US Airways Dividend Miles (Pre-FlightFund Merger) - Few simple questions from a new FT'er

Hi,

Okay, compared to some folks I'm barely an FT'er at all. I've done 4 different transatlantic trips this year plus another dozen flights up and down the east coast.

I'm not a small fellow. at 6'3" 315lbs I definately am a tough fit in some of the tighter seats. The nick I use online comes from the fact that I spent 7+ years escorting the slightly inebriated and the fighters out of various nightclubs. So that's me.

Anywhoo, I switched jobs and have started to do more serious travel. I'm not complaining, just letting you know that I'm still in the "start up" phase of things. Joined the Marriot club, Holiday Inn club (mostly for overseas stays) and a couple of vehicle clubs. United Miles, Delta SkyMiles and US-Air clubs (and have since registered with NWA, KLM and BA for times I plan to go to the UK, or Asia.

I started collecting miles with United, but switched to US Air after United left me stranded twice at Dulles in one day nd overnight with no hotel. Apparently it was too windy for the plane carrying some of the crew for my flight to take off from wherever they were coming from. So it was a "weather related" cancellation in the opinion of UA. Since there was crystal clear weather where I was that didn't sit too well. Anywhoo, switched and currently have about 15k mi on UA in the bank.

Since then I've racked up another 18K or so and when this last trip hits the books should (either with or without double miles) be a Silver Preferred on US-Air.

Reading the forums has been very educational and I thank you all for your contributions. You've answered a bunch of questions for me, some of which I hadn't even though to ask!

Of the ones I haven't seen, I wanted to ask your opinions on.

1) Noise cancelling headsets.. should I invest in the Bose? Is there another brandor type you reccommend? What about adapters for the different types of plugs?

I never thought I'd want them but I just flew from Rome to Philly next to two *very* active infants in the row next to me. If it'll reduce or eliminate the fussing then it's worth every penny.

2) Lounge memberships? I do fly enough that I'm wondering about purchasing a lounge membership once I reach Silver. The ability to take a shower or just rest in comfortable seats while waiting for a connection or a flight can really make a difference. But in your opinion is it enough of a difference to justify the cost? If I buy a US-Air one do they have agreements in place with other companies for service at airports where they don't have one?

3) Can we *purchase* upgrades once we reach Silver? I know you get two SWUs (See? I'm learning the lingo) as part of the welcome kit. Frankly, I travel mostly on B or usually Y class tickets since I'm not a rock star or millionaire. For me, the ability to purchase or aquire upgrades is of real significance. Not for the "ride up front" factor but rather for the legroom (Who really cares about being in coach on a 45 min flight?) but on the long haul transatlantic routes it's the difference between being miserable and not being miserable. Remember at 6'3" and 315lbs the typical amount of room in coach is decidedly.. cramped.

4) Milege runs? I kinda get the concept, but are there groups that do this or is it everyone for themselves? (I might be willing to try it if I had some guidance and it wasn't *too* expensive)

Any help you could give this relative newbie/lurker would sure be appreciated. And of course if there's some FAQ that covers all this that I blundered right by then please, do point me there. My thanks for your time in advance.

Regards,
-Bouncer-
(edit: for spelling, as usual)

[This message has been edited by Bouncer (edited 10-31-2001).]

Hello Bouncer, and welcome to FT!

To answer your questions:

1.)Noise cancelling headsets will not do you a *WHOLE* lot of good with screaming kids. They are designed to cancel out AMBIENT noise. A screaming kid is not ambient noise, and will therefore still disrupt you. But, otherwise the investment is well worth it the majority of the time. Of course, on transatlantic flights, US provides them to Envoy and First class customers for no charge.

2.) There are no memberships to international lounges. You can buy a USAir Club membership, which is DOMESTIC only. If you want to use arrival facilities in European cities, you need to be travelling in Envoy or First class. If you travel often in the US, the cost of membership is worth it.

3.) You can purchase DOMESTIC upgrades after reaching Silver. They're $120 for 4 coupons. Each coupon is good for 800 miles, although a PHL to West coast city is always just 3 certs, even though some are more than 2400 miles. You cannot buy SWUs. Once you use your initial two up, you can't upgrade unless you elect to spend miles or $$$ to do so.

