USair.....horrible!

[hsmamato2]

I had to assist a family member this week who had a ticket thru Priceline on a multi-leg trip- 1st leg was American air,last 3 legs on USair....(NOT something I would have bought,but I had to help him with what he had)
b/c of the storm alerts in the NE...we called to adjust flight times to beat it....American air was great...US was unbelievable! It took literally 2 hours on the phone to multiple people in India ...a very noisy call center... US insisted they couldn't switch us till we switched the 1st leg with AA..so we did. Two hours later,US still insisted we hadn't done so..and refused to help us-
Finally,after all that time,and at least 10-15 calls to both companies,the rep. from AA actually called the US rep and confirmed that we needed the change! WTH!?!?!?!?
I have only ever dealt with SWA ,Jetblue,or Airtran,and when I needed help over the years...it was a quick and easy process!
I wouldn't fly USAIR if I won a contest......

 

[kaytieeldr]

More to the point, I wouldn't book my air with Priceline, or any online travel site. I'd go directly through the airlines. If this was a codeshare - which it doesn't sound like - the airline would do all the work for the rebooking.

I'm not saying you wouldn't have had the same problem if the entire itinerary had been booked directly through US Airways.

 

[safetymom]

I agree. Why expect first class service when you bought the ticket through Priceline? If there was a problem with the weather you weren't the only one trying to make changes to a ticket. US is in the process of bringing their customer service reps back to the US.

 

[pilotwife_02]

I agree with PP. Plus you were calling an airline (US Airways) who has hubs in Philly and in NC, EXACTLY where these storms hit. There were so many cancellations and so many people trying to get through that I'm surprised you got through to someone in 2 hours. Last month when my business trip to Boston on Delta got canceled their recorded message said because of the weather they weren't answering phones at ALL and then they hung up on me. I had to wait 6 hours just to get past that recording and hangup.

My co-workers (and DH) were stuck in Philly all day Wednesday b/c of the weather cancellations and yesterday weren't rebooked until the last flight of the night. It was not pretty.

 

[WDWisTheBest]

I agree. Why expect first class service when you bought the ticket through Priceline? If there was a problem with the weather you weren't the only one trying to make changes to a ticket. US is in the process of bringing their customer service reps back to the US.

It is good to hear that the airline is in the process of bringing their customer service back to the United States. We need the jobs here.

 

[keishashadow]

It is good to hear that the airline is in the process of bringing their customer service back to the United States. We need the jobs here.

USAir has crippled PIT by pulling out so many employees moving hub despite being granted many concessions. Now, another big round of terminations is coming here. It's a shame, we know many people affected.

 

[Brian Noble]

IMO, there are only two ways to buy an airline ticket. 1: directly from the airline. 2: from a full service travel agent. Going through anyone else can save you a few bucks, but usually won't. And, if anything goes wrong, you're on your own.

I read recently that folks are starting to use fee-for-service travel agents specifically for this reason---the TA handles all of their rebooking/re-routing. If you travel frequently, the marginal extra cost may be worth it.

 

[hsmamato2]

well,as I mentioned....I didn't buy that ticket,I personally hate Priceline airline deals...and would NEVER have bought it. After this experience,I wouldn't buy USair direct either .I had a nephew who needed my help after the fact,get it?
here's why. I caught the advisory literally as it was posted. Having had to do this before,I understand completely how it gets in this season. So I called instantly. The problem wasn't the storms,or the volume of people. It was USair itself,and how their customer service deals with helping.
I spoke to at least 6-7 different reps from India. some of them understood english better than others. That becomes a problem,as I ONLY understand english.KWIM?
AA handled it efficiently and professionally. USAIR simply did not.
THAT is why I wouldn't use this airline again.
No matter how clearly (and always politely) I stated my issue, the answer remained the same,scripted nonsense.
it made no sense. Even after Neph. left for traveling,the USAIR website didn't show the real info. It never updated,and we had to make 2 more calls- one to AA where they reassured us that EVERYTHING showed on their records correctly- (all parts of flights) and USAIR,who up to the last minute said" well, we switched your flights with us,but the other legs of travel,just not showing up. WTH?
So again,not a newbie,not even a complainer, but this was well beyond bad service.2 hours on the phone,not waiting, but trying to get across what was needed.
I really think it was due to the language problem, when one party doesn't really understand what the other party needs,the 'script' usually doesn't cover that.
Or perhaps USair has a policy of not helping,even tho an advisory makes it necessary.
I don't know. I like Jetblue and SWA,airtran has also always worked well and efficiently. Seems like AA has good service too,from this experience.
I realize it's just my opinion,but I posted it in case someone else could potentially avoid unnecessary problems with traveling. I'd pay more $ to avoid such problems. And I will in the future!

 

[hsmamato2]

IMO, there are only two ways to buy an airline ticket. 1: directly from the airline. 2: from a full service travel agent. Going through anyone else can save you a few bucks, but usually won't. And, if anything goes wrong, you're on your own.

I agree!!!

