I decided to take The Lev family to Los Angeles/Anaheim for a little R&R over the long weekend while I attended a trade show. Was able to book three seats in US first class on the AE web site and booked myself in Y. Family was very excited and this was gonig to be the first time in First class for the kids. Here are some chronological thoughts:

1. Deliberately booked via Charlotte to get F and jet service on both legs. CLT-LAX leg was cancelled so I got re-booked via PIT on a Dash-8 (down to First class on 2 of 4 legs and fewer points for me).
2. Called AE to get family re-booked. They were not aware of the cancelled flight but did re-book us and pre-reserved seats.
3. Arrive at YYZ T3 for our 06:20 departure. All our pre-reserved seats had dispappeared. Agent suggested that they re-jig their timetable every 30 days and that I should check regularly with US to ensure my seats have not been given away . she got wife and kids window seats one behind the other CLT-LAX. My aisle became a window.
4. clearing US customs and immigration takes over half an hour, resulting in me doing an OJ Simpson run through the airport to the gate,. I arrive just before 6:20 departure. Fortunately they hold the flight for the family.
5. Arrive in PIT and decide to try out US Club. Am told I'm only allowed one guest. I point out that my three fellow passengers are travelling in First Class. Sorry First class only gets access on INTERNATIONAL flights
6. PIT-LAX 4 1/2 hour flight. Meal service in First Class consists of the same Buy-on-Board cold meal offered in Y for $5-7 but it's free for the family. So much for the kid's meal I had pre-ordered for my 7-year old. the good news is she didn't like the buy-on-board choice so I got passed back to me in Y. My wife is asleep when drinks are offered. When she wakes up, nobody offers her a drink.
7. Arrive at LAX, figure based on tight timeline to board aircraft at YYZ there is no way my bags have arrived. I thought I'd check proactively with the US baggage people at LAX to see if my bag made the flight, rather than wait around. Their baggage system is apparently too antiquated to be able to check on-line status of bags. Wait for bags and by some miracle, they made it
8. Have 4 fun days in California
9. Return to LAX. There are about 8 check in counters for US but ZERO agents (actually there is one guy at the far end who spends about 15 minutes dealing with somebody who is sending a small package). Since the AE tickets are paper, I need to deal with an agent. An agent finally appears and deals with someone in Y line. Another agent appears and deals with someone else in Y. A third agent appears (they all seam to walk at about 1 mph) and deals with the guy who budded the line in front of us in the *G/F line. The good news is that F passengers get priority clearance through security.
10. US has closed its club at LAX and since it's in T1 there, there is no practical way to access a *A lounge.
11. Board aircraft and am just getting comfortable when we're paged on board. Wife thinks I'm getting upgraded. But no - the ticket agent had put our connecting ticket stubs with our originating flight boarding passes so we handed them the wrong coupons. Wife grumbles to gate agent to no avail that some teenager was upgraded to F rather than her husband.

On a positive note, at least all flights arrived on time.

My question is, why would anybody in their right mind pay to fly US Airways First Class transcontinent domestic when they get a Y meal and no lounge access?

I just hope that with AC buying in to the "new" US, they won't learn from US about how to treat J passengers.

I've sat in US F domestic and it has always sucked compared to AC domestic J. But glad you could experience it for yourself

US has realized that most people upgrade into F and are happy with the larger seat and free drinks (unlimited free upgrades for all status levels of Dividend Miles, except basic) - and that explains why a "teenager" was upgraded and not someone on an X ticket.

Inflight Cafe in First - due to catering issues, it is a temporary measure for all transcontinental flights. You've got to admit, however, that the Inflight Cafe offerings are better than AC's rendition.

Club access for F passengers - this is standard among American carriers, including UA.

Baggage system - yes it's a pain but things generally work out. If your bags don't arrive on time, their policy is much better than most of their American peers: $25 voucher, plus $50 a day reimbursement for expenses. UA only provides reimbursement for up to 50% of your expenses and no voucher.

