US Airways Dividend Miles (Pre-FlightFund Merger) - Preferreds who no longer fly US

I have a new thread idea: keeping track of Preferred members who no longer fly US Airways for whatever reason.

I was treated like dirt by a ticket agent who I think just didn't want to deal with a complex ticket situation; emails and phone calls to US Airways to request nothing but an apology from the ticket agent were largely ignored. So I just chopped up my Chairman's Preferred card and other things and FedExed them to US headquarters, along with a letter showing the amount of yearly revenue the ticket agent has cost US Airways (in the five figures) by driving me away. Too bad, since apart from that ticket agent I had very good experiences on US, but I'm not using my hard-earned money to pay her salary (as I travel nearly exclusively on leisure trips).

Any others who've done the same? I'd also be curious to see (1) whether or not there was a specific thing that drove others away and (2) what US's response to any complaints was.

I have a new thread idea: keeping track of Preferred members who no longer fly US Airways for whatever reason.

I was treated like dirt by a ticket agent who I think just didn't want to deal with a complex ticket situation; emails and phone calls to US Airways to request nothing but an apology from the ticket agent were largely ignored. So I just chopped up my Chairman's Preferred card and other things and FedExed them to US headquarters, along with a letter showing the amount of yearly revenue the ticket agent has cost US Airways (in the five figures) by driving me away. Too bad, since apart from that ticket agent I had very good experiences on US, but I'm not using my hard-earned money to pay her salary (as I travel nearly exclusively on leisure trips).

Any others who've done the same?

I'm not gone yet, but you would never know it by this.....

2005 Delta Flights

1/05/05 GSO/SDF/LIT/GSO $845.00
1/12/05 GSO/SFO/GSO $898.00
1/15/05 GSO/MEM/GSO $442.80
1/22/05 GSO/MEM/MSY/JAN/MEM $2123.97
1/22/05 MEM/GSO/MEM $374.50
1/29/05 GSO/MSY/BHM/MCO/GSO $782.10
GSO/EWR/ORD/LEX/GSO $1981.24
2/05/05 GSO/ORD/GSO $546.00
2/12/05 MEM/DFW/SAT/MEM $679.10
2/19/05 GSO/MCI/GSO $345.90
3/05/05 GSO/DFW/MEM/PIT/GSO $1456.00
3/12/05 GSO/ORF/LEX/CHS $986.82
3/26/05 GSO/TYS/LIT/GSO $859.00

I have a new thread idea: keeping track of Preferred members who no longer fly US Airways for whatever reason.

I was treated like dirt by a ticket agent who I think just didn't want to deal with a complex ticket situation; emails and phone calls to US Airways to request nothing but an apology from the ticket agent were largely ignored. So I just chopped up my Chairman's Preferred card and other things and FedExed them to US headquarters, along with a letter showing the amount of yearly revenue the ticket agent has cost US Airways (in the five figures) by driving me away. Too bad, since apart from that ticket agent I had very good experiences on US, but I'm not using my hard-earned money to pay her salary (as I travel nearly exclusively on leisure trips).

Any others who've done the same?


Count me in, too. The boxed meals in transcon First Class did it for me. Moreover, I'm very tired of encountering rude US Airways agents, even from the Chairman's Preferred desk. It is rather hard to believe that United treats me a lot better than US Airways does, e.g. last time in p.s., United used my US1 status to open me a seat in row 9 in advance and United F/A's always take my meal order right after their 1K flyers, so in effect, I get treated as a 1K on United. If United had more non-stop flights out of Miami like they used to, I would definitely switch.

These days I find myself flying AA most of the time.

I was a former Preferred member (Chairman's Preferred for three and a half year, Gold and Silver before and after that) that stopped flying USAirways due to the perceived(*) shaft I believe they gave my home town. I gave up non-stop flights before it was 'cool' (ie USAirways cut those flights)

(*) I say perceived as I don't want to start yet another thread on whether or not it was a 'real' shaft. In my opinion it was but perfectly logical people (and I'm not including PineyBob in this -- JUST KIDDING :) ) disagree and that's OK.

I'll fly US when I can get a non-stop $98RT ticket from DCA to Florida or PIT OR when they offer a big seat in the front of the airplane when UA is offering TED as the only option. But this segment of my flying is not much or enough to maintain CP. I miss the old US and wish them well in finding out what they want to be. :confused: :(

I dumped them in 1995. Since then I have only flown them twice and both times to burn miles. Just booked PHL / BNA via ATL on Delta.

Haven't travelled that much this year, but all paid flights were on UA or NW. Only flights on US were freq flier tickets in first. Box lunches just turned me off. I'll come back if they offer me something worth flying, but I'll only fly them now if they're considerably cheaper.

