US Airways Dividend Miles - US Award flight: Envoy DCA-MAD

I initially made a revenue reservation over the phone for business class travel to Madrid. Upon selecting the seats, the agent informed me that the flights were wide open. So I thought to myself why not make an award reservation and save myself $6,000+.

After talking it over with my travel companion, I called again and placed a hold on a reservation for two, 100,000-mile business class award reservations for travel from Washington National (DCA) via Charlotte (CLT) to Madrid (MAD) on July 20 returning August 6. The reservation expires this Saturday.

I would like to try to switch the itinerary so that my flight connects through Madrid on both the outbound and return. There are a couple reasons: 1) the flight through Philly allows me more time on the outbound such that I can actually go to work in the morning; and 2) the return flight departs out of Madrid at 12:30 PM as opposed to 9:40 AM, which gives me more time to get to Madrid from southern Spain.

Besides the scheduling convenience, the other added value is that US Airways operates an Airbus 332 on its Philadelphia-Madrid route, which has lie-flat seating, while seats on the Boeing 767s that US Airways deploys on its Charlotte-Madrid route has reclining seats recline to 170 degrees.

So when I called US Airways reservations, I was told that they would have to release two seats in order for me to switch flights, but they also acknowledged that none of the seats on the return, as an example, were booked such that they probably wouldn't release any of the business class seats on this flight.

What do you think the possibility is that two seats will open up on the flights? Can I do something to be placed on a waitlist for the flight?

Also, on an altogether separate note, we'll be traveling with an eight-month old infant. Do both the B767 and Airbus 332 accommodate a bassinet on the bulkhead?

Any suggestions or advice is greatly appreciated.

Best,
Jim

Do you happen to be CP? If so, book what you can find now, and if the flights through PHL become available, you can change at no fee (provided it is before your outbound departs).

My guess is that they are offering up the awards through CLT only because they feel that the PHL-MAD is likely to sell out. US essentially added the seasonal CLT flight last year as a relief flight to MAD, so they do what they can to encourage those making connections to book through CLT. In some cases, even the fares through PHL are higher, despite the fact that both aircraft are equally empty at booking time. Ultimately, history has taught them that the PHL flight will book up with higher revenue customers.

EDIT: In fact, that appears to be exactly what they are doing. The PHL flights are pricing out at $1 more each way for your dates. That's done so that the CLT flights pop up first online and through different travel agents.

Hi Cedric. Thanks for your feedback. I'm not Chairman with US Airways so to make the reservation and make a subsequent change would cost me $300. The difference in airfares whether connecting via CLT or PHL is negligible, but, as you mentioned, it seems as though US Airways is hoping that people book their flights out of PHL first. I guess the only thing I can do is wait to see if something opens up. If it does, I'll grab it. Otherwise, I'll keep what I have, since nabbing the CLT-MAD sectors might prove equally difficult to do. Here's to hoping! Again, thanks for your feedback. It's nice to know that there's some logic behind the curtain.

PS Would anyone know whether US Airways accommodates bassinets for any of their bulkhead seats on their B762s or A332s?

[Whoops]

according to a US Airways representative, changing an int'l revenue ticket costs $250, while changing an international award reservation is $150.

The agent said that only two envoy seats had been sold on the outbound and no the return is wide open. no envoy seats sold.

So I have to wait until inventory management releases a few seats -- hopefully before Saturday, but suspect it will not come to pass.

On international flights, it's $250 a ticket. Been there, done that.

according to a US Airways representative, changing an int'l revenue ticket costs $250, while changing an international award reservation is $150.

The agent said that only two envoy seats had been sold on the outbound and no the return is wide open. no envoy seats sold.

So I have to wait until inventory management releases a few seats -- hopefully before Saturday, but suspect it will not come to pass.

My bad. Was not reading closely (or thinking closely, if there is such a thing.)

So thought I'd bring closure to this thread to let people know that today I booked first/business class seats on board the DCA to Madrid flights via Charlotte, as opposed to via Philadelphia. Inventory management has not released any seats on either of the Philly-Madrid or Madrid-Philly flights.

Five weeks out and so far they've sold two of 18 business class seats on the outbound Philly-Madrid flight and none of the 18 seats on the return. So quite a disappointment.

With respect to getting our infant a bassinet and pre-ordering bulk head seats for that purpose, it was a bit of a hassle. When I booked the award reservation, I notified the agent that we'd be traveling with our daughter who will be 7 months old when we fly. We paid a $308 dollar fee so that we could carry her on our lap, which we gladly paid. I don't know why there's no fee when traveling domestically but a 10% fee when traveling internationally, but this seems to be a standard policy across many airlines.

As was explained to me, the bassinet policy is on a request basis only and as such they would put us on a waiting list (first-come-first-serve basis), and that if our request went through, they would put us in bulkhead seats. I enquired as to whether they could simply put us in bulkhead seats, but was told that the bassinet would fit into any row. I don't know if whoever's reading this has traveled with infants, but bassinets are designed to mount to the bulkhead wall, not to the seatback in front of you. So I got off the phone after accepting seats in row 2 and called back the following morning, today.

I called and spoke with an agent who informed me that infants were not allowed to travel in first class on the domestic sectors. She placed me on hold while she confirmed with her support desk and a few minutes came back online to apologize for the inconvenience. She explained to me, since we had paid a business class infant airfare between Washington and Madrid and we ourselves were booked for business class travel, we would be entitled to travel in first on the domestic sectors.

The agent then promptly put us in bulkhead seats. She explained that only bulkhead seats can accommodate bassinets and then put us on the waiting list to receive a bassinet.

I'm not altogether confident that everything went correctly and will probably contact reservation at some point this weekend to confirm that the bassinet has been requested.

Thanks,
Jim

We paid a $308 dollar fee so that we could carry her on our lap, which we gladly paid. I don't know why there's no fee when traveling domestically but a 10% fee when traveling internationally, but this seems to be a standard policy across many airlines.

This 10% fee is standard. My wife and I flew on award tickets IAD-MUC-CDG on LH in Business Class. Our five month old daughter flew in a bassinet (after take off). It was, on LH, a very well-handled situation. As soon as we boarded a FA came to us and explained the bassinet would be provided just after take-off. Our daughter slept for seven hours straight on the IAD-MUC flight giving her parents time to enjoy a glass or two of Champagne and a few hours of sleep. On the connection, she took a nap in the quiet room at the LH Senators Lounge. :D

I hope you have the same luck on your trip to MAD! ^

Thanks, GEO1005, for your feedback. Yeah, I figured the 10% is pretty standard. I had the same fee when traveling on Lufthansa and United. Just not sure why airlines have a different policy when it comes to domestic policy. I imagine it's pretty challenging for an unexperienced flyer. Perhaps Americans would be so turned off by having to pay a fee for laying their infants on their laps that they wouldn't travel. Personally, if I wasn't able to secure a bassinet on the flight, I'd have purchased an additional business class seat and put her in a car seat.