[disneyguy]

OK, I am real big into monitoring the airlines, but mainly US Airways. I guess it is because I fly with them all of the time. So lets take a look back on my trip:

Down to Jacksonville: OK so when I fly from Salisbury, I have to take a commuter flight to either Philly, Charlotte, or Washington National. I prefer Philly, because it has the best connections. This time check-in went very smooth, which is rare for Salisbury. Everything went fine until they had a mechanical failure, and had to move to a backup plane, which just happened to be on the tarmac. We made it to Philly 5 minutes late, and I think that says a lot of the ground crew here in Salisbury. From there it was wonderful. I was on one of the nicest planes, it was an Airbus A319, and the plane was almost empty!!! I was in my own row which made it nice.

Comming Home: There were two major problems comming home. The first actually wasn't major, but in Jacksonville the staff was totally not prepared. They did not even have the flight on the board!! I had one lady come up to the people and they were "too busy doing there job" to tell the lady, that "Yes, it was the flight to Philly." The other problem, was that Philly was too busy. Comming in we were in a holding pattern for 30 minutes before we could land, and then taking off for Salisbury we waited another 30 to take off.

I have to say ALL the staff I encountered was very friendly. I wanted to say that US Airways baggage system in Philly has been seriously upgraded and lost baggage reports have gone down. I talked to one flight attendent that told me that she used to hear, nothing but bad stuff about baggage services, but now hears mainly good things. Also, I think there is a new policy on US Airways flights (this does not include US Airways Express flights) that they offer you the can of soda!!! This excites me personally, and really makes me an even happier customer.

After, this trip I have seen better service and a huge decrease in the price of air travel. In my opinion US Airways has really ungraded its service.

[hiner]

Ok, I know you posted this a few weeks ago, I am finally getting a chance to read some trip reports and saw your post.

We flew US Airways in May for our trip. We flew out of Philly and into Orlando. Now keep in mind, we have not flown in 5 years.

We were very disappointed on the price gouging if you purchase a snack/meal in coach. Also 1/2 a can of soda to drink...not even getting to keep the can with the other 1/2 really shocked us. We did get a "tiny" bag of pretzels woohoo.

When checking our baggage in at Philly, our bags were a little overweight (2 of 3). The employee helping us was going to charge us the $25.00 per bag until another employee came over and suggested things to move into the light bag so we would not have to pay. I don't know why the first employee couldn't do that. On our trip home, the attendant in Orlando just lifted the bags and said they were ok. Two different worlds.

On our trip home, all was smooth until we went to claim our baggage. We waited and waited and waited. No one ever came out to tell the entire flight that there was a problem and would be fixed in a moment. In the meantime, the limo driver was very patient and waited with us. Finally, they announced that the baggage was going to come off of another belt and finally did. I think what made it worse, it was about 10:00 at night and everyone was tired.

I know most flights go smoothly, ours did just with a few little disappointments and bumps. I also understand that US Airways is trying everything to avoid bankruptcy, but they still should try a little harder with their customers so they keep coming back.

[disneyguy]

Originally Posted by hiner

Ok, I know you posted this a few weeks ago, I am finally getting a chance to read some trip reports and saw your post.

We flew US Airways in May for our trip. We flew out of Philly and into Orlando. Now keep in mind, we have not flown in 5 years.

We were very disappointed on the price gouging if you purchase a snack/meal in coach. Also 1/2 a can of soda to drink...not even getting to keep the can with the other 1/2 really shocked us. We did get a "tiny" bag of pretzels woohoo.

When checking our baggage in at Philly, our bags were a little overweight (2 of 3). The employee helping us was going to charge us the $25.00 per bag until another employee came over and suggested things to move into the light bag so we would not have to pay. I don't know why the first employee couldn't do that. On our trip home, the attendant in Orlando just lifted the bags and said they were ok. Two different worlds.

On our trip home, all was smooth until we went to claim our baggage. We waited and waited and waited. No one ever came out to tell the entire flight that there was a problem and would be fixed in a moment. In the meantime, the limo driver was very patient and waited with us. Finally, they announced that the baggage was going to come off of another belt and finally did. I think what made it worse, it was about 10:00 at night and everyone was tired.

I know most flights go smoothly, ours did just with a few little disappointments and bumps. I also understand that US Airways is trying everything to avoid bankruptcy, but they still should try a little harder with their customers so they keep coming back.

Philly is a VERY busy airport, so it is hard to say what was going on there. Be sure to write to them, they always reply to a letter or email.

[Dana]

I am glad to see that they are improving their services some. I am still not convinced enough to try them again. They messed up more of my flights than not and I just don't want to deal with them anymore. I have flown to WDW with them 5 times and only two of those flights went right...... not very good odds. Glad that your trip was sucessful though. Thanks for the update on them.

[disneyguy]

Originally Posted by Dana

I am glad to see that they are improving their services some. I am still not convinced enough to try them again. They messed up more of my flights than not and I just don't want to deal with them anymore. I have flown to WDW with them 5 times and only two of those flights went right...... not very good odds. Glad that your trip was sucessful though. Thanks for the update on them.

I totally agree, and that is why I wanted to post this update, because they really seemed much better this time. They are the only choice of airline for me, but I do know they are trying to become a Low Cost Carrier, one of the first that does International flights. Sounds like a good market to me!

[Disneywife]

We will be flying US Airways...well, sort of. We have US Airways tickets for United flights. Confused yet? I sure was... the apparently sell tickets for United and United does the same for US Airways. We are supposed to check in directly with United.

I called United to get their prices for their flights, and it was nearly double what US Airways charged me for tickets on the same plane. That's a no-brainer.

Although this bankruptcy thing is freaking me out even though they say it won't affect us.

[disneyguy]

Originally Posted by Disneywife

We will be flying US Airways...well, sort of. We have US Airways tickets for United flights. Confused yet? I sure was... the apparently sell tickets for United and United does the same for US Airways. We are supposed to check in directly with United.

I called United to get their prices for their flights, and it was nearly double what US Airways charged me for tickets on the same plane. That's a no-brainer.

Although this bankruptcy thing is freaking me out even though they say it won't affect us.

No not confusing to me at all. It is called a codeshare flihgt. It sounds like US Airways is operating the flight, but you are flying United. If your ticket says it is a US Airways flight, then check in at their ticketing counter, but if your ticket says United go to their ticketing counter.

I have flown US Airways many times under bankruptcy, never a problem. They are just re-organizing, ALL flights currently scheduled (their schedule runs 365 days out) will be flown.

[mrsmouse]

13 of us are heading down 11/27 and we got fantastic prices through USAirways (10 months ago). We had to make a change and purchase a new ticket for someone going with us and this one ticket was $150 more than ours (Ouch!).

I've never had a problem with USAirways. Been flying for 26 years and mostly with USAirways. I'll keep my fingers crossed (toes too).

[anaheimboy]

Fly Delta if you can. We fly them alot and thats the airline I used when I went to Europe over the summer. The Planes are very nice and service/food is great. Plus the flight attendants loove to screw with the passangers and it cracks me up (in a good way that is). I just thought I'd say that for fun. :-) :-)