45K EQMs YTD, with 20K more EQMs booked through 6/30 - all on United.

US can't match nonstop BOS-LAX (which I've been doing every other week), UA's planes are much cleaner, F feels like F, and E+ is key on transcon and transatlantic flights.

After 12 years of being elite with US, including 6 years at Chairman's Preferred, I feel like I'm cheating on my first wife, but I can't take the dirty planes, 5am eastbound redeye connections through PHL or PIT, and the sinking suspicion that US isn't gonna be around as long as UA will. Sad.

I feel like I'm cheating on my first wife

Based on this thinking, I feel like I'm sleeping on the couch. One trip this year, leisure...new job and they just won't send me anywhere no matter how much I offer. I'm wasting my CP status. :mad:

I've shifted the majority of my flying to NWA. Nothing fancy -- just clean planes that go where I want. Hassle free upgrades. F service that still feels like F. Really nice clubs. Sensible integration of the CO & DL alliance -- none of the nickle and dime club access nonsense and inability to upgrade that US & UA put preferreds through. A technology team that "gets it". Planeside baggage check (for RJs) at DTW is very smooth -- another "gets it" moment. No dumb ideas like airfones. Seat back TVs seem really unlikely (good -- that's another dumb idea.)

I miss laptop power at every seat and I'm not thrilled with the dim prospects of upgrading to Europe.

US hasn't quite lost me. But there isn't much other than sentimentality keeping me around.

If we're listing "for whatever reason" - include me. I just took my first (non-award) US flight since October. My new client is in Columbus, and the 3 hour drive on my own schedule is preferable to a $400 turboprop that takes 4 hours door-to-door.

And my initial flight back was a $960 BlowFare for 50 minutes PIT-LGA and back - I'm flying PIT-HNL-KOA-OGG-HNL-PIT for 2/3 the price on UA in a few weeks.

I've given up defending them and moved to the ambivalent column. I'm burning miles as the opportunity arises.

I took my $45K/year to NW. The only time I fly US now is when there is a nonstop out of DCA where taking NW wouldn't make sense. Or, if I can find an A-class fare offered by US on UA metal, I take the UA metal. I haven't stepped foot on a mainline US plane (except for LGW) in about 9 months.

Wow. I'm shocked.

22k or so worth of EQM this year on US, since I'm back stateside and running up and down the coast. Once it hits 25k, everything else goes to UA. Life without the CP desk is just not worth living (that was the last thing that might have kept me around).

Over the pond, I'm still using BA. Up and down the coast is a mixed bag--I'll use CO/DL/NW out of CLE and AA out of RDU. I've even got 3 or 4 southwest segments.

Burned the account down to nothing, and am making a point to burn empty every time the counter hits 50k.

This may be the first year since the program began that I don't hit CP. I usually come out of the winter commute to Florida with half the miles I need by May. I'll be 20K short this year, and tired of the hassle. Apparently I'm not alone. Taking a connect over CLT tomorrow, to LGA. Two 321's. Pulled a seat map tonight. We're now within even the Silver upgrade window. 16 open in First on the first leg, 22 open on the second....and we're talking midweek, in and out of a main hub, going to NYC.

count me in as well, I moved the vast majority of my flying to CO the second half of last year, and am now platinum elite with them. Among all of the other difficulties with deteriorization of first class service, I got tired of misconnecting on the last flight of the day and being left on my own in a connecting city (once I got to the gate 10 minutes BEFORE the flight was to depart and the door was closed - and the flight didn't leave the gate until an hour late, and one other time I was five minutes late- but there were ten other people on my flight connecting to the same flight).

Among everything else, this airline needs to get someone in the fold who understands how to actually operate an airline - and fast.

the only thing that is keeping me onboard now is the limited number of PIT conx that are left in the system. otherwise, i'm seriously seriously considering asking nw for a status comp. i'm on us all may gso-lax(321's outbound, 320's return from the hubs) on tuesday's out, wednesday's return and I am PETRIFIED that my upgrades will not clear(i'm in-out of PIT except for one PHL-LAX leg on the 321)

Big airline change for me from US to NW - non stop flights are amazing now with NW!

03/24/05 STL - MSP - PHX
03/26/05 PHX - IND
Now in April:
04/01/05 IND - MSP - ABQ
04/03/05 ABQ - MSP - IND
04/08/05 DAY - DTW - IAH
04/10/05 IAH - DTW - DAY
04/15/05 IND - DTW - LIT
04/17/05 LIT - MEM - IND
04/18/05 IND - LGA
04/19/05 LGA - IND

All on NWA. In fact this was the key flight: 04/18 - 04/19 IND-LGA-IND. Same exact price. I'm Silver on US and zilch on NW and still went ahead with NW. That is the key event that is an indication that I'm probably done with US.

