I recently had a harrowing time trying to redeem by Dividend Miles for a business class ticket on the Star Alliance Network to Asia. The experience has forced me to reconsider my loyalty with US Air and now I'm strongly thinking about switching to United.

I spent a total of 3 hours on the phone with customer service. I spoke to 3 different agents. None of them were proficient in English. No offense meant, but they all had a Spanish accent. What made it really frustrating for me was not their lack of communication skills, but downright incompetency and lack of initiative. They wouldn't suggest any alternative routes/dates, no nothing, when the options I was looking for were not available. And suddenly, one of them mentions to me that she had done over 5 searches, and that was the limit allowed during one phone call, and I'd have to call back again! Now, that is preposterous! I demanded to speak to her supervisor and then she put me on hold for a couple of minutes. She came back on the line and acted as if we never had that conversation before, and started looking for ticket availability again!

As it ended up, I did not get my business class ticket to Asia in April as I was intending to. I had to settle for a coach class on Singapore Airlines, and that too outside the dates I had originally intended. Apparently, business class seats on every airline partner are sold out for the next 6-7 months. I found that really hard to believe! All in all, it was an experience I won't remember fondly.