Not sure if I would fly US air again

[mickeyinjune]

we left on Aug. 11 from Detroit with no problem, got into charlotte NC early, had an hour lay over whcih turned into 2 and a half because of maintence on the plane. Coming home was terrible. we got the the airport about 9:30 flight was to leave at 11:06, in Orlando the US air check in is with Midwest, the line was out the door!! we checked our baggage with the guys out side because the line was short. got to our flight by 10:30 we were waiting for the to board us then they switched gates to board when we went to that gate they posted the flight would be delayed an hour. at 12:00 they still were not boarding but told us it would be a few more minutes, next thing we see the pliots coming on board then they let us board. It was 12:30 by the time we left. The pliot announced that the airlines was short on pliots and they just were called at 5:00am to fly in from Pittsburgh. They had to do alot of flight switching for people who were catching conncting flights, our connecting flight did not leave until 2:45 so we had 45 minutes to get to our flight, whcih ended up being delayed an additional half hour. we finally got back to Detroit by 5:30pm.

My husband said the next time pay the extra money for a direct flight.

 

[Beanie]

Sorry you had bad flights...I hate it when a plane is delayed...LOL...but even direct flights are delayed as well...When we left this last time, our plane was supposed to leave at 8:45 am and it didn't leave until 10:45 am...because one of the radios wouldn't work and they had to wait for a repair guy to come fix it and then he said he couldn't, so they had to get us all off the plane (after we had been sitting there for an hour and a half) and go back to the gate waiting area...then we had to wait another 1/2 hour for a plane to come and get us again! It was horrible, especially with a 2 and 4 year old who were really good, but getting a little antsy by that point! LOL

I hope your next flight is much better!!

 

[Beverly Lynn]

Usair has their own check in in the MCO airport.they do not share it with anyone. they are the last ones down at the end and there is also northworst right after them. Midwest is up in the next section after united. all carriers have delays and not sure of your particular situation so I can't comment on that. if you want to be able to go without the hassle of a connection then you want a non stop flight because a direct still makes a stop along the way you just don't change planes. Switching gates is not actually the agents its operations that makes that switch. sometimes it has to be done due to a jetway not working or another aircraft is still at that gate and they can't move that plane or they are switching your aircraft altogether. they don't just do it to make passengers mad. there is always a reason for it happening.

 

[helenk]

I have flown USair for my last two trips to WDW and have not had a problem, we have always left on time and arrived when we were suppose to.
I leave from PHL, but I usually pay the extra for a direct flight, I like getting there in 2 hours and getting to the Magic Kingdom. We are flying with them again for our trip in November. I think that every airline has problems periodically, sometimes things just can't be foreseen

 

[denisenh]

Oh my, mickeyinjune, I can see why you are upset. We are taking our first non N/S flight in
November, but on SWA. I hope all goes well.
Beverlylynn, you cwack me up. I know that you aren't a great fan of NWA but seeing your serious reply with "Northworst" stuck in it is so funny to read! I needed a good laugh....

 

[DisneyKidds]

Sorry you had the delays and aggrevation. However, it sounds like a fairly typical day at the airport flying with any airline. Some days things go smoothly and flights leave on time - some days they don't. What happened could happen on just about any airline. I have only flown US air a couple of times. Didn't find them to be much worse than Delta which I fly frequently.

As for direct flights - while they can be delayed as well - they are the way to go if you can work it out. However, we have done the connecting flight thing often to save some bucks or use a more convenient airport. It's all a crap shoot. Hope you have better flights next time.

 

[apagano]

One thing I have learned in my years of flying is that those kinds of problems can happen with any airline. I have flown Delta, Continental, US Airways, American, Southwest, United and Air Canada. I have had both good and bad experiences with every single one of those airlines.

Second, you don't always have to pay extra for direct flights. In some cases flying direct can actually be cheaper than connecting. You have to monitor the fares over a period of time before you book. During big fare sales, non-stop flights will often match, if not beat, connecting flights. The only time you should have to pay extra for direct flights is from certain airports where one airline holds a virtual monopoly on flights (like St. Louis where TWA runs 90% of the traffic), or from smaller airports which might only run one direct flight per day.

 

[SleepyatDVC]

Beverly,

My dh agrees with you on Northworst!! We just flew on NWA to Lansing, MI via Detroit from NYC. Our flight from LGA left the gate on time but waited on the tarmac for almost 2 hours waiting for clearance for takeoff. At first it was because of air traffic at LGA then it was because of weather in the mid-west. At least they turned up the a/c in the cabin for us since we were still in the middle of a heat wave. Probably because of the a/c use, we became low on fuel and had to go back to the gate to re-fuel before take-off!!! We finally got off the ground about 2 1/2 hours after our scheduled departure.

