There is a story out today about a family flying to Chicago from my local airport, Charlotte.

The story began on Flyertalk actually by the perspective of another passenger and the Charlotte Observer also picked it up.

If you read through the Flyertalk post what it really comes down to is that a family of 6 (Father, Mother, 3-year old, 18-month twins, 7-month old) bought tickets under the premise that children under 2 fly free*.  The thing is that they only had 3 paid tickets and wanted to put 6 people in a row.  That leads me to remind people about oxygen masks.

I’m not aware of any aircraft (but please correct me in the comments if I’m wrong) that will allow more than x+1 on side/row of an aircraft, and some it’s really just row since only one side may be +1  Many of the mainline planes do tend to have +1 on each side so if there are 3 seats there are 3+1 on each side, but other planes such as regional jets may only have the extra on the CD (or DF) side and not the AB or (AC) side.

This means that if you are a family traveling with more than 1 lap child you will not be able to sit in the same side of the same row because in case oxygen masks are needed, you will need to choose who is your favorite child (because remember, always put yours on before assisting others or else you pass out and are useless to all your children!) because you will be a mask short.

Was this situation handled poorly, yes!  Is there an abundance of information about choosing seats for a family with lap children?  I just checked SeatGuru and didn’t see anything under the US Airways A321 page.  Was I told I could not have 2 adults and 3 lap children when I attempted to book this ticket on US’s website?  Yes.  Is it easy to learn about oxygen masks and how that affects seating with a lap child?  No.   I just don’t understand how parents who think the laws to keep kids in booster seats in cars until they are 18 make sense, but that having a seat on a plane is not necessary…and while we’re talking about booster seats…don’t bring them on the plane.  There is no point!

I’ve been a Delta Sky Club member for 3 years now.  My membership expired last month and I’m waiting to settle into my new position before requesting lounge membership.

My logic is that even though Charlotte only has 2 US Airways clubs and no other clubs, I use the club most often on layovers.  My layovers are usually either Atlanta or Terminal 2 of ORD.  Both of those locations have Delta Sky Clubs.  Also, Delta has had free alcohol for years while US always had cash bars.  Now US does have some free (except in PA) beer and wine so the value is coming up a bit.

I used to have United Red Carpet Club which gave me access to the US Airways clubs when flying US, but not other times.  I believe this has changed so maybe I investigate rejoining the RCC since I have status with United, but in Atlanta that leaves my lounge prospects very limited.

I do have the pay-per-use Priority Pass that comes with the Hilton Surpass card, but I can’t bill that back to my company.  They will pay annual membership for 1 lounge, but not a per-visit fee.  They also won’t reimburse credit card annual fees such as the AMEX Platinum charge card or else that would be quite tempting.  I will be evaluating my travel plans over the next few weeks and figure out what meets my needs the most in terms of access and amenities.

So, Saturday was supposed to be the beginning of my long awaited vacation.  I used my United miles to book a Business class star alliance award ticket CLT-EWR-FRA-PRG.

CLT-EWR was US Airways and everything else was Lufthansa.

CLT-EWR was delayed 1.5 hours due to mechanical issues meaning I would miss my EWR-FRA flight.  I called US Airways and they said my ticket was under airport control.  I deplaned and went to the gate and they brushed me off to special services.  The special services guy screwed up my ticket in such a way that after 3 calls to United, 2 calls to US Airways, talking to a supervisor at Lufthansa and a US lounge agent no one could figure out how to get my business class ticket back into business.  The United phone agents were all excellent.  The US phone agent quickly brushed me off saying economy is all I deserve.  The US lounge agent was excellent, but at that point I really just wanted to get to Europe so I kept the Lufthansa CLT-MUC-PRG flights in economy.

US Airways claimed that when they push a ticket to another carrier for mechanical reasons they can only send it as economy.

The economy seats on Lufthansa are not comfortable for international travel, but at least they do have seat back entertainment systems.

Now I’ve lost a day of vacation and no one can prove that my return wasn’t messed up as well. US and Lufthansa list it as economy as well, while United says they still control that ticket and it is indeed still business…

Needless to say I will be requesting miles back.

For the next couple days US Airways is selling their club membership for $259 for all status levels, $484 for a joint membership.

https://shopping.usairways.com/Club/Enrollment.aspx

From the Charlotte Observer

Many of the 1,560 pilots surveyed “feel pressed to push in areas where it would be better to slow down,” according to a survey summary obtained by the Observer.

US Airways officials say many of the concerns are unwarranted and that the survey is being used by pilots to gain leverage in contract negotiations.

Although I do like to rip on US Airways for various things, overall they do have very senior pilots.  Their pilots have very nice take-offs and landings.  I”m surprised by the statement there are 4,100 pilots though because they all seem to have the same voice.  I guess that 1 guy flies around with the other 4,099.

Sure US Airways fronted by Doug Parker is more vocal about penny pinching as far as on board service so it’s not a far stretch to many that they are probably pinching pennies other places as well.  This story wasn’t very detailed about safety issues about maintenance so I can’t really link it to the previous story about outsourcing.  US Airways has been doing very well in on-time performance, although a lot of the issues I’ve seen that would contribute to an on time push back are issues like checking bags at the last minute due to full overheads (a non-issue before baggage fees) or other issues that seem more in the realm of gate agents instead of the pilots.  Maybe that is the real issue though…pilots think something is not right and instead of fixing the logs or calling maintenance they just let it go.

