I haven't flown USAir much. Basically because the few times I've been forced to fly them (mostly 2-4 years ago), I never (repeat NEVER!) had a flight that was on time. And not just by a few minutes - we're talking 2+hour delays on at least one leg of EVERY round trip! I always noticed they had good overall ontime ratings, so perhaps I was just unlucky.

I've been doing MCO-PHL for a few weeks and since Southwest doesn't start service until May 9th, I was forced to give USAir another chance. In 8 or 9 flights, I've only had one minor delay, so that's an improvement. But, I've come to absolutely despise USAir's website.

Half (hell, actually more like 90%) of the time, when trying to book a flight, something times out or otherwise goes kaput sometime between the intial flight search and the ticket purchase; the dividend miles section is disorganized and doesn't seem to provide much information when compared to United, Delta, AA, etc.; throughout the website, you basically get f***ed if you try to use the "back" button. I'll somehow actually manage to accumulated over 25,000 (lifetime) miles on USAir before the end of this month. I'd prefer to take the UA miles, but need to put them on Dividend miles to get the Fly 3 / Fly Free promo. I'm usually not so difficult to please, but with USAir, it seems that if it isn't one thing, it's another.

US isn't the only carrier that serves MCO or PHL. If they are that bad, you certainly have a choice of many carriers with a connection. While US does have some issues, I would rather take them over DL any day. Good luck in your furture travel.

US isn't the only carrier that serves MCO or PHL. If they are that bad, you certainly have a choice of many carriers with a connection. While US does have some issues, I would rather take them over DL any day. Good luck in your furture travel.


Airtran flies MCO-PHL-MCO nonstop also! :cool:

:rolleyes:

If its so bad fly someone else. Have fun on WN.

I haven't flown USAir much. Basically because the few times I've been forced to fly them (mostly 2-4 years ago), I never (repeat NEVER!) had a flight that was on time. And not just by a few minutes - we're talking 2+hour delays on at least one leg of EVERY round trip! I always noticed they had good overall ontime ratings, so perhaps I was just unlucky.

I've been doing MCO-PHL for a few weeks and since Southwest doesn't start service until May 9th, I was forced to give USAir another chance. In 8 or 9 flights, I've only had one minor delay, so that's an improvement. But, I've come to absolutely despise USAir's website.

Half (hell, actually more like 90%) of the time, when trying to book a flight, something times out or otherwise goes kaput sometime between the intial flight search and the ticket purchase; the dividend miles section is disorganized and doesn't seem to provide much information when compared to United, Delta, AA, etc.; throughout the website, you basically get f***ed if you try to use the "back" button. I'll somehow actually manage to accumulated over 25,000 (lifetime) miles on USAir before the end of this month. I'd prefer to take the UA miles, but need to put them on Dividend miles to get the Fly 3 / Fly Free promo. I'm usually not so difficult to please, but with USAir, it seems that if it isn't one thing, it's another.

I must humbly disagree.

Have you ever tried to use the web sites of other carriers. Many do not let you search by fare (as US does). Many try to stick you with undesirable itineraries and won't let you play with them to find a more appealing option. Many are simply not visually appealing.

The US web site is by no means perfect and can be fussy at times. However, I think it is by far one of the better sites out there. I just hate AA and UA's web sites. WN has an excellent web site that is easy to navigate but it is not without it's faults as well. If you are more concerned about your web site experience than being forced through an airline like cattle then by all means enjoy your flights on WN to PHL.

As a side note...I was under the impression that US was planning a complete overhaul of the website in the next month or two. Was I wrong about that?

I just hate AA and UA's web sites.

I guess file it under "your mileage may vary" then. I don't use AA much, but I use United's website all the time and absolutely love it. Usually by the time I get to the airline's website, I know what I want to book and just want to book it and move on. I don't spend a lot of time searching for fares on airline websites - I leave that to sidestep, orbitz, travelocity and expedia. Perhaps our different uses lead to differing expectations and experiences.

And, referencing other responses - yes, I could take AirTran (and I have a few trips between philly & orlando) or a connection, so I'm not "forced" onto US. But, they do have the best schedules on the route. Normally I'd just avoid the website altogether and book on 3rd party - but gotta go through usair.com to get the fly 3 deal.

just saw this thread in time to vent about using the website tonight. I tried to purchase my award ticket that was on hold, only to have it sent me back to the home page 3 times after putting in my credit card, etc. Then after finally getting it to work and getting the confirmation, I check and it still shows as being on hold until "ERROR central standard time". Very nice.

