America West FlightFund (Discontinued Program) - Oct 1 is date tickets will available for the new US via both web sites

From a front-page article in today's Arizona Republic (http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/0917usairways17.html), this excerpt:

With the merger, travelers soon will be able to buy tickets for connecting flights that involve both airlines.

Beginning Oct. 1, for example, you can buy a US Airways ticket from Phoenix to London on either airline's Web site.

The Phoenix-Philadelphia portion might be flown by the old America West, the London leg by the old US Airways.

The same applies for flights from Phoenix to the Caribbean and numerous East Coast cities not currently served by America West, such as Charlotte; Buffalo, N.Y.; and Providence, R.I.

I wonder if this will include the partner flights (i.e. UA) currently available on the US site.


New US Airways set to fly
AmWest merger approved; revamped airline will take off Sept. 27

Dawn Gilbertson
The Arizona Republic
Sept. 17, 2005 12:00 AM

America West's days as America West are down to 10.

If all goes according to plan, the two airlines will start flying under the US Airways banner on Sept. 27.

The judge overseeing US Airways' bankruptcy case approved the merger with America West on Friday as expected, paving the way for the deal to close and the two airlines to combine.

They can't do it sooner because there is a 10-day Bankruptcy Court waiting period for last-minute objections. No one expects any surprises at this point because the merger has cleared all its hurdles to date.

The new US Airways will be the nation's fifth-largest carrier and will be headquartered in Tempe and run by America West Chief Executive Office Doug Parker. It will have about 40,000 employees and hubs in Phoenix; Las Vegas; Charlotte, N.C.; Philadelphia; and Pittsburgh.

The new name is due to go up on the headquarters building in downtown Tempe on Sept. 28, and travelers will see some cosmetic changes beginning this week.

On Wednesday, temporary signage with both airlines' names will go up at Sky Harbor International Airport and three dozen other airports where they both have operations.

US Airways won't move into America West's digs in Sky Harbor's Terminal 4 until Oct. 4. The airport and the airlines have promised to have extra staff on hand to guide travelers in the early days. . . (More here) (http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/0917usairways17.html)

That's great to hear...we were wondering the same thing at work. The only thing is I dont' know how much access agents will have to US's seat maps, etc until they merge computer systems. It will be like checking in for a codeshare flight.

What is the new US Airways going to be? 5th or 6th largest carrier. I keep hearing two different answers from the media.

Supposed to be the 5th I believe....but they categorize it differently..lol...I'm not sure. I think we are going to bump CO.

What is the new US Airways going to be? 5th or 6th largest carrier. I keep hearing two different answers from the media.


Fan-

5th largest based on capacity
6th largest based on actual annual passengers flown

That's great to hear...we were wondering the same thing at work. The only thing is I dont' know how much access agents will have to US's seat maps, etc until they merge computer systems. It will be like checking in for a codeshare flight.
I don't know how the website will be working but I know that reservations will be looking at codeshare flights for now. The flights will be loaded in waves, about 250 US flights the first week, then a two week wait and then more every week until the middle of December. International flights will be loaded last.

I am going to go belize nov 18th to the 27th,since you said(snokumuns925) international will be loaded in the computer last i wonder if i should just get a dm # and book it now.or maybe if i can just call it in oct first.before the price goes up.

I am going to go belize nov 18th to the 27th,since you said(snokumuns925) international will be loaded in the computer last i wonder if i should just get a dm # and book it now.or maybe if i can just call it in oct first.before the price goes up.
HP reservations would not be able to help with that on Day One. International flights as part of the codeshare will not be loaded until the first week of December. US would need to handle this call or the website MAY be able to handle it, just not sure yet. Sorry!

thanks for the information.I will just get a dm # and book it.

Small question:

With the integration of both systems and the ability to book codeshares from both sites, will there be any price differences in booking a trip from [Insert Departing City here] to [Insert Arrival City here] on either site?

Small question. . .

Hardly.

At this stage, there is no way to answer your question.

Hardly.

At this stage, there is no way to answer your question.
Actually, that is a BIG question. The new US will have the old HP pricing structure (with a few tweaks) so there should be no difference in the fares. Let's hope!

Small question:

With the integration of both systems and the ability to book codeshares from both sites, will there be any price differences in booking a trip from [Insert Departing City here] to [Insert Arrival City here] on either site?

No there shouldn't be a price difference for the most part. US has taken HP's fare basis. So a RT fare from LAX-PHX-JFK on HP will cost the same as LAX-PHL-JFK. The only difference is the airport facility charges may be different. Another thing that can make the prices different is if your fare ends up being priced out point to point i.e. LAX-PHX $89 and PHX-JFK $300 on HP, where you have LAX-PHL $250 and PHL-JFK $59 on US.The point to point was just an example. It just depends if you are stopping over into one of the cities or all of the cheap fares are sold out.

I hope this helps out.......

Any idea when "HP" prefix will be fully phased-out, leaving all flights as "USXXX"?

Actually, that is a BIG question. The new US will have the old HP pricing structure (with a few tweaks) so there should be no difference in the fares. Let's hope!

Are you saying that US pax back east will enjoy the fares we used to get from HP out west, or are they going to get the new "full fare all the time" pricing structure?

how will we be able to distinguish between the metal flying the flight, such as a hp airbus versus an us airbus, and especially, an hp 757 versus the us 757 a/c? will one set of flights be in the 2000 range let's say, and the other lower.

how will we be able to distinguish between the metal flying the flight, such as a hp airbus versus an us airbus, and especially, an hp 757 versus the us 757 a/c? will one set of flights be in the 2000 range let's say, and the other lower.

Does it matter?

And... point of clarification for all... "metal" is an airline term that comes from the days when airline tickets were hand-written on carbon paper. In order to make the ticket valid, the agent (travel agent or airline) would put the carbon pages over a metal plate (each airline has its own plate) on what is essentially an old-style credit card impression machine. That's where the term "metal" comes from -- not the steel used to build the aircraft.

Does it matter?. . .

It matters if you are an elite member and are trying to make a decision about a routing or specific flight based upon your upgrade probability. The same aircraft in the respective fleets have a considerable difference in the number of first class seats.

Having said that, I won't be at all surprised if this is standardized. If the new standard is the current HP's configuration with all the aircraft added to the fleet in recent years (12 first seats, as in the A320s & 319s), most of the US planes will lose seats in the first class cabin.

not the steel used to build the aircraft.
That's gonna be one heavy aircraft! :eek:

It matters if you are an elite member and are trying to make a decision about a routing or specific flight based upon your upgrade probability. The same aircraft in the respective fleets have a considerable difference in the number of first class seats.

Having said that, I won't be at all surprised if this is standardized.

That was my point. I am sure there will be standardization in due time.

No there shouldn't be a price difference for the most part. US has taken HP's fare basis. So a RT fare from LAX-PHX-JFK on HP will cost the same as LAX-PHL-JFK. The only difference is the airport facility charges may be different. Another thing that can make the prices different is if your fare ends up being priced out point to point i.e. LAX-PHX $89 and PHX-JFK $300 on HP, where you have LAX-PHL $250 and PHL-JFK $59 on US.The point to point was just an example. It just depends if you are stopping over into one of the cities or all of the cheap fares are sold out.

I hope this helps out.......


Just a question since when will the be a phl-jfk flight?