<p>I have not kept up with it. Who is planning on merging? Continental with USair? Is United involved? I am thinking about buying a Thanksgiving flight in the next few weeks. I want to try to stay out of a situation where the times/dates change, there might be cancellations, complications etc. Anyone know the latest information?</p>
<p>Continental and United.</p>
<p>The only problems I had with the Delta / Northwest merger were when I tried to book trips that used both. As long as I kept it Delta only, I was OK.</p>
<p>[Continental</a> Airlines to Merge With United Airlines - Consumerism Commentary](<a href=“http://www.consumerismcommentary.com/2010/05/03/continental-airlines-to-merge-with-united-airlines/]Continental”>http://www.consumerismcommentary.com/2010/05/03/continental-airlines-to-merge-with-united-airlines/)</p>
<p>Thank you.</p>
<p>A little off-topic, but just want to give everyone a heads up about the bumping problems at US Airways. Various members of my family, including my husband and me, have flown on US Airways during the past couple of months. All of us, with the exception of one person, were bumped from our flights. My son was bumped just last night.</p>
<p>My husband and I were bumped from every leg of our last flight. After we were bumped from the first leg (it looked it was overbooked by about 15 people), a mistake was made on our seating assignments for the make-up flight and we were denied boarding on the make-up flight! On our return trip, we were so disgusted when we were bumped yet again that we created a scene at the US Airways counter and the agent somehow found seats for us.</p>
<p>All the bumped members of my family tried to get seating assignments 24 hours in advance of our flights, but each time the US Airways website said we had to get our tickets at the airport. We then called US Airways to try to get seating assignments, but the agent said all the seats were blocked and she couldn’t give us seating assignments. Once we got to the airport, no seats were available. </p>
<p>All in all, our flight experiences with US Airways were TERRIBLE. We are frequent fliers and we have NEVER experienced such terrible customer service on any airline. We will never fly US Airways again except as an airline of last resort.</p>
<p>^^^ I agree, will never fly US Airways again. Just a few weeks ago I flew into and out of Tweed Airport in New Haven. Unfortunately, US Air is the only airline flying into Tweed. I flew Delta to Philly and had to switch to US Air. Each way my luggage was lost/delayed in New Haven it arrived on the next flight. On my return trip US Air didnt transfer my bag to Delta and it sat in Philly for almost 2 days. I called Delta and spoke with an extremely nice and competent baggage person who contacted their Philly baggage people who went over to US Airs lost baggage area and found my luggage. </p>
<p>I fly Continental and have never had a problem …not at all happy they are merging with United.</p>
<p>add me to the list of “not at all happy they are merging with United”…this can only mean higher prices out of Newark (which are already ridiculously high in markets that Continental is the sole route provider)…</p>
<p>The only routes that Continental had been competitive were the ones that United shared with them: EWR to SFO, LAX and Denver…sometimes, Chicago…</p>
<p>Wow, I was going to book USAir to avoid any possible problems that might result from the merger between United and Continental. Now I will probably think that I should avoid USAir even if it means buying a Continental or United ticket! Thanks for the heads up about USAir!!</p>
<p>Before Delta and Northwest merged, it was standard to get a $200 RT Detroit to LaGuardia, even on fairly short term. Now it is over $500.</p>
<p>In 2008, US Airways was fined $140,000 for ignoring federal bumping rules. It was obviously just a slap on the wrist.</p>
<p>Not that it will do any good, but I just lodged a complaint against US Airways on the Aviation Consumer Protection Division website. I feel better knowing my complaint will be included in US airline satisfaction statistics that are routinely released by the media.</p>
<p>I also wrote a letter of complaint to US Airways last week. I’ve never written a complaint letter to a company, but I felt compelled to write US Airways because my family’s recent experiences left such a bad taste in my mouth. And that was before my son got bumped!</p>
<p>Okay, Continental and/or United here we come! I will just have to keep my fingers crossed, I guess. Sorry about your terrible experiences with USAir.</p>
<p>I’ve been watching this closely as I live in the Chicago area and have family in Houston. Knowing what I’ve experienced with United, I feel sorry for any loyal Continental fans.</p>
<p>United name, Continental branding and management, HQ moves to Chicago. Hopefully Smisek will be able to whip UAL crew into shape. </p>
<p>Don’t get rid of economy plus and channel 9, and they can do whatever the hell they want as far as I’m concerned.</p>
<p>UselesS Air should seriously just go out of business.</p>
<p>As passenger rights advocates have said for years, the major airlines don’t give a hoot about customer satisfaction or convenience. The majors make their bread and butter on oversea$ trips. As I understand it, they feel that there are (were?) too many discounted seats in the domestic market.</p>
<p>This latest merger, like others, will result in higher prices and even less customer satisfaction, if you can believe it. Years ago United had a great reputation and I chose them whenever feasible. Continental helped make Newark Airport a real convenient airport, as opposed to LaGuardia and J.F. Kennedy. I anticipate that will no longer be the case in either situation once the merger is completed.</p>
