US Airways Dividend Miles (Pre-FlightFund Merger) - Benefits of using USAirways.com

Are there any? I just realized I dont have to use my company's system anymore, so I'm debating between USAirways.com and travelocity, because travelocity has that preferred stuff you get after 5 trips, which should happen in no time. Anything else you'd recommend?

I was going to use Travelocity but then they started charging the $5 fee. Now I use Travelocity to find the cheap fare and book them on the airline site. Too bad for Travelocity, they do all the hard work but another site gets all the revenue.

I mostly use Travelocity or Orbitz to check fares/iteneraries, then book on usair.com but recently I've been finding availability at the lowest fares through Orbitz on the same days/flights as are shown to be "sold out" at that fare on usair.com. So recently, most of my bookings have been through Orbitz despite the $5 fee.

I agree with rtpflyer, I book most of my flights through Orbitz, because Orbitz lets me book flights that usair.com shows as sold out, or has available only at a higher fare.

The $5.00 fee is not enough to worry about, and Orbitz is much more reliable that usair.com. I have never successfully selected seats at usair.com, I get a RES_PHONES error every time I've tried and sometimes when I don't.

You get 1,000 bonus miles with every purchase (3,000 first time usage). If a student advantage member you get 500 bonus miles (2500 firs time usage).

It's also nice to have a confirmation on the airline's own website that you can check often. You can also select your own seat when booking.

A lot of times I find that the Expedia fares are significantly cheaper than any other website, even with their service fee. I really like the Orbitz flight, with a couple of complaints. First, they show connecting pairs together rather than individually, so sometimes you'll build an intinerary only to find at the end that it leaves you with a twenty minute layover or a four hour layover, so you have to go back and rebuild. Second, I frequently chose flights by aircraft type (i.e., two equal connections, I'll take the 757/321 over the 733/734), but Expedia doesn't show this info until the final screen. That said, I like Expedia because you can use the BACK button, a problem that causes me to detest most booking engines, especially Travelocity.

I book with usairways.com whenever possible. With the 1000 bonus miles for booking online, even if you only book 2 trips per month, in one year those bonus miles alone will earn you one free ticket. That makes a difference if you have a family of 4 or 5 and are scrounging for those last few miles to take the wife and kids to Hawaii in the summer!

Also, although I dont mess around with e-upgrades, you can apply upgrades right over the computer IF you have booked your tix through usairways.com. otherwise you have to call the dividend miles number and get put on hold, or wait until you get to the airport. not a huge inconvenience but something to chew on nonetheless.

Isn't it easier to take care of e-upgrades if you book on usairways.com? From my understanding, if you don't you have to call in vice using the web site.
--Alex

Another advantage that I recently found: Vouchers. You can get them on usairways.com, but not orbitz. If you purchase a ticket and then the price drops for exactly the same itinerary (and seats are still available, same itineray and fare code) you can request a voucher for the difference for future travel on usairways.com. Orbitz rep told me that Orbitz does not issue vouchers. (They did give me a one-time courtesy cancellation, and let me re-book at the lower fare). Don't know Travelocity voucher policy.

[This message has been edited by madstop (edited 04-18-2003).]