NW 38,210 banked, 10,273 Elite miles 2005, 8422 Elite miles 2004.

US 92,178 banked, 9,975 preferred miles 2005, 28,100 preferred miles 2004.

I need to change my username. Most of my trips nowadays are West or South -- miles are going into UA even on US metal headed south to Florida, though I still have over 200,000 miles on US to burn. Flying has become such a completely miserable experience that I find myself driving whenever possible -- I can drive to DC in 6 1/2 hours, which becomes competitive time-wise with flying anymore -- though I can always hop on a cheapo WN flight to BWI when I need to.

I'm hoping to burn those last few US miles on a trip to South Africa via LH late this year.

I was Silver the last 2 years but this year Ive been on one measly USX flight from LGA-ROC (on a Dash 8...ugh) when Jetblue had no availablity for the flight I had to take. Other than that been flying Skyteam (NW and CO mostly) a lot and Jetblue a lot more. Living in NYC, Jetblue is almost the dominant carrier here, and hell, when they get all those EMB's, they very well migth be.
Its sad how fast US has dropped off the radar as far as service.

2005:

CO:
EWR-SAN
SAN-EWR
EWR-YYZ
YYZ-EWR

NW:

LGA-MEM-DFW
DFW-MEM-LGA
LGA-MSP-SNA
SNA-MSP-LGA

Jetblue:

JFK-ROC 4X
JFK-BUF 2X
JFK-LAS 2X
JFK-FLL RT
JFK-OAK RT

Glad to hear I'm not alone! Did anyone complain to US Airways about a specific problem and get completely blown off?

Glad to hear I'm not alone! Did anyone complain to US Airways about a specific problem and get completely blown off?
http://flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=414789&highlight=lipstick and

http://flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=415849&highlight=lipstick

I've significantly slowed my flying this year. Increased prices and a changed personal situation means I'm not taking the leisure trips I usually do. For the past 4 years, I've had two or three European trips every spring, always on US, usually on the 330. This year I have none with anyone. I've only had three flights at all so far this spring, and I did two of those on Independence (great service and the cheapest fare). I used a bump ticket for someone else on a US flight and it was canceled -- rescheduled for later, but I could only find that out when I called the CP line for them. The gate agents still thought it was delayed until I told them the CP line found out it was canceled.

I'm really thinking about taking a year or two off from "excessive leisure travel" and then re-evaluating the industry to see if that's where I still want to put extra money. I'll still travel for a few things here and there, but nothing like I've been doing since late 2000.

Frequent Lurker and infrequent poster.

Since the first C11, I have dropped from CP through Gold to Silver. The fact they kept me at Silver this year even though I was several segments short of the mark in 2004 was a nice gesture. Starting last year, I saw the writing on the wall and decided to go for UA status to gain access to Economy Plus without a lot of hassle. The ironic thing is given my RIC base, I end up flying US Air regularly, but put the miles into My UA account. I feel bad as I convinced a number of friends and family over the years to fly USAir with some attaining status. With the continuing degradation of service and schedule, they are questioning my recommendation. For the most part, my FF account is UA with DL a distant second. Quite a change in just a couple of years. I am really glad I didn't bit on the club offer last year. Even if I used miles, I would have been supremely irritated to have lost the west coast and orlando club access.

me too.

i am still cp (based on last year's flying), but i bailed january 1st after status-matching to northwest. so far, i have 30,000 eqm's (like "preferred" miles on us) this year on northwest, and have another 10,000 eqm's already booked.

my wife -- same story, though she has flown a bit less than i have this year.

i am surprised that some of us' biggest supporters on this board have bailed. it makes me a bit sad to pass by their counters and their gates, but at the end of the day i'm a rational consumer who knows that i'm getting a better deal with northwest.

-- he who slacks

I only fly weekends for my part time musicians gig. Usually 25 trips a year, but I'm sick and tired of the lost luggage out of Phl. I'd love them to get their act together but I've had all I can take. I've booked Delta everytime out
since March and I don't think I'll be going back to US anytime soon. It's also so much easier to get in/out through Terminal D in PHL. I'm with the rest of you, Abandon Ship!!!!!

Brian
Silver Prefered

Last year I got lucky and UA matched my GP status. I've still flown US when UA isn't an option, but all of the miles go to UA. I really like UA and notice the sad condition of US whenever I've flown their planes. I've even taken to driving out to IAD and flying Ted to Florida (and once even UX to NY) instead of US from DCA, even though I could possibly have gotten some of those "upgrades" on US. I've still got a bunch of DM miles left, so I guess I'll transit through PHL a few more times, but they're going to have to establish a track record to get me back.

