Finished up the trip on Mesa from RIC to CLT. First issue dealt with the web site. For two weeks the system would error out every time I tried to pick a seat on the Mesa flight. Never did get it to work and honestly was just too lazy to keep calling res to even see if the agent I talked to had even assigned me a seat. He may have, but it clearly was not the one he told he was going to.
I arrived early again, but not quite enough time to catch the earlier flight because of having to check a bag. Made it to the gate just as the final boarding call was made and the earlier flight goes out with three empty. I did not try to catch the flight and have the bag moved over. Like I’ve said before, I learned that lesson well.
The front end of RIC is torn up due to construction, but when you get past TSA it is a nice airport. No line at all at security so I was through in less than a minute.
I went to gate early to see if I could grab 1D if it was not needed for a handicap pax. Gate agent takes boarding pass, types and hands me back new boarding card. During the entire process he never said ONE word, other than handing me back the boarding pass,it was like I was not there. In my opinion this is problem with all airlines. Why not look at the pax and say something along the lines of “thanks for flying us today†or “how is your day goingâ€. This is still a service industry but you would never know with the lack of interest of some employees. In this case I would have settled for kiss my lily white rear end. It takes no effort to look at the customer and say thanks, or may I help you while smiling and meaning it, etc. I see this on all airlines, but this basic cold, almost mechanical response has been pervasive at US this week. I understand why it is there, but that does not make it right and will affect future business if it continues.
We board on time on a HP CRJ-900. It was my first time on one. About the only thing I can say about it is it’s a bigger bird so more people have the chance to be miserable for an hour. Two FA’s on board and one was very friendly and the other was….well let’s just say she may have been having a bad day. She was what we FF call a CD’er. I think the FA’s on this board will know what I mean. There was no service of any kind.
Flight pushes on time and arrives on time. Cabin was slightly dirty, but mostly crushed pretzels in carpet, etc. Baggage claim in CLT was C2 and there was a pile of bags over by the office, but mine arrived within about 20 minutes of arriving in the claim area.
I guess after last week, my expectations were very low for this week. I can honestly say that other than the almost sterile interaction with all but the crew from CLT to PHL, my expectations were exceeded. It was not much better than I would expect from Greyhound, but I arrive on time and safely on every flight.
Will I be back? I can honestly say yes, but it will only be when the schedules fit and the price is right. Sorry to say, US will not be my airline of choice and maybe not even in the top three.