4.) Everyone for themselves, although US FT'ers usually post a mileage run they are planning to see if anyone is interested....

Again - welcome to FT! Feel free to bounce ideas off us!

bouncer,

Welcome to our bit of cyberspace. Like you, I am usually one of the larger folks on board an aircraft. Space is important to me also.

In response to your questions:
1. I use Sony's noise cancelling earbuds and am happy with them. The cost was about $125 (significantly less than Bose). My wife has Sony's noise cancelling headphones, but I think the ear buds are better. They are much more compact to carry and more comfortable to sleep in.
2. Lounge memberships are nice to have. In addition to providing a general quiet and spacious (used to be at least) haven, the desk staff there are can be very helpful. If you fly up and down the east coast, you know that things can go to **** sometimes based on weather and air traffic delays. The desk staff in the clubs tend to be the most senior CSR's in the various airports. Imagine a major winter storm and your flight arrives an hour late into PHL. You've missed your connection and need to rebook a flight. The line for rebooking at special services is 75 people long. You realize that there probably won't be any seats left for that last connection of the day to Norfolk by the time you get to the front of the line. No problem! As a club member, you just cruise up to the club and they will rebook you there. You can't overestimate the value of this. Note that as your elite status with US increases, you club cost is discounted more and more. Currently, US does not have any reciprocal arrangements with any other airline clubs. One note on airline clubs-if you have an AMEX platinum card (not that hard to get these days), you can get into NW and CO clubs for free if you are traveling those airlines on that particular day.
3. As a Silver you can purchase upgrades. Your cost is $90/4 800 mile upgrades. Additionally, you earn a total of 10 upgrades for every 20,000 miles flown. More importantly, if you are silver, you should definitely try to get to gold. There is a very significant difference in the ability to upgrade and the way you are treated. Once you get to gold you should get upgraded >95% of the time. You can upgrade 3 days in advance for even the cheapest fares and will earn 18 800 milers for every 20,000 miles flown. If you do decide to try to get to gold this year, try to accomplish this by 12/10. This will net you a new gold package this year including 2 extra SWU's. Generally, it is easier to upgrade on US than any other major domestic carrier.
4. For mileage runs, most people do these on their own or in small groups. If we all did mileage runs together, some of us would have to ride in coach. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif The main thing is getting the most miles for the fewest dollars spent. Different people have different ways of finding the best fares, but Travelocity's Dream Maps is a good starting place. Here is the Dream Map for Norfolk (http://dps1.travelocity.com:80/dreamMap.ctl?SEQ=100450684771231610302001&LANG=EN). Note the best fares generally require a Saturday night stay (not always true). The exception to this is Las Vegas. Generally, the cheapest fares to LAS only require a one night stay (not necessarily Saturday). This means that you could fly out of Norfolk at 4pm on a Tuesday and arrive in LAS at about 10pm. You hang around the airport until 1230am and catch the red eye back the east coast and arrive home by noon on Wednesday. Your cost is about $170 and you will have accrued about 5,000 miles. Be aware that if you do mileage runs on e-fares, those fares are not upgradeable. Also, if you are flying in Y, your tickets are upgradeable with coupons at time of purchase.

Don't worry about asking questions. The only bad questions are the ones unasked. There is not FAQ at this point, but it probably is something that we should consider.

[This message has been edited by BillMorrow (edited 10-30-2001).]

Lots of good advice here, though I've found that old-fashioned foam earplugs work fine at drowning out ambient noise, especially if used in conjunction with music over a headset. Foam earplugs are .79 a pair at my local pilot shop, so the cost of a Bose headset buys a lot of earplugs.

Everyone,

Thanks very much for the tips. Looks like I'll be spending weekend after next in SanDiego visiting with some friends! Very cool stuff all around.

Okay, next couple of questions. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

So, I flew to europe on the 1st/2nd of Oct, and of course on the 4th receive the newest offers from US Air. Among these is Silver at 20K miles if I do a roundtrip between Oct and Dec. In addition, double miles between oct and Nov 15th etc.

I fly back from europe last sat the 27th.
To date my mileage still hasn't accrued (at all) which means I'll have to submit for them. Either US Air is being slow or (once again) the travel agency was kind enough to put some other FF mileage account number on my tickets.

