US Airways
Reviews and Complaints

The first comment must be from her or a US Airways flight attendant. I was myself yelled at and was told that the cops were going to pick me in Barcelona because she heard something that I did not even say! I was talking to my neighbor and say "It's dumb" and she heard me saying to my neighbor "she's dumb". First, same comment, even if I had say to my neighbor "she's dumb" I do that the right of free speech and therefore express my opinion but the point is that I did not even say what she heard! Bottom line, she started screaming at me "I am not dumb, I am not dumb, you zip it. You'll see when the cops will come to pick you up in Barcelona (I was flighing PHL-BCN). I tried to tell her that I never said that she was Dumb and she kept on interrupting me "I have heard you, you said She's dumb so zip it". She was screaming, totally lost it. She never wore a tag or apron with her name after the incident so I could not see her name but since I took the name of all the others, they can easily find out who she is by elimination. She is blond, straight hair above the shoulder around 30 years old. Pretty but obviously she thinks she has all power in a plane! Ha and must say, after seeing her behavior, I should have said SHE IS DUMB! Last time I take US Airways.

Having read Doug Parker's CEO letter in the current issue of US AIRWAYS magazine, while sitting on Flt.#969 PHL-SFO, waiting to take off, I was thinking"Wow, this is great!At least, they won't lose my bag."

That has always been an issue, perceived or otherwise.Good to know it's been addressed.

The attendant at baggage check-in had a rather indifferent attitude towards me and my companion when asked about moving our seats closer together.He changed our seats online, handed over new passes.Turns out he put us farther apart.When we called him on it, he said there were no more seats, that's all!

We boarded, the plane was declared loaded, doors closed, some empty seats still available.Thumbs down on the baggage attendant.

So, after sitting on the plane for an hour(!), we take off and I'm thinking this particular plane seems a bit cramped.Yes, it was an almost full flight, but the plane itself seemed to be smaller than others I had been

on, when travelling coast to coast.Oh, the plane was an A319 ! This plane seemed to be the type used for flights under 3 hours, say, Philly to Florida.

OK, a 6 hour flight will be tolerable once the movie starts, but, there's no movie!There's no video!Well, there's always the audio channels available.That will do nicely.Wrong, no audio on this flight!

The flight attendants announced the menu available from the service cart.They had a limited quantity of chicken sandwiches and/or cheese plates available.That was it!They ran out of chicken sandwiches barely a third of the way through the main cabin, so I had the cheese plate.Of course, I don't mind paying $8.00 for a SMALL plate of food.

At least, have enough food choice for the entire cabin.

Of course, the drinks service was adequate.

None of these shortcomings were lost on the flight attendants.I could see the concern in their actions.But I commend them for their stoic demeanor..These attendants have unlimited patience when dealing with a tired, hungry, packed cabin that have been sitting for 7 hours plus, on a plane designed for short to medium length flights.They have my gratitude.

On the return flight, #1492 SFO-PHL, leaving at 10:00 PM, the plane was an A321.Now that's a more comfortable plane for that length of flight time.My traveling companion warned me that there might not be any movies or video on this flight due to the late hour of departure.Well, I'll just listen to the audio channels.Uh, no audio channels on this flight!Ah, but there is Wi-Fi.Excellent, I'm on vacation and my laptop is safely at home.Time to turn off the overhead light and try to sleep.

We landed safely.

Oh, I almost forgot!

Our bags were not lost!

I travel on US AIRWAYS once, maybe twice a year and I have always been able to overlook the inadequacies of the company.Not now.

I feel like I've been ripped off this time, and it was enough to send me to the keyboard!

I've never been so upset with a flight - I'm not one to complain about cancellations and delays, these things happen. I'm not very sensitive to busy flight attendants either, they're people dealing with their own issues every day too. However, this was unbelievable. Below is the letter I sent to US Airways after getting home from the airport still so furious that I was fighting back tears. I wrote the following to US Airways and was going to leave it at that until I saw the video taken by a passenger of another passenger being deplaned over saggy pants, at which point I decided to google it. I wanted see how rampant customer service complaints are with this company. What I'm finding is shocking.

To Whom It May Concern:
I did not stop to obtain the name of the person at subject of this communication, so I apologize in advance for my inability to provide the full details of the issue. I'm sure this is not the first complaint about this employee however and have no doubt that you will in short order identify her. I have never been so aghast or repulsed by a flight attendant's performance and do fully expect that this complaint will be taken seriously. The flight attendant was working flight 1480 from Charlotte to Detroit that was scheduled to depart at 4:27 PM and is thin with short blonde hair, approximately 45-50 years old.