Just like AC, they certainly do change the timetable. Not always every 30 days, but it does happen, and your seat assignments could have dissapeared simply because the operating express carrier was swapped with another.

Not making excuses, but simply telling you why some of the things you brought up happen. Might be of use to others reading the thread.

As far as getting 3F and 1Y seat on the same flight on a standard award - try getting that on AC metal

a) To a lot of people, especially on longer routes, the bigger seat is the primary advantage of F/J. Some will pay to get it.

b) Most don't. US "Preferred" flyers receive free upgrades http://www.usairways.com/dividendmil.../eupgrades.htm .

cedric does have a point...
I was only comparing quality (and lounge access/quality) and that's about it.. everything else is still an "advantage" over AC.

In the case of UA, they consider Canada to be international for RCC purposes, so you can get in on a F ticket that reads YYZ-some US destination.

That's true... wasn't your ticket an international ticket as you were only connecting to/from Canada (The Lev)?

Was that cedric?

Canada is never considered INTERNATIONAL for US airlines if that transborder is the only segment outside the USA on your same day itinerary. And they never provide lounge access on such First Class bookings. It is one's Elite or SE status [STARGold] where transborder is considered by US and UA to be INTERNATIONAL, and thus lounge access is granted. So US was correct not to permit access on your itinerary even if your family was in First Class.

US First Class is an elite perk, and the service reflects that. US makes little incremental income from the cabin and seldom sells real First Class seats domestically, unlike AC which still makes money selling its front cabin and keeping upgrades limited to high fare travellers.

YOWkid, I think you got access to the MLL because AC/UA recognize their transborder services as having lounge access when traveling into or from Canada, but not onward. So if you had a segment from the US gateway to another US city, unless you were Elite or a non-UA/US STARGold, you would not get RCC access. And I don't believe UA operates any RCCs in Canada.

As for your other complaints or comments, that's the reality of US domestic service. US has dropped its fares to compete with SOUTHWEST, and adds the extra benefit for its elites of the front cabin upgrade. To keep costs in line, meals are whatever is being offered in the back, gratis as you note, and drinks are free. Otherwise, don't expect what you get up here...

Absolutely not. In fact, just the opposite. Only same day itineraries with onward international [i.e. outside North America] space in F, C or J can get lounge access at intermediate and/or gateway airports. Otherwise one must have a membership in their particular lounge program, Priority Pass or similar credit card tie in with the airline being flown, or hold non-American top or mid-tier elite status in the appropriate alliance partner. In the case of UA, flights ex-Canada flights are permitted access to MLLs on the Canadian side since AC offers the same benefit to travellers in their front cabin, but you won't get access to a RCC from the American side into Canada unless you've got RCC membership or non-UA/US STARGold.

This was clarified when UA inadvertantly refused to even acknowledge AC STARGolds for RCC access when flying into Canada, or continuing onward within the USA.

sorry dupe...

it used to be you could get RCC access on a C/F ticket to/from canada or caribbean. but a couple months ago they changed the rule to access only on "transoceanic" flights. transoceanic defined as excluding caribbean and canada.

SH, International Definition in S*RCC/ADMIT says:

Does this not explicitly indicate that Canada is considered international?

Now, I have no clue what US rules are, but those UA rules were posted on FT a while back. Of course, these rules could have changed too...

On "domestic" itineraries, I believe some airlines still provide complimentary lounge access:

Premium FC (3 CoS flights operated by at least AA (and UA?) - generally NYC-LAX/SFO.

Paid FC on AS

IIRC, DL and HP offer lounge access to their elites

NW offers complimentary lounge membership for Asia-domiciled gold and platinum elites.

Correct. I think that is what part of SH was saying...
I always use the RCCs/US lounges even when I'm strictly on a USA domestic itinerary (on UA or US)... I encountered one situation during the "confusion" period where I was denied at ORD B6 RCC but just walked over to ORD C16 RCC and had no problem getting in.