Personal Experience?

[Blue0ctane]

On June 25th, I will be flying on U.S. Air from Fort Lauderdale to Reagan and transferring to Albany. Now, what's the status quo for U.S. Air? I've heard some not-so-nice things about them. Last year we took Southwest, so I'm not sure what to expect. Does anybody have some advice?

 

[Heinrich]

WOW

Well...

If you are loyal to US, you can build up miles to transfer to interesting places in Canada, Caribbean, Europe, Asia, New Zealand, etc, which is not true of Southwest. Or if you don't fly that much, you could build up miles to upgrade to first class after a ticket purchase.

Also if a flight is cancelled due to any other reason, you face better protections as there is interline ticketing with real airlines - even competing airlines.

You won't get any teenage girls masquerading as flight attendants singing stupid karaoke songs on the descent into Albany. Whether or not that is an advantage or disadvantage is up to you.

You will get an assigned seat that you have a chance of changing in advance, as opposed to herded onto the airplane like a cow.

And, most importantly, you will deal with more experienced employees at USAir. You have a better chance at having better one-on-one customer service.

And, no, I am a passenger who has never received any paycheck from anyone affiliated with Usair or any other airline ever.

Depending on various random events such as a FA eating the wrong food the night before your flight, or a bad thunderstorm somewhere, or a part on a plane breaking, your overall experience on any single flight may well be a toss of the dice. However, if you fly on US regularly you have a better chance of becoming a loyal customer.

I have found the Albany gate agents to be wonderful - I've never flow into Fort Lauderdale.

 

[Blue0ctane]

I am merely 13, so I'll ignore your comment about the frequent flier miles.

I've never had any experience with horrid singers on Southwest, although now I'll look out for them. :-/

Southwest has been usually accomodating to group flights for me, but not for single riders. When I was flying back from camp early by myself (school reasons), I was forced to sit next to a 20-something punk. My alto saxophone was taken away from me, stuck in the back of the plane, and it was banged up and full of leaks the next time I tried to play it.

 

[Heinrich]

I am merely 13, so I'll ignore your comment about the frequent flier miles.

I've never had any experience with horrid singers on Southwest, although now I'll look out for them. :-/

Southwest has been usually accomodating to group flights for me, but not for single riders. When I was flying back from camp early by myself (school reasons), I was forced to sit next to a 20-something punk. My alto saxophone was taken away from me, stuck in the back of the plane, and it was banged up and full of leaks the next time I tried to play it.

Hmm, I'm not sure what to say about the instrument. I would research that in advance. I fly with a mountain bike, but it only gets better when it's banged around 😀 Perhaps some folks here can give you good advice on your instrument.

Albany is a great airport. It's close to the interstates and easy to park. I didn't really notice it until I forgot my baggage. That sounds incredibly stupid but after 6 months of flying on a weekly basis I had never checked my bags until a flight into Albany. I was on the interstate, had an "oh crap" moment (though that's not quite the right word) did a quick U turn, and had entered the airport, parked, and retrieved my luggage, and exited for the second time in 20 minutes. It was at that point I appreciated that Albany was well-laid out and positioned.

 

[PhxMama]

As a US employee, let me say Welcome Aboard! My advise is to check in at least 90 min prior to flight, make sure you only have 1 carryon and a personal item (that fits the size requirements) and bring your photo id. There are many professionals at US that know what they are doing and want you to have a pleasant experience. I could never promise a flight will not be cxld, delayed and there would be no problems as I cannot guarantee I will be around tomorrow. I do hope that you emjoy the experience and come back and let us know what you thought. Its always nice to know what kind of experience our customers have had, good and bad. I think we can all learn something!

I am merely 13, so I'll ignore your comment about the frequent flier miles.

I've never had any experience with horrid singers on Southwest, although now I'll look out for them. :-/

Southwest has been usually accomodating to group flights for me, but not for single riders. When I was flying back from camp early by myself (school reasons), I was forced to sit next to a 20-something punk. My alto saxophone was taken away from me, stuck in the back of the plane, and it was banged up and full of leaks the next time I tried to play it.

Are you trvling alone? If you have a connecting flight, you be unable to trvl. US does not allow anyone under the age of 15 to trvl alone,nor do we have um's on connecting flights. They will ask for age verification at the airport.

 

[Blue0ctane]

Heinrich: I know, I flew to Albany last year as well. It's a very nice airport.