To be honest, I'm real glad that they had the decency to turn up the a/c in the cabin during the delay even though we had to re-fuel. I'd rather wait 2 hours in (relative) comfort than 30 minutes in a stuffy and hot cabin!! Remember we were having a heat wave! Believe me I've been in cabin w/o a/c because the pilot wanted to conserve fuel (I guess). 15 minutes seem like 1 hour esp., when the baby is fussing from discomfort!

Anyway, because of the delay, we missed our connecting (jet) flight from Detroit to Lansing. The next flight (prop) to Lansing had 12 people waitlisted on it (we were a party of 5 which included 2 small children), so our chances of getting on were slim. In addition, because of the weather in Lansing the flight was delayed for an undetermined time and they weren't even sure if it would take off at all. Our relatives drove to Detroit (90 miles) that night to pick us up - we asked for our luggage to be sent to the house the next day, the NWA reps (mgr) in Detroit couldn't care less and said no, we needed to pick it up ourselves from the Lansing airport. We called NWA at the LAN airport the next morning, yep the luggage didn't arrive until that morning so the flight last night was cancelled. These reps were much nicer and had our luggage delivered by early afternoon.

Coming back our LAN-DTW flight was perfect, but our DTW-LGA flight was delayed 1 1/2 hours due to mechanical problems. It wasn't as bad 'cause we weren't stuck on the plane during the delay. Also, James Earl Jones was on our flight (1st class, of course)! He was seated less than 10 ft away from us in the waiting area. He was very gracious to all the people who approached him. (I don't like to bother people who obviously wanted some time alone - he was reading a book) We also had to pass him in the 1st class cabin on our way back to coach. My husband told me that he posed for photos with a lot of people at the baggage claim area (I went out to the car with the kids and carry-ons).

Oh, and I also saw the actor that played Thorn (?) on The Bold & The Beautiful (from my soap watching college days - 10 years ago) seated in coach when we were boarding the plane. Of course, I was the only one in my family that recognized him. I got a kick out of the fact that he was reading TV guide and People magazine - probably gets a tax deduction on those subscriptions since they're work related! lol!

Anyway, my dh refuses to fly Northworst again. I bought the tickets orginally because it was really discounted and we wanted to fly through Detroit (which came in handy).

Well, time to unpack, do laundry, catch up on work, and get ready to go to WDW next month! Yeah!

 

[Beverly Lynn]

if you take a direct flight then you are subject to the same delays as a connecting flight. if you want one that goes from point a to point b then you want a NON-STOP> there is a difference. sorry but its a big pet peeve when people refer to a non stop as a direct flight. a direct flight makes one or more stops along the way but no change of planes is involved.

all the carriers have nicknames:
Uselessair
northworst
Continanal
DELTA(don't ever leave the airport)
Amazing airlines(amazing they get off the ground)

 

[travelcoupons]

Originally posted by SleepyatDVC
Beverly,

Probably because of the a/c use, we became low on fuel and had to go back to the gate to re-fuel before take-off!!!

At least they refueled while you were still on the ground...kinda a bad situation if they ran out in the air!!!

To be honest, I'm real glad that they had the decency to turn up the a/c in the cabin during the delay even though we had to re-fuel. I'd rather wait 2 hours in (relative) comfort than 30 minutes in a stuffy and hot cabin!! Remember we were having a heat wave! Believe me I've been in cabin w/o a/c because the pilot wanted to conserve fuel (I guess). 15 minutes seem like 1 hour esp., when the baby is fussing from discomfort!

Airlines tell their pilots to use the a/c as little as possible on the ground. Every minute that it is running costs the airlines money. It is estimated that on a medium sized plane, the airlines save $60,000 per year in fuel costs by doing this. So you can give your NWA pilots a big thumbs up. I've sat on a Delta plane in Atlanta in July for over an hour with 150 others with no a/c. Not fun.

One more name:
US Scareways

 

[Ms. Diz]

Sorry you had so many problems. Maybe next time you could book a direct flight so there are fewer chances of connection problems. Good luck!

 

[mickeyinjune]

Thanks everyone for your responses, now that I sit back and think about it I guess it could of been a lot worse. I probably won't have minded so much if they would of informed us sooner instead of leaving us guessing and waiting. One of the kids got air sick to on the way there which did not help either, his parents got him these air plugs and he had no problem on the way home.