Can anyone say something good about US Airways? Update - I can! Update post 37

[laurie31]

We booked them for our upcoming trip in September, and now I'm reading absolutely horrible online reviews. Most are things like "the plane was old," "the plane was dirty," "the FAs were rude," "the food was bad," and some complain about things that aren't even an airline's fault such as "security lines were long," "the airport was pooly signed," or things that don't really matter to me "the movie was boring," but the ones that concern me are the ones saying the flights were overbooked, delayed, and their seat assignments were changed.

We booked 5 months ahead to be sure we got seats together. I would prefer to have the plane be clean, but I don't mind old (as long as it's in good working order!) and I don't need to have a FA kiss my anything, but I have no intention of being separated from my children on a 9 hour flight!

Of course I realize no one could steal my child at 30,000 feet, but I don't expect a stranger to let my kid sleep on his shoulder and/or keep her entertained. That would be my job. Plus with all the horrible reviews of the food, I was planning to bring our meals aboard. I wouldn't want to have to climb all over strangers to get food to my children whenever they get hungry.

I'm hoping these online reviews are mainly people venting who have had bad experiences, as I also found scathing reviews of Delta and American. To be honest, we've had our luggage lost by Delta, American, and Northwest and we've had a Very Bad Experience with Delta (once) BUT *most* of our Delta flights have been good experiences. No one's ever tried to change our assigned seats, though. Not on any airline. Is this the norm with US Airways? Or did the people posting those reviews just have a bad experience for some reason? What can I do to avoid this happening to us?

 

[Planogirl]

I personally can't stand American but I still fly with them. I don't know much about US Airways except a few people have told me that they didn't like them.

I think that overall the airlines provide some pretty bad service so it's not just US Airways. Maybe you could just look at it like Chef Mickey's. That restaurant gets some horrible reviews but you know that it would do the job if you went there.

 

[bettymae1121]

I'm a travel agent and I've heard horror stories on all of the airlines, included the much beloved Southwest Airlines. I've not flown USAirways personally (I live near a United hub) but from all the clients I've spoken to over the years, I can say that as far as I can tell, USAirways isn't any better or worse than any of the other airlines. All airlines have problems with delays and cancealtions, the food is so-so at best, and given the sheer number of bags they deal with everyday, it's a wonder more of them don't get lost.

I think you'll be fine, no one else wants to sit next to your kids on a nine hour flight either, if if your seats do get moved around, I can just about guarantee that the other passengers will be willing to switch so they won't be next to a strange child the whole flight.

Also, seat assignments tend to get moved around because of schedule changes. They change the equipment (the type of plane) or they cancel the flight you were booked on and put you on another flight. When this happens the seats of course have to change. It's all done by computer so sometimes the new seating gets a little goofy. If you are notified of a schedule change, double check your seats ASAP, if you did get split up it will generally be easier to deal with it right when it happens rather than trying to get a busy gate agent to do it at the airport.

 

[tammymacb]

We travel frequently. I've given up completely on USair and won't consider flying them as an option.

One year, for my husbands birthday, I booked us a trip to Barbados to get out of the cold ( His birthday is in February ) We drove to Charlotte the night before, were the first in line to check in for our flights in the morning. ( We showed up 2 hours early for a 6ish flight so we were basically standing in a dark line ) When the agent arrived, she took one look at my ticket and said, "You're not going to make your connection." I was upset ( of course ) as there is only 1 daily flight to Barbados, and asked her how she could NOT get me somehow to Philly in 5 hours ( Philly used to be the hub to Barbados ) ..Well, she did the usual "disinterested in my job shuffle" and some click- clicking and gave me some boarding passes and told me we'd be rerouted. We were going to lose our full afternoon that day on the beach, but better than nothing, right?

Well, I walked down to the gate and though I'm not a professional TA, the hubbs just did NOT make sense. I made a phone call and found out that I was not scheduled to arrive in Bridgetown, Barbados that day ( BGI ) but instead to, Bimidji, Minnesota ( BJI ) Strong work, airlines lady. I'm sure I would have gotten far in Minnesota in February with nothing but flip flops and shorts. Thank God, we didn't get on the plane.

So, back to the head line, were a manager was brought over. At that point, I really HAD missed any opportunity at a connection, and he offered me a complimentary stay IN CHARLOTTE to catch the same flight tomorrow. I said I'd take the free night at the airport IN PHILLY, I wasn't going to show up tomorrow and have the same problem. He didn't want to fly me to Philly that day, and I wouldn't take no for an answer. Finally he did agree to send me off ( mostly to get rid of me, I think ) to Philly where there would be no danger of not making the flight in the morning.

