US Airways Dividend Miles (Pre-FlightFund Merger) - How much is the Airbus worth it??

Looking for some advice here, folks...

I just finalized plans today with a company a consult with about a trip to London that I'll be making. As I mentioned in another thread, this trip will have to be on US Airways unless it is "impossible," so US it is.

I haven't flown the A330s under the US Airways flag yet. And since I could try out their First Class, I'd like to go with the Airbus. But, that would mean a connection in PHL.

Alternatively, I could connect in PIT, a much easier place, yet that would mean the 767s. I have flown the 767 in Envoy, and they are still very comfortable, if not state-of-the-art.

I went to check schedules before contacting the corporate travel agent, and, oddly, Travelocity, Expedia, ITN/American Express, and US Airways.Com would not price a transatlantic entirely on US. I would select US as the preferred carrier, and it would give me something like US to BOS, and Virgin or BA to London.

I assume I'd have to manually plug in LGA-PIT and PIT-LGW or LGA-PHL and PHL-LHW. But surely they must publish a fare from NY to London, as surely someone goes out of their way a couple hundred miles to fly US.

I'd imagine your problem has to do with 1) a Sabre limitation (what travelocity.com and usairways.com uses), 2) too much time inbetween flights (and it's a good idea to leave a big buffer for PHL), or 3) no availablility in J? Check the PHL-LGW-PHL on the days you've selected to see if it is available.

I had to book BOS-CLT-LGW-PHL-BOS on itn.net in March as usairways.com wouldn't offer it.

Also, if you have the time, check out the fare ex-YYZ. You can get P for the price of J from the U.S.

There are two parts to your question. The question about routings -- that's a sore subject to USAIRWAYS.COM users. It gives terrible routings almost all the time unless it offers non-stop service. I know they publish NY-London fares since I've seen them advertised many times. Good luck getting them through USAIRWAYS.COM however.

On your second connection, I booked for thanksgiving PIT-LGW-PHL-PIT. I think there was a whole thread about it -- geo counselled me that the A330 was worth it to go both ways through PHL, or heck as I like to call it <grin>. My personal opinion -- one way is enough.

Besides, come to PIT and spend some money at the Airmall so they wont have to raise my taxes <heheheh> I sat in a 767 in Envoy from CLT-JAX (weird) for the first time this weekend. It's good enough for me.

I made that comment to usairways.com a couple weeks back. They gave me such a non-answer, that it seemed pointless to even make comments to the webmaster. Essentially, I argued that it gave itineraries on US/VS rather than give viable US routings.

Oh, how I wished that US dumped the travelocity shell and went with itn.net. Perhaps the ONE good thing about the impending merger...

globetrotter:

If you have experienced the 767 Envoy service and liked it, you will really enjoy the A-330 Envoy service. I've flown the A-330 in Envoy to and from FRA and there is a significant improvement over the 767 Envoy service (which I also like). The seats and particularly the Sony Passport entertainment system are vast improvements over the 767.

You mention that FC is an option for you. I have not flown it, but I did take a stroll through the six seat FC cabin on the A-330. The seats are more comfortable than the Envoy seats but they are not "suites" as you would find on BA's FC. They do, however, recline fully flat. The meal service in FC is enhanced and if you are particular about wines, US Airways has one of the best FC wine selections out there. There are also two flight attendents for the six passenger FC cabin so the service is quite pampered.

As for the "oddity" of booking international flights through usairways.com, my recommendation is to take a look at the timetable for the PHL-LGW route on the dates you want. Be careful as some of the PHL-LGW flights are 767's depending on the day of the week. There are, however, two daily PHL-LGW flights. Build your connection one leg at a time allowing a bit of extra time for the connection from New York in PHL. I've never had a delay on my recent international flights out of PHL but they do happen. The Envoy/First Class Departure Lounge in PHL is very nice so don't worry about a quiet place to wait.

BTW, on the A-330 I would choose rows 3 or 4. They are in the forward of the two Envoy cabins and have the most room (although all the Envoy seats have 60" pitch - the largest of any trans-atlantic three class service).

Best wishes. -geo1004

[This message has been edited by geo1004 (edited 09-27-2000).]

Try FIRST CLASS
1)No question I would opt for the airbus.
Newer and nicer plane with great features first of all the entertainment system which is industry leading when it works and more space than the 767.
2)Not getting an international itenary on the US webside on US Airways but any other airline when they offer the route and have seats available is an embarassing problen for them and as other members have mentioned you do not get an answer why it is so bad.I e-mailed them about it several times. Defnitely when they took away the most superior reservation service from us Travel works we went downhill from there. Only chance is to book it in different segments like lets say MCO to PHL than PHL to FRA or LGW.
3) Lets get to the good stuff. Try First class. I have been on both ENVOY and FIRST on the new airbus in the last three months.
ENVOY is a superior business class and very nice to fly in but still FIRST is a world in its own and worth to fly it once. Especially the fantastic level of service, you get really pampered and than most important the seat comes down to be a real bed at night.
With a real comforter and real flat it is as close to sleep at home as it can get on an aircraft. Also very often First is only half full from what I heard and experienced myself.


[This message has been edited by eurousair (edited 09-27-2000).]

[This message has been edited by eurousair (edited 09-27-2000).]