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US Airways "flight certificate" scam
"singlemalt" wrote in message
m... Sorry 'bout your problem, but it's a shame you don't read the papers. http://www.eturbonews.com/2588/us-ai...mer-satisfacti http://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/s...l?ana=from_rss http://us-airways.****edconsumer.com...212112970.html Reviews; http://www.airlinequality.com/Forum/us_air.htm |
#2
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US Airways "flight certificate" scam
Here's the deal. In Phoenix they asked for volunteers to take a "bump" on
the flight to Austin. Having done so many times on AA I volunteered. They offered a "flight certificate" good for any round trip flight in the USA. That's what they told me. Now, I have tried to use it 3-4 times going to various cities at various times. I tried to go out as far as May to schedule a flight from Austin to Chicago and no spaces are available for use with this so called "flight certificate" Basically, what I got was a frequent flyer miles award worth 25,000 miles. I was told that I could use it toward buying a ticket and its value would $200. This thing is practically worthless. And also it has an expiration date on it so it will probably expire due to inability to get a ticket. I was advised to call customer relations, but they have such call volume that they will not put you on hold to talk to an agent but rather tell to go to the internet. This is a scam and I think it is outrageous that they would treat passengers like that because they know people are going to talk like I am. I am not even sure if it is legal. Just beware of taking a bump with them. |
#3
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US Airways "flight certificate" scam
singlemalt wrote:
Here's the deal. In Phoenix they asked for volunteers to take a "bump" on the flight to Austin. Having done so many times on AA I volunteered. They offered a "flight certificate" good for any round trip flight in the USA. That's what they told me. Now, I have tried to use it 3-4 times going to various cities at various times. I tried to go out as far as May to schedule a flight from Austin to Chicago and no spaces are available for use with this so called "flight certificate" Basically, what I got was a frequent flyer miles award worth 25,000 miles. I was told that I could use it toward buying a ticket and its value would $200. This thing is practically worthless. I am a bit confused. If it really is worth the same as a 25K roundtrip FF award, then there is plenty of availability from Austin to ORD. http://www.usairways.com/awa/booking...ilability.aspx It looks like there are no dates for May, possibly because they will be loaded later. A good part of October has 12500 one way awards. The latest 12500 award to ORD is Jan 27. The latest return is Feb 7. I assume they will add more dates later. 25K round trips are limited on many carriers. From looking at paid fares, it looks like there are only non-stops on US are UA codeshares, so it looks like you are fighting for awards on AUS-CLT AND CLT-ORD, which reduces your chances. I like AA's set up as they give $$ vouchers when you volunteer your seat. I once got $800 plus hotel, meals, and a business class upgrade from BRU-ORD-SJC when I gave up my BRU-ORD coach seat. This was a good thing. It was a work trip and my return was delayed, so the I had no seat assignment on the flight I gave up my seat on. I was worrying about getting a middle seat. The flight was delayed for a mechanical and was scheduled to be at least 6 1/2 hours late. So, when the request was made for volunteers, it didn't take long for me to do the math. This Monday probably has a good chance for oversold situations. Just don't offer to do this on DL. |
#4
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US Airways "flight certificate" scam
singlemalt wrote:
Here's the deal. In Phoenix they asked for volunteers to take a "bump" on the flight to Austin. Having done so many times on AA I volunteered. The problem is that people are volunteering. If you're involuntarily bumped the payoffs are much higher now, and they're in cash, not vouchers. If so many people would stop volunteering, the overall net result would be much better, as there would be a big incentive for the airlines to reduce over-booking, and when it did happen the passengers would get real compensation. If the airline arranges substitute transportation that is scheduled to arrive at your destination between one and two hours after your original arrival time (between one and four hours on international flights), the airline must pay you an amount equal to your one-way fare to your final destination, with a $400 maximum, and they still have to fly you to your destination or refund your money. If the substitute transportation is scheduled to get you to your destination more than two hours later (four hours internationally), or if the airline does not make any substitute travel arrangements for you, the compensation doubles (200% of your fare, $800 maximum), and they still have to fly you to your destination or refund your money. Apparently these rule are only if you are bumped from a flight that is actually still operating. If they cancel your flight completely, even when it's for reasons under their control (not weather), there is no payoff, and in fact you'll likely lose money. I.e., JetBlue routinely cancels flights, and simply refunds the cost of any remaining segments. This strands the passenger, leaving them to purchase full-fare, no-advance-purchase, tickets on another airline. JetBlue can't rebook a whole plane load of passengers on a later flight, or a flight the next day because there is no room on those flights, and they have so few flights on each route to begin with. |
