sts603

Yeah. I am willing to pay a premium. I don't have a finite amount as it varies with budget and route. However, I rarely even check a LCC for any given trip. If it's too expensive - I use miles.

JS

Well, I was paying a premium (a small one but a premium nonetheless) to fly on US Airways when Delta didn't work out for various reasons.

I have taken many more flights on Delta but have had far more problems on US. It's one screw-up after another, and the latest one is the proverbial camel back straw. I can tolerate schedule cuts, delays, messy planes and delayed bags (up to a point), but when PHL employees are rude and sarcastic to me, I have no problem cutting up my UA 1P card (not enough UA flights to qualify)

planeluvr

I agree with you entire statement. I can put up with the normal problems all airlines have but will not tolerate rude and sarcastic employees.

TPA us ff

If you dislike US so much, why would you ask for a comp? If you present DM with a laundry list of complaints, and by the way, comp me to your elite status, they may be recalling another journalist whom they banned.

There's one carrier I don't like . . . but I certainly don't read or post on that board to "educate" their executives!

geo1005

^

I can't stand Hunt's ketchup. But I certainly don't take the time to write them or complain to them. Nor do I worry or care at all about those who do like Hunt's ketchup.

I just buy Heinz ketchup and get on with my life.

wahooflyer

Maybe I'm just lucky, but in over 100,000 miles of flying on US I haven't encountered even one rude US Airways employee. Maybe it's because I don't spend much time flying through PHL, where it seems employee morale is worst.

American Airlines has far more rude employees, in my experience at least.

planeluvr

I have not encountered many rude U frontline employees either. I was saying if I did I would not tolerate it. Sorry for the confusion.

mcgahat

Exactly what I was thinking. Just dont buy the product if you dont like it......but why would you want a status match if you dont like the product? I cant imagine spending this much effort on a product I have no desire to use.

stevekoe

I am not saying that I agree with the attitude, I am saying that is what I perceive the attitude to be. I have not flown a single mile on DL since my incident and do not intend to -- despite the fact that my true home airport, MLB, is only served by DL. I would rather drive an hour to put up with screaming kids on every flight out of MCO than my DL out of MLB. And, it was their (lack of) customer service that did it for me.

If I run into the same level of CS at US, I will not likely fly them either. However, I think that with gold status, I will be treated reasonably well -- my expectations aren't all that high, for that matter.

Stevekoe

JS

I agree. That's why I dropped AA in favor of DL and US for the most part. I gave AA another chance last year with their buy two NY-CA roundtrips, get a free worldwide ticket, and they ****ed up that one too. The whole point of the promotion was to get people to try AA instead of JetBlue, and all they did was demonstrate why JetBlue is here to stay.

karens

But the average Joe does not have that option. I think most people go by price, period. Unless, like us here in PHL, we have one carrier that is predominant in the market. I flew Lufthansa last Oct. and their customer service during the flight was great - they feed you something every hour. Those flight attendants work hard! (I wonder what the pay scale difference is b/w Lufthansa and USAir - Lufthansa's flight attendants do a lot more work!) I have no idea what the flight would have cost, since I went on a package deal. But as nice as the flight was, I wouldn't pay 100s of dollars extra just to be fed so often.

The thing with customer service, is that it really takes so little to leave a good impression. I was trying to get my husband a ticket home from Jacksonville after the Super Bowl and USAir was sold out the Monday afterward. I put a ticket on hold, and then called back to confirm it. I mentioned in passing to the res clerk that my husband really wanted to come home on Monday. She then volunteered to double check the Mondays schedule to see if anything had become available. Wow! I was really impressed by that - and it took her maybe 30 extra seconds to check. The little things, that many times don't even cost anything, do make a difference.

GadgetFreak

Im sorry but this is exactly the attitude that is at least partially responsible for the situation US and the other legacy carriers are in. It isnt just about price. It is about value and that includes the service provided. The perception of the majority of the people who fly (who arent elite US flyers - there are only a few of us) is that the service on WN and B6 is better than on US. Better service, same or lower cost makes not flying US a no brainer. US has to improve customer service. But I agree it is unreasonable to expect it to happen overnight.

But do we know if there are any initiatives underway, training or whatever? I should mention that I flew right before Christmas. I had some minor (relative to the PHL debacle that would unravel the next day) but I thought very unnecessary delays. Also I thought the passengers were not informed appropriately. I sent an email that night to CS. First one I ever sent. That was about Dec 22. I have gotten 2 or 3 messages saying we received your message with concerns and your opinions are very valuable to us but no actual response yet. Ive been a US1 for about 6 years and they cant get back to me in less than a month?

Traveller

Stevekoe, there was an article in this week's local paper that MLB is in talks with US to add service from MLB to Charlotte:

PineyBob

Willing is an interesting choice of words. I book the fare available at the time. If it's a B fare or a W fare and it gets me there that's what I book. Pure & Simple.

Now just a case in point. I e-mailed BBB who is now CEO of Spirit regarding switching my liesure travel to Spirit as my new Girlfriend loves the Caribean and Spirit is big there. B Ben Baldanza responded to me personally in under 5 hours with the info I requested. Anybody who has been around knows that Ben and I got off to a mighty rocky start to say the least. So it would be safe to say that I might be the LAST person he would respond to in a timely fashion.

Turns out that BBB is a class act despite his one mistake. I called for the man to be fired in a national publication and he responds to me quicker than the Sandcastle. Should tell you something.

Frankly the Sandcastle is a joke when it comes to customer response. That is MY issue!

phillygold

Keep in mind folks, this thread is over 1 year old.