Anyways, to the point. Since the travel started before I got the email of the offer and ended during the offering period, where am I!?! (LOL). I would argue that since the miles weren't accrued to the account until after the offer started then they should be subject to the new offer. (Of course I would argue that since it benefits me!) OTOH, US Air may say that the travel started before the offer did.

No matter what at least some of the travel was before the email was received and some was after.

Ugh. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Either way I'll make Silver this year, but I have more travel coming up and would definately like to buy upgrades etc. Any ideas on what US Air policy is in a situation like this? (I cannot be the first person this sort of thing has happened to). Would I be better off contacting customer service / dividend miles and submitting the miles through a human or just doing it via the website?

Your thoughts?

Regards,
-Bouncer-

[This message has been edited by Bouncer (edited 10-31-2001).]

Let's see if I can interpret some stuff here...

The "Preferred Status For 20% Less" promo says you have to fly a roundtrip between 10/4 and 12/31. Unfortunately, you only flew one leg of a roundtrip so far (that you've mentioned). I don't know how wavering US will be on this but I wouldn't expect them to give too much as they are already giving alot! To get your silver, all you have to do is fly one roundtrip between now and the 12/31 and have the 20k miles for your reduced Status.

US isn't as quick as DL or UA in having your miles post. The usual waiting period for a US flight is about 3 days, so there is still some time (they may be posted by now!) before you should start to worry. However, there have been times when Int'l trips have taken longer (both of my trips returning from FRA and AMS took 5 days or so) but maybe that was a coincedence.

You should be receiving double miles for all flights from 10/4 to the end of the year. It's when the flight was taken, not when they post. But remember to register at: http://www.usairways.com/dividendmiles/7437.htm

800 mile NorthAmerican Upgrade certificates can be purchased for $120 for 4 if you are a Preferred flyer ($160 if you are not). Or as Markbach noted yesterday, you can get 4 NAUs for 10k or 20k miles depending on your fare.

[This message has been edited by chexfan (edited 10-31-2001).]

Okeydoke,

That's kinda what I figured (about the deals anyways) but a second opinion never hurt. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Regards,
-Bouncer-

Sorry Guys,

Not meaning to be a pest but I am new to this, and rather than create umpteen topics I thought I'd just add to my newbie topic...

What does "on a challenge" mean? As in 'I made Gold on a challenge.."

do you armwrestle a VIP at an airline for status or what? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Regards,
-Bouncer-
PS: Thanks very much for your replies to date.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Bouncer:
What does "on a challenge" mean?</font>In short, fly 6,250/12,500 miles (or 8/16 segments) in a certain time period earn Silver/Gold Preferred status.

It's been discussed numerous times so doing a search would yield many more detailed discussions...

1) Noise cancelling headsets - excellent investment. I bought mine for $100 at Brookstone PIT airside concourse - wear them over foam earplugs and sleep like a baby. IMHO work better than free ones in envoy and besides i don't always get the upgrade http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif

2) USAir club worthwhile if you spend a lot of time in PHL, PIT and CLT like i do, they are giving 5000 bonus (not Q) miles thru 12/31 for new members

I almost forgot to say BOSE is very expensive and not as good as most people believe. I bought Energy 5 piece system for my home after listening to both and doing a lot of online research. Twice the quality at half the price.

And - this could be the topic of a whole 'nother thread - those "secret" acronyms:

BOSE - Badly Overpriced Speakers Etc.

SABENA - Such A Bad Experience, Never Again

Anybody got some more?

Welcome, Bouncer. I myself am 6'2" and 330 pounds, so we're very likely to be seated together on some flight in the future. I'll probably be the one in the middle.

LOL!!!

Tell ya what, you take the left and I'll take the right and we'll find some poor guy to smoosh between us.

Truth to tell, I've been moved up near the front of coach and once to business since Sept 11th. I'm guessing there's some theory at work here about getting the guys as wide as the aisle up front in case someone gets fidgety.

More seriously, if you're in DC and I'm in Norfolk maybe we oughta think about a mileage run... catch SW to IAD from ORF for very little then some multi-city jaunt... otoh yer probably 3x platinum diamond elite super duper extra crispy level or something.

Me, I'm just tryin to make Silver and maybe Gold before Jan1. Should have silver by the middle of Nov and then Gold near the end of Dec.

Regards,
-Bouncer-