OK, We hear all the complaints about US here. But there is another side to the coin which lands in the pax's favor and not down the sewer grate which is what some here would like us to believe is the norm.

Just complete my 8th and final PHL-LGW trip of the year. This most recent trip completed less than 2 hours ago, was like almost every other LGW trip I've done this year---unremarkable and smooth from check-in to landing.

Outbound we push off a few minutes late waiting for connecting pax and sit in a taxi queue as #21 with the windy/rainy weather. Yet we arrive LGW early ( thanks to a good tail wind and built-in scheduling ). Envoy cabin is pretty full with some folks apparantly paying the GoSleeper fees for row1. So there appears to be some interest in that product.

Passport control at LGW can be more difficult to navigate now since they've done away with Fast-track passes. But on this day we literally hike down from the gate and straight to a waiting immigration officer. I usually carry my bag into the cabin, but since my wife travels with me, we check a bag. Bags arrive on the belt in about 25 minutes due to a belt which stops working -- otherwise we would have had our bag 10 minutes earlier.

Coming home from LGW, the check-in experience is equally smooth & easy. These folks are contracted workers, but they are always knowledgable, chatty, & helpful. Our agent directs us to a shorter security queue which saves us at least 30 minutes of waiting. Folks in the LGW Club are equally friendly and helpful ( and they're also US employees so I give them a couple of our remaining Above and Beyond coupons ). We push back on time, arrive on schedule in PHL at 3:15 PM and our bag is rolling off of the belt just as we step out of passport control at 3:30PM. You can't ask for more than this.

In summary, I've not had one bad LGW flight in 2006. Yes, one February flight pushes back late due to a repair, and another flight arrives late at LGW due to bad weather. Likewise I have a couple of flights which arrive in PHL 25-30minutes late, but these are all operational issues and not airline related. The two times I check bags into PHL, they arrive in a timely manner ( 15-20 minutes ). Have never had a problem with a PHL check-in and the Envoy lounge has always been fine. The service and attitude on the LGW side is always outstanding and it softens some of the confusion of navigating LGW.

US does indeed have its problems, but it does indeed function as an airline and this is directly attributable to the employees and the airline.

My own fears/doubts about US regarding their TA service?

The fares are jumping up and the Envoy product needs revising if they intend to raise the cost of a B fare from PHL-LGW to $1700 in the winter months. I don't object to GoEnvoy or GoSleeper, but I do fret over just what the DM UG process is gonig to be in the future for elites who try to play ball with US. Menus need updating on the TA flights as well.

But warts and all, US works for us in 2006.

Barry

OK, We hear all the complaints about US here. But there is another side to the coin which lands in the pax's favor and not down the sewer grate which is what some here would like us to believe is the norm.

Just complete my 8th and final PHL-LGW trip of the year. This most recent trip completed less than 2 hours ago, was like almost every other LGW trip I've done this year---unremarkable and smooth from check-in to landing.

Outbound we push off a few minutes late waiting for connecting pax and sit in a taxi queue as #21 with the windy/rainy weather. Yet we arrive LGW early ( thanks to a good tail wind and built-in scheduling ). Envoy cabin is pretty full with some folks apparantly paying the GoSleeper fees for row1. So there appears to be some interest in that product.

Passport control at LGW can be more difficult to navigate now since they've done away with Fast-track passes. But on this day we literally hike down from the gate and straight to a waiting immigration officer. I usually carry my bag into the cabin, but since my wife travels with me, we check a bag. Bags arrive on the belt in about 25 minutes due to a belt which stops working -- otherwise we would have had our bag 10 minutes earlier.

Coming home from LGW, the check-in experience is equally smooth & easy. These folks are contracted workers, but they are always knowledgable, chatty, & helpful. Our agent directs us to a shorter security queue which saves us at least 30 minutes of waiting. Folks in the LGW Club are equally friendly and helpful ( and they're also US employees so I give them a couple of our remaining Above and Beyond coupons ). We push back on time, arrive on schedule in PHL at 3:15 PM and our bag is rolling off of the belt just as we step out of passport control at 3:30PM. You can't ask for more than this.

In summary, I've not had one bad LGW flight in 2006. Yes, one February flight pushes back late due to a repair, and another flight arrives late at LGW due to bad weather. Likewise I have a couple of flights which arrive in PHL 25-30minutes late, but these are all operational issues and not airline related. The two times I check bags into PHL, they arrive in a timely manner ( 15-20 minutes ). Have never had a problem with a PHL check-in and the Envoy lounge has always been fine. The service and attitude on the LGW side is always outstanding and it softens some of the confusion of navigating LGW.

