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After posting about the difficulties in reserving a mixed US Airways-United itinerary on either airline’s website last week, I contacted the two airlines about their codesharing policies, looking for some clarification. I’m pleased to report that US Airways has replied with a detailed response.

I asked Valerie Wunder, Associate Manager of Media Relations, to clarify why United-operated flights that had a US-codeshare weren’t coming up on usairways.com. (I asked similar questions of United Airlines, but have not yet received a reply.) She responded with a great, detailed e-mail, the bulk of which is quoted below the jump.

Four things stand out for me:

1) My observation that codeshared flights were restricted from sale (and not simply sold out) is largely validated, though my suspicions for the cause of the restriction are in dispute. Two reasons for the failure to list all codeshares are cited: “System migration issues” and “minimum connect timetable issues.” The former reason makes some sense, considering the integration of America West with US Airways systems has been incremental and problematic. Why should codeshare sales be any different?

But the minimum connect times? Over an hour’s connect time at CLT shouldn’t be an issue, so either the computers are being overly aggressive in blocking out partner flights with “short” connects, or this is a red herring.

2) United isn’t codesharing on the US Airways flights that are technically still operated by America West. United also isn’t codesharing US Airways Express flights when the plane has a capacity greater than 69 people. In both cases, “commercial reasons” are cited. Hmm…

3) US can’t sell UA nonstops if they operate the same exact nonstop route. ORD-CLT and ORD-DCA might be such routes. But they can sell these flights if they’re part of a connection.

4) More codeshares might be hard to come by, because they’re running out of numbers to use.

The bottom line from the airline’s corporate HQ is that US Airways’ website and reservation center still have a few more kinks to iron out of their system. They admit as much. And they admit that other booking sites may come up with more options (which is somewhat like throwing in the towel…)

Read the complete official explanation after the jump…
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Downgraded: Odds of seeing pole-dancer art on London-Gatwick approach
First it was the Kentucky Fried Chicken ad featuring a Colonel Sanders image visible from space. Now, a website’s advertisement featuring a giant chalk outline of a poledancing stripper is causing controversy in the UK. The image, in a field below a common approach path for flights to London’s Gatwick Airport, is only visible from the air, but is still causing an affront. It’s likely to be removed soon. But thanks to news reports and posts like this one far more people will see it online than ever would see it from a plane. (Yes, I’m guilty of supporting their marketing machine… I know…)

Upgraded: Kayak.com introduces alliance-based search
Aggregator Kayak.com tweaked its search tools ever so slightly, allowing you to sort by alliance (Star, oneworld, Skyteam) and not just by airline. But you can only sort it that way AFTER you’ve the basic search. (You can search preferred airlines up front, so why not alliances? Meh.) Orbitz has allowed alliance search for some time, but this is the first aggregator that I’m aware of that’s doing this.

Upgraded: Hertz’s environmentalist credibility
Last September, Hertz rolled out its “Green Collection” of rental cars and I was thoroughly unimpressed. Buick LaCrosse? Come on. Where were the hybrids? Well, it took nine months, but Hertz finally got around to buying more genuinely eco-friendly vehicles, with a purchase of 3,400 Toyota Priuses (or is that Prii?). That’s more like it.

Upgraded: Wine in coach. Viva jetBlue!
JetBlue is serving up some slightly more interesting wines than usual the usual coach fare. Thanks to a partnership with Best Cellars, the airline is giving their all-economy class passengers a slightly better guzzle. Choosing wine for coach can be challenging, since it has to be a) cheap, b) in tiny ready-for-sale bottles, unlike in premium cabins, and c) pair-able with a wider range of foods. I hadn’t thought about that last one before: After all, the wine in business and first can presumably be paired with the menu (though that’s not always obvious). But in coach, a wine demands “versatility in pairing with a wide assortment of airport meals people bring on planes, including pan pizzas from Pizza Hut and Taco Bell burritos with chicken and mole sauce.” (Taco Bell has a mole sauce? Really?) Either way, good for jetBlue, and good for their wine-imbibing passengers. (Thanks Tyler!)

Downgraded: US Airways right to serve any wine
Unlike jetBlue… US Airways, which got into trouble for selling booze without a license in New Mexico a few months ago, and which has been serving the sauce with a temporary scrip since then, was denied an extension of its license this past week. Tough break. BYOB, anyone?