Wow, I have been reading this thread with great interest. Some of the folks posting (especially those who have been so vocal in favor of US for so long) have really got me thinking, having been a US loyal flyer for quite a while - CP for the last few years as well.
While I think the bad times are still not behind, I do think US continues to offer a solid product (but the finances are soooo shaky).
I'll continue flying til attaining CP again for next year (40 segments left) and then re-evaluate. But then the focus will be on building alternate status. Feeling so very torn at this point.

They have made so many changes:
- at DCA I can no longer access the club because most of my flights depart from the center pier
- too many RJs!!!! Arrgghhhhh
- availability of reward flights for less-than-premium miles are non-existant these days
- too many RJ's!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- diminshing number of checkin personnel (especially when multiplying kiosks are out of order or malfunction)


But, somedays the CP Desk can make up for so many things!!


So, I am sorry if this isn't truly in the vein of the thread, but had to vent a little. Thanks if you took the time to read this. I'm just beginning to start to think about accepting the fact that they may not be around forever.

I still fly US on most everything except transcons, where I've taken my business over to AA for the time being. The route network on the East Coast is unmatched, especially out of DCA and even out of CHO; I can go to a number of regional destinations nonstop. The new E170 service to "business" cities (i.e. other airlines' hubs ;) ) out of DCA is very convenient for me and I like the 170s for such short flights despite the lack of First Class.

US often has slightly lower fares than AA in the WAS-LAX market (especially if I need a refundable ticket) but I'll gladly go with AA for an extra $100 as the level of service in F is leaps and bounds over what it is on US. Plus AA flies nonstop from IAD-LAX, which saves me time. Unfortunately for US, as LAX is my most common destination, they're losing a lot of revenue from me this year. Boxed cold meals in F and now no club at LAX give me no reason to fly US on this route.

I'll probably still make CP thanks to bonus miles and carryover from 2004, and I'm not totally going to abandon ship, but I will likely end up flying only 40,000 actual miles on US (and UA, credited to US) this year as opposed to more than 100,000 last year.

I haven't totally abandoned US. I have moved more flying over to UA, and continue to accrue miles on US to keep my *G status. I'm taking a wait-and-see approach, and depending upon how things shake out over the rest of the calendar year, I may or may not switch entirely to UA, or request a status match from NW. I'll re-evaluate close to the end of the year, before I begin booking my 2006 travel. What pushed me over the edge? The LAX club closure.

With all the cutbacks in transcon F service and the closing of the club at LAX, I can't see how US Airways expects to keep any LA-based frequent flyers from jumping ship within the next few months. :(

Been a CP since 97 or 98. Cant remember exactly. Flown 9 segments this year. Two 4 segment roundtrips and a roundtrip shuttle. Well yes, I know that is 10 segments but when I arrived at DCA for the return to LGA on the shuttle on a Friday afternoon it was such a cluster**** that I called my secretary and had her call the travel agent and switch me to Acela. On my last trip to DC just booked the RT on Acela.

All my other flights have been on UA and AA. At this point I doubt I will make silver. On the other hand, I said that last year and they did a damn double EQM promo and I went ahead and qualified as a CP. It may not happen this year even if I get the double miles promo. I realized that those miles would have qualified me as an EXP on AA. That probably would have been the way to go.

Still mostly flying US due to the fact that they are the only non-stop on my primary route PIT-LAX and the rest of the west coast (and they still dominate PIT for that matter) I may make CP this yr.. Other than United, I have flown more on the LCC's this year than ever before (I pay for all my own biz travel). Air Tran (cheap F seats), WN (ugh), ATA (empty planes give you lots of room to spread out in coach) and America West (not good experiences so far). I flew JetBlue a couple of time last year and actually liked it except for no F. Its my favorite LCC.

I am thinking of trying for a status match on CO as a hedge. I think CO is the best legacy and I would take my business over there or to U if US folded.

I realized that those miles would have qualified me as an EXP on AA. That probably would have been the way to go.

That would have been a good decision. You may want to go to your statement history in DM online, and print the best mileage statement and try sending that one to AA.

That would have been a good decision. You may want to go to your statement history in DM online, and print the best mileage statement and try sending that one to AA.

Except under truly extraordinary circumstances, AA doesn't comp EXP. In fact, AA tends not to comp at all -- they'll offer you a GLD or PLT challenge.

Except under truly extraordinary circumstances, AA doesn't comp EXP. In fact, AA tends not to comp at all -- they'll offer you a GLD or PLT challenge.

