US Airways Dividend Miles (Pre-FlightFund Merger) - Flight canceled - from FC to Turboprop

What happens when your flight gets canceled and you go from paid FC on your original airline to coach on another airline? Do I deserve any compensation? Of course, it’s a little more complex than that.

My US flight got canceled (weather) and I was rerouted to Continental. However, I went from FC on US to a turboprop. That is quite a difference. My US flights involved a connection and the Continental was a direct.

The US flight was an A4COACH fare and the connection was a Y4A fare (A4COACH was not available). The A4COACH is a paid FC seat and the Y4A is the same price. There were no “A” seats available but “F” and “I” were available so I immediately upgraded. Even paying top dollar on US, the US flights and Continental flights priced out about the same (we have a good corporate discount on US).

Technically my US flights were a paid FC and a coach ticket. The agent that rebooked me said “what a shame” to putting me on the commuter plane. She asked me 3 times if I would rather go the next day in FC.
I very willingly got on the turboprop to get home.

Do you think this is something that may qualify for a CS0007 or other compensation, or did they meet their obligation to get me from point “A” to point “B”? I willingly accepted the change in service. If I had upgraded the segments then the answer is NO. But I did buy an A4COACH fare, which is a FC seat.

Probably not - especially since the change was due to weather.

My guess is that if you had bought an F ticket and then were put on another carrier in Y, you would get a refund for the difference. But since you technically paid a coach fare and then got an airline 'promotinoal' upgrade instead of really paying an F fare, then you probably won't.

On your trip - what was the difference between an F fare and the A4COACH or y4A fares that you paid?

I think your premise that an A4COACH seat is a first class seat is wrong. Then why does it say 'COACH' in the name of the fare? My understanding is that it's a COACH seat with an immediate upgrade to first class if available. Hence you upgraded to FC; just differently than the rest of us might.

On top of that since you willingly accepted the turboprop connection (and it might be so noted on your record) I doubt you 'deserve' any compensation, but as we all know, you might get it anyway.

The COACH part is to keep the corporate bean counters happy. It also addresses, in part, what other airlines are doing for their full fare passengers.

The US web site does say "First Class for the price of an unrestricted full fare coach ticket". It does not say UPGRADE coach ticket to FC. They sell it as FC. There is no upgrade certificate or fee needed. That is the part that hangs my up. It appears that it is more than a coach ticket but less than a F fare.

I think I will not pursue the matter but am interested in all comments.


[This message has been edited by mileshound (edited 04-21-2002).]

I'll give you that, looking up the fare rules for an A4COACH fare on the web shows this headline:

FIRST CLASS UNRESTRICTED NORMAL FARE FARE

So maybe it is a first class ticket. Shrug, I don't get to see many of those here http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

What's funny is that they still charge you $20 a way fuel surcharge when you pay one of those fares. Sheesh.

However, when you read USAirways release about these fares it says (my bolding):
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">
Fly First Class for the Price of Coach with GoFirst

Now with GoFirst when you buy a full fare US Airways Coach ticket to select cities, you'll automatically be given a First Class seat, based upon availability. US Airways offers GoFirst on many routes throughout the United States and Canada. Call 1-800-428-4322 for more information or reservations.

Some cities served by a combination of US Airways and US Airways Express. Call for fares and service from your area. Reservations are required. Seats are limited and A4Coach fares are subject to A Class availability.
</font>

So I don't know!



[This message has been edited by pitflyer (edited 04-21-2002).]

Thanks for the extra details pitflyer. From what I have seen of this fare, it has very few seats allocated. There are more "I" seats than "A" seats. I guess that way you buy the "Y" seat then upgrade.

Here's another problem with this fare. It is fully refundable and changable. But what if the flight you want to change to has no "A" availability but does have "F","I", and "Y". I have seen this often. Do you have to take the "Y" then pay to upgrade (certs,miles,$$)? Than means you bought a FC seat then have to "pay" to upgrade?????

On an involuntary reroute like this, if you call Dividend Miles, they usually give you the credit you would have gotten if their flight had operated. While you may not get an upgrade certificate for future use (I think you will, if you go to Consumer Affairs), you should get the mileage bonus associated with the First Class ticket you had. Ask for it at the same time you are getting them to credit the cancelled flight. Remember, the "phantom" miles they give you for the flight you would have taken will count for status next year.