.

I've had awful experiences with United, AA, Delta, Northwest. I've loved Southwest and guess what? The nearest airport they fly out of is 4 hours from me.

dfr Yes, flting SW into Midway, then the affiliate to LGA. Only negative about that is that you can get your SW boarding pass 24 hours in advance, but when you switch to their connecting service, you have to get boarding pass separate. Since it's usually just a short hop, it doesn't really matter where we sit.

As I said earlier, there are two sides to every story.

I've had as much "bad luck" with USAirways as with other airlines but just because someone ELSE has had problems that doesn't mean I agree that an airline is "disfunctional" (sic) or that i am going to give my business to someone else at the expense of lower cost flights, better schedules, etc.

you're right dukey - and even thou we complain we keep going back because of the cheap fares, etc.

My most memorable USAir flight was several years ago flying into PHL.

We land, taxi interminably, get to the gate and then come to a sudden stop. Then the pilot comes on the PA and announces that we'll actually pull up to the gate "when that idiot jackass driver decides he's had a long enough break and moves his truck which is blocking our gate." Then we waited 20 minutes until the idiot jackass driver did just that.

OK gang-one example of the disfunctional is making us sit in PHX for three hours-no explaination why- with an ever changing target of departure, finally letting us board (and sitting there while it's about 100 degrees on the tarmac) and then again delaying the flight another hour because some tech person thought they needed to "download data"-yes sir, I'd love to hear the other side of all that !

And, MikeT, this is no complicated connection- PHX-TUS, TUS-PHX, been doing it my entire life and nothing tricky about it-USAir has trumped all my travel experience on this (and every other flight segment)segment with
just plain crummy service-their fare should offer a "drive to TUS" option,
LOL!

Yes karens, the only reason we stuck with them is because we are stuck with previous mileage from America West-which was so much better an airline for us-it's tragic that America West bailed out these bankrupt losers !

Southwest will serve our continental US
needs, but not MX, Caribbean, & Europe
so perhaps we'll have to split it up.

I got yet another USAir-merger-yeah-we're making-alot-of mistakes-e-mail this AM, and I don't care what school of business Doug Parker went to
he's making a mess of this airline-I do wonder how he'll do with the pilots
problems waiting in the wings.

So, anyone else want to offer up their
good experiences with any of the majors that travel or partner to the places we fly ? India is on the "list"
for 2010, BTW.

Thanks to those that have been helpful!

R5

I like jetblue, Midwest, and Southwest. They scored 1,2, and 3 in this latest survey, not a surprise. Once we had four huge suitcases and a bunch of carryons (moving a college kid back from the East Coast to the West Coast) and jetblue was sooo cheerful about the whole thing - amazing! :) The Southwest flight attendants can have such an outrageous sense of humor! :)

I dislike United first and foremost. Am so-so on the other big carriers like Delta, AA, or USAir and try not to fly any of them if at all possible.

Last Christmas I flew to Hawaii on ATA for the first time ever on this airline and they weren't bad at all. So ATA goes on my positive list.

One of the above posters is correct, it's not just the airlines, it's also the airport. I also try to avoid Philly, Chicago O'hare, Dallas (yes, Texas is big, but does one have to walk MILES just to get from one gate to another?).

For overseas travel, I will generally pick a foreign airline. They are usually better than the US airlines.

R5: hope your next trip will be a much more pleasant experience! :)

I am a loyal AA customer. Over 1 million miles and not one problem!!!

razzle - if Mexico, Carribbean, Europe and India are on your list, try CO. They fly to all of those places. We fly them a lot. Haven't had any major problems (at least none that weren't resolved satisfactory)

They're all bad these days.

I used to live in Philadelphia, so flying US was the obvious choice. I didn't find it that bad, but that was a few years ago.

Now I live in Dallas, so I'm stuck with AA. I haven't had much problems with it either, but if you read the AA forum over at Flyertalk, you'll see just the same kind of complaints.

The problem with airlines now is they've cut services and flights, so now each plane is fully loaded. If a plane gets cancelled (either mechanical or weather-related), it's much harder to be put on the *next* flight because the *next* flight is full. And it's even worse if you're flying to/from a non-hub city.

I've had very good luck with Alaska.

ET, thanks-your good humor has brightened my day.

dfr4848-CO is a definite possibility !

TX-My SIL votes for AA as well.

frankie-thanks, we'll have to explore
Alaska's routes.

yk-I guess that's the new reality of flying instead of the bad dream I wished it was.

I did send a very detailed complaint to USAir and will be shocked if I hear anything
back, LOL !

Thanks again for all of your help everyone !

R5

Just for a note for those who think Lufthansa is so great - don't go on a ski trip w/ them thinking you're going to bring your skis. You wouldn't believe the hoops my ski group had to jump thru this past January just to bring skis to a ski destination with Lufthansa. They are getting more and more difficult to deal with. For my money, I love Virgin Air. Great service, great food,great prices and believe it or not, they still give out those complimentary plastic duffle bags with socks, toothbrush, eye mask, etc. Hard to believe!! Too bad they don't fly into PHL. I'd forget USAir and Lufthansa and use them exclusively if only I could (SIGH)!

I fly USAir frequently, have for years, and I've never had a problem with the airline.

In fact, I like USAir and would certainly choose it over Southworst or Northworst or AA or United or ....

I live in Pittsburgh and for the last decade at least I have always flown US Airways simply for the reasons of availibility and avoiding connections. The flight attendants often seem to hate their jobs, and food and comfort is the bare minimum in my opinion. I flew Delta and NW and both are much better airlines, with the exception the NW planes are quite dated. i would not fly USAir if I didn't have to. Thankfully, airlines like Southwest, Midwest and JetBlue are coming into PIT, as USAir is taking PIT from hub to 'focus city'.

I wouldn't say I hate USAir. I actually am very appreciative of the FF program. My family has flown for free to St. Thomas, San Diego, San Francisco, and Denver twice. It's hard to hate a company that's given us those perks. (Although it is getting harder and harder to use those miles...)

PHL does seem to be its biggest problem. Living here, I am so thankful I do not have connect through here. My husband has been on so many flights where they land and then have to wait for a gate to open. As they wait, more and more people onboard start to miss their connections. It must be so frustrating to miss your flight knowing you are AT the airport.

Speaking of "stinking", the last few times that we've flown Southwest the bathrooms have REEKED. My husband came out once and the foul odor had actually attached itself to HIM, we couldn't even go eat at our destination. He smelled like a bum. What's up with this? Has anyone else experienced this problem?

Is there any airline today that doesn't stink?

We joined AA's frequent flyer program in 1989 because they flew to the most places we might want to go. They are not perfect, but, where other airlines have had turmoil, bankruptcies, gone out of business, American just keeps chugging along. They dominate the routes to the Caribbean, MX, and they or their partners fly most other places. When an airline has an extensive network to an area such as the Caribbean, a missed or cancelled flight can be made up more quickly when there are more flights coming or more aircraft available. American is the most consistent airline around.

I use US Air for Seattle to Puerto Vallarta (transfers Phoenix) because they have the best routing, times, and prices. They have done OK for me two trips recently. No snags at all. I'm not sure I would trust them for a more complicated or longer trip because of their reputation.

I fly British Air for Europe, and Hawaiian Air for Hawaii in answer to the original question.