US does indeed have its problems, but it does indeed function as an airline and this is directly attributable to the employees and the airline.

My own fears/doubts about US regarding their TA service?

The fares are jumping up and the Envoy product needs revising if they intend to raise the cost of a B fare from PHL-LGW to $1700 in the winter months. I don't object to GoEnvoy or GoSleeper, but I do fret over just what the DM UG process is gonig to be in the future for elites who try to play ball with US. Menus need updating on the TA flights as well.

But warts and all, US works for us in 2006.

Barry

Whilst I share your valid concerns over the fare hikes, thank you for posting something positive. So many FT members seem hell-bent on doing the airline down, and it's great to hear from someone who is happy with what they are doing.
I've travelled as an employee (non-rev) for 6 years, and although I had issues with PHL a while back, for the past 18 months PHL has been a breeze. No baggage problems, connections have been fine. PHL is MASSIVELY improved from the airport I knew a few years back, and US Airways deserves some recognition for that.

Thanks for the report. No mention of your inflight service. Good/bad/indifferent? Catering cutbacks still in place? As CP, how was Row 1?

Just complete my 8th and final PHL-LGW trip of the year. This most recent trip completed less than 2 hours ago, was like almost every other LGW trip I've done this year---unremarkable and smooth from check-in to landing.

Glad to hear you had good experience PHL-LGW. I've taken two roundtrips CLT-LGW over the past few months and I've had good experiences there too. On my last trip, the CLT gate staff was surprisingly unfriendly, and the previous CLT-LGW was late because of crew delays, but all in all things went fine. I might make a trip through PHL instead of CLT in January, so I'm happy to hear that things are smooth there these days.

For both trips, things at the Gatwick side were very smooth. Passport control there was a good deal faster than on my return at CLT, so I didn't really miss the fastpass. On the return, the check-in was speedy and friendly. I arrived 2-1/2 hours before departure and had lots of time to kill before the gate was announced for the flight.

I agree that the increasing price of discounted Envoy is disappointing. I can occasionally spring for the $1250 for a one-way Envoy flight, but $1750 exceeds my budget as the fare is coming out of my own pocket.

Also, on the second trip I flew both legs in economy and I was pretty disappointed when the "arrival breakfast" was just a donut. At that point I would have paid $7 for a decent BOB breakfast of a bagel, yogurt and fruit if they'd offered one. I sorely missed having use of the arrivals lounge, too.

I upgraded my B fare last week on DEN-CLT-LGW-CLT-DEN. The flight over I had one of the best crews ever - former PSA ladies who had been flying longer than I have been around. They were the friendliest and most professional group I have had the pleasure of flying with. One of the FAs shared with me that she was very sad about the slow degradation of the Envoy product. She had heard the word "adequate" many times to describe how Sand Castle is positioning the Envoy product.

I find that the crew has about as much to do with my experience in Envoy than the product itself. Such was the case on my return when I had a bunch of surly, unfriendly FAs in Envoy who really could care less about their customers -- as such, it left a sour taste in my mouth about the whole in-flight experience.

I continue to fly US as it is my best chance to upgrade to Europe with the least amount of miles. My company allows us to purchase B,Y fares and upgrade using miles -- at 10K, I do not think this is unreasonable. I sorely miss the 150% EQM on B,Y fares, though and I believe US should reinstate this policy.

We just returned Sunday from PHL - CDG - PHL in Envoy and Row 1 both ways. It was our fourth TA this year and we had Row 1 each time. (2X LGW, 1X FCO and 1X CDG). I agree that in general the Envoy product is good, but it could be so much better. What we noticed was the inconsistency of the service. On the way to CDG, the FA's were merely going through the motions while on the return we had a great crew. Also, aside from the seat, there is zero differentiantion between Row 1 and the rest of Envoy. For those that pay for Row 1 in the future, there will have to be something different as an added value than a sometimes lie-flat bed that costs about $50 an hour.

Thanks for the report...

. . . So many FT members seem hell-bent on doing the airline down, and it's great to hear from someone who is happy with what they are doing . . .

Legitimate issues do indeed exist regarding the US product and business model. Some folks understandably feel quite passionately about this. However the folks to whom you refer do indeed tend to put forth wholly dogmatic and overtly pessimistic views which do not represent either the objective facts nor the prevailing pax attitude towards US. FT remains a valuable travel resource that I'm forever grateful for. But it is not the final word -- that role is left to those of us who fly US and not to pundits who pick and choose faults.

Barry

. . .No mention of your inflight service. Good/bad/indifferent? Catering cutbacks still in place? As CP, how was Row 1? . . .

