Long time USAviation lurker, first time post. I apologize ahead of my time for my long, ranting post, but I feel that the employees don't get enough recognition, so I please ask that you continue reading.
Now a little background: I'm a college student in the DC area originally from TN. I started paying attention to what was going on when U entered Chapter 11. Before and since, I've flown U almost exclusively. Now, after becoming more knowledgable, I started to really care about the employees as well as the way that us customers are treated.
I somehow flew enough to qualify last year for Silver Preferred status. This year, I've logged more than 20K miles already, so I get another year of benefits. Again, I'm a college student, so funds are quite tight, but I've found ways to fly U almost every chance I get (makes it easy because coming home, U almost always has the lowest fare). I've even paid a few extra bucks to fly U (also gives me a chance for an upgrade now that I'm US3). I have yet to meet an employee that hasn't been very good to me, and I try to get as many names and employee numbers for the Certificate of Excellence program.
Now, my story: I flew to Las Vegas this weekend for my 21st birthday with a group of friends. I, of course, booked the group fare on U, despite the fact that we could get $50 cheaper on HP. I did this through the downtown CTO in DC (K St), and I can't tell you how helpful some of the agents there were always there to help, even when it was very busy. They even facilitated an upgrade to FC for a friend of mine and I using miles.
Last Thursday, we got checked in no problem with a very friendly and helpful ticket agent. Both crews on the way out there gave great service, especially on the PIT-LAS leg. I even chatted for a while while with the First FA most were asleep. He made a point every couple minutes to go check on the rest of the customers. Coming back was great as well. We took the redeye Sunday night, and arrived much too early in CLT.
From there, we decided to fly into DCA instead of BWI. At 6:15, 45 minutes before she was on duty, the gate agent happened to stop by while we were waiting. We told her what we wanted to do, and she held the 7 remaining Y seats on the plane for us. We got reticketed a little after 7AM on the 8:45. Then there was a gate change, so we went back to B concourse. The plane was delayed for maintanence, and I got called to the podium. The original gate agent saw that we were delayed, booked us on the 10:15, called over to the gate I was at, and told us to head back over to her gate if we were still on the ground at 9:45. Well, we were, and we walked back to C (3rd time of the day), and she got us on the plane, even with our preferred seats, despite the almost full plane. This service is why I return to U all the time.
Again, sorry for the long post, but I want to thank all of you for the wonderful service, and I say keep it up. This is only one great example of service that I've gotten. We all know how frustrated you're getting with Dave and Ben and the others, but remember who you're paid to serve, even if the higher-ups don't.
Now a little background: I'm a college student in the DC area originally from TN. I started paying attention to what was going on when U entered Chapter 11. Before and since, I've flown U almost exclusively. Now, after becoming more knowledgable, I started to really care about the employees as well as the way that us customers are treated.
I somehow flew enough to qualify last year for Silver Preferred status. This year, I've logged more than 20K miles already, so I get another year of benefits. Again, I'm a college student, so funds are quite tight, but I've found ways to fly U almost every chance I get (makes it easy because coming home, U almost always has the lowest fare). I've even paid a few extra bucks to fly U (also gives me a chance for an upgrade now that I'm US3). I have yet to meet an employee that hasn't been very good to me, and I try to get as many names and employee numbers for the Certificate of Excellence program.
Now, my story: I flew to Las Vegas this weekend for my 21st birthday with a group of friends. I, of course, booked the group fare on U, despite the fact that we could get $50 cheaper on HP. I did this through the downtown CTO in DC (K St), and I can't tell you how helpful some of the agents there were always there to help, even when it was very busy. They even facilitated an upgrade to FC for a friend of mine and I using miles.
Last Thursday, we got checked in no problem with a very friendly and helpful ticket agent. Both crews on the way out there gave great service, especially on the PIT-LAS leg. I even chatted for a while while with the First FA most were asleep. He made a point every couple minutes to go check on the rest of the customers. Coming back was great as well. We took the redeye Sunday night, and arrived much too early in CLT.
From there, we decided to fly into DCA instead of BWI. At 6:15, 45 minutes before she was on duty, the gate agent happened to stop by while we were waiting. We told her what we wanted to do, and she held the 7 remaining Y seats on the plane for us. We got reticketed a little after 7AM on the 8:45. Then there was a gate change, so we went back to B concourse. The plane was delayed for maintanence, and I got called to the podium. The original gate agent saw that we were delayed, booked us on the 10:15, called over to the gate I was at, and told us to head back over to her gate if we were still on the ground at 9:45. Well, we were, and we walked back to C (3rd time of the day), and she got us on the plane, even with our preferred seats, despite the almost full plane. This service is why I return to U all the time.
Again, sorry for the long post, but I want to thank all of you for the wonderful service, and I say keep it up. This is only one great example of service that I've gotten. We all know how frustrated you're getting with Dave and Ben and the others, but remember who you're paid to serve, even if the higher-ups don't.
