{"id":6599,"date":"2014-06-09T09:00:12","date_gmt":"2014-06-09T13:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/verygoodpoints\/?p=6599"},"modified":"2014-06-03T23:39:33","modified_gmt":"2014-06-04T03:39:33","slug":"us-airways-american-airlines-merger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/verygoodpoints\/2014\/06\/09\/us-airways-american-airlines-merger\/","title":{"rendered":"Has The US Airways American Airlines Merger Changed The Way You Fly?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Back in April of 2012 I wrote a post called, What a USAirways- American Airlines Merger Would Mean For Me. \u00a0I came across that article today and thought it would be fun to look back and see if any of my predictions have come true.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What I wrote in 2012:<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Where I stand<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

I am a US Airways Chairman. \u00a0Earlier this year, I considered making the switch over to United \u2013 but after 1 terrible trip on United to London, I realized that the grass isn\u2019t always greener. \u00a0After that trip \u2013 I\u2019m still so traumatized that I haven\u2019t blogged about it \u2013 I pretty much decided to stick with US Air where I have top-tier status and know what I\u2019m getting.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So US Airways and American might merge. \u00a0What does that really mean for me?<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u00a0Where I stand today:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I’m still a US Airways Chairman and I still agree, the grass isn’t always greener. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What I wrote in 2012:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Airline Alliances<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0– it seems likely that US Air would leave the Star Alliance. \u00a0That thought gave me my first headache. It would be disappointing because I love using miles to fly Singapore,\u00a0Lufthansa<\/span>, Thai and other great Star Alliance airlines. \u00a0American is the only US based airline in the OneWorld Alliance \u2013 and there are some good international partner carriers like Japan Airlines, Cathay Pacific,\u00a0British Airways<\/span><\/a>\u00a0\u2013 and if US Airways joined, it would add more flexibility for flights from the US through Philly and Charlotte and\u00a0Phoenix to connecting OneWorld routes.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u00a0Today:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It’s true, US Airways has left the Star Alliance and joined OneWorld. \u00a0In 2012 that thought gave me a bit of a headache. \u00a0I was working for a company that had me traveling to Europe, South East Asia and Australia. \u00a0In 2013 I took more than a 1\/2 dozen trips to South East Asia and Australia and in the first 4\u00a0months of 2014 I flew to Australia twice and Hong Kong twice. So today, I might have felt the same way, but I don’t have that job anymore and don’t foresee any business trips to those regions anytime soon. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Since the announcement of the merger I’ve been able to earn more miles because there are new routes open to me. I was able to fly Fiji Airways and credit the milage to American Airlines. \u00a0I have also been lucky enough to get two upgrades on American Airlines from coach to business class! \u00a0So, things are looking so bad.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What I wrote in 2012:<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Routing<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 After a lot of thought \u2013 and initial shock \u2013 headache #2 \u2013 it actually seems like it really wouldn\u2019t mean much to me in terms of routing. It is, and always will be, a pain in the ass to get anywhere internationally from Charleston, South Carolina, my home base. Although it\u2019s called Charleston International Airport \u2013 there are no commercial international flights at this time. You could try to hop a C-17 to\u00a0Afghanistan or a Boeing Dreamliner 787 being built for Air India (it\u2019s set to roll out of the plant on April 27). Other than that, if you\u2019re flying out of CHS there\u2019s a connection in your future!\u00a0\u00a0 A merger would open up direct flights for me from CHS to MIA and DFW.<\/span><\/p>\n

I fly to Europe on US Air \u2013 that wouldn\u2019t change.<\/span><\/p>\n

I fly to SE Asia on Thai, usually, and that would have to change. \u00a0However, since Thai cancelled its direct flights to\/from LAX, OneWorld routing wouldn\u2019t be much more complex than Star Alliance routing has become. Today on Thai my routes are CHS \u2013 CLT \u2013 LAX \u2013 ICN \u2013 BKK or CHS \u2013 CLT \u2013 FRA \u2013 BKK. \u00a0Believe it or not, it now takes less time to fly from CHS through Europe to BKK. \u00a0 On OneWold my route would likely be CHS \u2013 CLT \u2013 LHR \u2013 BKK or something similar.<\/span><\/p>\n

I fly to Australia and that would likely become a bit easier w\/Qantas and Cathay Pacific options. Still a lot of time and connections from CHS.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u00a0Today:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As I mentioned, my international travel days are limited to vacations now, so I do care about routing. \u00a0It’s still a pain to connect to many places from Charleston, but the merger does open up a few new routes and new hubs to connect through. \u00a0I also have started flying on JetBlue from Charleston to New York because it’s convenient. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What I wrote in 2012:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Frequent Flyer Benefits<\/strong>\u00a0– now, this is one area US Air could benefit from in a merger. \u00a0AA offers its top-tier flyers 8 system wide upgrades \u2013 US Air gives out 4. \u00a0AA offers the ability to purchase 500 mile upgrades \u2013 a nice benefit if you have friend traveling w\/you but not on the same itinerary. \u00a0Other than the fact that I\u2019d hate to give up the Star Alliance benefits, it might work out better for US Airways members if an AA merger did happen.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Today:\u00a0<\/span>
\nWell, we don’t know a ton yet. The two programs are still operating independently. Many elites, including me, have gotten reciprocal upgrades even though the programs don’t official provide that benefit. \u00a0Rumors are that they’ll become official sometime in June, but again, that’s just a rumor as far as I know. \u00a0At some point the US Airways Dividend Miles and American Airlines AAdvantage Miles will be merged and the great benefit there will be the ability to use the miles jointly. \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Currently members \u00a0can earn and redeem miles on either airline, and eligible travel on either airline will count toward elite status on the customer’s chosen program. \u00a0Starting June 1, Dividend Miles members will be able to book last seat availability awards for flights year-round without any blackout dates.\u00a0AAnytime award travel will be available more for than half of the year at an even lower redemption level. Previous redemption rates were\u00a025,000 miles one way, and the new redemption rates will start at 20,000 miles one way.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There will be many more changes to come, and we’ll all just have to wait to see what is rolled out next. \u00a0How has the merger changed the way you travel?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Back in April of 2012 I wrote a post called, What a USAirways- American Airlines Merger Would Mean For Me. \u00a0I came across that article today and thought it would be fun to look back and see if any of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2869,"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":"Has The US Airways American Airlines Merger Changed The Way You Fly?","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[10,91],"tags":[103,79],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\nHas The US Airways American Airlines Merger Changed The Way You Fly? - VeryGoodPoints<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"us airways american airlines merger\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/first2board.com\/verygoodpoints\/2014\/06\/09\/us-airways-american-airlines-merger\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Has The US Airways American Airlines Merger Changed The Way You Fly? 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