I was seated in 11C, just behind the emergency exit rows as the safety speeches were underway. The flight attendant going through the explanation of the duties required for seating in these rows was standing in the aisle two rows in front of me, asking all to affirm that they understood and agreed, asking that they respond with the statement "I understand." The gentleman in 10D said "yes" rather than the required statement and the flight attendant's behavior became shockingly demeaning. She told him that she needed him to say that he understood and he responded that he understood, at which point she leaned down in front of him as one does with a naughty toddler and said to him loudly, "Then what did I just say?" Looking at her in disbelief as she launched into a loud and indiscreet lecture over the necessities of his seating, the gentleman was quite visibly embarrassed. She then asked if he would like to be moved to another seat, to which he responded no, that he liked the leg room (in what appeared to be an attempt to diffuse the situation with humor) and she responded with more public lecture.

She then came down the aisle to me and said "Push your bag completely under the seat in front of you." I pushed the bag the required inches from its original location and quipped to the man seated next to me (who had been equally appalled at her behavior) that three inches will make all the difference and reopened my book. The flight attendant bent down, placing her head between my face and the seat in front of me and said "What did you just say to me?" Shocked at her confrontational behavior and invasion of my personal space, I repeated what I'd said to the man next to me. At this she began a lecture about the space and an accident, to which I said "Yes, yes, I understand". I was trying avoid the same extended public shaming delivered to the man in front of me. She then stood up and pressed the call button, interrupting the other flight attendant in his safety speech, making her threat to remove me from the plane very clear. In my utter horror and surprise, I said "really"? The idea that I was about to be removed from the plane and probably arrested for making a joke about the effectiveness of three inches in saving my life during a plane wreck left me astounded. Was this really happening? She looked back down at me and said, again loudly and as if I was a school child being reprimanded on a playground by a nun, "Are we going to have a problem?" I responded that I just wanted to read my book. I know by this point my face was burning red with mortification and my only goal was to end the harrassment. The people seated around me, to my left, behind and across the aisle, all expressed the same incredulity as soon as she was safely out of ear shot - no one wanted to place themselves in her sights.

I fly on a regular basis and I have never been chastised or threatened with removal from a plane. More, I am a paying customer who did not deserve the treatment I received on your flight. If any of my employees EVER treated a customer in such a way, he or she would be terminated with prejudice on the spot. I am still quite beside myself and frankly furious. I tell you now that if I ever see that woman working a flight on which I am scheduled to fly again, I will immediately disembark and find another carrier, knowing that US Airways allows their employees to indulge in pointless power trips, to disrespect and publically demean its customers. Today was completely uncalled for, utterly unacceptable and I would rather pay much higher prices at Delta than ever subject myself to that again.

Regards.

P.S. I would recommend that you reach out to the man seated in 10D and apologize - he was also humiliated and did not even crack a joke to bring this degradation down on himself; I am quite sure that he also is furious.

I took a connecting flight from Charolette to Houston and while refreshments were being served the crew member didn't acknowledge me. I was seated in a aisle, which meant she should have asked me first what I would like to drink, instead, she asked the woman next to me what she wanted. She never made eye contact with me, nor did she ever come back to me and ask if I would like a refreshment. I stopped another crew member who was serving and politely asked him for something to drink. I'm a Muslim and I know I was overlooked because of who I am. I felt embarrassed, angry and shocked that I was treated this way.

I wanted to tell you about the issue I'm facing with US Airways' dividend miles program, which is part of the larger Star Alliance miles program that includes other partners such as Lufthansa, Air Canada, Turkish Air...etc.

This March, I saw a news article that mentioned an offer on US Airways' website, where if you bought miles on their program, you would get a 100% increase on the miles after satisfying certain conditions. I called to verify that I could use them for upgrades on other partners such as Lufthansa. Based on their confirmation that I could use them for upgrades on Lufthansa, I purchased $2, 700 worth of miles.

This week, I tried to redeem those miles by trying to purchase an award flight to Saudi Arabia either on Lufthansa or Turkish Airlines. After staying on the phone for 4-5 hours, no seats could be found for up to 90 days in the summer because of the limited availability of mileage class seats. I understood that this could have been due to the summer increase in demand and I also understood that there were no guarantees on the availability of seats.

