Sunday, August 12, 2007

US Airways Sucks

Perhaps I should be bemused by the smidgen of irony attached to having read, earlier this evening, a Newsweek article about the newfound prosperity of various U.S. airlines -- in spite of increasing late arrivals, lost baggage, and other passenger complaints.

In the article (not easily available on line, it seems), Daniel Gross writes:

For frequent fliers, it is clearly the worst of times. In the first quarter of 2007, only 71.4 percent of flights arrived on time, and 19,260 passengers were involuntarily bumped -- up 13 percent from the year before. In July, 16,988 flights were canceled, up 54 percent from July 2006, according to Flightstats.com.

And yet for airline companies, these are the best of times. The industry was laid low by 9/11 and the 2001 recession, as giants like United, US Airways, and Delta filed for Chapter 11. But the airlines' winter of despair has given way to a spring of hope. In a recent conference call, American Airlines CEO Gerard Arpey crowed about "the largest quarterly profit [$317 million] since we launched the turnaround plan more than four years ago." Last week Northwest Airlines, tanned and rested after its sojourn in Club Bankruptcy, reported a healthy pretax quarterly profit of $273 million, despite rising fuel costs. The Amex Airline stock index is up 79 percent since March 2003.
At the moment, I am sitting at gate D11 of Charlotte Douglas International Airport, when I thought I would be home relaxing more than four hours ago. Instead of arriving in Charlottesville at about 5:00 p.m., I am waiting to embark on a flight to Richmond that will -- God willing -- arrive at RIC sometime past 11:15 p.m.

My journey began this morning in New Orleans. I was scheduled to take a flight leaving Louis Armstrong International Airport at 2:20 p.m., but when I arrived at the ticketing desk, I was given the option -- for a $25 fee -- to take an earlier flight that, combined with an earlier connection, would bring me to Charlottesville at 5:05 p.m., instead of my originally-scheduled arrival time of 7:43 p.m.

I gladly accepted the option. This seems to have been the hubris that brought me to my current state.

The earlier flight had a slight delay on the tarmac in New Orleans, so it arrived in Charlotte at 3:45, giving me fewer than 15 minutes to make my connecting flight on another concourse. When I arrived, breathless, the gate had been closed, although I was five minutes earlier than the announced departure time of 4:05 p.m.

When a gate attendant finally arrived back at her post, she explained that the gate is closed 10 minutes prior to departure. If that is the case, I wondered -- that is, if that is the policy -- then why not announce the departure time as 10 minutes earlier? Since passengers would be unable to board later than that time, it is effectively the departure time.

Knowing that my originally scheduled flight to Charlottesville was still in the future, I did not fret. But I thought I might try to obtain a refund of the $25 fee I paid at the New Orleans airport.

No dice. The $25 fee, I was told at the customer service desk, was to pay for the earlier departure. It could only be refunded if the flight it purchased was canceled at the airport of origination. It carried no guarantee of making a connection or arriving early.

This was not explained to me by the computer kiosk on which I had purchased the ticket change. Consequently, I plan to write to US Airways management and explain that, since the restrictions in the implied contract were not indicated at the time of purchase, no implied contract exists other than my understanding that I was purchasing an early arrival as well as an early departure.

Then, it turns out, my 6:43 flight to Charlottesville was delayed until 7:42 for lack of an available crew. Then the crew did not show up at all, leading to the flight's cancellation at about 8:30 p.m.

I was rebooked for a 9:45 flight. At first, I thought, that's not so bad -- I'll only get home about two hours late. Then I read more closely: the ticket was for 9:45 a.m. on August 13, tomorrow. (The US Airways staffer at the gate did not say anything about that, nor did he offer options for hotel accommodations or rebooking to a different airline or airport.)

As soon as I discovered this tiny detail, I headed back to the customer service counter to ask for a hotel voucher. Overhearing another passenger on my CHO flight requesting to be rebooked to Richmond, I asked if that alternative was available to me, as well. It was. So here I am at the passenger waiting area, hoping to arrive home sometime before dawn.

It is with some equanimity that I take to heart one of the points Daniel Gross makes in his Newsweek article:
Customers cut airlines slack in part because they can blame other forces for their misery. The Federal Aviation Administration's creaky, vintage system causes many delays. The Transportation Security Administration oversees the Soviet-like security lines. Weather-related problems can be attributed to a higher power.

