Calling ALL Cockroaches - Customers Only

[N965VJ]

Frankly, I’m surprised FFOCUS hasn’t pulled the plug on US sooner. At some point you have to stand back and admit to yourself that Tempe will never see the light.

 

[TechBoy]

The second time they displaced me, I stopped flying them. I'd also like to add that US Airways did not offer to refund the difference in those tickets between First and Coach. I got nothing. They fulfilled their obligation in the Contract of Carriage and were perfectly fine to leave me out to dry. I had to call American Express to get relief. Believe me, I did.

I find this very, very hard to believe. All carriers that overbook F have long refunded the difference in fares, not to mention additional compensation. Did you really have an F ticket? Or was it an upgraded Y?

 

[Fully Cross Utilized]

I'm absolutely disgusted by some of you. I'm referring to both frequent fliers and employees. Where do you get off calling people "kettles" or "drearies and normals" and referring to policies you don't like as "rape"? How condescending. No wonder you aren't getting the respect you think you deserve. I think an awful lot of you need to take a good hard look in the mirror. Being respectful and kind with your words isn't really going to change anything but at least you might have a shot at being treated seriously. As things are now, the hate that gets spewed on this board does nothing but invite more hate.

 

[TechBoy]

Do you really think the industry as a whole has not been focused on frequent fliers? If so, I disagree. The industry has long created perks for its best customers compared to the occassional low-fare traveller.

(However, there may be a disconnect between how much some FFers THINK they are worth to an airline, and how much they are ACTUALLY worth. For example, someone who flies a lot, but only on the cheapest fares, and who attains status by doing cheap mileage runs, is not worth that much to an airline compared to what they think they are worth. But that is a different topic.)

This is very, very true. I haven't paid for a vacation flight in over a decade and never would be flying international C and F on my own dime. I'm a loyal customer (1K) and I get very nice benefits in return.

The reality with VFFs is the some are not worth much more than the non-frequent flyer (do we really have to call them Kettles or worse? you really aren't better than someone else just b/c you're butt is on a plane often.). There are lots of top level elites who buy mostly low fare tickets. There are lots who may buy higher fares, but are following the strictures of their corporate contracts and had no real choice. There are also lots who will pay more for direct flights and will not leave the carrier with direct flights no matter what the FF program looks like. With the proliferation of LCCs on most routes, the difference between average fares of VFFs and others is at its lowest point ever.

 

[N965VJ]

<SNIP> I'm absolutely disgusted by some of you. I'm referring to both frequent fliers and employees. Where do you get off calling people "kettles"

O rly?

I think one of the FFs here referred to his own wife as a Kettle in this thread.

What kind of PC term do you suggest? We could always give them an Indian name like “Opens Lav Door With Ashtrayâ€￾.

 

[jimcfs]

O rly?

I think one of the FFs here referred to his own wife as a Kettle in this thread.

What kind of PC term do you suggest? We could always give them an Indian name like “Opens Lav Door With Ashtrayâ€￾.

That was I, guilty as charged.

 

[tea42]

just don't rape the frequent flier who pays Y fares. [/quote]
...uhhh...not many FF pay full Y fares.....sorry to burst your bubble....

 

[tea42]

were your "perks" in the job description? You yourself state that your employer buys your tickets yet you reap the rewards---i.e FF miles ect....should not those miles go to your employer?? After all, they are the ones paying for your travel...correct? You want something more for free when you didn;t pay for it in the first place....you are trying to justify this by stating you ARE paying for it by having to travel too much....were you not aware of the job requirements before you accepted????

 

[tea42]

Greg:

To explain the fare game in simple terms, the internet has placed tremendous pricing power in the hands of the consumer through fare finders on more than 100 web sites. When a customer searches for the lowest fare in a particular market, the results will always yield the lowest fare for their specified travel dates. The majority of the time, the carrier is transparent to the kettles as they are only seeking the lowest fare possible to reach their destination.

So, if UA, CO, AA, DL, NW, B6, and FL all show a fare of $212 R/T from BOS-MCO, and the lowest fare on US is $217 ($5 higher), then US is placed at the bottom of the display and never has the opportunity to compete for the ticket purchase.

This scenario is what keeps ALL of the airlines from making necessary increases in their fares because they are deathly afraid of being at the bottom of the fare displays. The only solution is to return to regulated fares which allow the airlines to increase fares in lock step and assure that each carrier is on equal footing in the fare displays.

