Worst Airline ?

[74PILOTMOM]

I'm just curious after the travels from hell,
if anyone else has had to deal with DELTA/USAIRWAYS/AMERICA WEST

We (a party of 5) booked a round-trip flight from Seattle to Phoenix. We confirmed online the night before, and when we arrived, our etickets didn't work, and our ticket#'s were gone. Luckily the checkin service guy fixed everything for us and got us seats somehow. Our connecting flight was okay if you like disgusting food covered airplane interiors. We got to Phoenix and had a wonderful time. What a beautiful place- I did not expect that. I'll have to post some pics. I stayed in an amazing home in Paradise Valley, and wow, it was truly Paradise.
THEN, dadadadonnnnnnnnn- it was travel time again. We show up to check in, and we find that only 2 of our party has seats, and 3 of us were put on standby. Now I CAN understand this if we had purchased standby tickets. At the last second, my sister gets put on the plane after someone missed a connection. So, 2 of us are left in Arizona, my mom and Dad-Our ride home from the airport. Oh, and their bags come home to Seattle. Nice. Guess I'm in charge of those. Dang good thing I have a Pilot to fit everyone and everything into!
So my parents are in Phoenix with no luggage and no idea when they'll actually get onto a plane.
I just got word that my Dad was able to get on a plane, but my mother is still stuck in Phoenix, having been bumped AGAIN. Nice.

While they gave the bumped people free compensation flights, I still don't understand how they can get away with this. You pay, you confirm, you should have a seat. Am I really asking too much? Seriously?
The customer service lady was decent, but backhandedly accused US of screwing up by not calling the airline directly in addition to confirming online. Also pretty much called us CHEAP for having booked with an online booking agent. Also, said that our seat 'request' is just that. A request, not a guarantee. WTF? Now, when paying for something, you should actually get something. It should be called gambling for, not purchasing tickets. *Guess I learned to book directly with the airline by PHONE* Thats the moral of the story i guess? Maybe DRIVE my Pilot to the desert instead.
I have never flown Delta, never will again.

I have never had trouble with Alaska Airlines (my favorite) or Northwest/Hawaiian Airlines.

Heck, even Southwest was great aside from the hooptie of a jet. At least they were fun and we had seats.

Please commiserate with me! I just had to vent. Thank you!

[bobzz]

Originally posted by 74PILOTMOM
I'm just curious after the travels from hell,
if anyone else has had to deal with DELTA/USAIRWAYS/AMERICA WEST

We (a party of 5) booked a round-trip flight from Seattle to Phoenix. We confirmed online the night before, and when we arrived, our etickets didn't work, and our ticket#'s were gone. Luckily the checkin service guy fixed everything for us and got us seats somehow. Our connecting flight was okay if you like disgusting food covered airplane interiors. We got to Phoenix and had a wonderful time. What a beautiful place- I did not expect that. I'll have to post some pics. I stayed in an amazing home in Paradise Valley, and wow, it was truly Paradise.
THEN, dadadadonnnnnnnnn- it was travel time again. We show up to check in, and we find that only 2 of our party has seats, and 3 of us were put on standby. Now I CAN understand this if we had purchased standby tickets. At the last second, my sister gets put on the plane after someone missed a connection. So, 2 of us are left in Arizona, my mom and Dad-Our ride home from the airport. Oh, and their bags come home to Seattle. Nice. Guess I'm in charge of those. Dang good thing I have a Pilot to fit everyone and everything into!
So my parents are in Phoenix with no luggage and no idea when they'll actually get onto a plane.
I just got word that my Dad was able to get on a plane, but my mother is still stuck in Phoenix, having been bumped AGAIN. Nice.

