zjacoby

Dear FT,

I am a mid tier elite (Gold) CO FF and I signed up for the US Airways silver status promo. How is First class on a domestic flight on US Airways? What is your upgrade % if you are a silver? Is there a point for me to try to fly US Airways when I fly in the next 90 days? Please advise. Thanks all!

formeraa

First of all, learn the name of the airline. It is NOT USAir. The correct name is (and has been for a number of years): US Airways. Second, I would suggest that you do some searching in this forum. There are plenty of comments on US Airways' F service. In brief, if you are coming over from CO, you will be disappointed.

us2

Judging by the OP's locations of TUS and EWR, US could be something of an improvement if a significant chunk of travel is between those two cities and s/he can score a decent upgrade percentage. CO requires an RJ from TUS to IAH. At least with US, you can get a decent sized plane from PHX to EWR after the hop on Mesa to PHX. However, as noted, US F is several notches below what's offered on other carriers. The question is whether upgrades on PHX-TUS are obtainable as a Silver; I have no good information to offer there.

The bigger issue has to do with CO entering *A later this year. Personally, I'd be aiming for the highest CO status I could get this year and keep open the possibility of using US and crediting to CO in the next year. CO Gold should equal *Gold next year, which I think is more valuable all around than having low status on two Star carriers. Of course, this would not apply if the OP has locked in CO Gold for next year and can't make the next highest tier. In that case, US Silver at least opens up some other options and gets you off the hook for bag fees.

kinglobjaw

At this point, there are no mainline flights from PHX-TUS, so no upgrades there.

PHX-EWR for upgrades will not be easy. I think both JFK/EWR are difficult. As a Chairman's member, I had trouble clearing that flight last year. I barely cleared two days out after someone cancelled and I called in to grab that seat.

-Kinglobjaw

zjacoby

I signed up for the promo Silver status and was just decided if I should book a few US flights in Nov that I have to take (NYC - PHX) which after a few round trips would make me keep the status OR just use my CO Gold Elite Status for those flights... I doubt I will make top tier CO status this year even with the NYC-PHX round trips.

What makes the F class cabin notches below the CO F class cabin?

VanTheMan63

OMO....where would I start???

-Space
-Cleanliness
-Service
-Food
-Food quality
-Food service on shorter flights
-Size of cabin
-Power in seats
-In flight entertainment
-Service oriented crews and culture overall

CO can actually sell their F cabin....which means they get more revenue for it and can make the product better overall.

If you are on a US A321 flying cross country and want to work on your computer...just pray the person in front of you doesn't recline all the way...first, you won't be able to get out of your seat without tapping him/her on the shoulder and asking them to lift their seat, second, you won't be able to get your lap top open and thrid, Obama forbid, if you have your lap top open and that person comes back hard and fast, you are at risk of damage to your lap top screen.

If scoring a free upgrade is your game, I suppose it's a wider seat, that is it.

If you actually care about the quality of the product, stick with CO....

I personally would avoid US the way you would avoid being hit in the head with a baseball bat at full speed. The company is poorly managed, product wise, they hate their employees...and they hate their customers even more...and it shows in the product.

At least you will miss the duct tape era...where entire interiors of airplanes were held together with tape.

iztok

How did I know that VTM will post on this thread? I must be omniscient!

kudzu

Welcome, zjacoby, to the fractious (formerly friendly) US forum!

If you're used to flying CO F, don't bother looking anywhere else - it's about the best there is domestically. For all its limitations, though, US F offers a comfortable ride with free booze, a bountiful snack basket, and on the longer flights there's food that's actually quite decent for airline fare.

Now, as a Silver, your upgrade chances are not-as-good on popular routes especially, but you'd be able to book exit row seats and have check baggage fees waived, etc. If you can't reach top-tier at CO, then it's worth getting Silver on US just for the basic benefits that make flying a little easier.

Fly US for the cost and/or convenience - it's improving one step at a time ...

RSW

I just have to say something. Many people STILL call this airline USAir. If it bothers you soooooo much, you might want to switch.

fly747first

Well Van is right... there is nothing of first-class quality in US Airways' Front Cabin, unless you get extremely lucky and someone as helpful and professional as GalleyWrench is working your flight.

us2

If making a higher tier at CO is not likely, then it's probably worth a couple of trips on US using the status to get a feel for the product and then decide whether US works for you or not. VTM has a pretty fair list of the reasons why US F falls short of the competition. Still, given the choice, US F PHX-EWR > CO ERJ Y TUS-IAH. However, if you can't score an upgrade, it's going to be a subjective decision on your part whether the 2+ hour hop on the RJ to IAH is equal to or worse than a near transcon in US Y.

I_Can_Fly_US_Airways

The proper name is US Scareways (for the record)...

Why you ask, cause the seat configuration, IFE, customer service, FA's, meal selection, boarding process, etc. will scare the HELL out of you!

As a former CO Platinum member, I'll never forget my first reaction when flying US Air (I mean US Scareways, sorry about that, my bad). I thought "OH my God, what am I being punished for". "What could I possibly have done in a former life to deserve this"???

But, I sucked it up, acted like a man, and flew another 1524 segments in the next 10 years. Then the drugs wore off, lucidity returned, & I stopped flying them once & for all (me & about 1600 other Chairman's Members as well)...

Elite Status Is Not A Matter of Life Or Death, it’s Much More Important Than That!

tommyleo

Are you serious??? "USAir" is a common nickname, and most other airlines have nicknames, too. Let me ask you this. If you ever fly on UA, do you always say "I'm flying on United Airlines", or maybe "I'm flying on United"? Do you always say "American Airlines", or sometimes just "American"? "Continental"? etc...

SS255

Very true. If you get one of US's great FA's (like GalleyWench) working the F cabin, it will make up for alot of the shortcomings in the product. US's great ones are probably the best in the business.

radonc1

Althought TUS-IAH is in an ERJ, as an elite, you can still score the exit row seat and get nearly equivalent legroom as a US F seat, but the seats will be narrower. However, you will get meals at mealtime on CO as well as several drink runs, all gratis (non-alcoholic). Neither flight (US or COEx) will have entertainment. You then will connect with a full sized plane in IAH for the flight to EWR, which will have meals and entertainment and a chance to get an upgrade (albeit not a very good chance). In my opinion, given the equal chance of getting upgrades on either airline, I would take CO unless ticket prices were really skewed towards US. A low ball US fare would swing me to US (but it would have to be really really low!)