USAir - Vent!!!

[Amy]

For our trip next month, I made our flight reservations back in January - leave Pittsburgh at 7:30 am, into MCO at 9:38, after checking in and leaving out bags, in the parks by 12:00/12:30. Perfect! Checked on our flights again toward the end of March, the times had changed by only a minute or two, no big deal.

Heard on the news this morning that USAir was cutting a bunch of flights in July (we're going in JUNE), so I figured I'd just check our flights. OUR FLIGHT DOES NOT EVEN LEAVE PITTSBURGH UNTIL 9:45!!!!!! That's LATER than we would have ARRIVED in Orlando under the old schedule! I called to see what was going on, esp. since it's the same flight no. but a 2-hour difference. USAir used to have 3 non-stops PIT-MCO, now they only have 2 - the one we're now on and one later in the afternoon. Sure, we can take another flight and go thru Charlotte, but even leaving Pittsburgh earlier, we won't get to WDW any earlier.

USAir just robbed us of 2 hours of fun in WDW!!

I know, in the overall scheme of things, it won't really matter. We'll get an extra 2 hours of sleep so maybe we can stay in the parks later. And since we won't get to the WL until 1:30/2:00, maybe our room will be ready and we won't have to leave our stuff with the bellman.

But I'm still angry! They never even notified us! If I hadn't checked online today, I wouldn't have known! The customer service rep I spoke with said they call people in order of departure, so I guess since our flight is 3 weeks off, they haven't gotten to us yet. Grrrrrr.......

 

[I'mNoPrince]

That stinks .

We try to stick with SW just because of these type things . Most complain they don't release their dates soon enough , but the plus side is very seldom do they change any flights once posted.

We get in in June around 10:30 from a 830 flight but the 6:35 flight went on sale and I was going to just change it but didn't. DW is not the best flight person and that early would just add to our missery.

 

[Anthony1971]

This is normal for all major carriers that book that far in adavnce I have NEVER had a flight not change when I book 6-12 months out my flight was also cancelled and we were moved up by an hour and some minutes leaving and back an hour on our return flight and being we are not flying for a few more months it WILL change again as it has for our past 3 trips...and there is always a delay in one direction If you fly the discount airlines you will not only not have to deal with delays and flight changes the flight time probably will not change or at least none of this when we used them and from what I understand SW is or will be assigning seats I never flew them but may try if this is true

 

[Amy]

Unfortunately, DH flies USAir a lot for work, so he wants to keep building up those frequent flyer miles. Redeeming the miles is almost next to impossible, but our last trip in 2005 we managed to get 3 free tickets.

Southwest is starting to make its presence known here in Pittsburgh lately, so we'll probably be switching to them. But I'm such a planner, I don't know how I'll be able to wait for Southwest to release their flight info!

 

[beccasmom]

USAir is doing a lot of that here in Philly too. Our return flight was changed and the only way I knew was when I called to make ME reservations - their agent told me! We fly USAir a lot because they offer a lot of non-stops flights, but their customer service has really declined in the past few years. SWA has them beat in that area, that is for certain. I just have to convince the rest of my gang that SWA is the better bet. They hate not having assigned seats.....I think it is a small price to pay; for us, anyway.

 

[DebbieB]

You think missing 2 hours of fun is bad, you should see what I'm going through with USAir's changes in Pittsburgh. I fly almost every week for business and at least half of my trips are now connections, used to be non-stop. Most of the non-stop ones are now small planes. To get out to the west coast, if I want a daytime flight I have to connect in CLT or PHX (I don't go near PHL, evil airport). Last month I had to go to LA one week and SF the next, which meant a total of 8 flights, getting home past midnight. 10,000 people in the area have lost jobs due to the loss of the hub. I partly blame our politicians. They had the opportunity to save the hub by cutting fees but they thought they would get other airlines in to replace USAir so they refused. Some have come in but nowhere near the flights we had before. I heard Jet Blue is very close to leaving, AirTran is down to 1 flight a day to Orlando with bad times.

For travel to Orlando, I use Southwest. Hopefully we can hold onto them.

