Trip Report...something positive!

[bofie]

I flew PHL-CDG the other day.

The good...Plane left on time and arrived on time! Food was improved over previous recent Envoy meals, though still not what it was in the old days. FAs seemed happy and sufficiently service oriented.

The bad... IFE didn't work right and the seat lights were limp and wouldn't stay at a useful position. TV screen was horribly scratched...plastic surgery STAT! Seat was rump-sprung and hard. Tray wouldn't go back into its hole.

All in all a better experience than I've had recently on transatlantic flights on LCC. Still not worth $7300 RT...that's offensive....but it was better than previously. Still not up to UA or CO or DL domestic FC, but...better.

 

[US1YFARE]

How sad is it that when a US flight leaves on time it is a positive experience. Why on earth would anyone pay 7K to US for that service. I' rather fly Air France out of PHL or take BA with a connection.

 

[Be Careful What You Wish For.]

It is sad indeed when ANY positive by a PAX is turned immediately into a negative. A the very least please don't condemn those who for whatever reason may actually have enjoyed their flight.
When PB has a good flight he says so-and when he has a bad one- he says so.

 

[beachboy]

Hey great! Well, baby steps I guess? CDG and MAD....leave early so they tend not to be jerked around too much. There are spare a/c at that time. The IFE system on the A330 has been HORRIBLE since they did the reconfigure. I have never seen this many resets. Every flight is shut it down 3 times. Then 20 resets. But glad it was a good flight.

 

[bofie]

How sad is it that when a US flight leaves on time it is a positive experience. Why on earth would anyone pay 7K to US for that service. I' rather fly Air France out of PHL or take BA with a connection.

I considered it. But I have some residual loyalty and this trip put me over 100K...so that was in the reckoning (but I would easily get there without it). After thinking about it, I think that loyalty was the main factor...I just didn't want to fly on Air France.

Go figure.

 

[HPearlyretiree]

How sad is it that when a US flight leaves on time it is a positive experience. Why on earth would anyone pay 7K to US for that service. I' rather fly Air France out of PHL or take BA with a connection.

How sad is it that you can't leave a thread alone, instead, infecting it with your pissed off attitude.

Quit, get a job killing stray dogs at the pound, you might enjoy it more.

 

[700UW]

When are you ever going to address the topic instead of the poster?

And if you could comprehend, you would know US1YFARE is a passenger, not an employee.

And since you are long gone from HP, you would not know what a real airline was and what great service levels US once had.

Go back to the trailer park and finish of your PBR.

 

[sharktooth]

How sad is it that when a US flight leaves on time it is a positive experience. Why on earth would anyone pay 7K to US for that service. I' rather fly Air France out of PHL or take BA with a connection.

Exactly!

Unusually good weather lately would seem to cover a multitude of US operational sins. So, staffing and budgeting are apparently keyed to a presumption of good weather, just like Tempe "beta tested" their QIK condemning paying passengers to finding and suffering the consequences to Tempe naivete and incompetence, assuming no passenger would need to do anything other than simply check-in, I presume.

Watching Tempe doing high-fives and rewarding themselves just because the weather happened to be unusually good is like watching a race car driver celebrating his victory just before he t-bones another vehicle, an unfolding train wreck.

Aircraft maintenance (management level and not the individual mechanics) continues to be a joke, with marginally (not even considering the effects of multiple MELs) airworthy aircraft being flown.

Employees expectation level should remain high, employees should never buy into the Tempe kool-aide and should never accept barely minimal, and many times, unsafe results.

Demand excellence from Tempe and you will get it. Accepting continued failure leads to more failure.

 

[vantheman63]

How sad is it that you can't leave a thread alone, instead, infecting it with your pissed off attitude.

Quit, get a job killing stray dogs at the pound, you might enjoy it more.

It's always so enjoyable to read your posts....there is so much insight in what you have to say, you offer such interesting thoughts on the topic(s) at hand. There is so much to learn from the generous offerings you bring to the board. I know I always look forward to seeing your thoughts.

And should all us pax quit our jobs? What if some of us don't have jobs? I haven't had one for years. What should I do? Just shoot myself?

 

[phlus2]

It is sad indeed when ANY positive by a PAX is turned immediately into a negative. A the very least please don't condemn those who for whatever reason may actually have enjoyed their flight.
When PB has a good flight he says so-and when he has a bad one- he says so.

I didn't read anywhere that anyone actually "enjoyed" their flight. What I read is that it wasn't as bad as other flights that they took in the past - which is a far different thing that actually enojoying a flight. I doubt, based upon the post, that the originator of this thread would reccomend to someone else that they fly US across the pond because of the stellar service and reliability!

It really is sad that a flight that leaves on time has become the threshold for a "positive passenger experience" or that the food was not as bad as the last time is a "positive passenger experience". I didn't read anything in this post about the food actually being good.

It all goes back to the Sand Castle business strategy - drive the service so unbelievably low that anything - even a flight that leaves on time - is viewed as an improvement.

 

[phlus2]

How sad is it that when a US flight leaves on time it is a positive experience. Why on earth would anyone pay 7K to US for that service. I' rather fly Air France out of PHL or take BA with a connection.

Exactly - as a PHL passenger - I now drive to Newark and take CO to Europe. Their coach service across the pond exceeds Envoy on US, and there isn't even any point in trying to compare the US product to the CO BusinessFirst product. I wouldn't even trade in frequent flyer miles for a free ticket to Europe on US anymore.

 

[legacy-to-LCC]

It really is sad that a flight that leaves on time has become the threshold for a "positive passenger experience" or that the food was not as bad as the last time is a "positive passenger experience". I didn't read anything in this post about the food actually being good.

It all goes back to the Sand Castle business strategy - drive the service so unbelievably low that anything - even a flight that leaves on time - is viewed as an improvement.

the impoTEMPE strategy, as such, is twofold: arrive on-time, with luggage. DoUgIe & kirby have repeatedly identified these "service" benchmarks as the sole criteria for choice in air travel among the flying public. they couldn't be more out of touch!! that is just the beginning...particularly for frequent flyers!!
perhaps this is what worked for a regional carrier servicing a primarily leisure customer demographic, but they simply do not--and will not--cut it for the "new" usair. nor, incidentally, will the uber cheap "enhancements"; the interiors of the 190s being one good example. i'd like to paint the usair (pardon me, awa) "swoosh" on DoUgIe's forehead!! what a pathetic disgrace!!

 

[bofie]

Return trip CDG-PHL.

The Good- Left on time and arrived on time or maybe even early. Food was actually good. FAs were great. I forgot how much I missed those hot towels in F. How much can they cost anyway? Seats in better shape on this AC.

Capt. came out pre-flight and chatted up the erstwhile FC cabin in both English and in pretty good US French. A very nice touch.

The Bad- The usual CF at CDG, not US's fault, it is a French thing . IFE dead till 2 hours into the trip, FAs kept at it till it worked. (They could easily have said "screw it" and gotten on with their other stuff. Meal came out on time anyway...the extra effort was appreciated by everyone who noticed).

All in all a nice 8 hr flight.

 

[Be Careful What You Wish For.]

All in all a nice 8 hr flight.

Phlus2, whether the words used are"Nice"or (what I interpreted earlier to mean)enjoy, you will have plenty of time to ponder the difference on the drive to Newark.
I thank the PAX who took the time to post his thoughts on this board.

 

[Be Careful What You Wish For.]

Go back to the trailer park and finish of your PBR.

This would be addressing the topic instead of the poster?