#5
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US Airways "flight certificate" scam
"singlemalt" wrote in message m... Here's the deal. In Phoenix they asked for volunteers to take a "bump" on the flight to Austin. Having done so many times on AA I volunteered. They offered a "flight certificate" good for any round trip flight in the USA. That's what they told me. Now, I have tried to use it 3-4 times going to various cities at various times. I tried to go out as far as May to schedule a flight from Austin to Chicago and no spaces are available for use with this so called "flight certificate" Basically, what I got was a frequent flyer miles award worth 25,000 miles. I was told that I could use it toward buying a ticket and its value would $200. This thing is practically worthless. And also it has an expiration date on it so it will probably expire due to inability to get a ticket. I was advised to call customer relations, but they have such call volume that they will not put you on hold to talk to an agent but rather tell to go to the internet. This is a scam and I think it is outrageous that they would treat passengers like that because they know people are going to talk like I am. I am not even sure if it is legal. Just beware of taking a bump with them. What did you expect from US Airways? They have become arguably the worst airline in the United States, and continually show a total disregard for even the most rudimentary customer service standards. |
#6
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US Airways "flight certificate" scam
Yes this happened to me........basically to cut costs they are making
good on the fine print that the offer may be modified at any time and subject to change without notice. ---- http://www.moviesitearchive.com/travel On Aug 28, 6:42*pm, "singlemalt" wrote: Here's the deal. In Phoenix they asked for volunteers to take a "bump" on the flight to Austin. Having done so many times on AA I volunteered. They offered a "flight certificate" good for any round trip flight in the USA. That's what they told me. Now, I have tried to use it 3-4 times going to various cities at various times. I tried to go out as far as May to schedule a flight from Austin to Chicago and no spaces are available for use with this so called "flight certificate" Basically, what I got was a frequent flyer miles award worth 25,000 miles. I was told that I could use it toward buying a ticket and its value would $200. This thing is practically worthless. And also it has an expiration date on it so it will probably expire due to inability to get a ticket. I *was advised to call customer relations, but they have such call volume that they will not put you on hold to talk to an agent but rather tell to go to the internet. This is a scam and I think it is outrageous that they would treat passengers like that because they know people are going to talk like I am. I am not even sure if it is legal. Just beware of taking a bump with them. |
#7
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US Airways "flight certificate" scam
SMS wrote:
singlemalt wrote: Here's the deal. In Phoenix they asked for volunteers to take a "bump" on the flight to Austin. Having done so many times on AA I volunteered. The problem is that people are volunteering. If you're involuntarily bumped the payoffs are much higher now, and they're in cash, not vouchers. If so many people would stop volunteering, the overall net result would be much better, as there would be a big incentive for the airlines to reduce over-booking, and when it did happen the passengers would get real compensation. If that happeend, airlines would need to cut back on overbooking. Of course, this would mean more empty seats, which wouldn't be profitable. If the number of airlines decreases because of failure to make a profit, what do you think that will do to air fares? |
#8
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US Airways "flight certificate" scam
FYI, earlier this summer I exchanged a US bump certificate for an
ITH-LGA round trip that would have cost close to $700 if I had to pay for it. I think that you'll have better luck at a ticket counter than over the phone, particularly if the ticket counter isn't too busy and you smile at them. I figured they'd give me $200 credit and ask for the other $500, so I was pleasantly surprised when they said OK, here's your ticket receipt. R's, John |
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