US Airways Dividend Miles (Pre-FlightFund Merger) - First envoy experience

I used two systemwides to uprgrade my partner and myself LAX-PHL-MAN last week. I am a UA 1K, and this was a first international US trip for me. Our transcon was uneventful, until we got to the ate at PHL. The jetway was not working properly. The lead FA announced, "Unfortunately, we can't use stairs because the ONE that can accomodate this aircraft (A321) is in use."

I found it funny that US only has one stair unit for this aircraft in PHL!

On to the Envoy Lounge. Everyone has told me how wonderful it is. I found it kind of dark and the food so-so. Still, it was better than being in the crowded terminal.

The gate was packed. I asked about the possibility of an opperational upgrade to F. (Never hurts to ask, but I got an adamant "no" in response!)

For some reason, we had to be bussed to the remote gate.

The A330 glistened as we climbed the stairs. As we approached our seats (3AB) - specifically requested and assigned months in advance- we noticed that those seats were already taken. I notified the FA who said, "There were a bunch of upgrades last minute, and we did a number of seat changes."

There were no other seat pairs available, so the FA did more moving people around. Finally he said, "Here are your seats (9AB- right next to the galley)."

I said, "If others were upgrades to our seats, can you upgrade us to F?"

"We can't do that, only the gate."

There was no attempt to move the people in our assigned seats. So we sat through a flight listening to the clinking of glasses and yacking of flight crew.

The flight itself was ok. The seats are quite nice, and the entertainment superb.

On arrival at MAN, once again we parked at a remote gate and were bussed to the terminal.

So each leg had odd gate experiences.

I felt much more at home on my return on UA. While their C seats aren't at "techy", I find them more confortable.

I'm glad I got the chance to compare.

ZRS

[This message has been edited by zrs70 (edited 09-04-2001).]

Thanks for that report. I know how frustrating it was to have your long-reserved seats given away and the airline offer no apology or consideration. Recently, USAir gave away my long held seat assignment and put me is a much less desirable seat (on a transcon flight). At the check in counter I was handed my boarding passes and I immediately noticed the new seat assignement. I asked the agent what had happened to my seat and she said (with attitude) "no seat assignment is guaranteed."

[This message has been edited by inWDC (edited 09-04-2001).]

Thanks for the report, and all I can say is that I'm sorry you didn't get to experience the best US Airways has to offer.

Both the 321 and 330 are nice planes from the passenger prospective, but due to their configuration the cabin crews hate them. The 321 must board thru door 1 because the engine is too near door 2, so all Y passengers parade thru F, making boarding total chaos. PHL is ALWAYS total chaos. The airport is BEYOND overcapacity and all the employees are BEYOND incompetent. Basically PHL's international operation (not just US, but also LH/BA/AF/etc) can't be accomodated by the airport. Thus some planes require tarmac parking and bussing (though this is quite common in European airports, and not just MAN). Coming back into PHL is even worse, with waits at immigration topping an hour (see current active thread started by me). The 330 is a great plane as a passenger (good standard coach legroom, Sony P@SSPORT entertainment, etc.), but the cabin crews hate it and call it the "slaveship". That's because US just doesn't give them enough room, and there is no where to get away after the service. That's why you probably got a surly, non-caring cabin crew.

US is a great airline with some sour points, though fewer such than at other airlines IME.

I echo the apologies for the poor showing and your unfortunate experience-particularly since it was your first Envoy experience. But it could happen to anyone on any airline at any time. But timing is everything! Had this happened after your second or third Envoy trip, you probably wouldn't have even mentioned it because you would have known tat the service is typically much better. But having it happen the first time is a real bummer.

My wife and I have flown Envoy many times and never had a bad experience. Hopefully, your next time (if you're willing to give it another try) will be much better! At least you had the opportunity to fly up front on a trans-Atlantic trip. As a Premier Exec with United, I hardly get upgraded on domestic flights, much less trans Atlantic! We recently flew United to Frankfurt and we were on the last row of the 777 on the outbound trip from Dulles! It was my first trans Atlantic trip on United and when I asked about upgrading the agent told me the flight was full and we were lucky to get a seat, since they were asking to volunteers.

Wait - did I miss something here? You were given 9AB on a 330 instead of 3AB - thats coach!

so you never really DID get an envoy experience?