The overwhelming majority of Americans lack an efficient alternative to the unfriendly skies. Even if a six-hour flight from New York to Los Angeles turns into an 11-hour Hieronymous Bosch-like ordeal, it's still light-years faster than a cross-country train or car ride.
Keeping that in mind, taking a detour through Richmond seemed the least bad of a list of unsavory alternatives. And American airports are not such bad places as they used to be -- this one, for instance, has free wireless internet access.

So, rather than fuming, I am blogging.

48 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sounds like one of the countless flight stories I have had with all airlines.

You should look for the 261 rule and see if they can do something for you with that.

Anonymous said...

If you're talking about a cross-country flight, then a 5-hour delay is better than driving. But you could have driven from Charlotte to Charlottesville in five hours.

When my husband was flying a lot, he used to insist on alternate transportation (e.g., a taxi) when a flight was canceled, and occasionally he got it.

Unfortunately, you have to get nearly hysterical with airline agents before you can get adequate compensation for a canceled flight. They don't give anything away without a fight.

James Young said...

The first time I ever flew was in 1982, from Harrisburg to Richmond (via DCA), on my way to Hampden-Sydney. On the return flight, [then-]USAir lost my bag.

Since then, I have booked probably a half-million miles or more in air travel, most of it on United. And I've only ever had one other bag mis-directed: on our way back from Seattle, on vacation, one of our bags got a better vacation than we did, going to Hawaii, I had it back by the next evening.

Rich said...

Hey Rick,

Sorry you had to experience the same lack of customer service I did last Thurs. as your post mirrors my own post today (and tomorrow). All airlines have problems, but US Airways is working hard to beat them all.

Good luck. I hope you do not have to pull up the airport bench and spend the night like I did.

All my best,
Rich

Anonymous said...

I flew back from Europe last Friday and here it is Sunday morning and I still don't have my bags. Worse, nobody in their incompetent baggage claim department can tell me what country they're in let alone what airport they're in!

I spoke with one of their baggage claim "experts" last night and he told me the bags arrived at my local airport 4 hours earlier and he was surprised I hadn't been called. He tried to call the local baggage claim department but no answer. I told him I'd drive the 60 miles roundtrip to get the bags myself, so I headed out. I got to the airport and was told the bags aren't there and haven't arrived. In fact, it turns out the flight the guy on the phone said carried my bags doesn't even fly on weekends, so he was totally wrong.

I've spoken with 3 different people on their baggage claim number (1-800-371-4771). Keep in mind these people are located in Guatemala and English is not a primary language for any rep I spoke with. In fact, I found I had to end each slowly spoken sentence I said with "do you understand"? When you ask to speak with a manager you're always told "none are available -- they're all in a meeting." Interesting. Don't these managers have better things to do than sit in meetings all day? Like...say...how about dealing with customers?!

Next, and here's my favorite part, try calling USAir's Customer Relations number on a weekend (1-866-523-5333). Guess what? They're not open on weekends! That's right. A business that should have 24x7 customer support closes for the weekend! I guess they couldn't find enough poverty-stricken Guatemalans to staff their customer relations number *and* their baggage claim number.

I paid well over $3K for my roundtrip business class ticket and now I have no bags. I'm on hold with a reservations person who is trying to find some information. I was desperate to talk with someone who uses English as a primary language, hence the call to the reservations number.

I also see that if they've lost my bags they have numerous idiotic exceptions to their reimbursement coverage. For example, electronics. Well, I can't fit all my cables, chargers, etc., in my carry-on, so how do I get them to my destination? Also, they don't cover "optics", which I assume will mean the second pair of glasses I carry in my suitcase wouldn't be covered. Nice.

Do yourself a favor. If you've stumbled across this post because you searched for "US Airways Sucks" like I did, run to another airline as soon as you can! Don't do business with these idiots.

Anonymous said...

The flight I was in yesterday was canceled, after spending 3 hours in a plane that never took off. This plane was ready to take off twice, and twice it was stopped and parked on the gate for a "mechanical issue" as they called it. After 3 insane hours in there (the kids at this point were freaking out), we were told the flight was canceled. Then the line at the customer service was unbelievable, of course! The only other thing they could do was fly us out tomorrow on the same flight, same hour, but the possibility of a delay or cancellation was there. Another flight was offered for today at 6pm; however, it had already been delayed until 6:45 for mechanical reasons.

The airline will refund the money back; however, it takes them 2 months to process.

I will never fly again after that experience yesterday, I even experience claustrophobia, which had never happened to me before. It was out of a scary movie, there were people that wanted to leave the plane after the first take off attempt, there was a little girl sitting in front of us puking her guts out, the flight attendant never offered any snacks (thank God I brought stuff for the kids, by this time they were starving) and an older man peed on himself waiting in the bathroom line, because the guy that the flight attendant was flirting with, was standing right in front of the bathroom, and the old guy thought he was in line waiting for the bathroom.