Upgraded: Marriott; Downgraded: Ian Schrager (or is it the other way around?)
Look, I happen to like Marriott hotels for what they are: Consistent, clean, competent, and overall comfortable spaces to spend the night. (4 C’s!) They usually don’t have too much bling or pizazz, though some of their big-city properties have that 1980s glitz that has an odd appeal to my mid-to-late-30s, graying-gracefully, receding-hairline self. So when I hear that they’re teaming up with Ian Schrager, king of the boutique hotel, to create a new boutique-y brand, I’m skeptical. It seems like a late-to-the-game attempt to create a “W” chain within a chain. If it adds a little funk to the Marriott decor, great. (Bye bye brass fixtures, please!) But it also smacks of desperation. And isn’t Ian Schrager past this? Seems like he’s here to cash in while the cashin’ in is good.

Upgraded: WestJet’s honesty; Downgraded: Little old ladies’ pensions
Canada’s WestJet (hearts) little old ladies. Not because they’re nice grandmas, but because they’re walking piggy banks, and the airline’s got a hammer. Consider this nugget from the airline’s president:

“There would be a little old lady coming up and she’d have a table and she’d have a chair and she’d have six or seven bags and we’d say ‘Yeah, take it on the plane. No problem.’ Now we’re actually going to charge a little bit of money for taking that table and chair and those extra bags on board. And that incremental revenue that we extract from that little old lady is very, very profitable to us. Some 85% goes to the bottom line.”

Good for him, for saying publicly what other airline executives discuss privately. So I guess the business traveler isn’t the company profit center; the rarely-traveled senior citizen is. Bank it.

Upgraded: Amputees and their TSA experience
Got a prosthetic? The TSA wants to make your security checkpoint experience kinder and gentler. Good! On the other hand…

Downgraded: Sippy cups, and TSA cinema verité
A former Secret Service agent reports that she was harassed when she accidentally carried her child’s sippy cup of water through security. Stupid enough, but it gets more absurd: The TSA actually released a silent security tape of the incident, labeled “Mythbusters,” in their own defense. Feel free to view the videos, read the incident report, review the embarrassed mother’s story, and decide for yourself.

Upgraded: Demolition
Let me make myself perfectly clear: I want to help destroy this hotel. I’ve never been to it, but I want to help Spanish hotel chain NH Hoteles wreck the Alcala Hotel in Madrid. The company is holding a contest to see who can take a sledgehammer to the joint. Only 30 lucky few will get to play rockstar-cum-wrecking ball. Let the spirit of Keith Moon guide you.

While airline alliances were created for the primary benefit of the member airlines, they also promise benefits to the flying public, such as the ability to buy a wider range of codeshared flights. So why are US Airways and United Airlines refusing to sell each others’ flights?

Last night, I tried to reserve an itinerary, sold by US Airways, that involved a change of planes in Charlotte. Ideally, I wanted the final leg of my trip, from Charlotte to Chicago, to be the US-codeshared flight operated by United. The United flight’s time was more convenient, and I could sit in Economy Plus or even try my luck at burning an upgrade or two.

I knew from the timetables that the flight existed, that it carried a US Airways number (US Airways Flight US5909, operated by United Airlines as Flight UA569), and that it was available for sale on sites like Orbitz, at the same exact price as other itineraries that were wholly operated by US Airways.

But US Airways wouldn’t reserve the flight for me.

Here’s how it worked: I started by going online and searching for flights. US Airways’ website did not include a single flight that was operated by United in its search results. Not one. Neither as a US-labeled codeshare, nor as a UA-numbered flight.

So I tried United’s website. Their search engine lets you tick a box to “include Star Alliance flights” in the search results. But it only included some Star Alliance flights, and only ones that carried a United codeshare number. The list wasn’t exhaustive, either — not all codeshared flights were listed. And it didn’t include any flights that were sold under the US flight number.

In the past, I have been able to use United’s site to book flights on other Star Alliance carriers, usually as part of a mixed itinerary. That doesn’t appear to be consistently possible any more. The site’s help page for booking codeshares implies that it should still be possible to book Star Alliance and codeshare flights using their tool. But the options are severely restricted.

None of this would have been an issue if I had been ready to pull the trigger and purchase the ticket right then and there. I could have just gone to Orbitz and bought the flight, albeit with a $6 surcharge. But I wanted to put the flight on a 24-hour hold, and Orbitz doesn’t allow that. US Airways’ website doesn’t allow putting flights on hold, either (that’s a post for another day), so I picked up the phone and called them.