The only thing I like about their site is the ability to search by price. Now that is a feature I wish everyone had.

As a side note...I was under the impression that US was planning a complete overhaul of the website in the next month or two. Was I wrong about that?

Flew with one of the EX VP's a week or so ago and he indicated the roll out is four months away.

the website is imperfect but far less irritating than united's. it is good to hear that improvements are coming

Flew with one of the EX VP's a week or so ago and he indicated the roll out is four months away.

If he was current I'd doubt l4p would have let him get off the plane alive. ;)

If he was current I'd doubt l4p would have let him get off the plane alive. ;)

Oh for sure he is a current EX VP. One of the top three, and actually it was the other way around. He saw the cockroach tag and thought it was inappropriate. I think it really pi55ed him off. Even more so when I told him it was both a jab at BBB and my small way of showing support for the employees. :p

I then got the mantra of how we needed to pay for the services we received and those who paid more got more, etc, and he then turned the tag over to make sure he got my name and address. If he had only known I was on a $300 R/T ticket and had flown in first on all four legs on a 1000 mile trip. I was smiling on the inside, just a like a true cockroach. Of course if he reads this I will be truly black balled and BBB will really be out to get me cause he knows where I live. :eek:

. Of course if he reads this I will be truly black balled and BBB will really be out to get me cause he knows where I live. :eek:[/QUOTE]



Blackballed? From what?

Who's BBB? Tony Soprano?

Who's BBB? Tony Soprano?

BBB= B. Ben Baldanza, US Airways' senior VP of marketing and planning

... One of the top three...
I then got the mantra of how we needed to pay for the services we received and those who paid more got more, etc,

And I suppose this bozo paid for the services that he received?

These guys are so out of touch with reality that it takes your breath away. :rolleyes:

To stay at least partly on topic -- the web site sucks. And I don't mean that in a good way either. Search by price may be a nice idea but it is so badly implemented as to be worthless. The back button is inexcusable. The account management features are unspeakably behind the times. An upgrade in 4 months sounds promising but given their history I wouldn't be holding my breath or looking forward to a smooth rollout...

I fly US Airways relatively frequency because I travel a lot to Pittsburgh from the west coast, and they are the only airline that flies non-stop.

Anyway ...

Their web site is TERRIBLE. I thought I'd list a few problems in the hopes that someone at US Airways will realize this.

1. No back button. You can't go and change a reservation without practically starting all over.
2. Your session constantly expires so you can't even use your browser's back button.
3. If you make a typo in your address when booking it doesn't remember your previous entry.
4. You have to have TWO different log-ins! One for your Dividend Miles account and the other for your reservations.
5. You Dividend Miles number is not associated with your ticket purchasing account so you can't log into Dividend Miles to view your reservations.
6. You can't simply give it dates and have it give you the lowest fare flight combination. You have to guess first and pick two flights (say for a round trip) and THEN after you choose your flights it'll provide you with the lower priced alternatives.


And many more. US Airways is trying so hard to promote its web site (the new plane livery is a good example .... ) yet it's almost unusable. Southwest, though ugly, has a wonderfully usable web site, and jetBlue's is usable and aesthetically pleasing. AA has a nice site because it's AAdvantage log in is tied into its reservations.

Something needs to change.

Agree it's horrible -- the only good way to do searching is the Orbitz way -- list ALL flight combos for the days in question with their prices on one screen. Otherwise finding the best value based on your preferences takes forever.

What really annoys is the "lower priced alternative" route finder. Lots of websites have this and it basically gives you the 3 or so cheapest fares on the same days as your travel. But USAir never gives me the flights from DCA -- it always suggests BWI. Which makes the service useless (especially since, with more time spent, you will usually discover the best DCA flights are just a few dollars more).

The best and easiest way to search for cheap fares is simply to let people pick the day and then give the cheapest 3-10 options. Why USAIR doesn't have that is beyond me. The search by fare option is nice, but it isn't helpful when you aren't very flexible. And the search by schedule option doesn't let you see prices.