Anonymous said...

I fully agree with US Airways sucks!

I booked 2 one way flights from Las Vegas to Los Angeles online. Worth per flight: $65
About 15 hours after booking I had to cancel these flights.
US Airways not only does NOT refund the money ... they will also charge an additional fee of $100 if the tickets are used for another route than the one from Las Vegas to Los Angeles.
And the tickets are not transferable.
Neither of us will get the need to fly from LV to LA within the next 12 months.
So the total amount of $150 will be lost.
A "gift" to US Airways. Seems they need that money urgently to stay alive.

Back in 1997 USA Today had a headline saying "US Airways fights to keep valued passengers".
However, reality proves: US Airways does NOTHING to keep valuded passengers. Sad, but true!

Anonymous said...

I had a bad experience flying US Air about 6 months ago. They sent me an electronic $75 ticket voucher to use next flight. Last week I drove someone to Indianapolis and had a friend (who had the voucher number) call in a reservation for a return flight to Providence the next morning. The friend was told because it was less than 24 hours before the flight I would have to get ticketed at the airport. When I went o pay for the ticket and gave them the voucher they would not honor the voucher and I had to pay full fare. Now that I have flown they (Customer Service-truly an oxymoron) say that they can not refund the $75 extra I paid because the terms of the voucher are that it must be applied before I am ticketed. Seems a lot like Alice in Wonderland. I will never fly on USAirways again.

Anonymous said...

I've started a new website: www.boycottusairways.info

They keep stranding me and my family in distant cities overnight due to airline mechanical problems.

Read my website for my sad stories. Fly other airlines, pay more if necessary, but stay off of US AIRWAYS if you want to get where you're going.

By the way, their CEO has had three DUI's, including one 18 months ago, after he became CEO. A great example for someone in an industry where pilots must be sober, or they'll take out a neighborhood or tall building ...

Anonymous said...

US Airways has ruined my travel plans the past 6 out of 8 times because of lost baggage (or they say "misplaced").

My last and final flight on this airline was a disaster. The plane was late arriving in Charlotte. Our pilot said (while enroute to CLT) all connecting flights were being held because of delays around the country. After landing, I ran across the airport only to see my connecting plane already left.

After waiting an hour in line, the customer service agent told me all flights are booked and no food or hotel voucher will be given because of "air traffic delays". This was where I got pissed- I paid alot of money and hoped to get home that same night. And no, I couldn't drive, because it was a 1400 mile trip.

Walking around the airport, I saw many other passengers I recognized from the flight I was on into Charlotte, sitting around because they missed their connecting flight also.

I got on standby for one flight, I didn't get on that flight and I got dropped to the BOTTOM of the standby list for the next flight. So this meant people who just got into the airport have priority over somebody who has been waiting in the airport for 8 hours?

So with no help with food or a hotel, from the airline who brought me late into the airport where my connecting flight was, I was hoping I would get home that night. I luckily got on the last flight home, that night.

A 12 hour ordeal dealing with an airline who doesn't care about their customers. It's only supposed to be a 4 hour trip. I won't be fooled again by US Airways, because no matter of price or anything, they won't get my business again.

Anonymous said...

I work for a race team in NC.

We have been using US Airways all season. Right now I have about $5,000 worth of flights that I can't use due to a scheduling change. US Airways will not give me any credit for the flights we can't use, and want's to charge me an additional $1,800 for a flight I need to change.

US Airways sucks!!!!

Anonymous said...

YUP! Here it is August 2008 and they still suck... little to no customer service help... we had to practically beg for a meal voucher..... We got screwed coming and going.... we were offered nothing but empty "sorries" ... We got there ONE minute after they closed and wouldn't let us in except the got got really scared when 4 angry people yelled at him all at the same time... so he siad OK HURRY... and frantically hurried us on to the jetway... then we sat and sat and the plane DID NOT even close the door at departure time!!! I will never fly them again!!!

Anonymous said...

US Air is clearly the flight of choice in the afterlife if you are heading down.

Anonymous said...

U.S airways left my brother and four women stranded in Florence S.C. One woman was trying to get to her brother's funeral!!!!! she had dog tags on which leads me to believe he was a soldier.

I asked for a supervisor but the one young lady working the desk said there was NO supervisor!!! I tried to call customer service but an Indian guy told me there is no customer service on Sundays! I said " It's still SATURDAY in America!