 

[4eyedbuzzard]

(I don't go near PHL, evil airport).

The worst airport with the worst TSA staff.

 

[nbodyhome]

The worst airport with the worst TSA staff.

I AGREE!!!! I just flew through there from Paris, never again! The TSA staff was rude, barking orders - hey, welcome to the US.

Never, never, never. I will never go through Philadelphia again. I'll just use Virgin or British Airways from Orlando next time straight to/from Orlando again. They had a really rude flight attendant on the flight back from Paris too - I've never had a problem on a British carrier.

 

[pyrxtc]

I just foudn tou that if the airline changes your flight and you dn't agree to the time or terms, then you can ask for a refund in ful. When you buy your airfare, you basically signa contract with them saying that you agree to times and such. the reason most airlines need you to call to have your seat re-assigned is cuz then you are agreeing then again to their contract for the new times. Instead, you can call and ask for a refund. I wish I ahd known it when they changed my non-stop Song flight to a crappy switch planes Delta flight. I would ahve gotten my money back and bought through SW. Now I am only booking with SW. Or I'm gonna try to get the deals there anyways.

 

[CaliforniaDreaming]

USAirways has gotten pretty bad. I won't fly them anymore - between their constant schedule changes, miserable employees, and dirty airplanes, it's just not worth it.

 

[beccasmom]

I just read this in our local paper today. We have family in Pittsburgh and they've gotten a raw deal from USairways......

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/business/20070518_Business_news_in_brief.html

US Airways eliminating more flights from Pittsburgh
US Airways will stop direct flights to five of the 53 cities it serves from Pittsburgh International Airport and also plans to reduce service to 10 other cities, including Philadelphia. Starting in July, the Tempe, Ariz., airline will eliminate nonstop service between Pittsburgh and Altoona, Pa.; Baltimore; San Diego; Seattle; and Buffalo. The cuts leave US Airways with direct service between Pittsburgh and only two West Coast cities - Los Angeles and San Francisco. Flights to those cities will increase to twice daily from June to September. The changes will leave Pittsburgh with 127 daily flights from its largest carrier. Since late 2001, US Airways has eliminated 415 flights from the airport. US Airways carries about 60 percent of the traffic at Philadelphia International Airport.- AP

 

[Pirate at Heart]

Hey,

US Air STINKS!

I booked them for a fight to Atlanta. I needed to change the dates, I paid DOUBLE for the ticket PLUS $100.00 fee for changing!!!

I told CS I would eat it this time because I had no choice but, I fly often and will NEVER fly with them again. I mean, come on $100.00 for changing the fight??? and the ticket was twice as much, I got totally ripped off!!


So sorry you've lost DISNEY time. Have a wonderful trip any way!

 

[dfularz]

AMY, we TOO had our flight changed from the 7:30 to 9:45 time out of Pitt, and I am just as mad. They also changed our time home, from 5:45 to 2:45 now! So we have really lost almost 2 days! I think I may check into getting a refund to see if we can get a better time from another airline, but there are 6 of us and I know that I need nonstop, with a 6 year old, and myself who really doesn't like flying in the first place.

 

[Lewisc]

The terms are contained in the airlines Contract of Carriage (CoC). Generally all the airline is agreeing to do is to transport you from city A to city B on a particular date. Some airlines guarantee you a refund if the change in time is signficant enough, some airlines specify 2 hours and some 4. A few of the smaller airlines are only required to offer passengers a refund if the day of travel changes.


Some airlines will issue a refund, even if not required, rather then deal with unhappy passengers.

I just foudn tou that if the airline changes your flight and you dn't agree to the time or terms, then you can ask for a refund in ful. When you buy your airfare, you basically signa contract with them saying that you agree to times and such. the reason most airlines need you to call to have your seat re-assigned is cuz then you are agreeing then again to their contract for the new times. Instead, you can call and ask for a refund. I wish I ahd known it when they changed my non-stop Song flight to a crappy switch planes Delta flight. I would ahve gotten my money back and bought through SW. Now I am only booking with SW. Or I'm gonna try to get the deals there anyways.

 

[septbaby]

Looks like SWA has $59 fares...