{"id":3993,"date":"2014-09-30T13:10:43","date_gmt":"2014-09-30T17:10:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/carolinatravelgirl\/?p=3993"},"modified":"2014-09-30T14:08:22","modified_gmt":"2014-09-30T18:08:22","slug":"upgrade-us-airways-american-airlines-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/carolinatravelgirl\/2014\/09\/30\/upgrade-us-airways-american-airlines-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"No Upgrade for YOU! Part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Nancy’s Experience Flying Combined AA\/US Flights\"US-AA<\/a><\/h1>\n
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My friend ‘Nancy’ (name was changed for privacy reasons) is an American Airlines Executive Platinum<\/a> who has been flying some combined American and US Airways flights. What follows is\u00a0an account of her recent experience in doing so and includes a copy of her letter to US Airways and their reply.<\/div>\n

Nancy’s Story<\/h2>\n
As I told you, some of my first flights this year were\u00a0a combination of AA & US flights, for example: 9\/9\/14 AA: SFO-DFW-EWR and US: EWR-CLT-SFO.<\/div>\n
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It really wasn’t a totally\u00a0awful experience and with my airline knowledge and AA Club access, I was able to adequately and comfortably fend for myself but for flyers not used to mixing AA and US flights, the trip could have been slightly challenging. This is especially true as the new AA is encouraging mixing flights, as if their two systems were working flawlessly together. For\u00a0most\u00a0large airports, I’m finding US and AA are still\u00a0in different terminals, which can\u00a0complicate resolving issues at the airport difficult. As you know, this is\u00a0especially true at SFO; it is not easy to quickly move between T2 and T1. Thank goodness all my outbound flights were on AA & my return flights all on US, as it allowed me time to make phone calls and physically get boarding passes once past\u00a0Security. The siituation could have been much more stressful if I had tight connections and if I had mixed it up even more with AA\/US\/AA\/US.<\/div>\n
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Letter to US Airways<\/h3>\n
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Hello US Airways:<\/p>\n
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As an AA Executive Platinum,\u00a0even though merger is not yet complete, thought it was time I tried flying US Airways. I booked\u00a03 trips, one on September 9th*,\u00a0combination of AA & US, another all US on Oct 24th & last, one on 10\/28.<\/div>\n
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My problems on Sept. 9th flights, were a mix of system issues & employee attitude:<\/div>\n
1. Seat Selection<\/span><\/strong>: Was not able to select premium seating at booking,\u00a0without incurring extra charges; had to call US direct to select seats for me. Disaster, no, but not convenient either, as AA could not assist, had to call US.<\/div>\n
2. \u00a0On-line Check-in<\/span><\/strong>: Outbound flight was on AA & check-in was fine but I was never able to check-in online for US return flights, nor view any seat maps or the online upgrade\/standby lists & this was directly on the US website. Had to\u00a0use US airport desk for check-in & get boarding passes.<\/div>\n
3. Complimentary domestic upgrade<\/span><\/strong>: \u00a0didn’t happen but that alone is not the issue. When I called US at 24 hr window, was told “Nothing available, first is sold out\u00a0but you can\u00a0ask GA’s\u00a0at airport.”. Weird, because at 24hrs, 50 mins, there were 8 open first seats on both flights. Had to assume this was true as I had no access to US seat maps<\/em> 10 minutes later at 24 hr window.<\/em><\/strong><\/div>\n
At both EWR and CLT, I was told by both GA’s that “we don’t offer free upgrades to AA elites”. When I countered that reciprocal upgrades were now in effect, both agents responded in a very rude manner “No don’t think so” and “nobody told me” followed by\u00a0“but even if they were, first is sold out”. I said fine, could you add me to the upgrade list just in case, but again I got a bit of attitude from both agents: “NO point, sold out.”\u00a0 Later, as I was waiting in the boarding line, one GA came over to talk with some other passengers (maybe friends or ones he knew). Conversation topic: passengers who think they are so special and demand things they aren’t entitled to. As I was less than 5 ft away, I was definitely within sight & hearing distance, very embarrassing. Then later, after boarding,\u00a0we had 3 first class no-shows…I watched as GA came through and selected 3 pax’s for upgrades.\u00a0Maybe they were all\u00a0Chairman’s Preferred, but I would have liked to know I was at least considered and not treated as if I was arrogantly demanding something undeserved.<\/div>\n
4. My ExP status was not reflected on my US reservation nor on my ticket; just listed as a OW Emerald.<\/div>\n
Because I do fly an awful lot, I make every effort to treat all airline employees politely, with kindness and respect, in the hope to be treated in kind.<\/div>\n
I absolutely abhor DYKWIA (Do you know who I am) behavior and do not think asking a legitimate question warrants a snotty attitude and rude response.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The above issues are somewhat minor in the big picture, but they do impact the full customer experience. The important things were all done right: Flights were smooth, safe and on-time; Captains friendly and informative; crew, kind and attentive.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Take-away lesson:\u00a0don’t book mixed AA\/US airline ticket until system glitches are fixed &\/or merger is complete, as neither airline can access the others system, leaving the customer to fend for themselves when problems arise.<\/div>\n
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Hoping that my next US flying experience\u00a0is a bit better & that US flyers are not experiencing same problems when they fly AA. Already went through an awful airline merger (UA & CO) & really hoping this one would be much easier\/smoother, with end result a much better airline: other than issues stated above, so far its been pretty good, thus I remain,<\/div>\n
Optimistically yours,<\/div>\n
‘Nancy’<\/div>\n

US Airways Reply<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Dear ‘Nancy’:Thank you for your most recent email. Rest assured that customer satisfaction is our main focus and we want to make certain the decisions we make are based on research, facts, policies and procedures. Thank you for taking the time to share your concerns with us.I am sorry that you were not able to select a seat on our flight without incurring an extra seat charge. At the time of booking seats available will be reflective on the seating chart. If the only seats available are the seats that carry an extra fee, you can elect to not choose a seat and one will be assigned to you at the airport. In addition, I am sorry that you were not able to check in online making it inconvenient to have to check-in once you got to the airport.<\/p>\n

In regards to the upgrade to first class. Upgrades can be secured at check-in as early as 24 hours prior to departure and are offered on a first come, first served basis. If a seat is not available, members can elect to add themselves to the upgrade standby list at check-in. Based on your comments, it appears our gate agent were not informed and could have handled your situation better, with the level of respect and care US expects. This is not reflective of our company as a whole and your feedback will be used to help improve our service in Newark.<\/p>\n

Again, we apologize for the difficulties you encountered. We value your business and are working hard to earn your continued patronage. As we are moving toward one operating certificate and merging as one airline, The New American, you will continue to see changes that will continue to make you want to make us your first choice when flying. We hope you will give us the opportunity to do so.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Sincerely,<\/div>\n
Mary xxxxxx<\/div>\n
Representative, Customer Relations<\/div>\n
US Airways Corporate Office<\/div>\n
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Of course I commiserated with Nancy on her lack of upgrade availability, but two things stand out. One is the fact that the airline personnel, from Ticket Counter Agents to Gate Agents, are simply not aware of what sort of reciprocity is supposed to be taking place. And secondly, that at least she found the US Airways flights themselves enjoyable because of the professionalism and attitudes of the flight crews.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
See Also: No Upgrade for YOU!<\/a><\/strong><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nancy’s Experience Flying Combined AA\/US Flights My friend ‘Nancy’ (name was changed for privacy reasons) is an American Airlines Executive Platinum who has been flying…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":3995,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[2,420,22],"tags":[38,379,393,394],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\nNo Upgrade for YOU! 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