However, then I decided that I would purchase the tickets on Lufthansa and then use the US Airways miles for an upgrade since it was a partner. So, then they tell me that they cannot check the availability of mileage upgrade seats on other partners and that I would first have to purchase the ticket on the other partner and then request through US airways on the CHANCE that there MIGHT be availability. This is what got to me.

So, the miles that I had were practically worthless because I could not use them to get award miles for the trips that I wanted for the foreseeable future I would also have to GAMBLE in case I wanted an upgrade on the other partner but part of the same Star Alliance point program. There was no way for me to go online to find mileage class availability.

After going through four agents, one of whom told me that she was only authorized to check a seven day window for availability, I talked to customer service to complain. While I was calm, the service rep started raising her voice at me, saying that they DID NOT FORCE me to purchase the miles. She also insinuated that I was just trying to get my money back while in reality I was trying to get the benefit of the miles I purchased.

Broken down, these are the problems that I see here:
- This program sells miles, with so many restrictions, that they are impossible to derive any benefit out of.

- It is unclear, but it may be that they are flooding the market with miles, but at the same time not providing the airline seats to use those miles.

- I understand that they don't guarantee upgrades, but the same time there is no mechanism for someone who purchased miles to use them for an upgrade without gambling by purchasing the economy ticket first.

I hope this long-winded email was not just a waste of your time and that I am not just complaining for being a sucker and not reading the terms and conditions more carefully. However, I would like to think that this leading-down-the-garden-path as I see it, if not illegal, is at least unethical practice.

Thank you for your time and consideration

I want to complain about a flight attendant that US Airways employs that bullies passengers. Her name is Donna Cucharale and I am beyond understanding how they can employ someone like this who most certainly has extreme personality and anger issues. It's time for US Airways and other airlines to stop this behavior. One wonders how they must behave in their own personal lives. How can they employ people like this? I feel sorry for other passengers, like myself, that have been subjected to such negative behavior and hope that no one else she comes into contact must deal with her behavior, such as it is. Harassment and bullying should not be allowed in any environment. But, this flight attendant, I have no idea how she could ever have gotten her job but to "fake it" and I wonder who suffers in her personal life for her "out of range" behavior. Please note to all airlines besides US Airways - are you so desperate that you allow the people paying your bills (the passengers) to be subjected to such horrible behavior? And, perhaps, you should do routine psychological testing on your employees and lie detector tests to make sure they are telling the truth? And, perhaps, you should investigate their personal lives and see how they treat people they come into contact with to find out the entire truth. No one deserves to be bullied. I have had enough and I am sure many others have. This is not acceptable in any way.

Let me start off by saying that I have NEVER been treated so poorly by someone before in my life. Let me explain; My original flight number 1463 out of RIC on 12/29/09 was cancelled. The reservations agent rebooked me and mother on an earlier flight. I explained at the time that we have a service animal for my mother and she will need wheelchair assistance and we need to sit together. When we arrived at the airport, the ticketing agent said that there were no seats anywhere even near each other and I was placed in an exit row where the dog couldn't be. She checked us in and assured me that the gate agent would be able to fix this problem. When we arrived at the gate, I approached the gate agent and TRIED to explain my situation. The gate agent (Dana McGrath) quickly cut me off and told me that she needed to board the plane and this should have been done by the ticketing agent when we checked in. She then continued to tell me that she needed to board the plane. I was able to get the words out that I'm in an exit row and was told the dog can't be in that row. I also tried to explain my mothers disability and the need to sit together. I even tried to show her documentation stating my requests. She proceeded to speak to me in a tone that I would not speak to my worst enemy in. She looked at my ticket and then started mumbling something about her mother has a service/therapy dog does not have these problems at the gate and that the ticketing agent should have fixed this...Now what her mother has to do with this is beyond me. She then focused on the fact that both of out tickets showed that we were a GOLD member and that it's the same number and we can't get credit for both. I then replied with one was a reward ticket, and the frequent flyer number was on it and assured her that double credit wouldn't be given. Now again, I have no idea what this has to do with my situation of being in an exit row with a dog, my mothers disability and the need for us to sit together. I proceeded to tell her that she is being rude and asked for her name. She said "I don't have a name". I looked at her badge and it said Dana M. I responded with well your badge says Dana, please tell me your last name Dana. She said “I doesn't have a last name either”. I again looked at her badge and saw that her last name was McGrath. So during all this time of her being rude she could have just fixed our seating problem. I'm sure someone would have switched in a heartbeat to sit in an exit row. But to Dana, fixing the problem was not an option. She was trying to find fault and pass blame. It gets worse. As we were boarding, she was pushing my mothers wheel chair and verbally attacked me in front of the flight attendant on the plane we were boarding. She said that I have an attitude and should not be a service/therapy dog handler. My question is, who is she to instigate, pass judgement and make recommendations. Need less to say I was speechless and disgusted by Dana's behavior. I told her I was in the medical field and she shouldn't be in customer service since she doesn't want to help her customers. She then said she was going to count to 3 and if I said a word she was calling security. The flight attendant apologized to me and told me that she was unprofessional and couldn't believe the way she spoke to me. Dana's tone and attitude was beyond disgusting. Also to top it off, when we arrived at PHL for our layover there was no one with a wheelchair or to assist us even though I presented the proper documentation that was given to us from the ticketing agent. We have a choice to use any airline and I expect to be treated at least like a human being. To treat a disabled person the way Dana treated me and my mother is just plain wrong. She should not be in any customer service job with UsAirways or any where else.