The billboard about the lack of a contract is back up on Billy Graham Pkwy and the pilots recently held a mini strike at CLT so I do agree with the observer that this probably has more to do with that than actual safety issues.

I lucked out and the client I was supposed to fly to on Monday wasn’t going to be ready for training.  This meant I didn’t have to worry about canceled flights and I figured by Wednesday when I need to fly to my other client everything would be melted because that’s pretty much how it works.  According to the Charlotte Observer US Airways is still canceling flights through Charlotte and the deicers are out of deicing fluid.

Great…We’ll see if I can make it up to Canada.  Regardless of all that I’d much rather live in Charlotte where those issues do happen, but are few and far between.  Wish me luck getting to my destination.

I know I’m a little late for cyber monday, but before you shop online this holiday season make sure you check your frequent flyer program for their shopping web portal to earn extra miles.  These are also good for programs where you just need some activity to retain your points.  Not every store is in every portal so you might want to check all your programs before just going directly to the site.

Airlines

Alaskan: Mileage Plan Shopping (http://mileageplanshopping.com)
jetBlue: Shop True (https://trueblue.jetblue.com/group/trueblue/shoptrue)
Continental: Shop OnePass (http://www.continental.com/CMS/en-US/marketing/custcomm/promotions/Pages/onlineretailpartners.aspx)
Delta: SkyMiles Shopping (http://www.skymilesshopping.com)
Frontier: EarlyReturns Mall (http://www.skymall.com/frontiermall/)
Airtran: a+ Rewards Mall (http://www.airtran.com/mall)
Spirit: Free Spirit Mall (http://mall.spiritair.com/)
United: Mileage Plus Shopping (http://www.mileageplusshopping.com)
US: Dividend Miles Shopping Mall (http://www.skymall.com/usairwaysmilesmall/homepage.htm)
Virgin America: The Red Store (http://www.the-red-store.com/)

Hotels:

Hilton:(http://www.hiltonhhonorsearningsmall.com)
Marriott:(https://mrewards.shopmyway.com/?src=MRMALL)
Priority Club:(https://pcrshopping.dbgloyalty.com/)
Hyatt:apparently isn’t one.  Please correct in comments if there is
Best Western:(https://goldcrownclub.bestwestern.com/offers/retailpartners.asp)
Starwood:Couldn’t find a starwood either

Cash:

Also, since cash is king consider a cash rebate site such as Mr. Rebates or Fat Wallet

I am well versed in US Airway’s stand-by policy.  As a United elite I’m not eligible for a free confirmed seat on an earlier flight (that’s $50) but I can stand-by for free.  The caveat to this is that they can’t be able to confirm me to put me on stand-by.

I got to MCO at around 12:30 pm for a 5:15 pm flight.  I went to the Star Alliance gold check in and requested to go stand-by on an earlier flight.  They had a 1:30 and a 3:30, but apparently both had confirmable seats so she would have to charge me.  Since my bag was expanded I didn’t want to hassle with it on board and I checked it meaning that  I couldn’t play the “if you don’t like that answer ask again” with the gate agents.  I also didn’t want to pay $50 to get home earlier.

By the time my flight came around they were oversold by 2 and were offering $125 in travel credit.  Since that seemed very low compared to what they usually offer I didn’t bother.  I just laughed that they could have waived my confirmed fee and put me on an earlier flight and avoided the need of 1 volunteer.

US Airways is having a 3 day sale on club membership.  It is $249 for all status levels for 3 days only.  The rate is normally $450 for a general member and decreases based on status.

US Airways has upped their game recently by including free beer and wine (although certain stations must charge $1/beverage due to the liquor license).  They also had changed from a tiered approach to membership (just US, or US + United’s Red Carpet Club) so they have added a lot of value to membership recently.

I am a current Sky Club member but I’ve been eyeing US Airways Clubs.  This offer is almost good enough to pay cash and have my company continue to pick up me (discounted due to elite status) Delta Sky Club membership.

HT Gary

Yesterday I was flying home from Indy.  I usually book later flights “just in case” and I have fairly good success at getting on earlier ones.  I also like people watching at airports so this gives me good time to do that if I can’t.

I got to the airport and used the kiosk and got onto an earlier flight.  That flight was having mechanical issues and was delayed 30 minutes.  My new itinerary had a 90 minute layover so I wasn’t worried and there were now plenty of later flights for me anyway.  Suddenly I heard my name over the airport loud speaker to report to a gate across the way.  I headed over there and saw a Red Coat with no line.  She said I was being rebooked on the direct flight on US Airways.  Now instead of getting home at 9 pm like my original itinerary I would be getting home at 5 pm!  This meant I could make a meeting one of my social clubs was having.

All this and I’m only Gold with Delta.  My upgrade on my original flight out of Indy hadn’t cleared so I’m surprised this earlier flight was so devoid of elites.

Now for original routing credit and “double dip”…

Personal and business Platinum and Centurion card holders will now be extended access to US Airways lounges.

from bankingdeals.com

Note: this is the Platinum and Centurion charge card, not various American Express credit cards that have used the word Platinum throughout the year and not American Express cards issued by anyone other than AMEX (e.g. Bank of America).

The US Airways lounges will not require a ticket on US Airways unlike some of the other airlines that participate.  This actually might not be a bad deal since the annual fee is $450 and grants one access to Delta, US Airways, American, and Continental’s lounges.  Membership for the US Airways lounge (which reciprocates to other Star Alliance lounges, but not to Delta or American) is also $450 for a non-status flyer.

Thanks Wandering Aramean