I have been loyal to Usairways for over 23 years and have overlooked much in that time. However, this is the absolute last straw.

Planning a family vacation I wanted to book reward flights. Knowing how fast these seats go, I diligently went in daily to see if my "flight" days were available. When I felt they would open in the next few days I called Dmiles to find out what time their systems refreshed so I could be first to book the reward seats. THe philippean call center could not comprehend my request, so I requested to be transferred to the states. The rep informed me to dial the number I just called, press 3 and ask to be transferred. I informed her, that's how I got her why couldn't she transfer me? her response? Call the number again, press three and maybe you'll get an American. Long story short after 5 people (and SEVERAL poor experiences), I got someone in the US a "supervisor". Who could have cared less about my question or concern.
My reward flights become available and I get up that day at 6am to book.
Three things happened: 1) The site wouldn't take my wife's name and had to book it under her maiden name (which causes an ID issue as her license doesn't have her maiden name) 2) It told me my account didn't have enough miles and I had to transfer them (at the cost of 50.00) even though there were sufficient miles there. 3) We have a dividend miles credit card and if we use it to pay the processing fee, we get a 5, 000 point deduction on the cost of the reward. It didn't make the deduction on one reward flight.


Upset sabout my poor experience, the issues with the website and that 23 years of loyalty meant nothing, I found a number for corporate to let them know of the poor service I received. I requested an executive and she told me she would transfer me to Customer Relations. I asked if that was a call center or an executive group: reply "yes". I get transferred to a voice mail. Furious that someone didn't pick up the phone, I get back to the operator and inform her she may have misunderstood, I asked for an executive, not a call center voice mail. She slammed me on hold, comes back and says "do you want transferred to that mailbox"? Resigned I say yes. I leave a scathing message that I expect a return call. In the interim, I find a direct number for the COE and call it, the number is not the COE any longer but Jason empathizes and tries to help. Unfortunately he has to route me to another number which puts me back into call center land. I hang up and prefer to take my changes with C. Relations.

Jennifer from C. Relations calls me back and asks how she can assist. I proceed with telling her in detail about my loyalty, the number of transfers the poor service, etc. Mid sentence she says "I know you have a lot of detail and I appreciate it, but what do you want?". I outline the following:
1) A new ticket with a corrected name
2) Refund of my 5, 000 miles that were taken and shouldn't have been.
3) Refund of the 50.00 that i had to pay to transfer and shouldn't have.
4) Compensation for my pain and suffering since no one seemed to care that I was loyal.
She indicated she'd call me back. Several days later she calls:
1) Reservations has corrected my wifes name. Fantastic!
2) 5, 000 miles were reapplied to my account. Fantastic!
3) Unfortunately, the 50.00 cannot be refunded since it was a 3rd party website, but we'll issue a 50.00 voucher for future travel. Ok, no problem!
4) Under our policy the issues you have experience are not compensatable as they were not USAIRWAYS fault. however, I'm willing to giv eyou upto 100.00 off a future flight.

UM, if they weren't your fault that your system asked but wouldn't accept he correct name, took too many miles from my account AND told me I didn't have enough, when I did. Whose fault is it mine?

Her response: No, I'm not saying that at all. You wouldn't have known that your wife's name in our system was incorrect. I respond and say, this was Usairways fault. After her trying to interrupt me several times. I finally ask for a supervisor. I had to ask 3 times for a supervisor to be told: they will tell you the same thing I told you. This is not a compensatable situation, we did nothing wrong! I'm told either SHE or a supervisor will call me back within 5-10 days but I'll get the same response. Then proceeds to say. You have been nothing but condescending since you picked up the phone. Maybe had you been a little nicer, we would have helped you faster. Stunned my response, was if any of my employees every spoke to a customer in the manner that you have, they would be fired on the spot. UM if you're corporate customer relations, shouldn't you be trained to address irrate customers? Geesh.

During the 5-10 day period, I calm myself a tad: 1) After vowing never to fly them again (after my reward flight) 2) Vowing that all 10 of us flying would wear t-shirts on that flight saying "I hate usairways" and 3) Taking an add out of the Phoenix paper where doug parker lives saying "DO not fly Usairways". I realize i've not gotten emails regarding the 50.00 voucher and the updated ticket. So I call D. miles back. yeah, you guessed in the philippines cannot comprehend my question. She tells me I should have gotten those at the airport. I tell her I haven't flown yet. DEAD SILENCE.Long story short, I get no where. So I wait 10 days, NO Supervisor call.
I politely leave a follow up voicemail that I was waiting on a sup call, but that I couldn't remember if it had been 10 days or not.