After everyone was screaming about this obvious over booking & US airways losing people's luggage!!! my brother and the four women were driven on a bus down to Myrtle Beach's airport and then there were several delays in Charlotte N.C. My brother finally made it home at midnight but he was supposed to be home at 4:00.

There is NO excuse for such terrible customer service. Please avoid US airways at all costs! Use Southwest or Delta. Even if you have to partially rent a car.

Anonymous said...

USAIR sucks and they all have bad accents which doubly aggravates me when spending countless hours fighting with them.

Thanks for the venting forum

Anonymous said...

Will not fly us airways again, both times we raced across the airport to be directed back to where we got off the 1st plane to catch the second one.No customer service, rude flight attendant.I complained at customer service and they looked at me with that blank stare, kind of reminded me of trains , planes and automobiles,when Steve Martin goes to the car rental counter.
They don't belong in the business where is the training and customer service?

Davide Formica said...

Extremely bad experience flying US Airways on 11/15/08. I was left out to stay overnight without my luggage and they wouldn’t cover ANY of my overnight expenses. Customer service was very unprofessional, I had to wait on the counter while they gentleman and the lady finished flirting with each other. I am NEVER flying US Airways again.

Anonymous said...

My daughter's cross country team took a little trip manchester-phl-richmond. The cxld the departure - guess they can blame the ice storm. ok. acceptable. Instead of getting there 1145am, arrive via lga was 1900pm. ok, they made it at least. But the return, nightmare. 5pm dep goes ric to phl. last flt out phl to mht supposed to leave 845. onboard they announce mechanical. then departure put at 12midnite. Then finally cxld. 5 girls/2adults, get 2 rooms. nice. at least usair paid. now back at phl for 1135am. guess what. flt delayed 45mins - no crew. we drove home in 10.5 hours (parents). These poor kids take over 24 hrs due usair. usair does suck - don't fly them - we won't - ever.

Anonymous said...

Happy new year every one... and guess what has not changed? Yup! in 2009, US Air still sucks... big time. To make a long ordeal short, first our 3 yr old is "moved" from our confirmed seat assignments (next to us) and I am 'relocated' to another part of the plane. Best of all, this was done 5 min prior to boarding! The flight attendants and the agent at the counter could not do anything! After much convincing on our part, ONE person swapped seats, so my 3 yr old and one parent could be together on a 7 hr flight. Of course the child wanted both parents, but!!!
To make things better, on our way back, our flight gets canceled at Charlotte (due to weather related issues), however a flight 2 hrs later to the same destination takes off. The next offered flight was 17 hrs later.
Since this cancellation was "beyond the control of US Air", no compensation or hotel room was provided. And if that was not enough, prior to boarding the previous flight, they took our cabin luggage leaving us with just a small diaper bag in a strange airport with a child to take care.
Ohh it gets even better! After reaching our destination a full day later, we discover that US Air has "misplaced" our check-in luggage that they charged $15 to take in! Filed complaint as soon as we arrived, and the agent says: "The bag is here... the computer says so, it reached here before you did, and it is here" But where we asked, and no help! It has been >48 hours and repeated calls to them has the same answer: "The bag has arrived at the airport, someone will call you to schedule delivery".
The best part is that after all this, there is no compensation policy as we are in our "home city".
US airways sucks? Of course they do. They went bankrupt twice, and still cant get their act together. Do they forget that after making the passengers go through hell, anyone will ever want to fly them again?

plinko said...

WORST AIRLINE EVER! My first experience flying with them and my LAST. On a cross-country flight from Seattle to Philly, I was alarmed when they announced they would be charging for water!
THat also goes for all the other beverages that are usually complementary. But water? On a 5 hour flight? Unbelievable. THis is on top of the $15 per checked bag fee (each way) that they're heaping on the regular air fare.

But it doesn't end there, my friends.

On a return trip which included a layover in Charlotte, we were held captive in the plane for FOUR HOURS while they de-iced and cleared the runway. The pilot only made one or two announcements to tell us was going on, and it was always..."In a few minutes or so, we should be cleared for take-off." well, THREE HOURS LATER we're still sitting there. Meanwhile they turned off the AC so people were hot and sweaty. A couple of kids puked in the seats in front of us while the grandma was screaming to let her off the damn plane. A flight attendant walked around with one bottle of water but ran out around aisle 15. Sorry, everyone else! Then, when we finally did take off and had to mentally prepare for another 5 1/2 hours in the plane, they made the announcement that if you wanted a blanket, they'd be happy to bring them around...but you had to pay $7 to get one!!!! Unbelievable. Oh, and you know how you're going to be in this plane for 4 more hours htan you expected? Well, we have snacks, but you have to pay for them! Beverages too! THey had the gall to charge for food even though the entire plane was starving. The fact that my 3 and 5 year olds didn't go ballistic is something of a miracle. It's bad enough traveling these days, but US Air treats its passengers with no more respect than a zoo animal in the 1950s. It's borderline criminal. I was imagining my 92 year old grandmother on that plane and the words that kept coming to me were..."this just isn't right. you can't treat people like this." We can't be complicit in this. Businesses like this need to die, and I'd be happy to help speed up the process.

