USAirways.com The WORST Place To Book?

[vantheman63]

So, I have this trip, SMF-PVD.....booking with a US flight around noon or so, in Y. (I learned LONG ago, NEVER, under ANY circumstances give US money for a "Premium Service.")

Client calls, says "need you to stay until the 13th." Not a problem...I bought refundable/changeable tix.

Go to change the US ticket....hmmm....$10 more then when I bought it. Not hard to imagine as I bought it in November, fuel keeps increasing so do tix.

Then I think, "wait a second, I'm gonna check www.priceline.com." (They do have a "flexible" option, meaning refundable/changeable.) Yes, sure enough!

$10 cheaper on www.priceline.com!

Traveling to GSO on the 19th of January.....checked www.priceline.com...and yes, it's $5.00 cheaper then USAirways.com to book the exact same itinerary and ticket.

And, this past week, I needed to get to TPA....Expedia was $100 cheaper then USAirways.com.

I e-mailed management....'cause it makes nearly ZERO sense. (No response, of course) But the bottom line, if you are booking US Airways tix, don't use the web site....its the most expensive place to buy US Airways tickets. Book on other sites. (Note: I realize there are some who will say, "don't book US at all." If you fly from PVD, the sad reality is, there are some times when you must book US.)

Here's what I sent to them....no response:

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From: vantheman63
Sent: Thursday, December 27, 2007 6:44 PM
To: 'travis.christ@usairways.com'; 'Eberwein, Elise'; 'scott.kirby@usairways.com'
Subject: Expedia Vs. USAirways.com

I’m noticing there is no more incentive to buy tickets from the source, www.usairways.com.

All of the fares Expedia is showing are actually $5.00 less then US….and usairways.com no longer offers (and hasn’t for a long, long time on my account) miles for booking from the web site one way.

Is this a signal to begin booking elsewhere? Use to be it was ALWAYS less expensive, even if it was $5 or $10 less, to book from the source.

Last night in fact, I was booking a TPA trip….and it was nearly $100 less expensive on Expedia.

Be great to have an e-mail blast or some information letting us know the best way to book on US and why.

Thanks
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Spread the word, the WORST place to buy a US Airways ticket is, www.USAirways.com.

I don't book US as my first option...its actually my last option....but when I must book US, I now use www.priceline.com. (Mr. Parker, add "won't pay $5.00 for the pleasure of booking tickets" to the list of things CPs won't pay for....since we won't pay for anything else. Of course, if we weren't always paying more to get less, we CPs might actually pay for vairous services.)

 

[GoldenRam94]

You just discovered that???????

For years this has been the case, not sure what took you so long to figure that one out.

 

[vantheman63]

You just discovered that???????

For years this has been the case, not sure what took you so long to figure that one out.

That has CERTAINLY not been the case in my experience. Absolutely not my experience.

 

[rsv4ever]

i buy tickets on delta and AA a few times a year- and the travel search engines are most of the time cheaper than delta.com and aa.com. i dont think its necessarily a US thing.

 

[GoldenRam94]

That has CERTAINLY not been the case in my experience. Absolutely not my experience.

I have never found US to be cheaper.

 

[Harry Callahan]

Van:
No suprise that you haven't heard anything 😱

 

[BoeingBoy]

Ditto what coach said. With the declining financial performance, I think they just decided to make some extra money from tickets booked thru the website - if Orbitz and Expedia can charge a fee, why not US (so they figured). Just call it a fuel surcharge and don't disclose it.

Jim

 

[SS255]

Just call it a fuel surcharge and don't disclose it.

Probably to finance all of those unscheduled fuel stops in the Midwest. Very creative thinking....NOT!

 

[vantheman63]

i buy tickets on delta and AA a few times a year- and the travel search engines are most of the time cheaper than delta.com and aa.com. i dont think its necessarily a US thing.

I'll tell ya....I'm getting an education here....

For the record, here's how I've been buying tickets for the past 5 years:

1.) Go to Expedia.com.
2.) Price the fare, check the timing and find out who does the pairing.
3.) Go to the airline web site.
4.) Book directly from the carrier.

In 5 years, up until last week, I found exactly 1 ticket (ONE) that was priced lower (by any margin) on Expedia then the airline's web site. It was a first class ticket on UA, SFO-PVD. At the time, UA.com wanted $749....Expedia wanted $599. EVERY other time, Expedia was $5.00 to $10.00 more....as was the AMEX ticketing sight. I will freely admit, I've just started using www.priceline.com for air travel...and it was when someone tipped me off that US Airways was adding $5.00 to their tickets.