Score: I didn't get a sup, but got Elaine. She was fantastic. Listened to my situation, let me rant. Empathized, Sympathized. Everything that the Jennifer did NOT do. She even went above and beyond to outline what, when, why! At the end of the call, I told her she literally saved the company my business with how she approached the call. I told her all I wanted was someone to care.

I check email and get the updated ticket and a 100.00 voucher (which she threw in for my troubles) in my email. The 50.00 reimbursement wasn't there. I call and leave a voicemail again just stating there may have been some confusion.

Kendrix calls me back. Long story short, he tells me there's no record of the 50.00 I tell him there may have been confusion. He asks me to hold. Comes back and says: According to our guidelines we have made the situation whole and compensated you. Long story short, his attitude and response was: I should be grateful for what I got. Then tried to tell me that they "gave" me 5, 000 miles. UM YOU TOOK THEM and shouldn't have. They gave me 50.00, UM your website said I didn't have enough miles, when I did and had to transfer. He responds with, you should have called D. Miles tech support. My response, was I tried, they couldn't comprehend English which started all this trouble. Finally, I was so angry again. (It wasn't about the $$, I just wanted to know if I had confused the situation but his attitude and stance that "usairways did nothing wrong" sent me over the edge. So I respond with, I just want you guys to give a Sh**t about the company and customer. I did for 23 years and didn't get paid for it. I then ask for a supervisor only to be told, they handle internal issues only. We're empowered to resolve all customer issues. SO Jennifer lied to me, which explains why I never got a call. She jsut figured I'd let it go. I finally went too far and told him that the next time USairways went into bancruptcy I hoped they failed and that they would NEVER get another dollar either professionally or personally from me again. His response: why would you want a company you fly to fail. My response, was I've lost nothing if the company fails, their reward tickets. I'll GLADY pay a competitor full fare if that happens. I'll happliy address the lack of customer service with Doug Parker. His response was, it'll customer filter down to us anyway. This reward flight will be my last on any UsAirways plane. Which is sad, because I was so loyal for so very long. I wish I had the technical savvy to A) post something on you tube to get their attention and B) the skill to create a "donotflyUsairways" website for all of that have had enough. Usairways your founding airlines (Allegheny, PSA, and piedmont) would be ashamed at what you've turned into. Hope the tens of thousands of professional and personal dollars I've pumped into your company aren't missed too sorely over the next 30 years.

How can an airline like US Airways treat people with no compassion and still get passengers in this day and age of competition? we recently booked 3 return tickets to Florida from Manchester In the united Kingdom as we where having a family get together with people from New Zealand, Unfortunately we got a phone call that the son off the family in New Zealand who was 12 years old had been rushed into hospital and sadly died, we immediately flew from the UK to NZ to be with them (it was my wife’s sisters son) he had had a brain bleed and died almost instantly.

On returning to the UK I contacted US Airways to say we would have to cancel our flights as there would be no family get together under the circumstances, there response was basically sorry for the loss but you have non refundable tickets so you loose £1800 and thank you for using US Airways.

I sent several emails asking them to use some compassion but the last email said it all here it is in full.

Dear Mr. Edwards:

Even though we understand your frustration, when you purchased your ticket, you agreed to the terms and conditions of a non-refundable ticket. We are not able to go beyond those perimeters of a non-refundable ticket, and therefore will close the file.

Sincerely,
Judy Ellefson.
US Airways Customer Relations
Corporate Office

Now even though you should read the terms and conditions most don’t as I didn’t but surely some compassion must come into play?

I will never use US Airways again and as the family concerned have had a full refund from New Zealand Airways feel US Airways are just exploiting the situation.

Yours Faithfully

My husband, 9 month old, and I were flying to see my in-laws in State College, PA. We have to stop in Philadelphia on the way to and from using US Air. Philadelphia always has you coming or leaving late or both, but normally your next flight is also delayed. On our trip home, we landed in Philly 10 minutes after our flight to Jax boarded and it wasn't delayed. We found the only other flight out for the night was with Southwest and they don't accept US Air tickets. We went to US Air "customer service" and were told that the only thing they would do is get us out of Philly between 6:30 and 6:45 the next morning. When we asked what we were suppose to do about our baby only having enough food for the night, we were ignored. They didn't offer us a hotel or anything, so we had to pay $511 and change for Southwest tickets to get home the same evening and have enough food for our baby. We were told that since it was Air Traffic Control's fault, they aren't responsible for hotel vouchers or anything else, so I would have had to pay for a cab to get my child formula and a cab back to sleep in an airport...seriously, I haven't ever been treated so badly and with a baby!!! I wouldn't have cared as much had it just been my husband and I, but how was my child suppose to go without food for that long and we wouldn't have gotten home until 11:30 the next morning! Thanks US Air for confirming our hate for you and the fact that we'll drive before we fly with you again! They also refused to deliver our luggage and so we had to go back the next day and pick up our carseat and luggage.