So, now it gets better, right. Ummm still not quite. We'd booked the 8nights all inclusive throught USair Vacations. I bought trip insurance. First I called USair vacations to tell them to call the hotel and let them know I wouldn't be there today AND no cancel my transportation with the shuttle. USair Vacations then proceeds to tell me that I may still be charged because " I'm calling last minute to cancel" At that point, I told them I wasn't paying a penny, and if they had any issues with that, then they could call USair and ask THEM for the money. ( The hotel BTW is awesome! and didn't give a hard time about the last minute cancellation anyway ) Then.... I told UsAir vacations that I had paid for an 8 night trip and still wanted an 8 night trip. And since I was coming in a day late, I wanted my airfare bumped out a day late, and the money for the hotel moved to the last night. Usair Vacations was OK with that, but I had to go back to the manager to request that my return tickets be changed. ( Keep in mind, insurance, I held insurance that even included - cancel for any reason up to the day you travel - so if I didn't get my way, I was cancelling and going somewhere... ) So after some hemming and hawwing. Manager changed my return ticket. Finally done.

You'd think? Of course not. The return home had an overnight ( probably in Philly- I can't remember ) So manager had me flying home from Barbados to Philly on the same day he had me on a moning flight from Philly back to Charlotte. ( I caught this AGAIN after walking from the desk ) not him. I had to go back and argue with him for what felt like EVER to get my tickets correct.

Finally we made it to Barbados. When we got home I called USair and told them about the whole mess, and we were given $200 vouchers to fly again. ( Apparently in the airline industry it's a big boo boo to book someone to the wrong city/county ) We again chose to fly to Barbados. Again they wouldn't let us fly to Philly the day before and again there were similar problems. That time, I made them send us to Miami and we caught an AA flight to Barbados, that was wonderful.

I'll never fly USair again.

Sorry about how long this was, but it's all true.

Oh, and do you know if you argue with a manager at USair for 2 hours, you are guarenteed to have to get practically strip searched at every security checkpoint for your flight? Both ways.....

 

[FireDancer]

At my last job I flew US Air a lot because I was allowed to use our corporate miles. The planes were older then most I have been on but they weren't terrible. I only had one bad experience because they didn't get me my luggage until the following day on one occasion. It was on the flight back home so it wasn't a big deal but had that happened on a flight the other way it would have been a problem.

The last time I flew them was Jan 2005 though so they could have gotten worse since. If it is a direct flight there is less chance of luggage missing a connection or a delay on a first leg causing you to miss a second.

 

[The Orchid]

My experience with US Airways has been nothing but positive. That is the only airline (in the US) that I really like and I actually am willing to pay more to fly with them. I don't remember the planes being dirty at all and the flight attendants on US Airways have been the nicest I've experienced. Also, I find that US Airways is one of the most accommodating airlines for people with disabilities.

I HATE Delta and Northwest. I will not fly with either of them again. A couple years ago I flew on Northwest to meet my gf, who I had dated 15 years ago but hadn't seen in about 12 years. We found each other on MySpace and fell in love all over again. This was our first face to face meeting in more than a decade and I was pretty nervous! Well Northwest lost my freaking luggage. Ugh! They found it three days later. Imagine your first three days with a new love interest...and no clothes or personal items. UGH! And the sad thing is that on my return trip they lost my luggage again...and never found it. And years ago I had a luggage issue with them. Northwest...never again. Ever!

Delta once lost our luggage too. It was particularly sad because we were returning from Disneyland and that was the suitcase with all our Disney stuff. What a bummer.

Don't worry about US Airways. Like the previous poster said, most American airlines aren't that great. They aren't trying very hard to impress customers anymore. You can have a bad experience with a great airline or a good experience with a bad airline, it's pretty much a gamble whenever you fly. You just never really know. But as far as comfort goes, I like them. Many of their planes even have slightly wider seats, which I like a lot. Some of them are 18.25 inches...most other airline's seats are about 17 inches. I love the extra room! You can check that info seatguru.com Seat Guru is great, it helps you find the best seats on your plane!

 

[mickeymedic]

You couldn't pay me to fly US Airways. The last time DH and I flew with them it was the most stressful and miserable flying experience I have ever had. We arrived at the Orland Airport at least 3 hours before our flight. (This was pre-9/11.) We checked our bags at the curb and the porter took one look at our tickets and exclaimed: "You'll never make your connection!" Then, without asking permission he took off with our tickets - disappeared - and when he returned he informed us that he had moved us to an earlier flight and if we didn't hurry we'd miss our flight.

