Boycott USAir !!

[DH4816]

I fly about 100,000 miles a year for work. USAir is the worst. They lose bags left and right. I once took a direct flight from Pittsburgh to DC and they lost then entire plane load of luggage, took 4 days for my bag to get to me.

Sorry you had the bad experience, unfortunately that is the norm with air travel these days.

DH

 

[Glenn70]

Went online to use dividend miles to purchase a round-trip ticket. I needed 12,500 miles for the outgoing flight, and 25,000 miles for the return flight.

(My first question is: Why does a flight between the same two airports use twice as many miles?)

I was 5500 miles short, and they wouldn't charge my credit card the difference. They made me "buy" miles, to the tune of 2.5 cents per mile, plus a $25 "processing fee."

(OK, I'm getting a little pissed here, but fine, it's $185, so here's the credit card info...)

Now they tell me I have to wait up to 72 hours for the miles I bought to "post" to my account. Grrrrr.

The miles posted today (after 48 hours) so I tried to reserve the same flights, only to discover that the outgoing flight, which was "priced" at 12,500 miles only two days earlier, was now "priced" at 25,000 miles, meaning that I would have to "buy" an additional 12,500 miles - also at 2.5 cents per mile, and yet another $25 "processing fee," or book an alternate flight (which is impossible.)

WHY? Their answer was that the seat (one seat!!!) that was available for 12,500 miles had been taken. The fact that they wouldn't post the miles to my account the SECOND THEY CHARGED MY CARD, and made me wait until the seat had been taken by someone else, just didn't matter to them.

ARE THEY FREAKING KIDDING ME !!! WHAT KIND OF A RIDICULOUS SCAM ARE THEY TRYING TO RUN HERE?

I will NEVER fly USAir again. I'm calling my credit card company and filing a dispute.

They can keep their miles, and kiss my ass.

This won't help you now, but you should consider switching airlines to Continental if you can ( if they fly out of the closest airport to you ). I only fly Continental and am very happy with them. I fly over 50K miles a year. I recently booked a flight using reward miles. I had the same situation you had, flight out was 10K miles, the return was 25K. But they only charged me $5 fee, AND I was able to confirm my seat as soon as they deducted the miles. No 48hrs. That is a scam and it is BS.

Sooner or later I'm sure Continental will charge for the first bag and the coke and peanuts on the plane, but for now they aren't, so I can't think of a better reason to avoid an airline like US Airways. Don't forget, these are the same clowns that discharged a gun on a flight back in March. Pilot's gun discharges on US Airways flight 7:19 AM | Local News | News for Charlotte, North Carolina | WCNC.com | Top Stories


Good luck by the way.

 

[West Coast Duffer]

I only used them because they had the cheapest price at the time. but we all know we get what we pay for.

 

[West Coast Duffer]

I fly about 100,000 miles a year for work. USAir is the worst. They lose bags left and right. I once took a direct flight from Pittsburgh to DC and they lost then entire plane load of luggage, took 4 days for my bag to get to me.

Sorry you had the bad experience, unfortunately that is the norm with air travel these days.

DH

Damn they have some serious issues if they can't even load the luggage.

 

[slickpitt]

Pretty much all the airlines are the same. "Miles" are the biggest crock of shit ever.

 

[ualtim]

A guy I work with went to Boeings site and sent an e-mail asking how much fuel was used in a flight from Vancouver to Hawaii. He got a response and figured that with a full plane, there is no difference in fuel costs if he and his wife drove there in his Ford Escort.

That's pretty solid fuel economy, IMO. And a huge sham.

R35

Where's the sham?

