USAIR and Freq. Flyer

[giniunand]

USAIR looks like they're going to file bankruptcy. I have a couple of tickets that I'm going to use to go for a short vacation (not made of money here), late in December ... been saving these tickets for quite some time, they are actually freq. flyer mile tickets. Does anyone have any personal experience with holding Freq. Flyer miles tickets and having an Airline file bankruptcy? I'm probably not the sole person in this situation. I have someone at work with a couple of tickets as well, but not sure what to tell him. Should I eat the little vacation time I have now and redeem the tickets at this point or has it been in your experience that what USAIR is going through will have no effect on the situation as it relates to Freq. Flyer miles ?

[Jason]

Depends on what form of bankruptcy they file - the effects on your freq flier miles could be anywhere from 'no change' to 'your screwed' if it's a shut the company down and sell everything sort of deal.

Jason

[tonyw]

The dirty little secret is that the mile programs are a profit center for airlines, so even if US Airways goes away, whoever picks up their assets will most likely keep those as well. Besides, since they're part of the Star Alliance, they'll probably be good on United or Lufthansa or ANA or Air New Zealand or....

[flyover]

Hmmmm. I would say there is some jeapordy there. If USAir shuts down for liquidation, they may be hard to redeem.

The miles are one thing, but you have redeemed the miles and are actually holding tickets. Besides the fact that there would be no seats available anywhere, I would think your tickets would be about last in line for reconciliation.

Tonyw thinks the miles programs are big money winners for the airlines. I have always understood exactly the opposite. But I do think with all the alliances your miles would be good somehwere else, unless they go down. Then all bets are off.

Have a good vacation. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[tonyw]

[ QUOTE ]
Tonyw thinks the miles programs are big money winners for the airlines. I have always understood exactly the opposite. But I do think with all the alliances your miles would be good somehwere else, unless they go down. Then all bets are off.

[/ QUOTE ]

The reason that they are profitable for the airlines is that the airlines sell the miles to people like credit card companies, mortgage companies, rental car companies, and the like. And then they control the inventory so tightly that they force you to fly when they want you to -- on flights that would otherwise have empty seats.

I think -- not 100 percent sure -- that the guy who writes the Middle Seat for the Wall Street Journal did an article on that.

[Doug Taylor]

I'm of the school of thought that FF miles are out of control.

I'm like the only person using real money (or at least a debit card) down at the grocery store because everyone's got FF-affiliated credit cards buying sliced wheat bread and nectarines.

I wonder how many of the super duper mega nine-hundred-million-thousand mile platinum flyers demanding upgrades to first class have actually flown in the past twelve months...

[pilot602]

Zero?

But hey, they "probably fly more than you Doug" so .. uh ... yeah. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img]

[Doug Taylor]

[ QUOTE ]
Zero?

But hey, they "probably fly more than you Doug" so .. uh ... yeah. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

If I had a $1 for every time I'm deadheading in uniform and a passenger smelling of lime, gin and tonic water nudges me with his elbow and says, "Huh... Yeah, I uhh, probably got mo' time in the air than you do there, son, I'm a platinum medallion flyer", I'd be face down, passed out on my yatch in the Mediterranean with a bunch of empty bottles of Cristal champagne rolling around the verandah deck.

[pilot602]

Start charging ... [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]

[Doug Taylor]

Top Ten passenger comments that annoy me while deadheading:

1. Is this your line?
2. Are you married to a flight attendant?
3. How long have you been flying? You don't look old enough to drive.
4. My (relative) is a pilot for (other airline), do you know him, he was in the Army Air Corps.
5. How many frequent flyer miles do YOU have, yuck yuck, I've got X.
6. Yuck yuck, you've never flown drunk (insert self-entertaining "I'm a BRILLIANT comedian" laugh)
7. How was Miami, did you get a chance to take an intercoastal cruise and go down to South Beach? (albeit it was a 9 hour "airport" hotel layover)
8. Why do they pay you so much because after all, can't the plane taxi, takeoff and land itself?
9. You must have a girlfriend in every station (?!)
10. Are you pilot or copilot? (followed by) When do you become a pilot? Don't you want to fly the airplane?