I flew 50,000 + miles on AA last year. The miles I flew on US, if flown on AA would have made me an EXP. Thats what I meant, sorry for the confusion. Also, in early 2003 I called AA to ask about a comp. They said they wouldnt comp me at all for being a CP. They did however, immediately comp me to Platinum after I faxed them my UA 1K statement. I think they are not as generous with comps now, even for UA flyers.

Used to be a Gold, now a silver dropping to nothing. Moved to UA and AA exclusively.

I used to really enjoy flying US - I met great people, both staff and Pax - its just not fun anymore. My last US flight last week (with miles to UA) was just awful - the flying bus ala SW.

I've been Silver for a number of years. This year I'm going to make Gold, but the majority of my flying will have been on UA.

With the closure of the US SFO club, E+ on UA, Zone 1 boarding, and free hot food on transcons while still getting my 50% bonus + preferred miles, UA just beckons to me.

I'm moving to the EWR area in just a few months, so to whom I remain loyal once I'm there remains to be seen. I'm also just now completing the Gold challenge on AA.

I still fly with 38,000 miles this year - but yesterday coming from LAS had stopover in PHL - I was sitting in 1st after a mediocre box meal (but was upgraded as gold so no big deal) - the well dressed lady who got on the plane and sat behind me for the 2nd leg to BDL had large piece of wet dirt or food on their seat belt and asked to move - I saw they had an A fare ticket when they got on (after sitting in those torn, dilapidated seats in the PHL waiting area). The FA (who was generally nice) said she would check (it turned out the plane was empty so no problem). She then commented that there was no "utility" anymore in PHL so the planes aren't cleaned between flights. I don't know if that is true are not - but instead of just apologizing and saying they would tell someone to make sure that it never happens again - the right PR thing to do - this type of commentary actually got me thinking that it may be time to try another carrier. I love the amenities I get as gold such as booking an exit row ahead of time, sometimes upgrades, using the preferred line at the airport. But I also am tired of the worn PHL airport and torn waiting area seats, the web site problems (I can only look at reservations made with USAirways.com - not tix bought elsewhere using my FF#). Last year I flew to NRT on AA and was able to manage my seat assignment right up to arriving at the airport using my FF# to access all my reservations. I have written U about this and just get back generic replies - I think my high school son could fix this software.
the comment by the FA that planes aren't cleaned anymore because there is noone to clean them was the last straw for me - I decided right then that after I make gold I will try another carrier to check it out for a few flights. Not switched over yet but at least a few flights this year will be on a new carrier. They need to make people feel they care - whether they really care or not this is a service industry and perception matters.

I have tended to ignore all the alarmist, gloom and doom threads on the impending demise of US Airways, but I have to admit that this thread has me kind of depressed. Many long-time loyal DM FFs seem to be slipping away, and I can understand why. USAirways still has the best schedule for the places I go out of RDU, and I like getting to sit in a wider seat up front (most of the time), but other than that, there is not much to distinguish them.

signed,

Still hanging in there by my finger tips

I'm done with US. I had simply asked US for an in-person apology from the ticket agent who treated me like dirt a few weeks ago. I thought that US airport management would just tell her, "When NYCommuter comes by the ticket counter, just say that we're sorry" and that I would get the apology I had asked for. Then I would forget having been treated like dirt by her and would continue to shell out five figures a year on US tickets. Instead, I got a vague email that didn't indicate that any action had been taken on my complaint. US, forget it; you've lost a Chairman's Preferred customer.

the well dressed lady who got on the plane and sat behind me for the 2nd leg to BDL had large piece of wet dirt or food on their seat belt and asked to move - I saw they had an A fare ticket when they got on (after sitting in those torn, dilapidated seats in the PHL waiting area). The FA (who was generally nice) said she would check (it turned out the plane was empty so no problem). She then commented that there was no "utility" anymore in PHL so the planes aren't cleaned between flights. I don't know if that is true are not - but instead of just apologizing and saying they would tell someone to make sure that it never happens again - the right PR thing to do - this type of commentary actually got me thinking that it may be time to try another carrier.


Last year I was in business on a UA flight from JFK-SFO. As I sat down I noticed there was some food debris in the seat back pocket. I told one of the FAs who passed by. She looked at it and didnt say anything and walked away. I was a little suprrised. Then she came back a couple minutes later with gloves on and an trash bag. She apologized for the mess and cleaned it up. She asked if it was adequately cleaned and I told her it was. A few minutes later the purser shows up and asks if I was the person who had food in the seat back pocket. I told her I was and she apologized also. Neither of them told me how tough it was in the industry or such.