I took one look at our new tickets and we had less than 10 minutes until the plane would be boarding. And we no longer had seats togther. I was pissed. We hurried through security and took the tram out to the terminal. We stopped at the US Airways customer service desk on our way to the gate to get our tickets switched back to our original flight. We were told that there were no seats left on our original flight. I argued with the customer service agent - saying that I had confirmed tickets for that flight 20 minutes prior and our tickets were changed without our permission. They told me that they had no idea how that could have happened and that if we wanted to make it home, we needed to board our flight right now.

What's worse, is that we would have had no problem making our connection with our original flight. We had 50 minutes between flights - and I have make connections with 50 minutes many, many times. So, pretty much US Airways oversold our original flight and instead of bumping people who showed up late, they chose us, for whatever reason and then tried to make it out like it was our fault. The customer service rep was absolutely no help. I wrote to US Airways about our ordeal afterward and never heard anything back.

I have flown on many airlines. I can say, without a doubt, US Airways is the worst I've ever flown. I will never fly them again. And my motto is "If JetBlue doesn't fly there, I guess I'm not going." Well, actually, I'd consider flying Continental or Delta again - no bad experiences there either - just not the same as JetBlue. I love my free TV.

OP - I sincerely hope that you have a better experience with US Airways than I did. In this case, I'd be happy to be proven wrong in my generalization of them. I wouldn't wish a bad travel experience on anyone.

 

[Buckalew11]

My last experience with them was terrible but before that everything was OK. However, as long as I have a choice, I will never, ever fly US Airways again. I much prefer Airtran, Allegiant or Delta.

Good luck. I think the chances of you getting separated from your kids is slim. Even if it happened, wouldn't most people change seats with you to allow you to be next to them? I would. But maybe not.

Last time I flew them a mom was separated from her kids--well, 2 of them. She had the other 2 next to her and was pregnannt with another! AND, she was ALONE!! ugh. So, I sat with her boys (I was separated from my dd but she was older--12, maybe and was put close to her cousin). I did entertain this ladies boys and felt sorry for the youngest. He'd left the Taxi at the airport W/O his souvenior bag so all his little Disney goodies were gone! They were pleasant kids and probably the best part of that horrible flight, lol.

 

[bettymae1121]

Northwest...never again. Ever!

Not a problem, they don't exist anymore! Delta bought them, the merger was complete early this year.

 

[dis-happy]

They're a hub airline for us, we fly them regularly, and never have had any problems (at least, no problems that weren't satisfactorily handled).

 

[pansmermaidzlagoon]

my DH travels often for work and he has had no major problems with USAir. We also use them for personal travel. We use them 99% of the time.

We have been really happy with them. One time our seats did get moved and we were separated from our DD - I think she was 9 at the time and needed help with earplanes and bad pain in her ears. DH had no problem getting it fixed at the gate! Only one minor delay in over 18 years and never any lost/delayed luggage - knock on wood!!!!!

US Air has made a real effort in the past year or two to improve custom service - especially with the attendants - and it shows!!! My DH says he has seen a major improvement.

Food - probably not the best, but we don't set our expectations high for airline food anyway.

The only airline we have had problems with is Delta - won't use them again unless necessary.

I think you will be fine!

 

[Mkrop]

We hate USAir. They are the hub here in Philly.

Many examples of inadequate service.

Lugguage not checked through to make the connection. They only checked my lugguage to Las Vegas, not to Reno. First time I ever flew for work solo.

One time they sat my 18 month old by himself, refused to change it until I arrived at the airport despite numerous phone calls prior. Also would not change the return flight from Tampa until we got to the airport. So very stressful.

These were pre 9-11.

Then last June we decided to give them another chance as they were the only ones that flew direct into LAX. The flight attendants were super rude. They ran out of meals to buy on the flight. Luckliy we brought cereal for the kids from home, and bought milk in the terminal. DH and I were going to buy meals on the plane, they ran out. We were starving by the time we got to DL!!!!

Then on the return flight home, more rude flight attendants. Then they "lost" our lugguage for 2 hours after we landed. And it was not just our lugguage, practically the whole plane. Literally 10 people got lugguage, and the rest of us waited. If we were not so tired and frustrated it was almost comical to watch, this while crowd of people march to the USAir office back to lugguage carosuel, the back to the office then back to the luggage carousel. They were lucky people were as patient as they were that night, it had the potential to get real ugly.

 

[JenVi]

I will never fly US Air again. My husband and I were on our way to get married in Grand Cayman and had to connect in Charlotte. I was carrying my wedding dress and he was carrying his tux. We checked in an everything was fine we were one of the first few people to in line to board. I had both of our boarding passes and handed them to the lady and then she proceeded to tell me I only gave her one of them. I asked her to check her pile as there weren't that many people that had gone through. She refused to do it. This was after 9/11. I begged her to do and she was such a witch. I went back to the US Air counter and they wouldn't help me just told me I had to purchase another ticket. I am shaking and almost in tears but purchased the ticket. We finally got on the plane after holding it up and everyone was staring at us. I was so embarrassed. When we got home two weeks later I did have a refund check for the extra ticket I had purchased and a note that I was right the witch had the boarding pass the whole time but nothing more.