Puneet said...

US Airways is one the worst at customer service.

We recently took this airline to Las Vegas the the stewardess was so rude and hostile to both my wife and 20 month son.

Not a family friendly airline.

Would not recommend to anyone.

Anonymous said...

I agree, US Air sucks!!! I'm sitting at ILM in Wilmington, NC as my flight to Charlotte is delayed. I requested to take a flight to Charlotte that was leaving 30 minutes before my flight as I have a short connection in Charlotte and was told no because my flight was on time. Thanks for lying to me US AIR. Once again US AIR Sucks!!!

Anonymous said...

This post is more than I expected when I google US airways sucks. I am in fact sitting in Charlotte airport like the author did, unable to help feeling cheated by the airline. When I boarded my first flight in Atlanta, they assured everyone that all connections were secure despite the delays. We landed about 15 minutes before most of our connections, and de-planed with 5 minutes left. Given the circumstances I fully expected to be let out at least in the same concourse, but no; most of us were on the other side of the damn airport. Even more to my despair Charlotte airport didn't have a train - so I ran across 3 concourses with all my baggage. The gate had closed when I got there sweating like a pig, and what did the agent tell me? "there were other people who had to run just like you." what does that mean, that I should have run faster? Honestly, I spent more time than I should have just assessing situation - the "they can't be serious, right?" - and I only started running after I was entirely sure that yes, they were in fact serious. Now I have to waste two hours in this concourse that only has fried chicken to offer. That was a lot to type on my iPhone but I find a little comfort in that I'm not the only one. I've actually never had problems like this with any other airline, making US airways the worst airline ever. Never again.

Anonymous said...

I just got stuck in Charlotte overnight thanks to mysterious "mechanical problems" on our US Airways flight that caused us to be delayed 2 hours and miss our connecting flight. We did get hotel vouchers, but it probably would have been better to spend the night at the airport because the hotel they provided was an absolute dump. US Airways is usually the cheapest flight I can take, but saving a few bucks is not worth putting up with their crap so I will be switching to someone else in the future. US Airways you suck!

Anonymous said...

I agree with you all on the high level of Suck-iness of US Airways. This past Thursday (5/7/09) my girlfriend and I were to fly from Chicago O'hare to Las Vegas on a 7pm flight. At 3pm, I got notice that the flight was canceled due to a mysterious "mechanical reason." Which I didn't realize seems to be a popular theme with them. Ok we thought - there is 4 hours before we are to leave, no problem. Ha, were we wrong! Called customer service and their immediate response was "well, we won't be able to get you out til tomorrow afternoon." Keep in mind we were going for a 3 day weekend. I said well how about checking another airline? She responded that everything was full. I was at work, so I was on the internet looking at 10 different United flights for that night. I asked her if she could check United. She said, "wait, here! Can you make a 3:15pm flight??" I was like, "Um, no - that is in 10 minutes, and I'm clearly not at the airport." After 15 minutes on hold, she says she got me on a 5:20pm United flight. Great I thought! So we hustle to O'Hare and get there at 4:15pm. Everything would have been gold, but the US Airways person did NOT transfer the reservation to United -- so the UAL ticketing agent had to wait on the phone 15 minutes to straighten it out. By that time we had missed the cut off for checked baggage, and could not make the flight. We ended up not leaving til the next morning. Will never even consider a US Airways flight again! Total incompetence among the customer service, and they just flat out do not give a damn.

Anonymous said...

U.S. Airways has one of the worst customer service departments--not only in the airline industry--but basically for all industries. I only fly them now if I have no other reasonable choice. Basically, they lost a customer, and gained a critic. But, hey, they saved $50 in a U.S. Airways coupon that they simply couldn't figure out how to input into their reservtion system. This happened around the time they merged with America West...several years ago...and I'm still angry at the way I was treated and the time I wasted. Penny-wise and pound-foolish!

Anonymous said...

