I've only had 4 flights on USAir (last year on Embraer ^ and RJ :td: aircraft).Their service was OK,bags arrived with us and flights wer generally on time.(codeshared flights on *A ;) )

I prefer AC .That simple :)

And that was because of the AC*G card...

Ok, maybe I misunderstood what SH was saying then.

But, in this case and if we assume that US has the same rules as UA, The Lev et al. should have been allowed in as they were on "international" F tickets... (they were starting in YYZ)...

Or did I miss something?

Yes but
a) I didn't think about trying to use that with the not overly friendly guardians of the "Club".
b) The "international" portion of the flight was dowgraded to Y class when I was moved from YYZ-CLT on a 737 to YYZ-PIT on a Dash-8.

I'm no expert on lounge access, but CO, UA, DL & AA book transborder tix thru their Int'l. Desks, while NW & US let their domestic agents book ém.

The point is in this case, the onward travel was strictly domestic, and US has a different interpretation from UA.

HP does not provide free lounge access to their elite members. They provide lounge access to paying first class passengers.

US provides a free lounge membership to Chairman's Preferred (top-tier) members who fly at least 150,000 miles during the qualifying year.

Unforunately the quality of US Airways first class product has deteriorated significantly over the past year as they continue to reorganize under Chapter 11. Hopefully things will improve under the new HP/US management team.

In spite of the crappy meals and dirty cabins, the friendly inflight service, the snack basket, and the booze remain top notch! I took a trip on NW in early April just to compare, and everything was absolutely awful. I had always been pleased with NW in the past but after that experience I refuse to fly them anymore. The F/As were nasty lazy b****es, our death trap of an old DC-9 nearly crashed as we were lacking oxygen, and we had endless delays - I can't begin to describe how terrible it was. US is way better, even if they serve happy meals on transcons!

Here's where much of the confusion comes from: US does indeed classify Canada as a domestic destination. I was unaware that UA did not in terms of RCC access on F tickets. Even if it had been possible to fly YYZ-PIT in F, you would have not been granted access. And as obhasan has mentioned, it appears that UA has changed their policy as well.

Certainly, people purchase F tickets on US, however their fares are often lower than other carriers in order to match the level of service. Just ask any US Preferred member who's ever tried to upgrade on flights to LAS, for instance... if just doesn't happen. US's F's cabin to a US Dividend Miles member is basically akin to UA's E+ cabin for Star flyers. Of course, that sucks if you're a Star flyer travelling on US, but not if you are DM Preferred :D

Which brings to light the reason that AC does not offer an upgrade policy which is anything like US's. Based on the YYZ Do, I realize that this is a sore point, but if such a policy were to be implemented, you can bet that service would degrade considerably in J. Plus, AC tends to have fewer J seats available than US does on similarly-sized aircraft, so upgrade chances would be quite low.

SH: My point was solid but the wording incorrect; didn't want to be late for work. What I meant to say was "Club access for F passengers - US's policy is in line with other American carriers, including UA." As in the original OP's family members in F were correctly denied entry.

US definately has its place in the market. It may not be for everyone, but it did allow the OP get his entire family to their vacation on time, and in relative comfort. The OP could have opted to spend almost as many miles for Avenue Awards on AC, and then no one would have been in a premium class.

Personally, US has worked very well for me because of it's flying patterns and the fact that most agents will absolutely bend over backwards for US Preferred members. I never have to wait more than 2 minutes on hold while calling them (usually get right through), their service failure recovery is definately above average in terms of the service industry, and I cannot count how many times US agents have gone above and beyond to save my ..., even when it wasn't really a big deal in the scheme of things. I love having empower and jetconnect at every seat on all airbus aircraft. I love the Consumer Affairs department, which is never hard to get ahold of. I love their fares (most of the time). I love being able to get ahold of any fare transatlantic upgrades with relative ease. And I love Dividend Miles, where all fares on US get at least 100% Qualifying miles. Because of these things, I am willing to forego many of the shortcomings that could potentially irk others. But if it's not for you, then it's not for you (just like Aeroplan isn't for me). Simple as that.

What is the nature of the front cabin (which is I presume is termed a business class cabin?) of US Air planes on transoceanic international routes, and how does it compare with AC, and other European, US and other major international airlines?

The front cabin on transatlantic routes is termed "Envoy" class. It is sold as C (business). It certainly is not an "upgrade" product as US F is; in fact there are very few ways to upgrade to Envoy. Having said that, I would say it does lag behind most of the majors, but not by much. One of the reasons is that the older 767-200's are configured 2x2x2; the Airbuses are much better seat-wise, and in fact have one row of horizontal lie-flat seats that used to be the First cabin and is now sold as Envoy.

Service is quite good with pre-departure sparkling wine, amenity kits, decent food, self-serve snacking/wine station during flight, etc. The Envoy lounge in PHL is very stunning: because of the view, the space available in the lounge, etc. There are pre departure snacks (deli platters) and serve your own beverages available.

However, based on what I've heard about AC, I would think that the service in Envoy, although perhaps a notch below, is certainly more consistent. Nearly all crews that I have encountered in Envoy genuinely seem to appreciate that Envoy pax ARE their best customers and do treat them that way. Typical service would be having the in charge go around to each of the paxs near the end of the flight, personally acknowledge them by status, thank them for flying and provide connecting gate information.

At US there used to be little staff recognition chits that Preferreds could fill in and send to US to acknowledge any staff member that made an impression on them. I used the vast majority of them on FAs crewing the Envoy cabins.

I am actually on a AE reward and going back YYZ - SEA on US Airways via Philadelphia since YYZ-SEA wasnt' available direct, and I am in "C".

I plan to drink heavily :)

Let us know how it goes, and congrats on post #200!