The phone agent couldn’t — or wouldn’t — reserve the flight I wanted. I gave them the flight number — US5909 — but the answer was no. “That flight is not available for purchase.” So I settled for a later flight, which leaves me more time to partake in the Charlotte Airport’s rocking chairs, barbeque stands, and North Carolina wine bar.

My experience doesn’t appear to be a complete fluke. I’ve seen this sort of thing before, but I’ve always assumed it was just a temporary glitch. After seeing this again and again, it seems deliberate. To give them one last benefit of the doubt, I just tried searching different itineraries (some domestic, some international) on both the United and the US Airways websites. US Airways excluded every United-operated option, every time. United’s website included some US Airways flights, but only if they carried a UA number. Other Star Alliance carriers, like Lufthansa, didn’t face the same discrimination.

My only conclusion: US Airways and United are no longer fully cooperating within the Star Alliance. It’s stupid, it’s annoying, and it irritates the consumer. Fix it.

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Upgraded: Airport food
A positive trend: The resurgence of local restaurants, snacks, and food gifts at airports across America. Ironically, these local brands are often being brought in by the national mega-vendors like HMS Host, who sense that people are tiring of finding the same five food options in every airport. (Thanks Dr. Vino!)

Upgraded: Irony
The passenger who recently flew internationally despite being diagnosed with tuberculosis and warned not to travel? His father-in-law is a microbiologist at the Center for Disease Control in (wait for it…) the Division of Tuberculosis Elimination. What are the odds?

Downgraded: US Airways tray tables, again
They just keep classin’ the joint up, don’t they? First it was tray table advertising in coach. Then they added ads to the tray tables in first class. Apparently people were able to ignore the ads sufficiently, though, so they’re adding editorial content from BusinessWeek magazine. Why? “Research showed that passengers remembered the ads better when they were accompanied by editorial content.” Other blogs are already deriding this (see here and here for two examples) and I’m all too happy to pile on. May I suggest that the following recent BusinessWeek articles be considered for lamination onto US Airways’ tray tables:

• “The Worst Airline Meltdowns: US Airways, Philadelphia, December 2004“
• “S&P Cuts UAL, AMR, US Airways, and Continental“
• “Airlines Brace for a Bumpy Ride“

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Three offers that might help you if you’re looking to beef up your frequent flyer account.

(Don’t forget to spend some of those miles, too, you know… They don’t earn interest!)

1) Delta
Airlines have a bajillion partners through whom you can earn miles, and Delta is adding an incentive for you to spend your cash with Delta partners. Register here. Then, through May 31, you’ll get 5000 bonus miles for every set of 5 Delta SkyMiles partners you transact with, up to a 25,000-mile bonus.

2) US Airways
Reader Matthew points to this promo from online bank Netbank for new customers opening accounts:

4000 Dividend miles for opening a netbank checking account and keeping a minimum average daily balance of $500 USD for 1 month. Miles arrive 4-6 weeks after this. They have a similar promotion for their CD and money market products, but each requires more cash. Offers CAN be used in combination for a total of up to 13,000 miles. Not sure if miles arrive in lump sum or if they’re given over time.

Miles are not elite-qualifying, so you won’t hit Gold or Chairman’s Preferred any faster this way. But they’re still redeemable miles. (Thanks Matthew!)

3) United
This isn’t a new offer. In fact, it dates back to October. But I get asked about this semi-regularly, and the fact that it’s still ongoing amazes me. Chase is still offering the United Mileage Plus Visa with no annual fee for the first year, and with a whopping 25,000 bonus miles. If you’re looking for a Visa for your business, they have a 1-year no-fee card with 25,000 bonus miles for commercial accounts, too. See here for the latter card. Previously posted here in slightly greater detail.

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Downgraded: Lavender
Update: The controversial and lame American Airlines website for women got a minor redesign, as Meg at the Consumerist noticed. See the before-and-after screenshots above. The criticism must have gotten to them. Gone is the lavender flight search box, though it’s still a dumbed-down version with fewer options than the main search page. Is this progress?

Upgraded: US Airways, Downgraded: Southwestern temperance
The booze is back in the Land of Enchantment! US Airways is once again serving alcoholic drinks on flights to and from New Mexico. Recall that they got busted for serving liquor without a license. Tipple with impunity.

