Annual survey done by university in Kansas elevates Continental to number 2 in rankings. Big suprise, USAirways ranks NUMBER ONE. About time the new management team gets some credit for the improvements on their watch. PS: food on Continental still better!

... and United last (number 10). What a shame!

Momma always said, "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all!" so United (the not-so friendly skies) gets a no comment.

1. US Airways 2. Continental Airlines 3. American Airlines 4. Delta Air Lines 5. Southwest Airlines 6. America West Airlines 7. TWA 8. Alaska Airlines 9. Northwest Airlines 10.United Airlines

[This message has been edited by Rudi (edited 04-20-99).]

Hmmmmm. I wonder if Matt Wald will now give up his premier status with United and join US Airways Chairman's Preferred??? Doubtful. Now that he's tasted the superior quality of Thai Airlines, I doubt if he'll be satisfied with any US carrier again!!! All in jest, of course... CHEERS!!!

What do those of you who have flown one of winners, US Airways and Continental, AND ALSO flown one of the losers, United and Northwest, think of this survey?

Domestically, I only fly AK, NWA, SW and UA (when I absolutely have to). Out of those airlines ALASKA is by far the best. If, however, CO is truly that much better, I'll give it a try instead of NW.

This is feasible now that the NW/CO mileage can be interchangably accumulated. NW and CO also confirm that one can now purchase a CO ticket and upgrade it with NW mileage. Good news for people like me--my company almost never buys full fare tickets and I HATE COACH too much to take the chance of using upgrade certificates.

Any chance this new alliance might force NW to improve service? Or will CO slip to a common denominator?

Rudi:
I haven't seen the survey, so I have to ask: Were you giving us your rankings or simply reporting on the survey rankings? I have to ask that because I believe you travel more than anyone else on more different airlines, and your own opinions are probably worth more than thos of any other survey.

thank you philforest - I am honored - No, not mine - I just copied from CNN homepage - sorry for the "plagiat" (I am to lazy to look for that word in english) .

http://www.cnn.com/TRAVEL/NEWS/9904/19/airline.quality/

[This message has been edited by Rudi (edited 04-20-99).]

Rudi would never plagerize (that's the word) he and all of us are very good at giving credit when we get information from articles or other people.

I'm curious to know who the University of Kansas talked to for this survey. A mix of flyers or frequent flyers or little old ladies who take U-S Airways from Kansas City to Saint Louis.

Not that I'm questioning this or any survey. Just the only survey I trust is the survey of myself and my closest friends!

And now U-S AIrways can start a new campaign: From USELESS to USEFUL!

>>What do those of you who have flown one of winners, US Airways and Continental, AND ALSO flown one of the losers, United and Northwest, think of this survey?

I flew on UA at the Premier Executive level for years until two years ago, when I received a gold elite trial membership from CO. At the time, I was fed up with UA's declining service levels, rudeness of staff (especially flight attendants) as well as a Saturday night stayover requirement for award travel that they had just imposed. Although I was of the opinion that "they're all alike," I was so ticked off at UA that I decided to give CO a try. I have been a gold and now a platinum elite on CO for the last two years.

I could not believe the better level of service I received on CO compared to UA. By and large, the staff seems to give a **** about their customers. They treat me a whole lot better than UA, and do a lot of little things for me (see below). OnePass is a lot better program than Mileage Plus, IMO, because of better mileage bonuses and no mileage expiration. (Although ironically, they do have a Saturday night stayover for award travel while United dropped theirs after protest from frequent flyers.)

The best thing about OnePass as far as I am concerned is their upgrade policy for elites. On a full fare (Y) ticket, I can get an upgrade at time of ticket purchase. With UA, any coach fare can be upgraded, but only a certain number of hours in advance of the flight, depending on your status, and then you have to use mileage certificates, which you earn for every 10,000 miles you fly or pay cash for. CO has a 72 hour in advance policy for non-Y fares, but the upgrade won't cost you anything if you get it.

