America West FlightFund (Discontinued Program) - Is Elite Status worth it anymore?

In the last 3 months I have noticed a steady decline in the quality of the Flight Fund program as a Gold member. Now keep in mind that I have been a Platinum member since 99 and have flown AWA almost exclusively since 96.

Is anyone else experiencing the following:
1) Long hold times on S/G/P lines?
2) Less upgrade opportunities as G or P?
3) Diminished 1st class value such as:
a) Poor to NO service
b) Inconsistent meal/snack practices
c) The switch to Styrofoam coffee cups!!
d) Unkept lavatory and seating areas

I used to feel like I was important to AWA as I earned my way to my status but now they offer programs to let anyone become Silver in as little as 6 rt's.

So, am I the only one feeling this way and I am just having bad luck? I fly CMH, BUR, ONT, DTW, SFO and YVR on a consistent basis these days.

I still feel loved http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

But U/G have diminished

Insofar as silver in 6 roundtrips in 90 days- thats 12 segments in 90 - considering that the normal requirement is 30 in a yr that is a 48 seg pace - and definately an improvement over their show us you are breathing and we will comp you policy of last yr http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

To me, Platinum is still worth it for the benefits:

- Have not be NOT upgraded this year, about 40K on HP so far

- In-flight FA service has been mostly excellent, the rest good and only one FA offered poor service

- First class lavatories has been pretty much the same.

- Although my transcons have hot food eliminated, the cold entrees are actually very good

- America West Clubs pretty much have stayed about the same.

Negative changes that I have noticed:
- Hold time seem to be a little longer, especially for the international awards desk, particuarly in mid to late June when many people are redeeming prior to new award levels

- Significantly devaluation of HP miles for BA F awards, as much as 70% in some cases.

I will certainly make gold this year, and likely Platinum again. HP have actually received more of my domestic business when Delta significantly changed their Medallion program this year.



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International airlines seat desirability map (http://www.seatexpert.com)

jet2k,

you have not been upgraded on HP this year! Where you comped platinum on HP? What routes are you flying on HP? I am always upgraded and I am gold...My guests are almost always upgraded. But my runs are rather short..PHX to SNA, PHX to LNG

I think jet2k was saying that he always gets upgraded, it was a double negative. ... http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

I have three big problems with America West:

1) Big award chart inflation.
Not just British Airways, but also Hawaiian Airlines and even some America West awards. For those who prefer the domestic coach award, America West is still at 20,000 but Southwest awards are much better and easier to earn.

2) Decrease in online booking bonus.
At first this didn't bother me too much. What is really bothersome is to be hit with both this and #1 above.

3) Cuts in F meal service.
America West's meal service is terrible. Flights to the midwest, ATL, etc. offer an inedible meal. Flights to EWR, JFK, BOS have been cut back to a cold plate. What a joke.

Sorry about the double negative, my son actually warned me not to use it, and he is only ten years old http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

With the booking totals in hand, I have always been able to pick the flights with the mostly likely upgrades, and have always cleared 3+ days out. Sometimes I got the email notification, other times no email, but auto-upgraded, and the remaining times a quick call to FF and the upgrade done in a couple minutes.

As a Delta PM, I was always buying immediate-upgradeable fares on Delta, knowing that my upgrade is secured. It took a leap of faith (the comp certainly helped a great deal) to rely on the HP Platinum 3-day upgrade window with the small degree of uncertainty. My last several years of occasional (~10/year) flights on HP coach seemed to always be on packed flights, frequently not a single seat available in coach.

However, as a Platinum, I have been quite happy. HP has treated me well when things are operating smoothly, and basically no problems at all. Actually, on several occasions, HP allowed me to reroute to a different co-terminus, as well as immediately re-confirm me in F on a later flight when I locked my rental car key in the car. I have actually recommended many of my friends to give HP a try.

With so many schedule cuts on multiple airlines, many of my non-stop options on DL, NW and AA has disappeared. What remains often requires me to stay an extra day due to poor connections, so having to always connect at PHX or LAS is actually not such a disadvantage any more.