My experience has ALWAYS been the airline itself has the best fares and availabilities. Several carriers use to promote, "you will not find a lower fare elsewhere."

I do believe the "no lower fares" thing has been abandoned, because I believe all airlines dump inventory from time to time...and they simply can't make the guarantee. Plus, I would imagine the retailers "made a point" here and there by making SURE they were the best option. And of course, the advent of priceline.com and hotwire.com as deep discounters made that guarantee impossible.

But this "it's always been like that" is absolutely NOT what I've observed in purchasing well over $30K in personal travel each year over the last 5.

And now, US is absolutely the most expensive place to buy a ticket, ALL the time.

I'm by no means the sharpest knife in the drawer....but me thinks that's not a good thing.

 

[InternationalShannon]

I have to point out that while your $5.00 or $10.00 might piss you off at booking, you'll be even more pissed when you get to the airport and find yourself in seat 24E.

And then you pull out your expedia or priceline or cheapestdamnfrickinticket.com itin. and you'll show me that right there - yes see there? that your seat assignment is actually 4D. Aisle. Bulkhead.

Sorry, but it isn't.

Expedia, Priceline, Hotwire, Cheaptickets, etc, have no authority to take seats like exit rows and bulkheads and most desireable seats because mangement has it set up to block those seats for preferred, us airways.com bookings, disabled pax, infants, and weight and balance reasons.

I don't really care how you spend your money, but if you want out of that middle seat, at some point you have to go through the actual airline to get it, and that itinerary isn't worth the ink you printed it on when you get to my gate and the flight is oversold. Of course, I'm never rude about it, and I do my best to accomodate - - I dont like the middle either - - but by the time you get to the airport, it's gonna be all that is left.

I'd rather pay the $5 or $10 and pick the seat assignment online - - assuming that the website is working properly

That's just my two cents. I'm well aware that the website has had its problems lately. I also know that that is probably not what the fee is FOR, but you do have a better shot of getting a good seat on the website. Again, assuming it works and assuming your ticket is purchased reasonably in advance. And assuming you are working with a competitive fare.

 

[vantheman63]

I have to point out that while your $5.00 or $10.00 might piss you off at booking, you'll be even more pissed when you get to the airport and find yourself in seat 24E.

And then you pull out your expedia or priceline or cheapestdamnfrickinticket.com itin. and you'll show me that right there - yes see there? that your seat assignment is actually 4D. Aisle. Bulkhead.

Sorry, but it isn't.

Expedia, Priceline, Hotwire, Cheaptickets, etc, have no authority to take seats like exit rows and bulkheads and most desireable seats because mangement has it set up to block those seats for preferred, us airways.com bookings, disabled pax, infants, and weight and balance reasons.

I don't really care how you spend your money, but if you want out of that middle seat, at some point you have to go through the actual airline to get it, and that itinerary isn't worth the ink you printed it on when you get to my gate and the flight is oversold. Of course, I'm never rude about it, and I do my best to accomodate - - I dont like the middle either - - but by the time you get to the airport, it's gonna be all that is left.

I'd rather pay the $5 or $10 and pick the seat assignment online - - assuming that the website is working properly

That's just my two cents. I'm well aware that the website has had its problems lately. I also know that that is probably not what the fee is FOR, but you do have a better shot of getting a good seat on the website. Again, assuming it works and assuming your ticket is purchased reasonably in advance.

So, me being Chairmen's....are you telling me I can't call my CP "Personal Liason" and have my seat moved to an exit row? Or an aisle? Cause I've done it.....heck, I pulled the PNR on usairways.com and did it.....lol

Hey, I'm on your team....I WANT the airline to operate functionally....what I'm trying to understand is "why do this?" (Charge more then Expedia, etc.) It costs LOTS more money to sell through other channels then direct from the supplier....I'm MUCH rather buy from usairways.com....

But if a person is buying a couple hundred tickets a year for himself and his employees....uh, it adds up!

 

[YVINTERN]

You guys 😉 Play nicely 🙂 It's not the employees stupid! It's the management LOL

 

[jimcfs]

Probably to finance all of those unscheduled fuel stops in the Midwest. Very creative thinking....NOT!

Gee, and I thought the captain had to pass around his hat to get $$ to refuel on one of those stops.