PhxMama: I met up with my father on the connection in Baltimore. After a three hour delay in which Soutwest absolutely refused to tell us any information, finally announcing that there was a backup in Providence, we were on our way home. Also, this year I won't have to leave camp early so I'll be flying with the rest of the Florida kids.

It should be noted that when I was flying from Baltimore to Fort Lauderdale with my father, the saxophone was not taken from the overhead bin and placed in the back of the plane. In fact, the only time this happened was when I was flying by myself back. Hm...

 

[noname]

I am merely 13, so I'll ignore your comment about the frequent flier miles.

I've never had any experience with horrid singers on Southwest, although now I'll look out for them. :-/

Southwest has been usually accomodating to group flights for me, but not for single riders. When I was flying back from camp early by myself (school reasons), I was forced to sit next to a 20-something punk. My alto saxophone was taken away from me, stuck in the back of the plane, and it was banged up and full of leaks the next time I tried to play it.
[/quote
You should still be able to sign up for frequent flier miles at 13 unless something has changed that I am unaware of....

 

[REACC1]

Also you wont be able to fly by yourself, nonstop or with a connection until you are 15. You can travel by yourself with an unacompanied minor svc chg only on non stop flights.

 

[PITbull]

My suggestion to you folks on this forum is not to dialogue with a 13 yr old, middle school kid, barely a teenager. 🙄

The information sought can be obtained by her/his parents.

 

[lostplanetairman]

I started traveling well before that. So I have no problem discussing traveling with a 13 year old. I think my last experience on US Airways shows that it would have been preferential to discussing it with a 30+ year old flight attendant! Assigned seating isn't all it's cracked up to be. Given that I'm located near to ACY, I'll just be giving another airline my business for business travel more often. Oh, and by the way, the web assigned my Dividend Miles to an unknown number--not mine!!!!! I'm still awaiting a resolution of that!

See my experience as I typed it on the SWA forum of my last week US Airways experience:

By the way, my seat assignment on US Airways was a real treat Thursday. They assigned me the window seat. Unfortunately, both the asile and middle seats were occupied by two large wheelchair bound passengers. I asked to wait to see if a seat was open. The FA told me to sit in my seat or get off the plane! I had to climb over them while wearing a skirt! Needless to say, the doors of the plane closed and two seats in the row behind me were vacant. So, when I could I climbed over them again while the FA glared at me. Too bad, I had a train to catch when the plane landed and wasn't going to wait until the whole plane disembarked and they got the other two passengers out of the seats!

HR Diva

 

[PhxMama]

If you feel the need to post a bad experience on the WN forum about US ok. I dont know what that does for you but ok. Im sorry you werent willing to wait for physically challenged customers to move and I hope someday you are not in the same position yourself. I can only imagine how those poor people felt having to deal with you. I bet they felt pretty uncomfortable knowing their disability was slowing you down. Im sure their lives are difficult enough without you not wanting to sit near them. I mean it would slow you down. Im sure the f/a did the best she could without telling you how cold and insensitive you are. Im impressed she could keep her composure. This is one example of how professional US f/a's must be because I would have given you a tongue lashing. How dare you! I believe in Karma and you better go hide in a closet.

 

[lostplanetairman]

If you feel the need to post a bad experience on the WN forum about US ok. I dont know what that does for you but ok. Im sorry you werent willing to wait for physically challenged customers to move and I hope someday you are not in the same position yourself. I can only imagine how those poor people felt having to deal with you. I bet they felt pretty uncomfortable knowing their disability was slowing you down. Im sure their lives are difficult enough without you not wanting to sit near them. I mean it would slow you down. Im sure the f/a did the best she could without telling you how cold and insensitive you are. Im impressed she could keep her composure. This is one example of how professional US f/a's must be because I would have given you a tongue lashing. How dare you! I believe in Karma and you better go hide in a closet.

I posted on the SWA forum because people were discussing the advantage of assigned seating. This experience was valid for that post.

Your analysis is way off base. The FA did nothing. She had no composure because she could care less! She told me to get in my seat when I offered to wait outside the plane to determine if another seat was available. Your reaction is typical of the poor service offered by a handful of employees now. I'm not hiding in a closet. You are absurd in your judgment. To not want to miss my train and have to wait four hours till after midnight to catch the next train is not unreasonable. I paid an equal (high price last minute) fare for my seat. I was compassionate. So were my seat companions. They were surprised that I was in that seat since so many other seats around us were empty. Apparently the FA didn't care. They remarked that they had never seen an FA be so unreasonable.