I had a flight from Charlotte to RDU, maybe a 125 miles. The flight got cancelled and it took them three hours to find ground transportation. So rather than arriving at 12:00 I arrive at 5:30, for a trip that I could have rented a car and done in 1.5 hours. Then when I try to change my return flight, three weeks in advance, they want to charge $150 fee just to transfer a $120 flight one day. US Airways Sucks.

Larry Foxx said...

Yep - sitting on the tarmac in PHL now at 7:21 for my 3:40 departure. Love it - go to Southwest Airlines!

Somehow this makes me feel better!

Brittany said...

USAirways is absurd to charge a $150 rebooking fee, especially with these cheap flights people are talking about. Mine was $200, but to change it would be $150. Makes no sense. And they won't budge at all if you call. I will never fly this airline again. In fact, I'm committed to spreading the word about this terrible airline at @IHateUSAirways on Twitter. Follow me and I'll retweet your complaints. Solidarity!

Unknown said...

I am so pissed off at the airlines and all the fees the keep piling up on us. I was actually getting ready to book a flight from CLT to MCO, because USAir was offering $55 each way, which is not bad, especially for CLT.

Today USAirways decided to raise their first checked bag fee to $20 and $30 for the second. So, according to my math, not including taxes and fees, for an additional $5 my 2 bags can purchase the seat next to me.

I sent them a nasty gram, and told them to cancel my Dividend miles account since I would no longer be flying their airline. I also told them I would rather travel the 100+ miles to Raleigh to fly Southwest. I can only hope and pray that they will come to CLT some day.

When are the airlines gonna learn that there is a certain point when the consumer is gonna say no to these fees. Looks like i will be making the drive to Disney instead.

You suck USAirways!

Anonymous said...

I received an 'offer' for a USAir MasterCard stating my forfeited miles could be reinstated if I take their card. It listed my entire number of accrued miles as forfeited.
The USAir website still shows the miles as current. The Dividend Miles office "isn't open" today, so I can't get any info.
This is the most insulting con job I've ever seen from any airline.
I am a frequent flyer, and will now draw down my miles and never fly them again. They are a lousy airline to begin with, and this type of dishonest "offer" confirms they should die.

Jessica Sideways said...

My experience with US Airways was nothing short of horrid. I have only flown them once but it was a flight from Denver to Tampa to see my then boyfriend (we were in a Long Distance Relationship). After everyone was boarded on the plane, we had to wait 2 long hours before takeoff simply because someone fuelled the plane incorrectly and they did not tell us this or communicate it properly prior to takeoff.

Anonymous said...

we just had a similar experience with US Airways. and were treated rudely as well. i will never , ever, ever fly with them again unless i have no choice left on the planet.

this closing the gate 10 minutes early thing is a joke. you would think they would know thewre are many connecting passengers from one of their other flights that is running late and might may wait 5 minutes?

horrendous, had to spend hundreds extra in overnight hotel costs for my party to wait for the next days replacement flight.

Anonymous said...

US AIR(WAYS) REALLY SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!! They just wasted 30 minutes of my time because I came through the website they own - www.usair.com - and let me get all the way through the booking process (twice) but won't let me book the ticket because I came that way. F&%$ US AIR(WAYS)

Anonymous said...

Attended a meeting in Philadelphia, Feb 8-11. I was notified by the meeting planners that my flight home had been cancelled on the morning of the scheduled departure, (11Feb10). Honestly, it was not a big surprise, the snow had stopped but the roads were still a mess and we had heard that the airport was not going to re-open until sometime late on Thursday morning. The problem was that the travel agency had been told by USAir that they could not re-book us on other flights without us calling directly, so there was a delay. I would like to mention that other airlines allowed the meeting planners and travel agents to make those changes quickly, so people who were traveling on other carriers did not have as bad a problem. There were four of us on the same direct flight back to Kansas City, so we huddled up and started calling to get a back up plan. I was the first one to get through to an agent, who told us that the seats on all other flights were full from people who called sooner. They would not move us to code share flights we could see online because, "we are trying to take care of our own passengers." The earliest option they offerred was two days later, with 2 connections and a 7 hr layover. I realize that airlines are faced with a tough problem when weather hits like it id in PHL, but I think they are obligated to be as accommodating as possible. We ended up driving back from PHL. There were 55 people attending the meeting, only those on US Airways were dumped in this manner. I have had reservations on cancelled flights before and when I called the airline I was told which next flight my reservation had rolled to, and I could accept it or make other arrangements. Since this is the 3rd time in just over a year that I have had a ghastly experience with US Airways, I am vowing to never use them again. As a road warrior for the last 15 years, I have been on any number of cancelled flights. I think US Airways is in a class by themselves when it comes to total disrespect for thier customers. Sorry for going off on a rant, but I think people should know when faced with a decision which airline to travel what the ramifications may be if there are problems.