Basing it loosely off a SEA-HNL one way flight of approximate 2300 Nautical Miles (thats as the crow flies, in reality there are a series of tracks from the continent to Hawaii which would add some distance) in the most efficient airplane possible that could legally fly the route (B737 NexGen or A319, not common but there was scheduled service OAK-HNL in a 737-700 at one time) at 5500 lbs of fuel/hour of flight which equates to 820 gallons/hour (using standard fuel density of approximately 6.7 lbs./gallon) averaging a cruise speed of approximately 450 NM/hour (no wind) ends up with a fuel burn of approximately 4100 gallons for the flight. 4100 Gallons at the going rate in HNL is currently $5.80 USD per gallon (better price than SEA which is $6.35 USD per gallon) which equates to a bill of $23,780 USD for the fuel burn for the flight. Divide that by an approximate capacity of a B737-700 or A319 (all coach, no first/business class packed in like sardines with low seat pitch) of 150 passengers you come up with a one way fuel cost of $158/person (assuming that all seats are full.)

$158 per person just for fuel one way ($316 round trip.) Once you throw in landing fees, parking fees, aircraft mortgage/lease fees, taxes, Pilot salary, Flight attendant salary, airline/airport staff salary, gate lease fees at both airports, airline headquarters staff salary (there are some folks sitting in dark rooms working every flight every minute of the day), building and facility lease fees (just try buying a building on aiport property), throw in the remaining cost of running any business fees and you have a bargain.

Cosidering Jet A was hovering around $1.80 not that long ago ($49 per person one way) and under a buck in the not so distant past, you can see why prices are escalating. Comparing the fuel cost of a Ford Escort to buying an airline tickect is fun, but not realistic. Until that Ford Escort can travel 2300 Nautical Miles in about 5 hours, you are paying for time efficiency.

 

[Rockford35]

Until that Ford Escort can travel 2300 Nautical Miles in about 5 hours, you are paying for time efficiency.

Of course this is the underlying issue here. Time is worth alot to some people, but to those that can't afford it (I call these people the bus riders), they really have no business complaining about high seat prices.

Thanks for the Mensa explaination, BTW.

R35

 

[sandwedge]

American Airlines sucks also. To make a long story short I just got back from vacation in Aruba. I had flights between Orlando and Miami before the flights to and from Aruba. Both flights between Orlando and Miami were cancelled. I had to end up paying for rental cars and hotels to get between Miami and Orlando. We also had our luggage lost for 2 days.

The whole thing was a real mess. I have submitted a complaint to American and hope to recieve some kind of compensation for all of the extra out of pocket money I had to spend.

From here on out I will just drive to Miami to take international flights instead of dealing with the hassle of the connections and flight cancellations. I probably won't be flying on American any more either.

 

[Eracer]

American Airlines sucks also. To make a long story short I just got back from vacation in Aruba. I had flights between Orlando and Miami before the flights to and from Aruba. Both flights between Orlando and Miami were cancelled. I had to end up paying for rental cars and hotels to get between Miami and Orlando. We also had our luggage lost for 2 days.

They keep lowering the bar, and we keep crawling under it. And if you complain, they can (and will) simply deny you boarding.

The whole thing was a real mess. I have submitted a complaint to American and hope to recieve some kind of compensation for all of the extra out of pocket money I had to spend.

Good luck!

From here on out I will just drive to Miami to take international flights instead of dealing with the hassle of the connections and flight cancellations. I probably won't be flying on American any more either.

I know I won't ever fly USAir again. And I try not to fly American either.

Southwest is still doing it right. We need to support them whenever possible.

 

[loftgolf]

Southwest is still doing it right. We need to support them whenever possible.

I agree with you Eracer. I have flown Southwest hundreds of time and they are the best. I'm wondering if anyone has ever typed 'I agree with you Eracer'?:laugh:

 

[Eracer]

I agree with you Eracer. I have flown Southwest hundreds of time and they are the best. I'm wondering if anyone has ever typed 'I agree with you Eracer'?:laugh:

Everyone agrees with me.

Except for the really hard-core Republicans, who think I'm a godless, terrorist-loving, tree-hugging communist who would pee gasoline on the flag to save time.

 

[JEFF4i]

Except for the really hard-core Republicans, who think I'm a godless, terrorist-loving, tree-hugging communist who would pee gasoline on the flag to save time.

You aren't? I'm not even Republican!

 

[Eracer]

You aren't? I'm not even Republican!

I can't afford the gas!

 

[PhillyEagle]

Southwest is good.