My family and I have collected US Airways dividend miles for years and believed that they were like the other airline and they treated everyone fairly But US Airways does NOT treat people fairly. If you are Canadian -DO NOT FLY WITH US AIRWAYS because you are considered a 2nd Class Passenger and Consumer. In order to maintain your points without flying, if you are not American, the only option you have before they steal them from you is to PAY MORE MONEY as a Penalty for being Canadian. They Stole Our Points and wont give them Back and their customer service continually said they were sorry but more or less too bad. One supervisor who I won't name this time, specifically told us that under No Circumstances was he going to give our points back - this was after 3 days of dealing with their 'customer service' to fix the problem - BEFORE they were supposed to expire. Apparently if you steal or borrow an American's address and identity, you can restore your points many different ways but because you're Canadian, You have to Pay us or we'll take them away - With 'Friends' like those people at US Airways, who needs enemies!!!

As I flew home from Christmas, I was excited to see that my flight (US Airways) to White Plains, NY from Indianapolis, with a connection in Philadelphia, was running completely on time. I was not one of the unfortunate people who had my flight canceled due to weather, resulting in days of sitting around an airport. My flight arrived at PHL about 5 minutes late, but there was still enough, if I hustled, to make it to my connecting flight. I RAN down terminal A in order to get to the shuttle to take me to terminal E or F, I can't remember, on the other side of the airport for those unfamiliar with PHL. The shuttle wasn't there, but the US Airways attendant assured me that she had called the gate of the connecting flight to let them know there were passengers waiting for a shuttle, and that the flight was in fact waiting for us to get there. Amazing. The shuttle arrived and the driver was less than quick. In fact, I think we were all a hindrance in his ability to flirt with the female US Airways staff member on the shuttle. He was driving slowly and chatting away with this female staff member while those of us on the shuttle were trying to connect to a flight. But, I wasn't worried, I still had 25 minutes before ***. I got to the gate approximately 20 - 22 minutes before the flight was supposed to ***.

This was a connecting flight, so I was already checked in. Meaning I SHOULD have until 15 prior to *** before the gate closes. (Side note, I have an email from US Airways that states: "The closing of our flights at the gate begins 10 minutes prior to departure with the door to close on the aircraft at 5 minutes prior to the scheduled departure time.") Yet as I ran up to the gate (I was the first person from my flight to make it to the gate), the US Airways attendant was walking out of the door and to the plane. I watched him close the plane's door from the window of the airport. I tried speaking to several US Airways uniformed employees who all looked at me as though I had an extra eye in the middle of my forehead. No one would stop the man. No one would even attempt to open the door to tell him there were other passengers there to board. Mind you, still prior to the 15 minute cut off. When the man finally came back inside, I was considerably upset. His response, "We close the gate at 15 prior to departure time." I looked at my cell phone. It was just at that moment 15 minutes prior to departure. I had been standing there for at least 5 minutes. I was on time. After 10 more minutes of arguing and other passengers showing up, the US Airways agent told me he would no longer speak to me. He stated, "I am not a manager. I don't have to deal with this." I told him he should probably find a manager fast. 10 more minutes later a manager, young man in a pink sweater, strolled up to the gate. He was met by the same questions we had asked the first rep. "We were told the flight was waiting." "Why did you close the gate early?" "Why wasn't I let on the flight? I was here on time."

Now, it is my assumption that they had customers on standby and assume that our flight wasn't going to make it to PHL in time to connect. They then gave our seats to standby customers, instead of waiting an adequate amount of time for us to board. When I asked the manager about this, he said that this was absolutely not the case. Flights MUST close their doors 15 prior to departure. It is not a negotiable issue. And that US Airways would "never, " and I quote, "NEVER" allow standby passengers to board if there is still a chance that ticketed passengers will be arriving on time. Also, the manager informed me that it is not regulation to hold a flight for passengers. Remember these quotes.