Downgraded: Late night arrivals at Detroit; Upgraded: Odds of a PBOR
It happened again. Passengers were stuck on a plane for hours, bathrooms had no water, etc. A late-arriving Spirit Airlines flight from Cancun couldn’t be processed after landing (at 11 p.m.), because Homeland Security’s Customs/Immigration agents had gone home for the night. It took until 4 a.m. the next day for passengers to be let out. Update: Or the plane landed early! And Customs’ computers were down. And passengers left the plane at 12:30 a.m., if you believe Customs. Or later, depending on who’s telling the story.

Upgraded: Lufthansa first class seating
No preview images yet, but Lufthansa is upgrading their first class cabins, beginning with winter 2008. The new seats were meant to debut with the A380, but given the delivery delays, they’re just rolling them out anyway.

Upgraded, potentially: Baggage screening
Assuming the bill survives a veto threat from President Bush, airports across America could receive new equipment that supposedly screens baggage faster and more accurately than previous versions. Why the veto threat? The bill also contains a provision permitting TSA agents to unionize.

Downgraded: Flights from LAX
United Airlines and Los Angeles World Airports are having a spat about the rent. United says the rent hike is a violation of the lease agreement, but until the dust settles, they’re charging passengers who board a flight at LAX an extra $10 to cover the difference, even though the actual costs to the airline are allegedly a lot less. Now Delta and US Airways have followed suit and raised fares out of LAX by the same $10. Lovely.

Upgraded: Baltimore!
Layover at BWI? Grab a glass of wine at the newest branch of Vino Volo, the chain of in-airport wine bars. Other locations include Washington Dulles, Sacramento, and Seattle. (Via Jaunted)

In today’s New York Sun, Phil Wahba has a piece on US Airways’ decision to start advertising on the tray tables in first class.

The airline has had ads on the trays in coach for some time now, but this is the most brazen incursion of advertising into the premium cabins.

“A lot of people will think placing ads in first class is déclassé,” Mr. Ashley, who logged 75,000 miles traveling the world last year, said. “I think it signals that US Airways is not trying to position its firstclass travel as a premium product.”

Gee that Mr. Ashley who’s quoted in the article sure makes a lot of sense!…

In particular, I’d follow up to say that US Airways has thrown in the towel on selling seats in first class. If you’re crassly making the cabin a billboard, then you’re implicitly admitting that the first class cabin is only appealing to upgraders. Upgraders are all freeloaders in the airline’s eyes, so why try to make them feel relaxed? Go on and make ‘em stare at an ad for Bose.

But 30% of US Airways passengers still pay for the privilege. I don’t know how this compares to other airlines, and I’m sure it varies tremendously by route. But if you’ve been a paying passenger in US’ first class, then you’ve just been thrown under the bus.

I’ve seen advertising in subtler forms before — free samples of mints or gum on the meal tray, for example. (I got a coupon for gum with the meal once on United, which was tacky, too.)

The US Airways spokesperson is quoted in the article as favorably comparing his airline to European low-cost carriers, who place ads all over the plane, making it a “flying subway.” Presumably he is referring to Ryanair, EasyJet, etc. But what kind of comparison is that? None of those airlines have first class.

From the sound of it, US Airways may not have a first class anymore, either.

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For your entertainment: Thirty seconds of airport luggage conveyor-belt hijinks!

This is what happens when the Las Vegas McCarran International Airport, along with US Airways, puts four planes worth of luggage onto one baggage carousel at the same time.

Video from:
Friday, March 2, 2007
US Airways # 773
Philadelphia to Las Vegas

Thanks to Consumerist.com editor Ben Popken!

If you use US Airways miles to fly internationally, February 21 was a bad day.

On that day, US Airways reorganized their frequent flyer mile award chart (pdf) for international travel on Star Alliance or partner airlines. (Itineraries entirely on US Airways appear to be unchanged.)

Gary Leff compared the old chart to the new chart, and found a few itineraries that now cost more. Most notably:

The first item I’ve noticed is that flights between North America and “South and Central Asia” now run 80,000 miles for coach/120,000 for business/160,000 for first class — up from 60/90/120 thousand respectively.

On the flip side, flights from North America to Africa are cheaper 10,000 miles cheaper than before, in every class. But considering how many more passengers fly to Asia than to Africa, this doesn’t cancel out the price hikes.

But far, far worse than the devaluation of miles is the fact that they didn’t tell anybody. There was no press release, no announcement, and according to reports on FlyerTalk, no mention of the changes on the US Airways website until March 6, 2007. Thumbs down.

At least other airlines, such as United and Delta, gave several months’ warning when they changed their awards programs. Way to stay classy, US Airways!