Constant error messages. :(

Still, I prefer the website. Today, to make a change to my reservation, I had to call customer service-that was so slow that the price on my ticket jumped twice while I was on hold. Needless to say, their response was that "we're not responsible for the fares quoted by online reservations." :mad:

Well, US appears to be looking for a new web person:

http://www.usairways.com/employment/jobs/e_commerce/loyalty_project_lead.htm

Title: Loyalty Project Lead
Reference Number: 204168
Closing Date: 04/21/04
Department: E - Commerce
Location: Crystal City, Arlington, VA

Minimum Qualifications
Must possess either a four-year college degree or two years of experience in planning, management, project management, business analysis or consulting with a user-oriented marketing approach in an e-commerce organization; or a two-year technical degree. Motivated team player. Strong commitments to follow through and consistently achieve quality results. Possess strong business acumen and analytical skills with a "can do" attitude towards problem solving. Logical thought process with the ability to solve complex problems. Ability to handle multiple responsibilities or projects with tight deadlines, with a minimal amount of supervision or direction. Ability to work closely with other departments. Ability to successfully analyze requirements, understand systems capabilities, and carry project to completion. Exhibit excellent interpersonal, written and oral communication skills. Commitment to working towards stated department vision and goals.

Preferred Qualifications
Advanced degree with concentration in E Commerce, Information Technology, or a business related field. Four years of experience in managing and/or developing successful electronic commerce or Web site applications for a large organization. Proven conflict resolution and negotiation skills. Experience in writing requests for proposal, functional specifications, and business cases. Proven experience in the marketing, design, development, test, and implementation of self-service travel booking systems or similar online transaction based systems or other electronic commerce projects. Ongoing commitment to continued understanding of new technologies and their strategic advantages. Previous experience in an airline distribution environment. Ability to lead multi-disciplinary project teams on company projects.

Duties
Responsible for management and delivery of E Commerce products and functionalities to support US Airways Loyalty Programs in coordination with assigned team members and vendors. Responsible for project management of usairways.com Loyalty application development through implementation. Responsible for the drafting of product functional specifications, creation of screen design, documenting use case scenarios, testing of new product functionalities and releases, and management of development vendors through the completion of the development process. Interface with internal business units and systems groups to deeply understand the current state back end functionality and be able to recommend best practices for business process flow/integration with the web front end. Manage outside vendors to build, test, and implement new products. Coordinate and oversee the day-to-day activities as well as the overall product management for various projects performed by internal development departments as well as outside contractors. Serve as Electronic Commerce liaison to appropriate internal business groups. Determine appropriate modifications to web applications geared towards rapidly growing user base and revenues. Be familiar with competitive sites. Identify, analyze, disseminate information and create recommendations on new and emerging technologies impacting electronic commerce and distribution. Conduct senior level presentations. Serve as member of Electronic Commerce team.

To Apply
Resumes must present all information relevant to the requested qualifications and must be received by the closing date indicated to be considered. US Airways is an equal opportunity employer.

So I see a promo for $98 BDL-MCO fares. So I go to the site, like any loyal cockroach would do, and search by price. Three $98 selections come up, with the calendar in yellow for all days for May & June.

Then I pick a Friday in June, and from Thursday to Saturday, it changes to red. Monday to Thursday, turns to green. I get the same by picking a different Friday, and end up playing the US Air "Pick-A-Green Day" video game.

How %^*($(*% hard is it to display the available dates before I hunt and peck through 20-30 dates, or finally surrender in frustration, vowing never to chase a low fare via the web site on US Air again.

Bottom line: This part of the site SUCKS!

So I see a promo for $98 BDL-MCO fares. So I go to the site, like any loyal cockroach would do, and search by price. Three $98 selections come up, with the calendar in yellow for all days for May & June.

Then I pick a Friday in June, and from Thursday to Saturday, it changes to red. Monday to Thursday, turns to green. I get the same by picking a different Friday, and end up playing the US Air "Pick-A-Green Day" video game.

How %^*($(*% hard is it to display the available dates before I hunt and peck through 20-30 dates, or finally surrender in frustration, vowing never to chase a low fare via the web site on US Air again.

Bottom line: This part of the site SUCKS!

I agree that is a bit non-user-friendly, but how many other airline websites even allow you to see the available fares?

Two months ago, I downloaded the US Palm schedule application update which made it self-updating every time I synched. Well it no longer works--they haven't updated it in over a month.

Now every time I start the program it tells me my data is out of date.

Way to go!!!