Never again.

Jen

 

[tinkerdorabelle]

We booked them for our upcoming trip in September, and now I'm reading absolutely horrible online reviews. Most are things like "the plane was old," "the plane was dirty," "the FAs were rude," "the food was bad," and some complain about things that aren't even an airline's fault such as "security lines were long," "the airport was pooly signed," or things that don't really matter to me "the movie was boring," but the ones that concern me are the ones saying the flights were overbooked, delayed, and their seat assignments were changed.

We booked 5 months ahead to be sure we got seats together. I would prefer to have the plane be clean, but I don't mind old (as long as it's in good working order!) and I don't need to have a FA kiss my anything, but I have no intention of being separated from my children on a 9 hour flight!

Of course I realize no one could steal my child at 30,000 feet, but I don't expect a stranger to let my kid sleep on his shoulder and/or keep her entertained. That would be my job. Plus with all the horrible reviews of the food, I was planning to bring our meals aboard. I wouldn't want to have to climb all over strangers to get food to my children whenever they get hungry.

I'm hoping these online reviews are mainly people venting who have had bad experiences, as I also found scathing reviews of Delta and American. To be honest, we've had our luggage lost by Delta, American, and Northwest and we've had a Very Bad Experience with Delta (once) BUT *most* of our Delta flights have been good experiences. No one's ever tried to change our assigned seats, though. Not on any airline. Is this the norm with US Airways? Or did the people posting those reviews just have a bad experience for some reason? What can I do to avoid this happening to us?

We did a trip last year flying into Daytona going to St. Augustine and then ending our vacation in Savannah and Hilton Head. We flew out of South Carolina for the first time on US Air to NY and it was dirty, old, and we didn't even have a TV, movie, etc. I hated that airline and it was not that cheap either.

 

[HsvTeacher]

I would rather walk to my destination than fly on USAir!

We had a horrible experience with them a few years ago, and we're done with them. We were flying from Hartford to Nashville and got stranded in Charlotte. Our flight was late getting in, and we missed our connecting flight because it left early.

We could've handled the missed flight, but they lost our dog! The idiots in luggage services would only tell us that they had "misplaced" him, there was nothing they could do, and that he would turn up eventually. Then they asked us to leave the office, and when we told them we wanted to stay, they threatened to have us arrested for trespassing. We told them they could call the police, because we weren't leaving.

Of course, they never called the police and our dog miraculously turned up shortly after that. That was the end of USAir for us!

 

[LukenDC]

I have flown USAirways for many years and I have had generally good service. They are my airline of choice for flights from Washington to Orlando since they have the best schedule. I am flying USAirways for my September Disney trip.

I have not been pleased with the service I have received from USAirways at their Philadelphia hub and I try to avoid flying through Philly.

 

[marthachick]

but I have no intention of being separated from my children on a 9 hour flight!

If you get separated, tell the person sitting next to your child that she usually gets airsick & you want to sit with her so you can help her if she does.

 

[tammymacb]

I would rather walk to my destination than fly on USAir!

We had a horrible experience with them a few years ago, and we're done with them. We were flying from Hartford to Nashville and got stranded in Charlotte. Our flight was late getting in, and we missed our connecting flight because it left early.

We could've handled the missed flight, but they lost our dog! The idiots in luggage services would only tell us that they had "misplaced" him, there was nothing they could do, and that he would turn up eventually. Then they asked us to leave the office, and when we told them we wanted to stay, they threatened to have us arrested for trespassing. We told them they could call the police, because we weren't leaving.

Of course, they never called the police and our dog miraculously turned up shortly after that. That was the end of USAir for us!

If USair lost my dog and then asked me to leave their office, I probably would have gone to jail.

 

[minniebeth]

I wish I could say something positive from our experiences with USAir, but honestly, I can't. We used to fly them almost exclusively (besides Southwest) but when we moved, Delta and Southwest became the airlines that fly the routes we use. I think the difference with USAir and other airlines is their attitude~ they really don't give a flying flip about their customers, even loyal ones and operate their company at every level like it. We avoid them at all costs if possible. FWIW, we feel similarly about Delta more and more but love Southwest.

 

[Micca]

Looks like one of the good things you can say about U.S. Air: The flight didn't crash and you'll live to tell about how much they suck.