I have a business trip to AMS in June. I am entitled to pay for business class. My hope was to do just that, and use my 2 SWUs to upgrade to first (these are last year's SWUs, and are expiring 9/25/01). However, US does not offer First Class to AMS (the aircraft is a 767, not an A330).

What are my alternatives? Does US offer a fare with a connection through, say, FRA or LGW? Would hate to see my SWUs go unused!

Thanks.

Babu-

not sure what you're asking about US offering fares through FRA or LGW..

I think what you're asking is 'can you upgrade through FRA/LGW since those are cities where they fly Airbus 330 (3-class) aircraft'..

Note that US does not offer such connecting flights, although you can book connecting flights through the website. You can of course only use the SWU on USAirways flights.

So alternative routing might be through LGW on BA or FRA via Lufthansa.

Note that using the website is tricky when you want to use Envoy/First class. Sometimes if you choose 'envoy' on the reservations page and need a connection, it gets confused and cant find anything since other airlines dont have envoy. Anyway, might need to use a travel agent or call in to US reservations to get what you want.

If you use SWU this way (Envoy->First), I wouldnt expect problems using the SWU, but you should check before purchasing.

The other obvious thing is to decide whether F is that much better than J - you have a few more months to buy really cheap coach fares and upgrade to J...

Hscottm,

Thanks for your suggestions. I was particulary interested in your last comment, since I have not flown in either US's J or F Class.

So, how much better *is* First than Envoy? On BA, for example, the difference is huge.

One option would be to fly to CDG and take the Thalys (http://www.thalys.com) train to Amsterdam. Unfortunately the Thalys train that runs through CDG doesn't go to Amsterdam so you have to backtrack to Paris Nord first.

Int'l FC on US has better wines than business (Envoy BC). No. of food courses for lunch/dinner is 7/8 instead of 4/5. It all is designed by Georges Perrier of Le Bec Fin in Philadephia (same as BC) but his restaurant has been criticised by the Phillie media and has lost a star. I wasn't impressed by the BC food - no experience with the FC stuff. Service is quite good, from what I gather, as there are two FAs for a maximum of 6 pax. The seats do recline flat for better sleep. Unfortunately the flight is a little bit too short to enjoy it all so fly from CLT if you can manage it.

FWIW, you might just want to pay for a full economy or business fare (upgrade to business optional) as the double miles bonus may be applicable when you fly and use the upgrades for a mileage run in August/September.

Save your SWUs for a future trip. If it were me, at least, I just want to get there without dealing with connections - especially after an all night red-eye.

The biggest difference between Envoy and First are the fully flat seats in First, and an enhanced menu. The seats in Envoy recline about 150 degrees, which is kind of like your home lazy-boy.

You'll find that some people prefer the Envoy seats on the 767 to the A330(in terms of comfort). I'm partial to either, having flown them both. But my bottom line is always eliminating as much time enroute, so even if I could upgrade to 1st, I'd take the nonstop flight with Envoy.

PHL-

Your point is well taken. It's bad enough connecting on the same airline, but I can only imagine what interline connections would be like after a red eye.

I guess now I'll have to find an excuse to hop across the pond sometime before September (if the leisure fares drop from what they are).

Originally posted by PHL:
Save your SWUs for a future trip. <snip> But my bottom line is always eliminating as much time enroute, so even if I could upgrade to 1st, I'd take the nonstop flight with Envoy.


I agree. Adding the connection just to get the FC cabin on the A330 isn't worth it in my opinion. The flight from PHL-AMS is short anyway (7 hours or so). I'd fly paid biz on your AMS trip and save the sys-upgrades for a fall fare sale. Then grab an Envoy seat on the 330 to wherever.

I've flown Envoy on both the 767 and the A-330. I personally prefer the 330 by a significant margin but I do see how some folks would prefer the 767 Envoy seat vs. the 330 seat. Entertainment and the newness of the cabin are the big factors for me preferring the 330. IMHO, most of the European routes are of a short enough duration that the difference between envoy and FC is not really noticable. Go trans-Pacific, well - that's another story.