My business oftens takes me domestically to JFK, PHL, BWI, IAD, MCO, IAH, ...etc, relative long-hauls, and I do feel that HP F is on par with other domestic carrier's F in a two-class service. When DL's BusinessElite is available for my domestic trips, I always jump on that mainly due to the 60-inch pitch. Otherwise, I am quite satisfied with HP, and will most likely not make elite on AA or NW next year.

America West First Class is certainly no longer on par with Continental F-- I even prefer Northwest F to America West F.

At different points in its recent history, America West has oscillated between a great and an OK First Class product. The carrier can't seem to firmly establish a strategy. My favorite period was the spring/summer of 2001. America West had really great meal service in place then.

I, too, have been upgraded on every flight taken this year, even overbooked flights to Chicago. And while First may not be as fancy as some other airlines, I believe that there is still a lot of value in earning status on HP, especially with the lower fares and no Sat night requirements. While I would love a gourmet meal, the food they do serve is adequate, the F/As are very attentive and the seats are just fine. If I had a single gripe, it is the lack of champagne/sparkling wine in First.

No matter how you slice it, First beats coach, and elite beats non-elite, anyday!

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"A Mile here is an Upgrade there!"

Here are my last three examples of service I received in FC:

RT PHX-YVR: (3:05 flt time)
2 packages of cheese and 4 packages of crackers along with the honey roasted peanuts. The return segment only had the nuts and an hour added to the flight because they had to reboot the plane to get the NAV working.

RT PHX-CMH: (3:20 flt time)
Just nuts going. On my way back, I stopped in the AWA lounge in CMH and stocked up on some better snacks and as it turned out, I am glad I did because they only served nuts and the gourmet nuts.

RET PHX-SEA: (3:00 flt time)
Broken seat would not recline. Only gourmet nuts both segments.

The CMH flight used to serve a cold plate and I have no idea why they stopped. In all three instances, the snacks given were the same as coach. And seriously, drinking out of Styrofoam is so 1960's!

I agree with the lack of champagne. Shame on them for removing it. Those 4 little bottles were always snapped up on every flight I took, especially with the older crowd want mimosa's on Sunday flights.

As Gold, I am upgraded 50% of the time and I fly very regularly. I am 3245 miles from Gold again and may make Plat, I hope.

I just wish that they would keep the level of service the same across all flights and notify us in the newsletter when they take away things like champagne, glassware and change the food.

Yes! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

You left out when HP had 747 first class service http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif It was on par with BA Concorde! The route was PHX - Hawaii- Nagoya, Japan.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by TransWorldOne:
[At different points in its recent history, America West has oscillated between a great and an OK First Class product. The carrier can't seem to firmly establish a strategy. My favorite period was the spring/summer of 2001. America West had really great meal service in place then.[/B]</font>

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Centurion:
You left out when HP had 747 first class service http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif It was on par with BA Concorde! The route was PHX - Hawaii- Nagoya, Japan. </font>

That was well before my time. My first America West flight was in 1995. I didn't start flying them frequently until 1999. I do remember seeing their ticket counter at Cedar Rapids (CID) in the "good old days" and wondering what the airline was like.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by garyhartaz:
...The CMH flight used to serve a cold plate and I have no idea why they stopped...</font>

Actually, flights to Columbus have had a few different meal services in the last few years. The very worst (and the longest running) was a hot pocket with potato chips! What a disgrace.

Current flights with meal service (http://www.americawest.com/services/ticketingoptions/sv_foodservice.htm) courtesy of ByrdluvsAWACO.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Jet2K:
Current flights with meal service (http://www.americawest.com/services/ticketingoptions/sv_foodservice.htm) courtesy of ByrdluvsAWACO.</font>

Even though the site says meal service for CMH, they certainly didn't have it on my latest RT. Perhaps it is only certain flights. My RT was the morning and the evening return, which always had the cold meal before.