<p>mapsey, for Oct-Dec 2009 (the latest data available), US Air was #11 of 19 airlines (including commuter ones) with 1.15 involuntary denied boardings per 10,000 passengers. For your family to be individually in that 1.15 on many separate occasions strikes me as excessively unlikely. </p>
<p>I would guess your family is travelling on some of the highest-trafficked routes like Chicago-Charlotte where they have lots of flights and more bumps but also more likelihood of accomodating someone on the next flight an hour later.</p>
<p>The airline industry is one of the least profitable in the American economy. Outside of Southwest, the industry over two decades has probably broken-even. That means consumers are getting a great deal, more or less taking the corporate service provider. </p>
<p>That they provide uncomfortable service is a function of the commodity nature of the business, and consumers’ unwillingness to pay for service differentiation. Internet pops a $2 lower fare, people will take it without thinking about the quality difference. It’s not the airlines’ fault. It’s the reality of this industry’s service provision. I would enjoy it and the low fares.</p>
<p>I like the low fares frankly, especially since the legacies still retain perks (like free checked bags, first dibs on the nice seats, priority boarding-valuable in the age of overflowing overhead bins, and the occasional upgrade) for their frequent flyers (or the frequent flyers of their alliance partners). So I get to pay cheap fares that comes from all the competition, AND I consolidate flying to one airline such that I get those perks.</p>
<p>I guess I’m not a typical airfare shopper then…AA for $380 or UA for $383 plus free bags (as a FF I get that perk)? Hm yeah I’m taking UA without a second thought. Not that I even go through third party websites anyways. I usually go straight to my airline’s website.</p>
<p>You’re calling me a liar, crescent? Believe what you will. It may be excessively unlikely, yet it happened. It’s probably one of the reasons US Air complaints have doubled over the past year. They can add my complaint to the 2010 complaints.</p>
<p>All the flights originated or ended in Philly–a US Air hub. At the time, I figured the bumps were due to the fact that US Air was the only carrier offering flights at those particular times, and one of the flights in particular was to a huge event in a city with a smallish airport. Still not an excuse, IMHO. If I pay for a seat, I expect that seat to be available. Flight bumps result in extra expense, loss of precious vacation time, ruined plans, and a huge amount of stress.</p>
<p>I must admit that I was surprised by the bumps, too. My family flies frequently–often on US Air–and we have NEVER experienced bumping problems like we’ve experienced in the past two months.</p>
<p>None of the bumpees were offered flights an hour later. My husband and I were offered a flight six hours later (and US Air screwed up our boarding passes for that flight as someone else had the seats listed on our boarding passes–it was a nightmare), and three of the bumps were overnight.</p>
<p>All of these reservations were made well in advance at special web rates. I wonder if that had something to do with the bumps–i.e. it was less expensive to bump us since the airlines didn’t have to compensate us as much as those paying higher fares. Also, three of the bumps involved the last flights of the day, and I just read today that those flights are more likely to be overbooked.</p>
<p>Just google “US Airways Philly yelp” and you’ll see that my family members are not the only ones to experience bumping problems in Philly.</p>
<p>Edit: When I talked with my son today about his midnight bumping adventure last night, he told me the hotel shuttle was full of bumpees. I just have to wonder: Is it really less expensive for the airlines to bump passengers and give them meal, hotel, and travel vouchers than to not bump?</p>
<p>Airlines won’t do **** about those complaints as long as they can keep getting your family’s business by undercutting the other guy by $1.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, Still Allegheny In Reality.</p>
<p>I was somewhat expecting this merger for awhile, but just recently did it turn into reality. I personally like both airlines, but am currently earning status on another airline, so I don’t get to fly them as much as I normally would. Right now, I see this merger doing well if the Government and unions approve. I’m glad to see the Continental livery stay, but hopefully they will make “UNITED” look good when painted on the side of the plane.</p>
<p>In agreement with NYU, I hope that they keep Channel 9. I’m still undecided as to what will happen to US Airways. A merger is possible, but since America West hasn’t yet totally brought US into its fold (one reason being union issues), I don’t know how well that would turn out.</p>
<p>Many people choose airlines based solely on price and maybe schedule. As time goes on, there is less and less incentive to provide extra items/services to the majority of passengers, especially if it does not give one a sizable advantage in terms of profit. On a related note, airlines are still subject to many regulations that determine how they can operate. I do suggest that passengers read the airlines Contract of Carriage to see what the airline is required to do and what it is not. As NYU mentions, elite passengers do get an attractive list of benefits in thanks for our loyalty to that airline and its partners.</p>
<p>I suggest your family use on-line check-in to reduce the likelihood of being bumped, and I suggest you move out of Philadelphia as it might help your general disposition.</p>