US Airways Dividend Miles (Pre-FlightFund Merger) - transcon in F on the 767....

I guess I hoped for too much. Took US#21 last week on the 767 and got the upgrade to First(a.k.a. Domestic Envoy), but there were several CP's at the gate who did not get so lucky. I think the theories about people using points for upgrades well in advance of the 1/3/7 window is holding more and more true.

Gripe #1: First class was more like pre-school class. One couple with 2 4 year olds, and another woman and her mother with 2 more 4 year olds. Let me first say I have nothing against putting kids in F...AS LONG AS THEY BEHAVE. Maybe that's asking a lot. But these parents didn't seem to care that their kids were running up and down the isle with their toys, bumping into my seat back(numerous times), talking loudly, etc. Others were clearly put off by this too, and the parents just sat in their seats and watched the movie.

Gripe #2:
The overture guide shows all the programming choices available on the personal TVs. The heading above the listing clearly says "European flights and domestic". After 4 agents figured out how to even start the entertainment system, they announced the inflight movie for the whole cabin. I asked one of them if there would be more choices on the personal TVs and she retorted "Oh no, that's only on the international segments". I politely pointed out the print in the guide saying it's also offered on domestic and she barely looked at it and said "No, we're only showing one thing to the whole plane". I later asked another about it and she told me that they forgot to load the extra tapes.

Gripe #3:
Clearly a green crew in the cabin. Service was hurried. Some people were given menus, some were not. The sundae is gone, too. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif

Gripe #4:
No pre-departure drinks, despite the plane being loaded and ready to push back, but the Captain told us it would be a delay before pushback, and we'd be in a long line before departure. There were 3 agents in the front galley and not one bothered to offer any bevereges. If it was going to be an obvious 30-40 minutes before the Captain announced a number 1 take-off position, I don't understand why they didn't offer anything.

gone

[This message has been edited by avek00 (edited 10-15-2002).]

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by PHL:
No pre-departure drinks, despite the plane being loaded and ready to push back, but the Captain told us it would be a delay before pushback, and we'd be in a long line before departure. There were 3 agents in the front galley and not one bothered to offer any bevereges. If it was going to be an obvious 30-40 minutes before the Captain announced a number 1 take-off position, I don't understand why they didn't offer anything.</font>

No predeparture drinks is surprising, I've found that to be very rare on US (unlike UA, where you can count yourself lucky to get a preflight drink), but I just wanted to point out that I'm pretty sure the FA's are not allowed to be conducting service while the plane is on a taxiway (they are allowed to be up, but only for specific reasons, preflight drinks not being one of them).

First Class on the big planes is becoming more and more like Romper Room. Some of this is young professionals who have kids and miles, and bring them, but a lot are overbooks and misconnects. On a 321 to CLT the other night, I overheard the kids behind me talking about missing earlier flights, and having to take two more planes to Florida (we were out of LGA). My other clue was the young guy opposite, in the T shirt and backwards cap, who asked if the drinks were free. The front cabin is a promote. Who, besides a lawyer billing a client, is paying 2 grand for a ticket? With no yields, the company uses it as it wishes (which is their prerogative), and for them it's better to use it to avoid putting people up, or paying denied boarding compensation, than to give it to us. That same logic extends to full service on a Transcon. Just because it has International configuration doesn't mean they will support it with those amenities.

This is disappointing to hear, as I'm up front on #21 later this week. I'll post a report...It's a shame, as transcons on the 67 used to be nice -- you often got the senior ex-PSA cabin staff who were great...I miss the hot towels and sundaes...

Some of this isn't really the fault of US Airways. You and the other pax could've said something to the parents but did not. You chose instead to fume privately. Unless the families got up there by some illegitimate means, it's simply not US Airways' fault if the kids are rambunctious, as long as they don't interfere with flight ops.

Once the door closes and the plane rools back I don't think the FA's can give you another drink until they're airborne. As I recall from other topics it has to do with either liquor licenses or FAA regs. I thought back over the flights I took last week, and I can't recall the FA's ever bringing a second drink after the door closed. They'll let you finish the one you have, of course, until they're on the taxiway nearing departure.

A green crew will sometimes happen. You have my sympathy, but it does happen to us all occaisionally.

By contrast, I had a very nice crew on the CLT to ORF (Norfolk, VA) flight on Friday night. Depite being delayed and delayed they were still helpful and friendly. Mind you this was a 9pm flight that left about 1am. They were at least as tired as any of the rest of us yet still performed their jobs well and with good humor despite many ill tempered and snarling/cranky pax.

Regards,
-Bouncer-

I flew CLT-LAX in March on the 767. I had great service..and for the first time they DID load the movies. Previously, I also got the "it's just for int'l" line. But in March, we got menus, pre-flight drinks, the works...no sundaes though...

As Bouncer said, it is disappointing when you get a "green" crew. I guess we get spoiled by the great service, then our expectations go up...

The problem of screaming, or unruly kids in public places, is not exclusive to airlines. It also happens in good restaurants and theaters. I have no desire to go off on a tangent about societal attitudes, and indeed, the subject of kids in First Class has been discussed at great length on many threads in these boards. It's a given that the F/A's have no interest in trying to resolve this stuff in- flight, and for good reason. In today's world, there's no telling what kind of a response you get from idiots so self absorbed, they see nothing wrong with their offspring holding the entire compartment hostage with distracting behavior. The notion that it is the job of the passenger is absurd. It starts with lack of management. Absent the kid being in there because somebody bought it a ticket, they ought to have enough sense to put them elsewhere. They spend enough time making sure there can't be more than one dog in there. It's that same vacuum which leads to different levels of service on the big planes. That should not be on a selective basis, according to the whim of the cabin staff at the time. Conversely, it also impacts the "green" crew issue. On many aircraft, the senior cabin staff purposely go to the back, where they know they are not expected to provide much service, thus putting the junior people up front. This is especially true on the 321, which is staffed the same as a 319 in the front cabin, but has 14 more seats, and an inconvenient galley setup. The 767 presents a similar challenge. Most of my travel up front is on an upgrade. I'm glad to have the space, and aware that what I paid is not reflective of the amenities generally available. On the other hand, we only have those seats if they aren't sold, so the service is presumably designed to meet the expectations of someone who has paid a lot of money. It ought to, on a consistent basis, and the notion is that somebody in a structured organization is paid to watch that.

Hmm..

I'll be on #21 this weekend (wine festival in Santa Barbara). I deliberately booked flight (typically travel earlier in the day) to check out how service would be in transcon Envoy. Beginning to wonder if I made the right decision.

I flew a 767 from PHL to LAX 3 months ago. It was my first time up front on a 767 and I must say it was one of the best flights of my life. The airplane was great and the service was spectacular. The crew was very attentive and friendly. The food was excellent. The entertainment system only showed one movie but I can not complain about that because I usually don't watch the entertainment during a flight. I think that each flight must be judged on it's own merits and not lumped together with all other flights in that category.

My last flight from Charlotte to San Francisco was excellent. Of course, it was late at night so there were very few children and the FA's were excited to get back home...very nice folks. Drinks flowed at every opportunity and the entertainment was good. The food wasn't all that great, but we'd already eaten. Overall, I enjoy my experience in US first much more than I did UA when that was my preferred airline.