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Maybe US Airways does have a liquor problem…
Maybe New Mexico’s recent restrictions on US Airways’ serving liquor on flights to and from the state had something to do with company CEO Doug Parker. The executive has apparently been busted for driving under the influence, perhaps after downing one too many mini-bottles from the drink cart. Maybe he should have had a cup of the God-awful “Ma Parker’s roast” coffee that his airline served instead. (Then again, that swill will drive anyone to drink.)

Delta looks the other way
What does Delta owe you if you PROVE that one of their baggage handlers stole a camera out of your suitcase? Nothing! The Consumerist has the story of a sleuthing passenger who tracked down his stolen camera on eBay, got the seller (a Delta employee) arrested (and fired!), and even got his camera back. But he didn’t get an apology voucher from Delta. The airline argues that they’re even. He got his camera back, and they got him from point A to point B, and so he’s due nothing. No mention of the fact that their own staff ripped him off, causing him countless hours of hassle and endless frustration. Jeez, throw the guy a bone! Apologize and give him a coupon!

Oh sure, blame the volcano
Flashback to 1982: A British Airways 747 loses power in all four of its engines, and starts going down. Miraculously, it doesn’t crash and everyone survives. The culprit: volcano ash. It’s a fascinating tale, and a good way to start the weekend. (via David Rowell)

Pilots packing heat: Captain Bernard Goetz wishes you a pleasant flight
The U.S. State Department and Homeland Security are trying to get more countries to allow American pilots to carry guns when they fly internationally. ( “Who’s Bernard Goetz?” See here.)

Reminder: Travvies Nominations close Monday morning, bright and early
Just a short reminder that nominations for the Travvies — the awards for the best travel blogs — end Monday. Then the nominations will be sent off to the judges, who will pick the finalists. Public voting starts just over a week later. Thanks to everyone for all the great nominations so far! Click here for the nomination start page, or click on the award categories in the sidebar.

Reader Raul S. asks:

You’ve mentioned paid upgrades at check in, but how much does that actually cost?

The price depends on a variety of factors, such as the route, how full the plane is, and possibly other, secret factors. It’s impossible to accurately predict an offer of a paid upgrade, but it can never hurt to ask. Not all airlines offer upgrades for sale at check-in, either; in fact, I’d say the number that DO sell them is in the minority.

U.S. carriers are far and away the most likely to try to squeeze out some extra revenue if business or first class seats remain available.

Alaska Airlines is the most explicit in describing their paid-upgrade policy, and they’re also the cheapest. As outlined in their chart, upgrades only cost $50 for every 1250 miles flown. US Airways charges a little more. United has lately been selling domestic upgrades at check-in at a rate of $65 for every 500 miles (or portion thereof) flown. I’ve seen higher, too, but $65/500 is the normal rate.

Internationally, it seems to vary more. On United, I recall being offered an upgrade from coach to business for $550 on the Washington-Amsterdam route — on award tickets — and $450 on paid tickets from Chicago to Frankfurt. $550 is a seemingly magic number that comes up a lot for trans-Pacific routes. American’s upgrades are similarly priced — and considering they charge a fee to use miles for upgrades, the all-cash upgrades are a decent deal. British Airways also occasionally offers upgrades for sale — even on board. I’ve heard of upgrades from regular economy to premium economy for about $250, but that was several years ago.

All these upgrades are one-way, of course. If it’s available on the return flight, you can expect to pay up again. And it may not be the same price. Crapshoot!

Note also that you don’t earn any class-of-service bonus miles for sitting in the bigger seats, even if you’re paying money for it. It’s still an upgrade from a lower booking class, not a purchase of a premium-class ticket.

Is it worth it? Depends on you. But at least you’ll be sitting up front.

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It’s o-vah.

US Airways is giving up in its efforts to merge with Delta. Delta’s creditors are backing management’s efforts to emerge as a standalone company, and the airline has lined up exit financing.

Will US Airways go after someone else? Maybe. Northwest, the obvious next choice, says it doesn’t want a merger partner. There are other combinations to watch, too. Midwest rejected AirTran’s bid. United and Continental keep coming up as possible suitors, and United’s CEO mentions his desire for consolidation anytime he sees an open mike.

The failure of US-DL may mean that the immediate rush to mergers is over, but I’m sure we’ll see a merger of some kind announced before the year is out.

For now, though, nothing has changed.

Related:
- Reader mail: What will airline mergers mean to consumers?
- Here we go again: Airline merger madness, back in the news
- US Airways bids for Delta