 

[hsmamato2]

I agree. Why expect first class service when you bought the ticket through Priceline? If there was a problem with the weather you weren't the only one trying to make changes to a ticket. US is in the process of bringing their customer service reps back to the US.

glad to hear that....and I wasn't expecting 1st class anything.
When I knew we had weather problems, I inwardly sighed,knowing this wasn;t going to be simple due his ticket that he ALREADY had.
I expected decent service,not 1st class. AA went above that,and it was 1st class. USair,no.
And like I said,I've done this before,we always travel in winter.I'm not fussing about getting the wrong snack.....

 

[hsmamato2]

There were so many cancellations and so many people trying to get through that I'm surprised you got through to someone in 2 hours.

You misunderstood me.....I didn't wait for 2 hours,I was TALKING for 2 hours. (or DN was....)We called as soon as it posted,we were waiting for it. Understood, it was going to be busy,and it was,as we made arrangements, the flights were still unbooked that we switched to. By later that evening,all the flights were solid booked. No surprise there.
the wait was never more than a minute or two. They weren't terribly busy at the time,just terrible customer service.

 

[pilotwife_02]

You misunderstood me.....I didn't wait for 2 hours,I was TALKING for 2 hours. (or DN was....)We called as soon as it posted,we were waiting for it. Understood, it was going to be busy,and it was,as we made arrangements, the flights were still unbooked that we switched to. By later that evening,all the flights were solid booked. No surprise there.
the wait was never more than a minute or two. They weren't terribly busy at the time,just terrible customer service.

You're right, I did misundertand you (well misread I guess), I need to stop "power reading"...LOL

DH works for a regional express airline and he has to fly US Air flights and even he said he HATES how bad their customer service his. As a pilot he has witnessed gate agents being rude to customers and rude to him telling him that things that are clearly within their job descriptions are not their job. So I understand your frustration.

 

[kaytieeldr]

well,as I mentioned....I didn't buy that ticket,I personally hate Priceline airline deals...and would NEVER have bought it. After this experience,I wouldn't buy USair direct either .I had a nephew who needed my help after the fact,get it?

Yes, we get it - but had your nephew purchased his ticket through either of the sources recommended by Brian Noble, above, this unusual itinerary likely wouldn't have happened. Booking through 'the airline' would have had him on a single airline or one airline and its codeshare partner/s, and calling just that airline would have resolved all problems; booking through a full service TA would have allowed him to have the Travel Agent take care of everything.

 

[hsmamato2]

I need to stop "power reading"...LOL

I do it all too often myself!

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

I have flown US Air 4 times (2 round trips) each flight was a total mess up.......and not things like weather...........flight changed time 3:15hours earlier the night before and no one was ever told, which caused us a over night motel and we had to pay for it. The airline said that since out flight was now 4 pm and although the time was changed over night , we still had time to check during the day. On the return flight ........lots of planes, no trained pilots..8 hours in the airport!, etc.etc..including missing luggage


I WILL WALK BEFORE I WOULD FLY US AIR!

AKK

 

[bookwormde]

US Air is a disastcustomer service disaster, is hopeless since if it does to fit into their rules they do nto empower their supervisors to handle things. My last straw was when they had a mechanical delay with my flight at the point of origon and since it was a bad weather day they classified it as a weaather delay so poeple could not cancel or change flights.

 

[uva185]

US Airways does not have any phone agents in India. Or is "India" your definition of any agent you speak to with an accent?

That said I would never book a Priceline trip. Too many problems can arise and if you don't know exactly what to ask for you can get screwed by untrained agents.

Once I had to have AA (which I personally would never fly) endorse a ticket over to United due to a mechanical delay which would cause an overnight misconnect. The AA rep insisted she endorsed the ticket correctly but I noticed there was no ticket number issued. I pointed this out and she said ticket numbers are not issued for endorsed tickets, which I knew was 100% wrong. Of course at the airport AA had to issue a paper endorsement certificate to correct the problem.

So unless you know what you're talki about it's just as easy for any agent, domestic or international to screw you if they are untrained.

 

[jsilvers]

no trained pilots

You're claiming that the US Airways pilots on your flights didn't have FAA licenses?

Sorry, I don't believe you.

 

[pilotwife_02]

You're claiming that the US Airways pilots on your flights didn't have FAA licenses?

Sorry, I don't believe you.

I was thinking the same thing. Every pilot goes through the same type of training at each airline. Perhaps the pilot wasn't a "good" pilot, but every pilot has to have training before they were allowed to fly.

Also, did PP ask to see their licenses in order to know they weren't trained?

 

[crashbb]

You're claiming that the US Airways pilots on your flights didn't have FAA licenses?

Sorry, I don't believe you.

It is possible that the PP meant that there were no available pilots, so, in spite of the fact that there were available airplanes, the flight couldn't take off. Not that the plane was flown by untrained pilots.

This did just happen to me (with West Jet - a Canadian airline) on my way home from Orlando. Although the plane arrived on time, we were delayed for 3 hours (ended up leaving after midnight and arriving home around 3am - NOT fun) because the flight crew had to rest. I never totally understood what happened, but it had something to do with a re-directed flight, leading to the wrong crew being on the plane that arrived in Orlando.

Or the PP could just be totally wrong (no way that US Airways actually used untrained pilots to fly the planes).