The email made me chuckle when I read it this Valentines day morning...I told my wife that they must think we are idiots by playing the rising fuel costs card again.
Programs: Marriott Platinum, NW Gold, UA 3P, NCL Gold
Posts: 1,469
After analyzing my choices for my travel patterns, I may have no choice but to go WN. God that pains me, but I might just go it given this crap.
Who is going to also pay the price here are the small/medium sized airports - the MDT, ERI, AVP's of the world who may now lose passenger count from fleeing US passengers to CLE, BWI, PHL where they may go WN or another carrier.
Funny - I didn't even get the US Valentines Day email. Ever since becoming CP I don't get any emails from US except E-saver spam. Despite calls to the CP desk and IT. Not even email confirmation of flights. Like I needed another reason to jump ship. CO even sent me a "thank you" email after taking a recent paid F trip.
I were DL I would IMMEDIATELY announce a mileage bonus on all flights where they aggressively compete with US (especially the shuttle) and either increase capacity or move to larger planes and undermine US as much as possible.
DL has taken aggressive measures to win US FFs in the past (remember "fly one roundtrip to select markets and get DL Silver" from 2005?) and it wouldn't surprise me if they did something like this now -- especially on Shuttle routes, but also throughout the Southeast where they are US's primary competition.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SOBE ER DOC
I am impressed that FFocus is mobilized and ready to take on Tempe but, let's be realistic here. How many times do we have to grab the torches, pitchforks, tar and feathers before we just take our business elsewhere.
US is a LCC. Their focus not on customer service, not on creating value for their customers and certainly not on generating customer loyalty. Name one true enhancement US has made since the merger. I think my personal favorite was a labor force that is even more disgruntled than before the merger. Perhaps next they'll spit in our faces when we board.
I've said it before and I'll say it again...letter writing is fine but cash is king. Speak with your business and US will listen...until they get another wild hare up their @sses. I am SO glad I moved most of my biz to DL. They actually respect their customers.
This move does show a remarkable lack of understanding of their customer base that flies short hops on the East Coast, but that's not surprising given how Tempe has managed their East network. It makes their product even less competitive here.
I hope FFOCUS has some effect, but given Tempe's long history of failing to listen to anyone (customers or front-line employees) I doubt it. If they really wanted a dialogue, they'd have it already.
I don’t have a dog in this flight since most of us in the West will not be impacted, however, I am amused that others who no longer fly US seem the most vocal.
Most of my biz travel is PHX to LAS/RNO/ABQ/ELP/S Cal. I know PHX-RNO is ~600 miles, but the others are less than 500 (although I don't know the exact amounts). I visit family in NE PA about twice a year, and usually fly PHX-PHL-AVP, and I think the PHL-AVP is ~100 miles or so. (If this sticks, I'll probably switch that trip to PHX-CLT-AVP).
My first reaction when I saw this, especially after just having seen a post on my company's travel site, was to status match to United. UA provides an easy form, they have a dedicated person to deal with my company, etc. This is especially true as I'm doing a mileage run tomorrow, with most of the miles on UA (SFO-FRA-SFO-PHX), but crediting to US. But if I did that, I'd have to either connect (and probably on my own time) for my work trips, or would never be in F on US.
But I think we all need to calm down. Like fare increases, this may not stick, and there may be something coming out next week, heck maybe even tomorrow, that takes all of this back. I think right now we need to watch how the other airlines react, and all just take a deep breath.
So I just got this in an email from US
Tickets purchased on/after March 1, 2008 for travel on US Airways on/after May 1, 2008 will earn the actual number of miles flown and will no longer earn a minimum of 500 miles per segment.
Tickets flown on partner airlines after May 1, 2008 will earn the actual number of miles flown.
Tickets purchased prior to March 1, 2008 will continue to earn the 500 mile minimum for travel after May 1, 2008. Accrual on flight segments greater than 500 miles in length are not impacted by this change.
Glad I jumped ship to DL!
