US TR: PVD-BGI March 1, 2008

[US1YFARE]

I still do not know why my reservation was canceled.

You were probably protected on a flight you didn't take and your reservation canceled because the agent didn't take it out. This almost happened to me last year during the Valentine's Day storm. US is miserable and their product is garbage. My biggest surprise after I moved my flying to AA and CO is that they keep you INFORMED about flight delays and cancellations. They communicate with their customers. US just ignores you and gives you little to no information, or worse, they give you bad information. I have even had this experience on DL where they make announcements in the Club and in the gate area. Someone on here gave me a hard time about DL losing the plane and me "laughing" about it--well, if that was on US they would have made up some story about the plane or they wouldn't have said anything at all and we would have sat there just waiting and waiting and waiting.

 

[DrBeth]

You were probably protected on a flight you didn't take and your reservation canceled because the agent didn't take it out. This almost happened to me last year during the Valentine's Day storm. US is miserable and their product is garbage.

You are probably correct. I had a confirmed seat for a late flight, but I got on a flight two hours earlier (by sheer luck, I might add, because the standby list from the other earlier flight was not rolled over immediately after the flight closed out!) However, what kind of lousy system would not "know" that I got on the earlier flight, given my PNR and my DM number were there? I find this absurd, which is why I continue to have problems with the system and operations of this carrier. On the other hand, I have flown mostly DL and some NW this year and their notification, rebooking, standby systems are far superior!

 

[US1YFARE]

You are probably correct. I had a confirmed seat for a late flight, but I got on a flight two hours earlier (by sheer luck, I might add, because the standby list from the other earlier flight was not rolled over immediately after the flight closed out!) However, what kind of lousy system would not "know" that I got on the earlier flight, given my PNR and my DM number were there? I find this absurd, which is why I continue to have problems with the system and operations of this carrier. On the other hand, I have flown mostly DL and some NW this year and their notification, rebooking, standby systems are far superior!

Yes, I had many of the same problems last year that you had recently US can't get anything right. It is just pathetic. I think I breathed in so much merger dust that I am sometimes stunned at the level of service provided by other carriers. I guess they will be the first that head into the next round of bankruptcies because of all the foolish money they spend catering to their most loyal and valuable customers

 

[SS255]

You were probably protected on a flight you didn't take and your reservation canceled because the agent didn't take it out.

It seems like a heck of a lot of work to manually remove all "protection" reservations if the customer makes it onto an earlier flight standby. With all of the operational snafus on US, the last thing harried agents need are to have to backtrack and cancel out reservation which are no longer needed. US needs to invest in the technology to have this done automatically.

 

[BoeingBoy]

US needs to invest in the technology to have this done automatically.

Or maybe invest in an IT staff that knows how to program the system to do it.....

It just sounds to me like every layer between Shares and the end user/customer adds another way to screw it up. Shares itself sounds like a pretty capable system - CO seems to have few problems. QIK is a decent concept - sorta training wheels to make the learning curve less steep - implemented poorly and requiring it's use regardless of operator skill is again sorta like requiring training wheels but on Lance Armstrong's bike. All supported/fixed/modified by a "blue collar" IT department", to use Beery's words, where it seems like getting people cheap so that they can learn (and don't forget "fit in" according to Beery) comes in second to hiring people that can do the job on day 1 but might be poor drinking buddies.

Jim

 

[Singleflyer]

With the reservation cut over last year this happen to me three times, and I stopped flying them for 6 months.

A very nice agent in MHT etold me when ever a flight is listed on a PNR, make sure the protected flight is the last one, or the bottom flight, and it won't cancel out until all other flights are taken.

This will avoid the problem, but too many agents don't know this

 

[SolidCactus]

So in reference to the first class part of this thread. I flew two other airlines this week. Continental and AirTran. I paid for First Class on Continental for my trip. The flight attendant was incredible, the food was awesome. I will pay for their First Class anytime. Cost was around $750. I couldn't even get half way through my wine before the FA was filling the glass again.

AirTran calls their "First Class" - "Business Class" (immediate implied underdelivery). There is more legroom than US, and the seats are much more confortable (I was on the 717). It cost only $50 more than coach. I think my entire leg was only $339 (SWF - PBI). Someone said in a previous post that WN is successful because they underpromise and overdeliver. This is so true. I really thought that AirTran would be a hard coach seat with legroom and a pillow. It is totally equivalent to the product that US is selling for $800.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, I will not pay for FC on US. It is positively overpriced. Even though I have status on DL and CO, I will always pay for FC because I feel it is worth it. I never pay for it on US. The wine is like cleaning fluid, and the food (although improving) still is very unimpressive.

 

[vantheman63]

So in reference to the first class part of this thread. I flew two other airlines this week. Continental and AirTran. I paid for First Class on Continental for my trip. The flight attendant was incredible, the food was awesome. I will pay for their First Class anytime. Cost was around $750. I couldn't even get half way through my wine before the FA was filling the glass again.

AirTran calls their "First Class" - "Business Class" (immediate implied underdelivery). There is more legroom than US, and the seats are much more confortable (I was on the 717). It cost only $50 more than coach. I think my entire leg was only $339 (SWF - PBI). Someone said in a previous post that WN is successful because they underpromise and overdeliver. This is so true. I really thought that AirTran would be a hard coach seat with legroom and a pillow. It is totally equivalent to the product that US is selling for $800.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, I will not pay for FC on US. It is positively overpriced. Even though I have status on DL and CO, I will always pay for FC because I feel it is worth it. I never pay for it on US. The wine is like cleaning fluid, and the food (although improving) still is very unimpressive.

This is pretty much what I've been saying since I got ripped off by US Airways. The ripping off started in December '05....when suddenly, F-Class became non-changeable, non-refundable....to my surprise. Then I was "involuntarily bumped," ironically enough, out of BGI, then I got sick of the same, damned Calzone for the 50th time on a transcon....yadda, yadda, yadda.

Bottom line, the WORST value, I don't care what ANYONE says, THE WORST value in aviation today is US Airways, by a LOT.

I purchased this trip I'm on in May 2007....and I had purchased the Envoy trips in March 2007. Took the Envoy in August 2007 and now this trip. LESSON LEARNED!

And words of advice for all travelers out there: THE WORST "PREMIUM" PRODUCTS ON EARTH ARE SOLD BY US AIRWAYS!!! DO NOT BUY THEM.

The best uses for US Airways are (a.) Only when there is no other way and (b.) when you can score a set for $0.08 per mile or less.

Other then that, my best dvice is to steer clear. And ever since the company, more or less, told me "too bad, so sad we ripped you off in Envoy last year, we're not standing behind our product," I've been on a mission to tell the world what an awful product the company sells.

For the record, I saw the thread on Flyer Talk about "the worst airline," I believe, without doubt, the worst managed airline and product, by a long stretch, is US Airways.

And also for the record...I have ZERO problem and do it every time I fly, purchasing F on CO for any transcon flight. In fact, my rule is pretty much 1,500 miles and over, I pay for F. I do pay for it on every airline.....except US. That won't happen again any time soon.

 

[Travelpro72]

I think everything is coming to a head. There is NO WAY we can sustain ourselves this way and the morons in Tempe know it. As fuel rises and fares eventually rise we will find ourselves carrying around less Kettles. Couple that with the cost of EVERYTHING out there going up (gas,food) people won't be joyriding as much. We will need to depend on the business flier more. Problem is Tempe doesn't care for them and they are leaving. Hmm what WILL we do? Better hunker down Tempe and get into panic mode. Nobody's gonna pay for your CRAP! ! ! !