I have on US heard of more than one occassions of stories like the one above. I have seen them happen on more than one occassion. I saw one person with crap in his seatback on a US flight get an entire dissertation on the industry and cutbacks. He was paid envoy in row 1 from CLT-LGW. After listening to the FA he said he just wanted the mess cleaned up. Im sorry, I am sympathetic but complaining to passengers in situations like these doesnt do anything constructive for US or for its employees. That isnt to say that I havent had discussions with say UA employees about industry issues. Ive had plenty. But it is standing around in the galley or at the RCC just talking. It isnt being used as an excuse for a problem.

The alliance between UA and US was the first step that led to my punting US as I consolidated with UA. I had been at least silver and gold for 1 year on US since 2000. UA offers a much better product, a better FF program for international travel, so I really only fly US on the odd shuttle flight. Over the past year UA's incentives at IAD (directed at Indy Air) made me fly UA to BOS and NYC as well. The downgrading of the Shuttle to filthy 737s also made flying UA more attractive. UA's E+ is better than a 737 F class on US.

I burned my last miles in the fall when things looked quite ugly.

If I could get UA to comp my status, I'd be gone in a second. Instead, they offered me a challenge -- fly 12K miles, get Premier status. No thanks, as a US GP, I'll just keep flying UA and using my US status. Of the 22K miles I've flown so far this year, the vast majority has been on UA.

IF US was competitive from SFO -- still had a club, offered decent fares, and I had a decent shot at an upgrade -- then maybe I wouldn't be so bitter. But on almost every trip this year, UA has been cheaper and the service is so much better (not to mention E+ and Ch. 9) that there is no real choice.

I have cut back pretty significantly. I live in PIT so they have me between a rock and a hard place.

Last summer, they really screwed my family and a friend on the way to BCN. Ended up spending the night in PHL at my expense, then things got worse on the way home. I still havent heard back from my letter. In the letter I made them two promises - I wouldnt fly through PHL again, and would only choose them when they were the lowest priced alternative.

I have taken 2 flights on them this year: SAN and BDL. Have taken several PIT-IAD trips on UA and Flyi.

I havent broken my promise yet - mostly over a $200 hotel room they not only didnt pay for, but havent even replied to my letter about.

Someone should forward this URL to the CCY execs. Or print it out and mail it - they may not have figured this whole 'inter net" thing out yet. ;)

Great thread. I live in Erie, Pa. where US had over 75% of the traffic. This past year Erie was the third fastest growing airport in the country...Dulles first, and I did not catch the second. With this expansion, US is now less than 25% (and dropping) of the traffic. Many weekly travelers now go on the other airlines. Many indeed were preferred members. It is sad. I personally fly what I need to at this point, loyalty aside.

I thought I was done - dropped to silver this year from Gold - and took a flight in Feb (one of the first "box meal in first " flights. Swore that was my last - have flownd NW and CO mostly.

But I'm required to find the lowest fare, so I'm back on US this week - SEA - PIT- BWI - the return is on U metal.

I'm really trying to stay away.

I was Priority then Priority Gold then Preferred Plus then finally Gold Preferred then CP, CP, CP for three years.
Now I am Silver ( a gift) and have no intention of attempting to get to Preferred again. What's left in my US account is getting burned on Star Alliance partners.

And I'm collecting AA miles and SPG points now. :D

Tell me why I'd use my points on a US-plastic-cupped-FC flight again? :mad:

I swear I hear the fat lady singing

And I'm collecting AA miles and SPG points now. :D

Whoa. That's all folks (cue Bugs).

(For Geo's sake, I'll :p , but in general, this merits a :o ).

I'm CP for years and will make it again this year, but I'm getting more and more miles on AA. They comped me Platinum with a very easy challenge. The website is great. FC still is pretty much FC.

My brother has been silver since 2003 and gold since 2004. Last year had about 65,000 elite miles, most on high- priced fares (flying out of ITH), probably spent about $7000 to $8000 on US metal.

This year: 0 elite miles, one 50,000 mile award redeemed MAD-PHL

Why? Still very loyal to US. He graduated from Cornell (who paid for all of the $7000 for his tickets to conferences) and now lives in BCN. He'll still fly BCN-PHL or MAD-PHL but no more schlepping accross the pond every month or two!

Whoa. That's all folks (cue Bugs).

(For Geo's sake, I'll :p , but in general, this merits a :o ).

Now that Geo has defected, the end is near.

The only hang up I have on not giving everything to AA is 100 segments to make CP is nice. I stopped at 60 with AA last year but may take anything over 60 with US over to UA. Hedging for the future.

When US joined *A, the writing was on the wall for me, having previously accumulated miles/status on US and AC. I did continue earning a little on US last year (when the comp upgrade was important), making GP, but split my travel on UA to get 1P there as well. This year all UA - half way to 1K already, and couldn't be happier with my decision.