And it took me about 2 minutes to crank out this list. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

[mtsu_av8er]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Zero?

But hey, they "probably fly more than you Doug" so .. uh ... yeah. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

If I had a $1 for every time I'm deadheading in uniform and a passenger smelling of lime, gin and tonic water nudges me with his elbow and says, "Huh... Yeah, I uhh, probably got mo' than you do there, son, I'm a platinum medallion flyer", I'd be face down, passed out on my yatch in the Mediterranean with a bunch of empty bottles of Cristal champagne rolling around the verandah deck.

[/ QUOTE ]

Bad visual - fully clothed, I hope....

[Doug Taylor]

Oh, I guess I should add on one more:

(when you're walking towards the passenger cabin in uniform with your bags, at least EVERY OTHER ROW has a person saying this as you walk back to your seat

11. "Hey, ain't the cockpit THAT way? Ha ha ha. How're you going to fly the aero-plane from back He-yuh? yuck yuck"

[tonyw]

One thing every pilot can learn from the FAs is what I'll call the Dick Cheney smile.

You know, the one where you tell someone to do what Cheney suggested someone do, but you're smiling?

I've seen those used before, and the funny thing is, some people are so clueless that they think that the FA is being nice to them.

[danielsexton]

[ QUOTE ]
I'm of the school of thought that FF miles are out of control.

I'm like the only person using real money (or at least a debit card) down at the grocery store because everyone's got FF-affiliated credit cards buying sliced wheat bread and nectarines.

I wonder how many of the super duper mega nine-hundred-million-thousand mile platinum flyers demanding upgrades to first class have actually flown in the past twelve months...

[/ QUOTE ]

Hey Doug, if have you have the right Bank, (Chase, BofA, Bank1, and others) you can earn FF miles with that debit card. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/spin2.gif[/img]

[Doug Taylor]

Most of the people that I see at the store are signing the receipt so probably aren't using a debit card.

[danielsexton]

[ QUOTE ]
Most of the people that I see at the store are signing the receipt so probably aren't using a debit card.

[/ QUOTE ]

In order to earn Airline Miles with your Airline Miles Debit Card, you have to select credit and sign the reciept. The money still comes out of your checking account just like if you had used a pin #, the transaction just gets processed in a different method.

Processing your transaction as a "credit" transaction using your debit card, actually makes your bank money! Processing your transaction as a debit and entering a pin number dosen't (or at lest not as much) Some banks actually charge you to use a debit/check card with a pin, but reward you (with things such as airline miles) for selecting credit and making them money.

[pilot602]

[ QUOTE ]
One thing every pilot can learn from the FAs is what I'll call the Dick Cheney smile.

[/ QUOTE ]

The One Finger Salute works too ... [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif[/img]

Yes I've started to get a few on that list ...

1) Who do you fly for (when I say I fly, which is rare anymore .. me saying I fly that is)?
2) You're an instructor ... dont you wan't to be a pilot?
3) Aren't those little airplanes dangerous .. I'd never get in one ... yadda yadda ...

I can only imagine the horrors of being in uniform, in an airport amongst the great unwashed masses! [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif[/img]

[Doug Taylor]

I costs the merchant around 1.5 to 2% to accept a credit card transaction.

[tonyw]

[ QUOTE ]
3) Aren't those little airplanes dangerous .. I'd never get in one ... yadda yadda ...

[/ QUOTE ]

I get this one all the time.

"But there's only ONE engine, Tony. What if it dies on you?"

I'm like, "if I'm at 5,000 feet, I've got ten whole minutes to find a place to put the airplane down."

"Won't it drop out of the sky?"

"Not if you know how to fly it."

[danielsexton]

Right, that gets broken up (not evenly) between

1. Merchants bank/processor
2. Visa/MC/Disc/Amex
3. Your Bank

So, using your debit card if you bought $150 worth of grocerys (and slected credit) at 1.5% there is $2.25 to be divided between all 3 companys.

Debit transactions with a pin # average .25 to .45 (a flat rate not a percentage) per transaction. So you can see why the bank would rather you select credit. Think of a bank like BofA with millions of debit cards with millions of transactions worth millions of dollars each day, which would you rather earn a percentage or flat rate?