I think that as US@DEN says, "adequate" is a fair way to describe the Envoy product in general. But I say this in the sense that most folks already acknowledge that Envoy is a J product which meets its task, no more no less. The strongest aspect of the Envoy experience remains the FAs who usually try to do the job right ( though exceptions of course exist). Ease of UG for the price was another strong aspect that I fear is fading as prices jump up ( and a touch of US greed sets in? )

IFE is a strong point although I rarely use it myself ( I prefer my own MP3 player and the Bose headphones I receive for Fathers Day ). Operationally, the previous year we were always seeing reboot problems and issues with IFE, but I can't say that I notice much of this in 2006.

This year we fly LGW x8 and MAD x2 and the meal service ranges from OK to very good. I'm not specifically complaining about the Envoy meals as much as I'm saying that they should try to vary the menu a bit ( or perhaps they do and our random flights converge on the same menus ). It appears that they've slightly reduced some of the portion sizes -- once again just a subjective observation and not a complaint as I felt that sometimes there was a bit too much on the plate.

They certainly keep the drinks flowing on these TAs & the icecream on the westbound flights is a good idea. Pizza on the westbounds is now a standard snack during the last 90 minutes.

The seats are getting a bit worn-looking and sometimes the buttons don't all work when you try to recline etc. This is especially apparent on the 767 during our October MAD flights. A couple of the arm rests literally fall off if you lean too hard against them. FAs were very apologetic and say that reconfigs are on the horizon.

Row 1 was always a great perk of being a CP while it lasted. My own last row 1 experience was in September just before GoSleeper becomes the norm. On this latest LGW flight we observe 4 of 6 row 1 seats taken eastbound to LGW and 2 on the return flight. It seems that some folks do elect to pay the extra $$. Can't fault US for that.

I myself wonder what will happen when the A330 Envoy cabin is reconfigured & Envoy rows 6 & 7 disappear and become coach seats making UGs harder to come by. Will US allow row 1 seats to go empty on a full or oversold flight, or will they move a CP to row 1 and open up a couple of more UG seats to fill the plane? To those of us who fly TA with some regularity, UGs are probably an important issue.

Barry

. . .No mention of your inflight service. Good/bad/indifferent? Catering cutbacks still in place? As CP, how was Row 1? . . .

I think that as US@DEN says, "adequate" is a fair way to describe the Envoy product in general. But I say this in the sense that most folks already acknowledge that Envoy is a J product which meets its task, no more no less. The strongest aspect of the Envoy experience remains the FAs who usually try to do the job right ( though exceptions of course exist). Ease of UG for the price was another strong aspect that I fear is fading as prices jump up ( and a touch of US greed sets in? )

IFE is a strong point although I rarely use it myself ( I prefer my own MP3 player and the Bose headphones I receive for Fathers Day ). Operationally, the previous year we were always seeing reboot problems and issues with IFE, but I can't say that I notice much of this in 2006.

This year we fly LGW x8 and MAD x2 and the meal service ranges from OK to very good. I'm not specifically complaining about the Envoy meals as much as I'm saying that they should try to vary the menu a bit ( or perhaps they do and our random flights converge on the same menus ). It appears that they've slightly reduced some of the portion sizes -- once again just a subjective observation and not a complaint as I felt that sometimes there was a bit too much on the plate.

They certainly keep the drinks flowing on these TAs & the icecream on the westbound flights is a good idea. Pizza on the westbounds is now a standard snack during the last 90 minutes.

The seats are getting a bit worn-looking and sometimes the buttons don't all work when you try to recline etc. This is especially apparent on the 767 during our October MAD flights. A couple of the arm rests literally fall off if you lean too hard against them. FAs were very apologetic and say that reconfigs are on the horizon.

Row 1 was always a great perk of being a CP while it lasted. My own last row 1 experience was in September just before GoSleeper becomes the norm. On this latest LGW flight we observe 4 of 6 row 1 seats taken eastbound to LGW and 2 on the return flight. It seems that some folks do elect to pay the extra $$. Can't fault US for that.

I myself wonder what will happen when the A330 Envoy cabin is reconfigured & Envoy rows 6 & 7 disappear and become coach seats making UGs harder to come by. Will US allow row 1 seats to go empty on a full or oversold flight, or will they move a CP to row 1 and open up a couple of more UG seats to fill the plane? To those of us who fly TA with some regularity, UGs are probably an important issue.

Barry

Excellent question. Will row 1 go half empty while Chairmans sit in the back? I can't answer that, but I would like to think that if Row 1 has seats empty, a comp upgrade would be offered to any Chairmans pax...