I agree with a prior poster - UA E+ is better than US F. Im a skinny guy with a bunch of gifted drink coupons from a 1K buddy who flies almost exclusively international C. :D Plus, I fly a lot international C as well so I never seem to run out of UA e-upgrades. Can't wait for the SWU's when I make 1K.

Background: I have been GP for some years now, and last year flew approx 130 segments reaching CP for the first time. Before that was a CO flyer reaching Plat one year. Also dabbled with DL, but left them quickly due to their stupid simply good business initiative.

Moving now US more to UA because:
1. I don't find as a CP that I am treated much better than a Gold, especially over the phone. A recent example involved a same day change I was trying to make with the CP desk. Basically I was on a changeable ticket, and Y was sold out, and the agt at the CP desk wanted to put me in F and charge me more rather than just booking me in to F. This was for a flight leaving in a few hours. The phone agts try too many times to refare tickets rather than just revalidating and accepting them as is. Also at the airport, too many agents are strict now. I find my luck is better with UA, and that on balance UA is more consistently accommodating and lieniant with their frequent flyers about bending ticketing rules. Also it seems that even the CP desk agts must go through a supervisor for the most mundane of exceptions. E.g. you are on a connection, and the connector is running late and it looks like you might (but not surely yet) misconnect. CP agt had to ask the supv if ok to reaccom in Y on the nonstop flight. I expect them to be empwoered to help me. Expect person answering the phone to be able to make these decisions on their own. Of course there are exceptions to this, but have found it on balance true with US especially over the phone. If I am going to fly a carrier 100 + segments a year I don't really feel ashamed to ask for a bit of flexibility :) I actually think a smart airline could use waivers/favors to try to attract more frequent flyers, and build brand loyalty;
2. Decline Of First Class: Plastic cups, cold sandwiches on transconn, decline of shuttle product to just another mainline flight, etc. General lack of meals. To compare, UA just introduced P.S. for transcon flights, and I got a nice dinner on an ORD BOS flight;
3. Decline of IFE: Shuttle used to have Fox News Now, and whether or not Fox is your favorite, it was cool to get the headlines. UA has audio on any jet flight, and ch9 (listen to ATC) is on 85% of the time;
4. Overall decline: US just doesn't seem like a "fun" airline anymore for the pax, employees, etc. I don't think on balance most employees are thrilled, and would you be with 20% or more pay cut. You don't here about US being an innovater anymore, they're just often seemingly struggling to keep a pulse. UA, while not in great shape, still has put forth ameneties that benefit the customer like the P.S. service, and they have not gutted the product like US has. I mean cold sandwiches on transcons in first class! I don't fly transcon much, but still, the idea, is that the kind of company to fly with?

So perhaps will go for UA 1K this year. I already have US3 locked in through 2/2007. But old habbits die hard, so you'll probably see me on US flights, and they do have some east coast routings that are more convenient. However, again, sometimes they try to charge a lot more. E.g. UA offering $39 BOS to IAD and US lowest published RT is $200+ right now. Heck for that difference, I could take a stretch limo from IAD to DCA. I'll pay a bit more, but not hundreds more. Also I think the Go Fares momentum has been lost. Look at BOS PHL, where are the Go Fares? The Go Fares have gone up :). Why isn't US expanding Go Fares, they did have a bit of momentum, oh yeah, they're just struggling to keep the pulse? Who knows if this is true, and there have been untrue rumores before, but latest I have heard is that people think it will shut down end of 6/2005? Some guy told me that who said he knows a lot of people on the inside :) for what thats worth :).

I'm not gone yet, but you would never know it by this.....

2005 Delta Flights....



And the saga continues

5/1/05 (HKY)/(ATL)/(JAN)
5/2/05 (JAN) /(ATL)/(BHM)
5/3/05 (BHM)/(ATL)/(MSY)
5/4/05 (MSY)/(ATL)/(MEM)
5/6/05 (MEM)/(ATL)/(HKY)

(sure hope the weather is good in ATL next week)

Fare will be $1810 on DL vs $2700 on US. All but one segment on US are on a BJ. Two of DL's are BJ's.