While they gave the bumped people free compensation flights, I still don't understand how they can get away with this. You pay, you confirm, you should have a seat. Am I really asking too much? Seriously?
The customer service lady was decent, but backhandedly accused US of screwing up by not calling the airline directly in addition to confirming online. Also pretty much called us CHEAP for having booked with an online booking agent. Also, said that our seat 'request' is just that. A request, not a guarantee. WTF? Now, when paying for something, you should actually get something. It should be called gambling for, not purchasing tickets. *Guess I learned to book directly with the airline by PHONE* Thats the moral of the story i guess? Maybe DRIVE my Pilot to the desert instead.
I have never flown Delta, never will again.

I have never had trouble with Alaska Airlines (my favorite) or Northwest/Hawaiian Airlines.

Heck, even Southwest was great aside from the hooptie of a jet. At least they were fun and we had seats.

Please commiserate with me! I just had to vent. Thank you!

Who did you book the tickets with? You better read the fine print because you may be a "second class" ticket holder when you buy from an online broker. You may not have all the "rights" a regular ticket bought from the airline. Hence the cheap fare. There are conditions. You got what you paid for but you failed to read the ticket agreement from the online broker. Buyer beware!!!

[74PILOTMOM]

thanks! I'll look for that. I didn't book it, it was my step dad. I'm definitely going to ask!

[bobzz]

Originally posted by 74PILOTMOM
thanks! I'll look for that. I didn't book it, it was my step dad. I'm definitely going to ask!

Always remember these brokers buy the seats from the airline on the cheap and impose their own conditions on them as a result of the cheap fare attained. In many cases the airline is not obligated to provide you anything the ticket did not guarantee.( less than the airline's ticket) It's the broker you should be having the problem with. He sold you a ticket without all the privileges. In exchange you got a cheap fare."The bitter taste of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of cheap price is forgotten."

[74PILOTMOM]

boy, i wish it was actually a good deal, but it wasn't.

LOL...I found out they came from cheapoair.com.....that's a bad sign.

I'm booking directly from now on.

[Sportymonk]

Next time you are in the Phoenix area, be sure to go by Sedonna and Oak Creek. Supposed to be beautiful (father in law was in a hurry to get to the Grand Canyon so we couldn't stop.)

There used to be a steakhouse that served baked potatoes the size of small footballs, wonderful steaks, and even though you were too stuffed for dessert, a delicious king sized bowl of apple cobbler. Name of the place was Bill Johnson's Apple Steackhouse if memory serves me correctly. Here is the website (When I was last there my daughter was 1 1/2 and there was no Internet or Web site!

http://www.billjohnsons.com/

[tgrimes]

Which is the worst airline you ask? ALL OF THEM! I flew over 100K miles last year and every single one of the domestic airlines are all terrible. I found many foreign airlines superior in every way.

[tim.s]

It doesn't matter what airline you book with or who you buy your tickets from - every airline overbooks and every airline bumps passengers. It is common for airlines to sell out all 200 seats on a flight and then over book another 25 tickets on the same flight to ensure the flight is full.

What will vary with the airline is how many seats they oversell and how good they are at accommodating the bumped passengers (i.e., put you on a later flight, compensation, etc...).

No matter who you buy your tickets from, you need to ensure you have a seat assignment (i.e., "15C"). Without a seat assignment, you ticket is just a booking. There is no problem buying online, you just need to ensure you get a seat assignment when you book or sometime after. For this you may need to call the airline if you booking agent doesn't supply the service.

Airlines like United are really bad because they will not give seat assignments to the cheapest tickets even if there are empty seats and you book early. You can even call directly and they will claim the flight is full and you should "keep calling back". In this case, they are hoping someone will buy a seat last minute at a higher or full fair and then they can bump the cheap ticket with a small compensation to the passenger and still make money. IF there are seats left prior to departure, then they start seating the passengers without seat assignments. If the flight has a history of not selling out, then you are more likely to get a seat assignment early. The best thing is to just keep calling back until they release seats and you get an assignment.

It may seem like bad business to give a bumped passenger a $300 voucher, but it is likely you were bumped because someone payed $1000 more than you and bought a full fare seat assignment the night before the flight.