Anonymous said...

Our Daughter, a senior in high school, was booked on a cross country flight with USAir. She was attending a conference in DC and we did not have control of the flight or airline. We awoke to a snowy morning in the Mountain West and USAir decided to go ahead and de-ice the plane about departure time instead of early. This meant they left Boise 50 minutes late and arrived in Pheonix late enough for our daughter and 40 others to miss connecting flights. We felt so helpless, our teen-ager traveling alone, trying to get some help from USAir associates and employees. She went through the customer service process and was assured she was #2 on standby. We told her, wait at the gate, check in, make sure they know you are there and ready to board. She watched as they bumped about 10 people past her to board and wanted to put on the bottom of another standby list. She was exhausted, crying on her cell with us and we told her to go to a customer rep and HAND THE PHONE to them so we could talk. The Customer rep would not take the phone and not speak with us. My husband was livid and nearly shaking. The advice for us was to call the 1-800 number, and we're looking at our teen-aged daughter spending the night alone in an airport. Nice. Finally, with my daughter at the desk, alone and crying, the magically found a seat assignment for her... when supposedly all the flights were full. Oh, and sorry you have been here in the airport all day but no meal voucher for you. What a joke. NEVER again.

Anonymous said...

Their "First Class" is a joke - the service does not even meet business class standards, it corresponds to Economy Plus. Price for a "First Class" RT ticket from Charlotte to Phoenix: $ 3,500.- or $ 4,500 flexible. For that money you don't even get lounge access ("Sorry this US Airways lounge is for members only") Drinks and food are served on plastic, FA would not even ask me to take my jacket, no pre take off drink. Crew had a lot of time for chatting with each other, snacking in front of "First Class" passengers but ignoring them most of the time. The only other time I observed such a behavior it was on Air India (in economy) If I pay for economy I expect nothing else than to be taken from A to B but when I pay the extra money for Business or First Class I expect to be treated as a valued customer. What I got from US Airways was a rude and arrogant treatment from a guy who has probably only a few years left until retirement. I have to admit that there are a few very nice people who try their best with this company but unfortunately they are the exception.

Unknown said...

On April 1, 2010 at the end of a grueling business trip I arrived at the Honolulu airport to fly home to Kansas City. I inserted my credit card in the check-in kiosk computer to process myself for my flight. The computer was experiencing all kinds of technical issues, it was blinking on and off, not accepting commands etc. Finally a US Airways agent came to assist. She began punching icons so fast I couldn't tell what she was doing, but she didn't have any luck with whatever she was trying to do so she unplugged the computer from the outlet and then plugged it back in. I reinserted my credit card and was able to process myself for my flight. Now, I'm a government employee, and I have to be very careful with what I use my government credit card for. With that in mind, I went through security and reported to my gate. I glanced at my boarding pass and was stunned to see my seat assignment was 1A; first class. Government employees don't fly first class on business! Alarm bells wrang in my head and I sought out a US Airways agent at the gate and told her that I did not purchase a first class upgrade at the kiosk (The computer didn't ask me to re-insert my card at the kiosk, to pay for the difference from economy to first class). She told me "this is a courtesy upgrade sir." I didn't trust her but against my better judgement I flew home first class. On April 20, 2010 I review my government credit card account statement and wouldn't you know it? A transaction for an extra $350 appears. I KNEW IT! They wanted to squeeze me for THEIR MISTAKE! I did not ask for the upgrade, they gave it to me. I emaile customer service because they do not settle customer complaints on the phone. Naturally my request to have the $350 removed from my credit card was refused and as a gesture of "good will" they offer me $100 off a ticket for future travel for a ticket costing $500 or more. big deal, they can stick that where the sun doesn't shine. As far as I'm concerned they stole $350 from me. And I'll never fly with them again. Besides, the first class SUCKED! The lady sitting next to me got drunk on red wine and spilled a full glass on my lap too! I'll never fly US Airways again and I am sending a letter to William Parker, US Airways CEO today and I'm filing a report to the Government Travel Office. Once they get enough complaints US Airways will find that they are no longer a government carrier.

Anonymous said...

Sitting and waiting to fly from philly to Barcelona. Claim there's a red light for flaps. Guess we all know how this one's gonna end up. Should have flown a real airline with planes under 20 years old.

