romadaro

Just curious as to how many west coasters on this website maintain loyalties to US Airways-and why? Were you previously based in the Eastern US, just like the service, the Dividend Miles program-or what is it?

geo1004

I would suggest asking chexfan but I think he moved to Georgia.

chexfan

but geo, I conveniently moved back to SEA after the double miles promo ended.

Anyways, I moved from PHL to SEA last sept. The new company for whom I work has a very good travel discount with AA, UA and DL. I have transitioned all of my business travel to UA and DL (when absolutely necessary) basically due to location of my destinations (SFO, IAD, SDF, ORD, SYD). I have logged 58k miles on UA this year.

I am a Gold Preferred flyer on US due to my flying from PHL (and SEA late last year). I truly enjoy my chances of upgrading and will do most of my pleasure travel on US until I reach 1K on UA. In '01 I have made 3 trips on US from SEA (to PVD, FRA and AMS- 30k actual miles). All have been upgraded to first/envoy which I could not enjoy as a lowly Premier or Premier Executive on UA. I will probably only attain Silver status on US for '02-03 which will be fine for me.

If US does join the *A, I would be very happy. I would be able to use my stack of SWUs and get mileage credit to my UA M+ account (even though my DM account is larger).

So as a recap, I fly with US as a SEA-based flyer b/c I was previously based in the NorthEast, and I truly enjoy my chances of upgrading (plus all the SWUs...).

dreadmon

I moved out here to SEA from HokieLand VA. I only flew US once over there, but I figured I'd enroll in DM since they were pretty much the only airline that flew into ROA. I have to say though that I'm very satisfied with their level of service. Their prices could be a little less forbidding for transcon, but when they have deals it's definitely worth it for getting me to the southeast. I wish they had more west coast service though...I'd be taking weekend trips down to CA a lot more often.

Oh, and all those DM miles I've accumulated in the past 3 months don't hurt either. I dig US Air.

chemist661

I try to fly US for most travel east of the Mississipi (most fares do not price out from LA to west of the MS river). I was made silver in Dec. 2000 & recently used the systemwides for my trip last week to London. Just made Gold by challenge & intend to qualify by miles by years end. Am waiting for the fall Europe fares to go on sale & will buy a US ticket from LA to either FRA or MUC. US is the only airline that I am aware of where one can get systemwides at the 25K level & being able to use them! Will stay with US. I fly UA for places where US does not price out or sub $100 or so tickets).

edg1

I made Chairman's Preferred on US this year doing the LAX-CLT route on a weekly basis. I was previously a UAL 1K, so US comped me Gold and I never had a problem upgrading and most flights were on time. Regrettably, I haven't had much opportunity to enjoy my Chairman's status as I am currently not flying cross country. I would choose US for future travel over other airlines if the # of stops were comparable. Currently I am doing the LAX - PHX route, so I use Southwest because they are by far the most convenient in terms of schedule and on-time performance.

[This message has been edited by edg1 (edited 07-12-2001).]

anrkitec

I have to admit that I really like their product but US from L.A. is tough! My most recent examples (both res +2 weeks out) were LAX-PIT-MCI-MHK: 12 hrs and $800 in Y (This almost didn't happen as neither the website nor the res agent wanted to price out the LAX-MHK trip which never made sense to me as all cities in the ITN are actual US cities), LAX-PHL/CLT-MCO (I missed the 8 A.M. PHL and had to wait for the noon CLT) 11 hrs and $650 in Y. Two Christmas' ago I was on an award ticket for the holiday and I missed the 8 A.M. PHL. It was three days before I could get another seat out to MCO.

[This message has been edited by anrkitec (edited 07-12-2001).]

yonatan

I got hooked on US almost by accident...

Last Feb., I was looking for the cheapest student fare to Germany from SFO, and since I had few miles in any program it came down to price. US beat out CO by about $10.

By the time I flew on the ticket two months later, I was just in time for the double Q-miles promotion. The return plus a one-way outbound (also student fare) made me elite.

I do need go out of my way to fly them (SFO instead of SJC, often lousy connecting times between west coast and Europe flights), but the benefits (especially SWU's and 50% mileage bonus) are hard to beat, and I enjoy stopping for a day on the East Coast to visit friends near BWI.

Yonatan

P.S. since discounted transatlantic fares to/from the West Coast are often only $100 more than from the East Coast, from a mileage-run perspective it's like adding a transcon for only $100!

YVR Cockroach

I started out in 1988 while in grad school where US was the only jet operator into ITH (well, there was Piedmont too but it had been acquired). My account was dormant for 7 years (US dropped service to RNO where I used to live/work) and BLI (previous nearest airport to YVR). Only a flurry of travel and double q-miles got me to reactivate my account.

SFOPIT

Well, I moved from PIT to SFO about 1.5 yr ago, and prefer the direct to PIT over a connector. I think they have good service, though I am looking for ways to upgrade to first/envoy class-

deelmakur

I have homes (and offices) outside NYC, Seattle, and South Florida, which means I am always on a loop. Since I like to fly out of suburban White Plains, NY, USAirways is perfect. Even with a plane change, it's as fast as a nonstop from JFK (when you add the extra travel time), and much less stressful. The system is perfect for me. As for the West Coast, my observation is the company has very little identity, and you see it in the traffic flows. These routes are spokes, and they primarily carry East Coast people out the beginning of the week, and back at the end. I have also observed that they run special cheap ticket deals through discount travel agencies out West, designed to stimulate originating traffic from there. Once you get West, the nearest hub is couple of thousand miles away, so at that point they have to hand their customers over to someone else. That's got to have a profound effect on their ability to build a customer base in the West. They need an alliance with someone like America West or Alaska. Lastly, from the file of useless information, it seems many of the senior airport personnel out there are former PSA, and represent the last link to that failed attempt to become a presence in the West(now that the MD 80's are being retired).

newself

For awhile, I was flying to CRW from either LAX or SNA but now I can fly CO through CLE. I did like the jet service to CRW through PIT and enjoyed the customer service. Never had a problem flying US.

das

This is an interesting thread because I recently moved from ITH (where US is the only game in town) to SEA.

I am currently figuring out if Preferred status will be any use to me. I am 12,000 miles short, so I need two transcons to get it. At the same time, I am about 9,000 miles short of reaching UA Premier Executive.

So I am debating whether I want to be US Preferred and UA Premier or just UA Premier Executive... The SWU offer when hitting DM Preferred is very tempting.

But at the same time, UA can fly me everywhere I want to travel to from SEA, while US only goes to the east coast. And I have two US denied boarding free tickets burning a hole in my pocket, too!

I think I will stay somewhat loyal to US, because it seems to be easier to get discounted seats vs. UAL, when flying to the east coast and Florida. But looks like UAL will be my primary airline...

chemist661

I live in the LA area & do both UA & US. US usually prices out when flying to the eastern part of the USA from the west coast. I take UA (or others when long hauls are under $100 or so--example, LAX-MIA for $97.50! on CO) when I can't get US to price out decently. It takes only 25K to get systemwides from US and at 50K on US, you get 100% bonus on miles. Say you want to go to LA from SEA, the best way is with UA. Best of success whatever decision you make!

mileshound

Found this while searching for other threads.

3 interesting observations:

1) The SWU did drive a lot of traffic. Bring them back.
2) Deelmakur calling for a AWA alliance almost 4 years ago.
3) The West coast supporters that were here years ago, are now gone. However, we do love our current left coast (but clubless) friends.