Absent a return to regulated fares, ala carte is the only way to ensure equal billing on the fare displays, while being able to recoup some of the fuel costs that can't be passed on through independent fare increases.

Hope this is helpful.

N,
thank you for finally explaining it more clearly....everyone thinks raising the fares is that simple....see above....

 

[signals]

All the threads on the new changes have started my creative juices flowing as to the way to best protest the new fees.

Pay for them with pennies. Stock up on rolls and rolls of pennies.

Before boarding, un-roll the pennies and put them in one of your tidy little TSA baggies. When buying a bottle of water of coffee, slowly count out the 200 pennies. They have to take them, they are legal tender. Repeat when you ask for a refill on your coffee.

Or when checking a bag, repeat the above. It will take a while to count out 1,500 hundred pennies.

You could call it "pennies for Doug" or "the bean counter count".....

Please feel free to add your own below

Whatchathink?

They could hang a sign saying "No Pennies Accepted" which would be legal and binding like on the NYS Thruway. They could put in pay machines that don't accept pennies. They could also become soda nazis and say "No Soda For You!" Why not pay for your ticket in pennies??? Have you heard? The copper in some pennies is worth more than a penny!

Why not carry 40 empty soda cans with a 5 cent deposit and pay for your beverage? Hey, bonus over Mich. where you can buy 2 sodas for the price of one!!! :down:

 

[mrman]

Just saw a stat that was mentioned over at Flyertalk that Airlines globally made roughly $7,500,000,000.00 in net profits off their frequent flier mileage programs in 2006.
US has just thrown this cash away as flyers move their CC, hotel, rental car points from US to the AA's and WN's of the world. All because of cutting the 500 mile minimum and the cutting of bonus points.

 

[Fully Cross Utilized]

What kind of PC term do you suggest?

How about "people"? Some of you just need to get over yourselves.

 

[tadjr]

That's the real reason I left US Airways were two incidents where I was in paid First Class and arrived at the gate and was told that my seats were not available due to overbooking. The fact that I allowed it to happen to me even once was a lapse, I admit. The second time they displaced me, I stopped flying them. I'd also like to add that US Airways did not offer to refund the difference in those tickets between First and Coach. I got nothing.

US does not allow/intentionally oversell FC so it was either a downsize, govt requisition of seats last minute or a computer issue that caused a flight to be oversold in FC or a late checkin/boarding requirement customer may lose their seat if others have been cleared into First Class. We do not oversell as a general practice.
If you were on an F class ticket, you should have received a reissue/refund or some type of voucher for being downgraded. If you had an A fare basis ticket, that is filed as a Coach ticket with a seat in FC if available. There is no refund on an A ticket if there is a downgrade/oversale. The agent could have refared it to see if something else was available at todays fare in coach as opposed to an A class ticket, but A is a coach fare so technically no refund is due. Not sure what type you had, but just wanted to clarify for everyone that there are some First Class tickets that are technically coach fares.
Sorry for whatever happened and how it was handled.

 

[CynicalResAgent]

QUOTE (Bobbie @ Jun 14 2008, 10:38 AM)
The second time they displaced me, I stopped flying them. I'd also like to add that US Airways did not offer to refund the difference in those tickets between First and Coach. I got nothing. They fulfilled their obligation in the Contract of Carriage and were perfectly fine to leave me out to dry. I had to call American Express to get relief. Believe me, I did.

I find this very, very hard to believe. All carriers that overbook F have long refunded the difference in fares, not to mention additional compensation. Did you really have an F ticket? Or was it an upgraded Y?

This is my guess as to what happened. US publishes a lot of YUP types of fares. In the system I book clients on I have to a lot of times force a full F class fare to price. I don't know if it is just in worldspan or how US files them. Anyway with a YUP type fare I believe it is filed as a coach instant upgrade fare. If the carrier reduces seats in F class or they reaccomodate you on another carrier it can be in coach because technically the ticket is a coach ticket. So technically all you'd be obligated to is coach. It's not right in a customer service aspect but it is all they have to do to satisfy the CoC.


<edit>

LOL, I see someone answered while I was typing.

 

[Dog Wonder]

How about "people"? Some of you just need to get over yourselves.

Yes you do.