Soldiers Wife said...

My husband is coming home from Iraq and he has been up since yesterday morning at least. He managed to get all the way to Phoenix,AZ and we live in Sacramento, CA. Well his plane "broke down" and the next flight was "full" so he finally went to Southwest. He was due at 4pm today,but won't make it till 10pm. We haven't seen him for 8 months and he is exhausted. Way to treat your American soldiers US Airways!!! You definitely suck!!!

Anonymous said...

Enjoy your deregulated world. This is what happens when a Hollywood celebrity come president and fervently pro-business Congress get the government off the back of business. Arile deregulation, though started under Carter, all deregulation accelerated under Reagan. As businesses are allowed to carp on their customers and push and kick them to squeeze every penny of profit for the benefit of insatiably greedy stock market, expect bad service.
This is who won the Cold War: the stock market. The rest of us can enjoy our servitude.

Anonymous said...

US Airways sucks! I have flown 100,000+ miles per year with them for 5 years. I showed up 41 minutes before the flight's departure time and they would not check my bag because of an arbitray, illogical and indefensible (they tried but only exposed thier ingnorance) cutoff time of 45 minutes. The lack of flexibility cost me $150 cash and three hours of my time. I will them pay - one way or another - I always do. I would fly with another airline but they are all the same - run by idiots that don't know anything about how to run a business and manned by minimum wage peons. All I can do is keep repeating "I only need to put up with this for a few more years."

Unknown said...

I agree with everyone...I tried to purchase a flight with a voucher ( because I had a terrible experience my first time flying to Europe ) and the rep quoted me a price lower than I was charged! When I tried claiming what they did and asking for my money back, they didnt believe me and accused me of lying! Of course I told them if they listened to the recordings they will find out and finally I was passed along to someone who said they could cancel my flight. They put a request in and a week later I find out that they could not refund my ticket and instead cancelled it. When I tried to get more details from a rep over the phone, they each told me different stories. Some told me that the refund would occur via my bank account, others told me via a credit with US Airways. I was extremely frustrated. I had no flight and no money. Finally after several requests for a manager to come to the phone, I was able to get my original flight reinstated without additional $175 fee that they charge after cancelling a flight. Wow! What an experience. NEVER EVER flying US Airways again.

ken never on us airways said...

us airways suck, for the second time I was ticketed in first class (mileage upgrade) and was told when I was getting on the plane that I was down graded. I purchased upgrade 1 month before travel, checked in 24 hours ahead, put bags on and was never informed until I tried to board plane. Some preferred member purchased full fare first class ticket, it pushed me out of first class, company policy.will never fly this airline again..At least the flight attendents gave me bloody marys all the way to keep me shut up.

Helene Ross said...

I'm sitting here in Charlotte trying to get a standby flight to Tampa because I missed my connecting flight due to the fact that my flight into Charlotte was delayed and the two gates were located at complete opposite ends of the airport from each other (which is ridiculous considering it was originally supposed to be a very short layover time), and the flight actually "departed" (the plane was still sitting there) earlier than they were supposed to. So instead of holding the flight for a few minutes as a courtesy for all the passengers who they originally delayed, they actually left a few minutes earlier than scheduled and left us all to try and get home hours later on another flight! US Airways is so unorganized!! Every time I fly with them it's some issue!! I'm done with them!!

Anonymous said...

Us airways )$&@ing sucks!

We were connecting thru Charlotte going from Boston to Fayetteville Arkansas. It rained for half hour in Boston and us airways was the only airline that decided to delay it's flight so much that we would have missed our connection.

We come back the next morning, the person near the security line insisted our bag was too big to carry on. I pointed out that 4 other people had bigger bags than ours but I guess me being Indian didnt help. And this was the same bag which we got on the us air flight to Boston.

Needless to say I will never fly us airways. Hope you go bankrupt.....

Anonymous said...

US Airways sucks big time.

They basically stole $450 of my hard earned money when I had to cancel a trip due to medical emergency.

Refused to give me back my money...they gave me a voucher but in order to use it, they charged me 450 bucks (3 tix X $150 change fee per ticket). Worthless.

That was 4 years ago and I have never flown them since.. I use Southwest and JetBlue only.

Anonymous said...

I work for the damned company and the dissatisfaction amongst employees is clearly evident. The reason we're at the bottom of the CSI is because of management policies and diktats. They run the company like a bunch of little Napoleons. No employees is of any value to them, they only care about their little kingdoms in management, not about the customer, not about the employees. Southwest is #1 a lot and it shows.