The manager finally re-booked those of us waiting on different flights. Two of us excepted flights to a nearby airport 2 hours later. Not a huge time difference. I was still furious I was not allowed on my original flight, but 2 hours wouldn't kill me. I asked where my luggage was. The manager said he assumed it was on the plane going to White Plains, my original destination. I asked him kindly if he could check into that. He came back 5 minutes later and said my bag had never made it onto the plane. It would be re-ticketed and placed on my next flight. He also explained to us that we were holding standby tickets. He said, "You will be on this next flight. As I look over the flight information for connecting passengers, I can see that there are 7 passengers that are on flights that will NOT make it to PHL in time to make this connecting flight." Really? He was promising standby people seats on a flight under the assumption that ticketed passengers would not make it in time?? Isn't this what he JUST promised me didn't happen to my seat on the original flight?

So we waited for the next flight. When it comes time to board, it is mass chaos. Come to find out, the manager and US Airways had given out roughly 20 standby tickets for this flight. The gate agent was allowing standby people on the plane before ticketed passengers. There were ticketed passengers showing up that had no seat because the agent was stressed to the max and basically allowing people to board that weren't supposed to be boarding yet. Ticketed passengers were not allowed to board this flight and no one seemed concerned. I quickly knew that I would NOT be boarding this flight that I was promised I would be on. And when I looked at my phone again, the time was 10 minutes prior to ***. The gate was not closed. There was chaos as to who should board. The manager was called over again. Those 7 passenger that would "Never make it in time, " well they were there at this point. Furious as well. We were asking the manager why the gate hadn't been closed? It should have been closed 15 minutes prior to boarding and there should not have been standby people on that flight if they were going to continue with the same procedures that had kept some of us off of our original flight.

The manager started freaking out. He had a group of 20 or so people around him, all angry, and I know that his job is not easy. Unfortunately, he had lied to us about the status of the flights passengers, and that we would make this flight. They handed out too many standby tickets. They were unorganized. He then sent 7 of us to another flight that was leaving in 15 minutes. He said they were "holding the flight" for us. (Remember, earlier he said that US Airways couldn't hold flights for customers.) We ran to the next flight, boarded, sat down and finally, I felt like we were on our way. Except we weren't.

The flight attendant stated that the last 3 people on the plane, my name included, had to exit the plane due to weight restrictions. You have to be kidding me. At this point I went crazy. I could not wrap my mind around everything that had happened that morning. I walked off the plane into the tunnel and asked to talk to a manager. A manager was there and said there was nothing he could do. I informed him that he needed to take someone else off that flight. There were people on that flight that had just landed in PHL and I had been there for hours. I had the right to leave first. I was practically in tears at this point just wondering when I would be going home. Luckily for me, one of the people they had asked to leave the plane was flying with his girlfriend who didn't want to leave without him. So she left the flight as well and I was then allowed to re-board. I was the only one allowed to re-board. Finally, I was leaving PHL.

I arrived at the next airport, an hour out of the way for my ride, and there were two US Airways employees working out on the runway. That is two people helping with arrivals, helping with departures, helping with luggage. Two people. We sat on the plane for quite a while on the runway. And low and behold, it took another 30 minutes of waiting inside for the luggage. And of course, my luggage was not there. Go figure. I filed a claim and it was supposed to go to my original destination and then it would be delivered to me. Except 45 minutes later when I called US Airways to check on the status (the young man at the gate did not seem confident in knowing where my bag actually was), I was informed that my bag had just landed. At the airport I had just left. Again. Furious. Had I been told the correct destination of my luggage I would have stayed at the airport to pick it up. Instead I had to wait 7 more hours to get my bag.

Now the airline has heard this story. And of course, they are completely unwilling to do any form of compensation. They say that my experience is unusual for their airline and that it was all "weather related." Nonsense. Complete and insulting nonsense. US Airways has the worst customer service of any airline that I have ever flown. No one on the customer service lines with help, in fact at one point I was informed that they no longer communicate with customers via telephone. You have to email your complaints. I did finally speak to someone live this morning who called me after I requested so in my 2nd or 3rd email, who did listen, and then told me that there was nothing they could do. A line from one of the emails states, "The travel incident you describe is regrettable, and we apologize for the difficulties you encountered. Our intention is to offer the best travel experience possible. The details you have provided indicate that we have failed to meet our intentions." They are aware that they did not meet their expectations, and yet I am still denied even a small amount of compensation for the baggage that they lost/delayed/didn't know where it was/sent to the wrong airport, or for being treated like dirt and yelled at by US Airways employees at the airport. When Delta sent my bag to the wrong airport only a week before, they compensated me $75 immediately. US Airways is a joke as far as customer service. Everyone should do themselves a favor and never fly with US Airways