[mtsu_av8er]

I always use my check card, and I always select CREDIT....If I can avoid using my PIN, I do.

[Mahesh]

On a topic related to annoying questions/comments to pilots, I was visiting my girlfriend at DFW and I had a question and was looking for an AA representative. My girlfriend suddenly turns to a pilot who was walking by (who wasn't an AA pilot) and asked him the question.

I aoplogized for her and had to explain to her that just because someone is in uniform, it doesn't mean they konw everything about every airport they fly into.

[img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img]

Mahesh

[flyover]

[ QUOTE ]
The reason that they are profitable for the airlines is that the airlines sell the miles to people like credit card companies, mortgage companies, rental car companies, and the like. And then they control the inventory so tightly that they force you to fly when they want you to -- on flights that would otherwise have empty seats.

I think -- not 100 percent sure -- that the guy who writes the Middle Seat for the Wall Street Journal did an article on that.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, now they are marketing miles that you can use anytime. Using Joe Dirt in the ad.

You could be right. If so that 's great. Get it anywhere you can.

[Doug Taylor]

People can get very aggressive when they see a uniformed person. Some lady wanted to argue with me in Melbourne when I refused to load her bag in her car by the curb.

And if you don't know where baggage claim is, people literally look at you like you're an idiot.

Oh, even better. We land in Baltimore and we're completely short-staffed so we had a couple of unaccompanied minors waiting for their parents at the gate.

40 minutes later, no parents, so I took the initiative to grab the paperwork, call the parents on my personal telephone (couldn't dial long distance at the gate I guess) and see where they were.

Immediately, they started screaming at me on how long the security line is and how they couldn't get thru because they didn't have a boarding pass.

I let her know that she was able to go to the Delta ticket counter and they'll quickly issue her a 'gate pass' in order to come pick up her kid. Then I figured, I'll just walk the kid out to the security area and take car of it myself because she was a little belligerent.

So I grab the kid, walk out of security and the mother doesn't have her ID.

"Sorry ma'am, I really can't release XXX without an ID".

...A couple expletives and she walks out to her running car and walks back in with her ID, I do the procedure and she goes about her way, still cursing.

I really wanted to say "Hey lady, I'm just a pilot, I could have left your kid at the gate for a few hours until you got your ##### together" but that wouldn't be consistent with customer service and here **I** was the one doing her a big favor by stepping far outside of my job scope and walking thru security on a short turn.

Flying boxes is sounding better 'n better.

[Bog]

[ QUOTE ]
Top Ten passenger comments that annoy me while deadheading:
4. My (relative) is a pilot for (other airline), do you know him, he was in the Army Air Corps.
8. Why do they pay you so much because after all, can't the plane taxi, takeoff and land itself?
9. You must have a girlfriend in every station (?!)
10. Are you pilot or copilot? (followed by) When do you become a pilot? Don't you want to fly the airplane?


[/ QUOTE ]

Oh yeah! And don't forget more famous classics like:

21. So why can't I use my cell phone in flight? Does it really mess up the airplane?
22. So are you a member of the mile-high club?
23. Why does your (mine? I'm jumpseating, bizatch) airline charge so much for tickets out of the hub?
24. I'm instrument rated but would never fly an instrument approach down to minimums. How low do you go?

The people that piss me off the most are the "instant expert, just add other idiots" type. The ones who seem to know EVERYTHING about flying because they've watched that movie on Lifetime about the pilot who had 3 wives. Things like:

1. Guess they need to turn the cabin lights off so the pilots can see.
2. My cousin's second wife's sister's boyfriend's live-in housekeeper's neurologist said that any time they add power on a landing it's bad, so that landing was bad.
3. They're just flying slow so they can make more money.
4. That noise? Oh that's just the 14th-stage fetzer valve. I hear it all the time.
5. I'm a private pilot and know all about flying (no offense to you private pilots who do NOT claim to know it all).

I need to start writing all this crap down. Yes, Doug, flying boxes sounds WONDERFUL.