Stupid @#$*ing US Air
 

OK, I know there is a war on and we are all supposed to pull together for the cause, but I gotta vent on this one.

One of my friends was coming up here to participate in a benefit with his old band (Tracy - he was in the Affordable Floors). This was on behalf of a photographer/musician here who died of cancer a few months ago - the benefit was mainly to raise $$ for his 8 year old daughter, as he couldn't get insurance.

Well, my friend goes to get on the plane, is there an hour plus early, and they would not let him on. The excuse was "there is a war and things are just different." There had been no notification in the local media (he's in New Orleans) or to the passengers as to how far ahead of time people should arrive at the airport other than "normal." He had no luggage other than his guitar and a carry-on. I'm sure he explained the reason for his flight, but obviously that made no difference. He's now going to have to eat the cost of his flight, rental car and hotel that he had reserved, which he can ill afford to do. What pisses me off most was that this wasn't a pleasure flight - it was a labor of love.

What is happening thousands of miles away does not excuse you screwing your customers over, especially those who are trying to do something positive in such a negative time. Bite my left tit, US Air.

That's so cool - I LOVED the Affordable Floors!!!

Gushing aside though, I wish I could say I'm surprised about US Air but I'm not. Since they pretty much have a lock on Pittsburgh International Airport, they've never felt the need to treat the customers coming and going from there with anything close to respect (or, in this case, common sense!)

He really, really should write and complain about this. To the CEO. That is just inexcusable; war or no.

And the airlines wonder why they're teetering on the edge of bankruptcy? :rolleyes:

I totally sympathize. Last weekened I flew Continental to Newark but when I got there from my orig. destination I couldn't get to my gate bc my boarding pass did not have a gate # on it. SO I missed my flight and hate to wait 4 hrs for another bc of their stupidity. UGH!

Letter writing works...I've done it and gotten free tickets!

Re: Stupid @#$*ing US Air
 

Ouch! Wouldn't kiss my ass, or eat dirt be less painful?

He has a very accomplished lawyer-friend who really does not like big corporations, so he is seriously considering suing their sorry butts. In this case, I think litigiousness is good.

Airlines suck.

I know they have no control over the federal rules, but then they don't do anything to help you out either if things don't go right. They need to step it up, or else they're going to be bankrupt too!

-M

Re: Re: Stupid @#$*ing US Air
 

Personally, I've always liked to tell people to "Go pound sand up your A.....

Well, you know.

I hear ya... most airlines do not have the foggiest concept of customer service these days. :mad:

A few weeks ago, I flew out to Hong Kong on Northwest (which I shall henceforth refer to as "Northworst"). The flight required a change of planes in Tokyo, although it was still the same flight number. We were delayed 2 hours in New York, but I figured "oh, they'll hold the plane in Tokyo because it's the same flight and the layover was 2 hours anyway." Right? WRONG! About 200 of us got stuck overnight in an awful hotel in Tokyo. We got dinner and breakfast buffets, but the stuff on the buffet was American food - yep, I flew 8000 miles to eat roast chicken. :rolleyes: And there were so few outside lines available to the hotel that it was 2 hours before I could call my husband. :mad: (Which is the hotel's fault, not the airline's, but still...)

The only good thing that came out of that experience was that I was rebooked on Cathay Pacific. Next time I go to Asia I'm flying Cathay Pacific. More leg room, individual monitors with a choice of movies, and they even got me a kosher meal on short notice :D ("We require 48 hours advance notice" my ass!)

I had a problem with Air France aka Air Chance a few years ago. They lost my luggage. They almost made me miss my connecting flight except I ran like Flo Jo to catch it. I say SUE the mothers!

aephi alum, you're right. Cathay is off the hook. If you also have the opportunity, Thai is pretty nice, too. :)

Please don't tell me anything bad about US Airways! I'm flying it tomorrow! :eek: But, that does suck. I've had horrible experiences with them in the past (ie, sitting next to a poodle from Philly to LA, and I'm allergic to dogs!), but they're inexpensive.

Airlines of American and the whole world suck and put themselves in the predicerment that they are in!!

Delta, screw Delta, from my experience with them I do hope they go banckrupt!

Hell, I flew every other week for five years and had strange things happen. But today we are all cattle to be herded into the pen!