All of the ticketed passengers have the same "rights". But passengers who have seat assignments and confirm have the best chance of getting on the plane - the closest thing to a "guarantee".

Oh, by the way: most (maybe all) airlines also require you to check in a minimum amount of time before the departure (ie., 15 minutes before flight time). When the minimum check in time arrives, all unconfirmed seat assignments are canceled. So even with a seat assignment, if you don't check in by the deadline, your seat can be given to someone who is ticketed and confirmed (ie., at the gate), but not assigned. Again, this is a technique to make sure the flight is full.

[74PILOTMOM]

Wow. Now I'm afraid to fly anywhere! I'm tentatively planning a trip back to Minneapolis, and want to bring the kids. I'll be sure to grab actual seats, or I'll be paranoid the whole time.

I guess I've just been really lucky in all of my travels until now.

I still think it's wrong that someone with more $ should get priority. 1st class tickets, okay that I get.

I booked with ATA to honolulu and got seats immediately, that was nice. Planes are the youngest in the industry and immaculate. They don't fly to too many destinations, however.

[tss42637]

For Christmas 2004 we flew from San Francisco to Denver and back on United, with tickets I purchased through a broker. We were the last passengers to get seated and we ended up not even sitting together. I believe that we had the same status as "stand by" passengers because we did not buy the tickets directly from the airline. I had purchased these tickets three months before the trip and saved maybe $25-30 per round trip.

Last Christmas (2006) I bought the tickets directly from United. We were able to check in and get our boarding passes on line before we got to the airport. Much easier!!

[5Gs]

I guess it depends who you buy tickets from. I almost never buy tickets directly from an airline. I recently bought tickets through orbitz, and I was able to choose the seats. my reservation even shows "seats are confirmed." hopefully that truly is the case!

[krygny]

Originally posted by 74PILOTMOM ...
Our connecting flight was okay if you like disgusting food covered airplane interiors.
...

That was the meal.

...
So, 2 of us are left in Arizona, my mom and Dad-Our ride home from the airport. Oh, and their bags come home to Seattle. Nice.
...

I would get back at them by reporting that to the FAA and Homeland Security. That's not supposed to happen. It does all the time, but it's not supposed to.

[raining79]

74PilotMom,

Glad you were able to enjoy our great town. There definitely is a reason why they call it Paradise Valley - you were living amongst the rich of the rich in Phoenix!

I am a Gold member of U.S. Airways (50,000+ miles a year thanks to my work) and have to say that except for a few weather issues (not their fault), my experience with them has been nothing short of great. There service has declined over the last few months however, probably due to the merger of America West and U.S. Airways. I definitely recommend booking directly with the airline from now on, no matter who you fly. Many airlines "price match" airfares on all websites such as Expedia and Orbitz (although I've never seen a flight cost less on those sites than on the airline site and I fly about 75k miles a year on numerous airlines). If you do come across a cheaper flight than what the airline site listed, give them a call, chances are they will match it if it came from one of the more reputable sites.

Definitely agree with you on Alaska, what great service! Midwest Airlines is up there too. Hate American, will never fly them again. Hope this helps!

[A6Pilot]

I would get back at them by reporting that to the FAA and Homeland Security. That's not supposed to happen. It does all the time, but it's not supposed to.

Get real. Do you really think that Homeland Security is in the business of worrying about how an airline books seats?

[74PILOTMOM]

krygny...LOL...there was more food on the seats and floor than in the snack bag.

raining79...Holey moley, I realized this! We were in a lowly 2 million dollar home Followed a BENTLEY into the neighborhood (in our camry rental)
I will definitley be going back to your neck of the woods again, it was stunning, and soooo many places to eat!

A6 Pilot...long time no see/hear (one of the oldies like me!)...I think they're talking about the bags that didn't have passengers to claim them, not the seats.