gottaluvNW

This is a question that may not be for this specific thread - but regardless - could US Airways' actions be construed as being illegal if they start to purposely block seats? (What was the reaction of United's fan base when StarNet blocking began?)

Secondly, what are the chances that LH and US have come to an agreement that when a US customer tries to book a F ticket, they should be offered C instead? It's a real long shot based on two bits of anecdotal evidence but I hope others will respond as well to this... (FWIW, I have had on LH F redemption recently, and been offered several others when I was actually looking for LX on specific routings.)

SocialAdept

Probably not illegal but I'm not sure how other carriers are going to like it if US are taking liberties with the award travel cooperation in the Star Alliance.

I'm sure LH will react if US are blocking them while points whales with LH are simultaneously booking awards with US.

In anycase I'm getting worried about my 50k + 50k now.

TRAVELSIG

Do note that LH just bumped the miles required for redemption of C and F to their own members by 20% (with one month notice-effective 01JAN)- so it is indeed possible they may be limiting seats particularly F (like they do with the A380) that are available to other carriers.

ArizonaGuy

But to repeat what's been discussed for a few weeks now, this isn't the case. What US is telling people doesn't match what ANA is showing for LH F. In fact while US says LH F is basically non-existent you can call UA or use CO's website and book the same LH F segment with little hindrance.

africansky

I have a similar experience with this newly "enhanced" feature on usairways.com. I have a reservation on on LH and CO for next summer and the reservation suddenly disappeared on usairways.com in mid October. I called US as well as LH, and the reservation is still all confirmed in their systems.

ArizonaGuy

US is full of it. It's long been an issue where some show up, some don't. Are you able to pull it up manually on the US site by the US PNR?

I've had a number of awards with no US segments. They usually show up. If they don't, it's typically because my DM# isn't in the PNR. I've always been successful manually pulling it up by the US PNR. I modify passenger info to include my DM# and then it shows up like it should in my account.

I have a trip in January entirely on UA and LH that's showing without any problems. Even informed me of a UA schedule change of 7 minutes.

eponymous_coward

I have an award with precisely zero US segments (since routing through PHX/CLT to fly someone else to get from SEA to HKG would be stupid). Comes up on the site just fine.

When it comes to US weirdness on things like not being able to see seats or bring up itineraries, it's far safer to assume incompetence than maliciousness.

travelkid

Re the LH F issue. Has anyone actually asked US (in written) if they have any *net blocking issues? Whats US response to the discrepancy?

romeoguy

Despite all the panic talk on this thread, I was able to successfully book two C tix during a relatively busy period for US-Europe-US travel. I was also able to book a stop-over AND open-jaw. This goes to show how US is very YMMV. My trip is scheduled for late May 2011. Here's the details:

SFO-LAX (UA on Y) - 1 hr flight... who cares
LAX-MUC (LH on C) - 3 day stop over in MUC
MUC-VCE (LH on C)
FCO-FRA (LH on C) - after a 12 day visit to Italy - open JAW!
FRA-LAX (LH on C)
LAX-SFo (UA on Y) - see comment for first flight

These flights costs me 100,000 US miles per person (2 person trip.) The 100,000 miles had cost me approximate $400 (thru Grand Slam). Not bad for a C travel itinerary to Europe during semi-peak period. Oh, taxes were extra. But that's always the case.

cityboy340

I have and recieved this:
Dear Mr. cityboy340:
Thank you for contacting Customer Relations. We appreciate it when customers take the time to share their concerns.
I apologize for your recent disappointment with our award program. Our Star Alliance partner airlines have control over how many seats they allow US Airways passengers to book. Likewise, US Airways limits the amount of seats our Star Alliance members can book in order to give our passengers the best chance of booking the seats they want. Also, there is a lag time involved when trying to book on a Star Alliance partner airline. It can take 24 to 48 hours for a requested award seat to be booked on a partner airline. During that time the seat may become unavailable. I hope this explanation has helped clarify our Star Alliance partner's policies.
As we are always interested in the opinions of our passengers, your comments and concerns have been documented and will be shared in a written report to our executive management team. This report is a capsulated record of all passengers’ concerns regarding our policies and procedures.
I truly appreciate the time you took to share your thoughts with us. We learn from our customers where we need to make changes to improve our service. Your input is very valuable. It is always our pleasure to have an opportunity to serve you and hope you will look to US Airways for your future travel needs.
Sincerely,
---------
Representative, Customer Relations
US Airways Corporate Office

synd

well a pretty standard bs answer imo not addressing any of the correct points.
does someone on this forum has a US contact that could clear those points for us? I tried on the phone with a supervisor for 40 minutes and could only get the usual bs crap as a response.

aterug

So my previous fabulous itinerary went bust due to rescheduling of the event. I have this on hold despite my aversion to LH. I could not find any availability through Swiss.

Took less than 20 minutes to get and place on hold, including splitting the reservation so my wife can pay from her account. $185 in taxes per person, booking charge waived since I have the DM card.

Would anyone advise of a better route ?

thyeri

Well this is the most direct route.
What you could consider is flying via Toronto with Air Canada from a European city, but then it will add flight segments...

cityboy340

I forgot to add: My original letter stated that I felt that LH F awards were being singled out because I could book other F such as UA and even LX but not LH. I could see the availability on ANA, Aeroplan, CO, and UA but US couldn't find it unless I forced the agent to do a manual (which eventually worked out). So all in all, it looks like my letter wasn't even read.

gleff

I've specifically not asked anyone at US AIrways about the LH F issue because though my guess has been that it's an IT (AVS synch?) issue, my fear has been that it's intentional.

And getting them to acknowledge that won't be helpful.

Instead it risks a clamp down on agents performing long sells. Which won't leave us better off..