So...g/f were planning on a trip to Europe (ROM, AMS, or FRA) in April '05. Planning since April this year, in fact.

Of course, I heard the news casts for the last 3 months, and the recent developments regarding pay concessions. Doesn't look good. :(

Now I know that "no one knows" what will happen to the miles/tickets if US gets liquidated, but can anyone at least offer me firm suggestions to the best course of action for upcoming (Feb.-May '05) travel? And what may, within reason, happen with unused miles?

I scanned through some relvant threads which were helpful:

What Happens if USAir goes under?
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=384711

How to use DivMiles on Star Carrier in April.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=384790

and the most reassuring one so far:
Paper tickets, liquidation, and DM
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=384708

In short, should I--

a) use miles for a ticket on US metal, following the logic that other airlines will honor it, post-liquidation; or

b) spend the extra 10k miles and get a ticket on a *A carrier?

Thanks for your continued assistance. :)

And what may, within reason, happen with unused miles?

The most likely outcome is that you lose your miles. No airline is going to take on US' mileage liability. The only exception to this is if you're a high revenue flyer.

Can anyone at least offer me firm suggestions to the best course of action for upcoming (Feb.-May '05) travel?

And what may, within reason, happen with unused miles?

should I--

a) use miles for a ticket on US metal, following the logic that other airlines will honor it, post-liquidation; or

b) spend the extra 10k miles and get a ticket on a *A carrier?

Thanks for your continued assistance. :)


Unfortunately, there is no clear answer here. Understandably, no airline executive has stepped up and said that his airline would honor all award tickets booked with the airline even if the award ticket were booked using the frequent flyer miles of a liquidated airline.

If, for example, LH were to come forward with such a statement, my guess is that LH would be innundated with award redemption requests from DM members.

So, the airlines are not offering any comfort at this point, and I doubt that their reason for being mum is to then announce at the death of an alliance partner that they will swoop in and save the day for the ff members of the bankrupt partner by absorbing the program or miles into their own program. There are multiple trillions of miles in ff accounts now and no airline needs to further increase its ff mile liability, especially from a liquidated airline that was likely giving out ff miles like candy to get people to fly their planes near its end.

The federal rule would require an airline to honor a ticket of a bankrupt carrier with some strict provisions. There is a 60 day time limit from the cessation of carrier flying to make alternate arrangements. Also, the other airlines only have to offer the seats on a standby basis and can charge up to $50 for round trip rebooking. Also, the rule only applies for the exact same itinerary as was originally booked, and not for flights anywhere within the surviving carrier's network. So, if US was the only airline flying between city A and city B, then there would not be any relief under the rule.

Award tickets are not specifically included in the rule extension, so again, as I mentioned earlier, it is one big guess as to whether a partner airline will honor a ticket booked using US miles.

If you want to be completely protected, book an award ticket on a star alliance carrier using US miles, making sure that another carrier also flies the route.

Then purchase a refundable ticket for the same itinerary on the other airline.

If the partner airline ends up accepting the award ticket, you can get a refund on the other refundable ticket--which for a European trip--would likely be a fairly pricey ticket.

It depends on your tolerance for risk...

..

There have been probably close to 50 threads posted, so why don't you read some of them? Make your own decision based on your read of these threads because your decision is no better or worse than anyone else's.

If US goes under they will pay you out one dollar for every mile earned :p

In short, we don't need a thread for everyone worried about their miles.

So...g/f were planning on a trip to Europe (ROM, AMS, or FRA) in April '05. Planning since April this year, in fact.

Of course, I heard the news casts for the last 3 months, and the recent developments regarding pay concessions. Doesn't look good. :(

Now I know that "no one knows" what will happen to the miles/tickets if US gets liquidated, but can anyone at least offer me firm suggestions to the best course of action for upcoming (Feb.-May '05) travel? And what may, within reason, happen with unused miles?

I scanned through some relvant threads which were helpful:

What Happens if USAir goes under?
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=384711

How to use DivMiles on Star Carrier in April.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=384790

and the most reassuring one so far:
Paper tickets, liquidation, and DM
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=384708

In short, should I--

a) use miles for a ticket on US metal, following the logic that other airlines will honor it, post-liquidation; or

b) spend the extra 10k miles and get a ticket on a *A carrier?

Thanks for your continued assistance. :)

There have been probably close to 50 threads posted, so why don't you read some of them? Make your own decision based on your read of these threads because your decision is no better or worse than anyone else's.

If US goes under they will pay you out one dollar for every mile earned :p

In short, we don't need a thread for everyone worried about their miles.


Whoa--guess that feeling of good will towards all men is already gone......... :eek:

Whoa--guess that feeling of good will towards all men is already gone......... :eek:

To say the least...:rolleyes:

Having said that...

Thank you for the very lucid and well-thought-out response to my post chicagorich. It even gave me facts that I hadn't found in the other threads. (And yes, I did look through them. :p )

As you can understand, sitting on 120k miles and international travel plans with a twice-bankrupt airline can make one a little anxious. I was merely looking for something, anything, in the info dept. solid to latch on to as a starting point for the future. I'll look into buying a refundable ticket, but we might end up having to go to Florida for two weeks. :(

The federal rule would require an airline to honor a ticket of a bankrupt carrier with some strict provisions. There is a 60 day time limit from the cessation of carrier flying to make alternate arrangements. Also, the other airlines only have to offer the seats on a standby basis and can charge up to $50 for round trip rebooking. Also, the rule only applies for the exact same itinerary as was originally booked, and not for flights anywhere within the surviving carrier's network. So, if US was the only airline flying between city A and city B, then there would not be any relief under the rule.

Award tickets are not specifically included in the rule extension, so again, as I mentioned earlier, it is one big guess as to whether a partner airline will honor a ticket booked using US miles.

If you want to be completely protected, book an award ticket on a star alliance carrier using US miles, making sure that another carrier also flies the route.

Then purchase a refundable ticket for the same itinerary on the other airline.

If the partner airline ends up accepting the award ticket, you can get a refund on the other refundable ticket--which for a European trip--would likely be a fairly pricey ticket.

I just blew all my miles on a business class * Alliance ticket at the end of January. I certainly wouldn't feel safe waiting any longer.

I just blew all my miles on a business class * Alliance ticket at the end of January. I certainly wouldn't feel safe waiting any longer.

You probably did the smart thing. Waiting any longer may require the use of religion to protect your miles. ;)