CO's partners HP and NW have all the same frequent flyer program policies, including elite qualification on CO for any miles flown on HP or NW. Last time I checked, this was not true for partners UA and DL - if you flew on DL miles can be converted to UA miles, but they did not count for elite qualification. I also have been unable to get into UA's Red Carpet Club with my DL Crown Room card; my President's Club card gets me into UA, NW, and HP clubs. In short, the UA/DL partnership has all sorts of confusing rules, while CO/HP/NW is pretty uniform and there are not a whole bunch of exceptions you have to remember.

I have spent many hours at the gate waiting on upgrade standby on UA. They make you wait at the gate until the last minute, and if your name isn't called, you are one of the last to board and might lose a chance at your overhead bin space. On CO, if you are on standby for an upgrade, you board at the normal time and if you get your upgrade, they call your name and bring you up front.

Another recent issue that highlights the difference in attitude between CO and UA is "too much baggage for the overhead bins." UA is screwing it to their customers by forcing us to put our carry ons through their insipid "luggage templates" at security. CO is incresing the size of their overhead bins on their entire fleet.

Baggage service for elites is much better on CO than UA. I fly with "Priority Elite" tags on my bags and they are almost always among the first off the plane. (That does not always happen, and it never happens when I fly on HP or NW, BTW.) UA will put a "Connossieur Class" or "First Class" tag on your bag when you fly on an upgrade, but I have never noticed any discernable difference in getting my bags more quickly when I fly on an upgrade on UA despite the tag.

About the only thing I prefer on UA to CO is the food in first class. I have to say that they do a really fine job with that, and I have enjoyed their meal service over the years.

I always got the feeling on UA that they would do anything to make as much revenue as possible at the expense of their customer. On CO, I get the feeling that they give a **** about their customers, especially their best customers such as myself. There's not that feeling of being nickeled and dimed to death.

I fly HP quite a bit and find their service OK, although not as nice as CO's. I have flown NW a couple of times since the alliance was announced and find them to be far inferior to either CO or HP. I hope NW will catch on to what CO's been doing the last few years and get their act together.

Touche, geo. I had a conversation recently with a friend who flies around 60k on USair. He, too, insists that things have improved dramatically since my USair days.

I just hope that UA is listening to these results and is prepared to defend their honor by improving SERVICE, both in the air and on the ground.

I had a conversation with my UA city ticket office ladies today, and rubbed Thai airways service in their faces. They claimed it was a "cultural thing." Yeah, like Thai has a culture of "customer service" and UA has a culture of "Can't you see that I'm too busy chatting with my gal-pal here to bring you that drink in a timely manner," or "sorry we cant get you that upgrade, we've just got too many FA's sitting up front to accomidate you."

Where's my valium when I need it!!!

[This message has been edited by Matt Wald (edited 04-20-99).]

dgolds has hit a homerun is his/her assessment of the airlines and the quality ratings! As a current CO Gold, UA Premier Exec., and US Air Preferred, it's clear that the overall service of CO (in particular) but also US are much better than UA's. Also, CO's no miles expiration and basically, no cost, unlimited upgrades is worlds above UA. I would agree that the food on UA is a step above the others, although I have had some decent meals on US. UA baggage service is terrible in my view; CO's superb.

I will say that I continue to find UA's routes and timetables better than any other airline. And this isn't just because I fly out of DC (a UA hub). It may be nothing but luck, but even outside of DC I find UA flight times appealing. CO and US much less so.

I won't even comment on UA's mileage posting, statement and upgrade mailing, and web site problems - they are too numerous to mention. It is also interesting to point out that the reason UA went to the goofy baggage templates was to improve on-time performance. I don't believe I've seen UA at or near the top of that monthly chart even once since the templates went in. Clearly there are issues beyond the size and amount of luggage people were trying to carry on.

While I will continue to select my airlines/flights based primarily on price and convenience, meaning I will continue to fly UA at times, I will surely not be going out of my way to do so.