That is why my company is now booking a major convention out of ACY--to avoid US Airways!

How dare you!

HR Diva

 

[USstew23]

I posted on the SWA forum because people were discussing the advantage of assigned seating. This experience was valid for that post.

Your analysis is way off base. The FA did nothing. She had no composure because she could care less! She told me to get in my seat when I offered to wait outside the plane to determine if another seat was available. Your reaction is typical of the poor service offered by a handful of employees now. I'm not hiding in a closet. You are absurd in your judgment. To not want to miss my train and have to wait four hours till after midnight to catch the next train is not unreasonable. I paid an equal (high price last minute) fare for my seat. I was compassionate. So were my seat companions. They were surprised that I was in that seat since so many other seats around us were empty. Apparently the FA didn't care. They remarked that they had never seen an FA be so unreasonable.

That is why my company is now booking a major convention out of ACY--to avoid US Airways!

How dare you!

HR Diva

Good!!!!!!!!! Take it over to Delta, word is they are flying out of ACY now. No ONE wants insensitive people like you around anyway. Oh, by the way, a good quick thinking flight attendant would've accidentally stuck their foot out and tripped you in your hurried rush out the door to your beloved train that was waiting JUST FOR YOU!!! How Dare YOU treat disabled people like that!!!

 

[lostplanetairman]

Good!!!!!!!!! Take it over to Delta Connection out of ACY, we DO NOT need insensitive people like you around here anyway. Oh, by the way, a good quick thinking flight attendant would've accidentally stuck their foot out and tripped you in your hurried rush out the door.

Wow, you are out of control. No wonder your airline has been in trouble many time over. It's people like you telling full fare paying passengers to screw themselves.

Nice.

Have a good day. And we're not flying Delta. We're flying the main carrier out of ACY who happens to be responsive to customers--unlike YOU!

Your FA's are at the door. They are not tripping anyone in the cabin. It shows how little you know about what is happening in the aircraft! And if anyone is tripping anyone, expect a nice big lawsuit!

By the way, this is why I delayed posting this--knowing I would get nothing but negative comments without any reaction to the fact that a rational request for a wait to board was denied and that I was threatened as if I was a terrorist who would be denied boarding! It was the FA who was out of contol. I was passive. She was rigid and kept citing her "rules". If I had delayed boarding till the last second, I would have achieved my goal--determine whether there was a free seat elsewhere. But I had no way of knowing that my seat was restricted. No one told me that the pre boards were in my row. No one offered me the chance to pre-board with them. No one said anything.

When I boarded and realized the situation, the passengers were also upset, having thought that no one would be in the third seat. I politely asked the FA if I could wait to see if an open seat presented itself. I explained that if I didn't catch my train, I would have to wait till past midnight to catch the next train. I explained that it concerned me because I had been attacked previously (I have the scar on my neck to show the slit from his knife)while waiting for the train late at night. The FA refused to let me wait in the jetway and allow me that option. She insisted that I board and climb on top of the passengers and debase them and myself. She must have gotten pleasure out of that. And she must have known that there were plenty of free seats available. She must have gotten pleasure out of that. She stood there and watched while I climbed on top of the passengers to get to my seat. So I guess she liked to look under my skirt as she had the view.

You are out of control! It's us who pay your wages and you think it is okay to debase us. You would rather that I be attacked again in the train station. You think it's ok because you never would be in that situation--as a non-rev you would never be having a FA tell you to not wait and instead debase yourself.

Wow. I would never expect that of my employees. We are in customer service too.

HR Diva

 

[USstew23]

Wow, you are out of control. No wonder your airline has been in trouble many time over. It's people like you telling full fare paying passengers to screw themselves.

Nice.

Have a good day. And we're not flying Delta. We're flying the main carrier out of ACY who happens to be responsive to customers--unlike YOU!

HR Diva

By the way, this is why I delayed posting this--knowing I would get nothing but negative comments without any reaction to the fact that a rational request for a wait to board was denied and that I was threatened as if I was a terrorist who would be denied boarding!

1. While a bit off color the tripping comment was a complete exxageration and was being used to point out the irony of the situation (however I'm sure it has crossed the minds of a few).
2. It is not my airline
3. The employees of that airline are the ones who have held it together through some very difficult times.
4. I'm sure any human being with feelings knows better than to look down their nose at someone who is disabled and treat them like they are 2nd class.