US Airways Dividend Miles (Pre-FlightFund Merger) - Website booking caveat

Just an FYI (perhaps others have experienced this):

I just tried to book using "flexible" search, and the cheapest fare came up as available starting 10/28 (ie, 21 days from now). however, when I booked the flights I wanted using specific dates (less than 21 days from now) the fare I wanted was available. Just beware the "flexible" search option in the future I guess.

(Hence, I will Get Out once More.)

Actually, it is fairly distressing to now notice that after booking on the US site for a few years now that oftentimes the cheapest fare is on another site. I just don't get it. I thought they WANT me booking on their site.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by nawlinsdoc:
I just don't get it. I thought they WANT me booking on their site.</font>
You would think so. In recent situtation where I ran into this, Orbitz put together a trip with different fare basis on the outbound and return. Maybe the US website won't do this?

I know I have bought and flown trips with different outbound and return fare codes, but don't recall if I ever bought one direct from USAirways.com.

They (US) are trying every gambit known to man to increase revenue. they are IMHO banking that loyal US Air web site users won't shop them on other sites. Plus on some sites if you purchase a ticket it is not eligible for DM credit towards tier status! Some don't even give miles with it! (priceline I think) I just gets better and better

I always just assumed that the USAirways website only paired fares with the same basis. I'm sure Orbitz and the others will cross them.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by PineyBob:
.. Plus on some sites if you purchase a ticket it is not eligible for DM credit towards tier status! ...</font>


Huh? Wasn't the uproar in late August precisely about this? I think you're misinformed. Miles earned on any fare capable of earning Dividend Miles still qualify for elite status... regardless of where you purchase the ticket.

Some fares, however, do not earn miles at all: mostly those obtained through priceline or Hotwire and other consolidators. OTOH, I've never seen a fare published at Orbitz, Expedia or Travelocity that didn't earn Dividend Miles.

When I used to use usairways.com to book flights (a year or 2 ago), it showed me all flights and price options like orbitz or travelocity does now, so I could determine what the best price/schedule for me would be. Now I find my only option is what I put in 1st or the cheapest fare option that it gives me. Is there a way to get it back to the old ways?