I have a Cabin attendent who works for NWorst and thinks the same thing!

The airlines have more reasons to blame their problems than an old cur dog with fleas and ticks!:mad:

USAir was a merger of @ 3-4 airlines, the majors put all of the Cheap fare airlines out of business except Southwest who are the only ones making money today!!

I cry for the airlines who were making money when times were good! I do not cry for the same basturds who run their business just like all of the Governmentals agencys do today!

Screw the passengers and the taxpayers!!!

MY DAMN VENT!!!:mad:

Wow! I'm genuinely sorry to hear about your friend, 33girl!

I got an email from USAirways the other day, and again today, assuring frequent flyers that they are implenting a new policy that covers total refunds for tickets, due to the War. I would suggest that your friend checks out www.usairways.com and reads the statement on the "Peace of Mind" policy. I can't imagine that his situation wouldn't be covered by it.

As much as I try to use USAirways (I believe in supporting the local economy), it was that very statement that forced my decision to fly via USAirways next month, instead of another carrier.

honeychile

my first (and only...unless you count the return flight) time flying was with US Airways. it wasn't too bad, but I have nothing to compare it to, and I was just to happy to be seeing the person i flew to see to really care. i hope they pay your friend back for his flight.

OK,

the good old days when it was fun to fly:

First time my ex flew with me fro DC to KC, the plane got hit by lightening

Going to St. louis, ended up for conveince of passengers, wow DC!

Shuttle from Louisville to KC, the plane broke!

Omaha to KC, battry overheated and plane grounded.

Changed flights in NY to KC! Plane I put friend on via Chicago, got skyjacked.

Chicago to KC, plane left first!

Orlando to KC, had Delta going from two different terminals

Cinncinatie to KC, Delta Cancelled flights!

St. Louis to KC, luggage left, had to stay in St. Louis overnight.

Airlines are their own worst enemy!

The word of Gallagher:

"I went to the airport, and I told the girl at the counter: "I'm going to New York, and I want this suitcase to go to LA, and this suitcase to go to Miami" and she said "sir, we can't do that", and I said "you did it to me yesterday"".

I flew USAir this weekend. My flight to NYC was nice...WE GOT LUNCH! I was shocked! It's only a 30 minute flight too! But the landing was so shaky, I was so scared! My flight back was annoying (kid kicking my seat the whole way) and the landing was even worse!!!!!

I'm no fan of US Air myself, but ...

When you say he "got to the airport an hour early," do you mean "arrived at the building" or "got to his gate"? Because no airline starts boarding an hour before departure, so if he was actually at his gate that early, he wouldn't have been denied boarding.

If he just arrived at that airport that early, well, almost all airport and airline websites have been advising passengers to arrive TWO hours early - since Sept. 11, 2001, so it's not exactly new news. It can take a loooooong time to get through the counter line and security these days.

That said, I wouldn't advise flying any airline in bankruptcy ... they got there for a reason.

He was at the gate an hour early and WAS denied boarding. That's when they gave him this "there's a war on, things are different" crap.

Plus, as Tracy said, US Air pretty much owns things around here so unless you want endless connections and flights that are completely inconvenient to you, you really don't have a choice.

Hmmmm ... I hate to sound like a cynic, but the only way I could see that being possible was if the flight had been overbooked, and enough passengers had checked in before him to make it full. That being the case, though, he shouldn't be SOL for the next flight out (which is a dumb policy anyway).

FuzzieAlum, actually, international flights can start boarding an hour early - my flight to Hong Kong did. But I've never heard of a domestic flight boarding that early.

sigmagrrl, were you on the shuttle? I used to take the shuttle all the time. It's pretty nice - but these days, if I needed to get around the Northeast corridor and couldn't drive, I'd take Acela. It costs about the same, and with security being what it is, it takes about the same amount of time.

Yeah, sorry, I assumed it was clear that we were talking about domestic flights.

I don't mean to cast aspersions on 33 or her friend - being in the airline business, though, I figure I know what the worst going on is, and I'm always amazed when a company fails to meet my already low expectations.

I flew US Air for the first time in a while to Orlando, and as we were taxiing to the runway, the pilot introduced himself, told us about how long the flight would take, and at the end said, "Thank you for choosing US Airways. In case you didn't know, we could really use your money."