The week of 5/9 is the sad one however. HKY/PIT/CLE/HKY is $600 on DL. US wanted over $1,100 from GSO and this used to be US's back yard. How very sad

Well, I guess I'm in the minority here - I got comped to Gold on US last year (when we thought they were really going under) & did a MR on them to top off my account (I had 6K & found a way to get 19K for about 130 bucks all-in in one day with bonuses via a DCA-PHX route - figured my 6K was worth 130 bucks to convert into a free ticket). Then the SEA-FCO fare came along for 235 all-in + 30K miles per direction to upgrade, so I actually *bought* miles from US & transferred the rest of my AA miles into US from points.com to get the 30K to upgrade for that trip. I then took a business trip for work where I had to book US since it was the cheapest from DCA-HVN - 300 less than DL wanted (and I'm a NW Gold too). So I booked that - then I got rebooked from a DL flight on UA & earned for US (had UA Premier last year, but out of DC, that's just not even worth it with all the 1K's & UGS's & lack of upgrades). Now, b/c of the 2.00 LEB fares, which I booked a ticket DCA-LEB-SAN-LEB-DCA, I'll actually qualify (albeit at an roach price) for Silver. I then bought more tix for work on US (even though they are not a "preferred vendor" for my company) because they were significantly cheaper than everyone else & had to cancel so now I've got a couple hundred dollar credit. I'm definitely going to qualify for Silver this year (as I'm Gold now) & depending on how work goes, may (hopefully) get back up to Gold. I've got confidence in US & whereas their product quality ain't the best, they do get me where I need to go & generally on time.

My friend who was an earned Silver last year, signed up for some fast track to Gold promo & they still don't show his status even though he completed it & they agree he completed it - but won't correct it - is planning on quitting US since they've lost his bags on his past 2 flights. On the way back from FCO, they sent his luggage to St. Petersburg & on the way home from DEN, they lost his bags & sent him a different customers bags 3 days later. The shortly corrected it & offered him 20K miles or something like that.

And the saga continues

5/1/05 (HKY)/(ATL)/(JAN)
5/2/05 (JAN) /(ATL)/(BHM)
5/3/05 (BHM)/(ATL)/(MSY)
5/4/05 (MSY)/(ATL)/(MEM)
5/6/05 (MEM)/(ATL)/(HKY)

(sure hope the weather is good in ATL next week)

Fare will be $1810 on DL vs $2700 on US. All but one segment on US are on a BJ. Two of DL's are BJ's.

The week of 5/9 is the sad one however. HKY/PIT/CLE/HKY is $600 on DL. US wanted over $1,100 from GSO and this used to be US's back yard. How very sad
But I thought the cutbacks in service was due to cheaper fares? Maybe they are trying to be a LSC - Low Service Carrier.

An indicator for me on whether elites are leaving the airline is this forum. Traffic in the US section has dropped significantly. Last year, there would be over a page of active threads on a daily basis. Now there is less than half of that.

Additionally, I've noticed a change in the mix of F passengers on week days. There hasn't been nearly as many people in F dressed for business on my flights in recent months. Also, Silvers seem to be getting upgraded more. All this points towards US driving away its best (and most profitable) customer, the elite business traveller.

I guess they drove away all the business travellers away from my company (a big 4 accounting firm) when they remain the only major US carrier not to supply us with negotiated corporate discounts.

I am in the minority for sure. Still flying with US Airways and will continue to do so. I am hanging in there.

I am still flying US as well. Already cleared Chairman's for 2007 and have flights from dca to lax, lgw and phx in the next few weeks. 100% upgrades this year, so I will fly them as long as they are in the air.

I don't, however, keep any miles in my account. Those get used as soon as I earn an award.

CP to 2007 here and I'm still flying, too, except mid- and transcons. I'll go as far as ORD or the mid-west and to Europe on them (but only on the A330, of course!). That said, I have chosen UA a few times for local routes because the price had been hundreds of dollars in savings. I generally like at least 150,000 kept in the DM bank.

With trips currently booked, I will requalify for CP in mid-June. I still book on US (or a code share crediting to US) whenever possible, including taking connections or less desirable times when necessary. Lately this often means flying out of EWR instead of my preferred LGA due to large fare differences. For instance, this week I am going EWR-CLT-IAH (same on return) instead of the quite frequent CO EWR-IAH. On a 3 day advance ticket, CO wanted less than $200 more for the direct flight, which my company would have had no problem paying. Yet, I stick it out on US...even if it means carrying my own bottle of 409 on board :D

As for my DM bank comfort level, I'm happiest when I've got enough in there for 2 F seats to Australia on Qantas (just in case I find someone mileworthy to accompany me!!! ;) )

As for my DM bank comfort level, I'm happiest when I've got enough in there for 2 F seats to Australia on Qantas (just in case I find someone mileworthy to accompany me!!! ;) )
Sweetheart, all you have to do is ask. :D

As for my DM bank comfort level, I'm happiest when I've got enough in there for 2 F seats to Australia on Qantas (just in case I find someone mileworthy to accompany me!!! ;) )

Hey, l4pi... I thought she was taking me down under. ;)