Cheers!
Howie
Just another reason not to do business with Useless Air.... the last time I tried using them, it was at a contracted rate/ carrier, I would have blown a connection and got put on the NW flight that I normally would have taken.
Location: Commuting around the mid-atlantic and rust-belt on any number of RJs
Programs: TSA Random Selectee Platinum, * Gold, SPG/HH/MR mid-tier, and a tiny bag of pretzels.
Posts: 8,136
Quote:
Originally Posted by GaryZ
Face it, this change will have no impact on anyone who posts on this forum [do the math: @ 0.01/mile it’s not even the price of a cup of coffee these days], yet it could have been handled more delicately.
Apparently, the people who post on this forum (or some, anyway) seem to disagree with that.
I don’t have a dog in this flight since most of us in the West will not be impacted, however, [/quote]
Right. I suppose you are excluding the people that fly from PHX-anywhere in Southern California, LAS-Anwhere in Southern Cal, New Mexico to anywhere, and anyone who regularly connects from SoCal to anywhere. A small population to be sure. It's not like there are not 10+ flights a day in both directions from LAX, SAN, to PHX, LAS.....
As someone who has taken part in the "Trial Elite" program this year, I feel that by changing benefits half way through the year the airline has committed fraud. I never would have paid the fee to upgrade to Gold if the announced changes were in place. In fact, I would have switched to another carrier. There's no excuse for pulling something like this.
I had the exact feeling when they changed the HP HubClub policy to US' midway through the year to charge for alcohol. It's not like I was swilling loads of beer or wine, but it was the slap in the face after paying $300. They should have analyzed when people (re)joined and then sent vouchers to offset the rule change. But no, it was "this is the NEW HP/US and if you don't like it, leave!" I did, I never paid again.
I spent my 800,000 DM on a trip for 3 to OZ and have been using WN for all short hauls and places where AA is a pain to get to from PHX instead of US since last year. With the new boarding rules, WN is actually more comfortable than US. PHX-LAX-PHX is 717 miles. The 283 miles per RT x 20 times per year isn't a tremendous amount, but again, it's how they are treating their customers.
Glad that I made the switch. Building up enough miles for int'l award travel then having to fight them to get it wasn't worth it. WN will do for me and I'll pay for my int'l flights.
My USAirways World Mastecard bill was due today. When I went on line to pay I saw that the annual fee of $79 was going to be billed on my March statement. I called this morning to cancel my card and explained why. I was then transferred and spoke to another person. I explained that the FF benefits with USAIR have continued to erode and that I would be looking into moving to another carrier my primary for air travel.
I also said that using the $99 companion ticket last year cost me more than a non-stop on NWA for both my wife and I from IND to RSW, but used it anyway so I could get my segment credit to retain Gold status.
The lady offerd to waive the $79 annual fee, but I chose to cancel anyway.
Maybe more will do the same!
Right. I suppose you are excluding the people that fly from PHX-anywhere in Southern California, LAS-Anwhere in Southern Cal, New Mexico to anywhere, and anyone who regularly connects from SoCal to anywhere.
Clue,
I wonder if this is just another sign of Tempe's myoptic "the world is just like PHX" thinking. I came up with a list of short-haul flights last night - not all-inclusive by any means since it started with mainline flights from BTS's Dec 07 on-time database and expanded with flights I knew were non-stop from the 2Q07 (latest available) Air Fare report. I'll post it if anyone's interested.
The difference in average yields between East and West short-haul is striking. On the East side, it's rare to see average yields less than 50 cents/mile unless there's direct low-cost competition (like PHL-RDU) or it's primarily a leisure market (like CLT-MCO). However, on the West side it's rare to see average yields over 50 cents/mile (PHX-TUS is the lone exception I found) and most are in the 25-40 cent/mile range.
So I just wonder if they assume all short-haul fliers are like those they're accustomed to in their little HP world so heavily influenced by WN. If so, I think they're about to get a rude awakening......