One of their flight attendants slammed her trolley against my knee, it is still swollen - were she hit me it is green and blue. Obviously for this airline it is a normal procedure to hit passengers if they are in the way: FA's comment was "these kind of accidents can't be avoided." US Airways never replied to my complaints. I have been flying for over 40 years with dozens of different airlines and never had such an experience with other Airlines. It looks like it is a normal thing for them that passengers get injured by negligent FA's and they consider it a wast of time to respond. US Airways: NEVER AGAIN !

LETTER TO US AIRWAYS REGARDING CRUEL TREATMENT TO AUTISTIC CHILD AND MOTHER
My husband booked a flight through travelocity.com, on December 15th, 2011, for my 9-year-old son and myself to NC, flying US Airways. My husband was to pick me up to spend Christmas at our second home, in Lenoir, NC. I had to reschedule my original flight due to illness and re-booked the same itinerary my husband had originally booked. At the time of the reservation, I mentioned to the ticket agent that I preferred to deplane in Charlotte, since it is an hour drive, either from Charlotte or Greensboro, it didn't make sense to fly another hour. He told me to let them know at the gate. I assumed it was either for security reasons, or so that another passenger would be able to board. We arrived, went through security, of course one bag had to be searched due to my carrying my son's Wii console and my nebulizer inhaler, for my asthma, completely understandable. At boarding time I informed the man at gate E-8, of my deplaning in Charlotte. He angrily responded that what I was doing was illegal. He then went on a tirade, saying, "Oh, I know why you did it, it's cheaper to fly to Greensboro, you're stealing!". This in front of everyone boarding a full flight, but more insultingly, in front of my little boy. I assured him that was not the case, if so, why would I have said anything? I maintained my composure, I have taught my son the difference between right and wrong, and stealing, of course, is completely unacceptable. I thanked him, mostly to diffuse the situation, said goodbye. My son, innocently, wished him a Merry Christmas, and we proceeded to board, or so I thought. Halfway down the aisle, he hollered from the entrance, "The lady going to Charlotte with the boy, come back!”. He did this a few times as I was approaching him. I worked my way back through the crowd, all eyes on us, of course, and he proceeded to tell me that I could not deplane in Charlotte and leave my son to fly alone to Greensboro. In a loud voice, repeating that is was illegal for me to leave a minor on the plane, alone. Firstly, I would never abandon my son, on a plane or anywhere, it was a ludicrous assumption. It was another opportunity for him to call attention and further embarrass us. It seems my son understood the gamut of what was happening, although he is Autistic. Imagine hearing someone say your mother is going to leave you alone on a plane. I chose to ignore his complete and utter rudeness and add fuel to his fire. We were headed for a much needed family vacation, during a lovely time of year. Giving into an obviously inept, unhappy human being is a choice I made to maintain my son's happiness, as well as my own. I fly often, nationally and internationally and have never been treated with such cruelty and nastiness as I had on the morning of December 19, 2010. Rest assured, I will be informing many of my treatment. Shame on the man at the gate. He berated my son and myself, if you could have only seen my little boy’s eyes. Loud voices and yelling rattle him, that poor excuse for a human being wanted to upset someone, he did, a child. The short flight seemed like an eternity. My son was unresponsive, repeating gibberish and teary eyed. I didn't attempt to get the mans name; I could only imagine what further humiliation he would have unleashed. Although you can easily get his name. It was flight 1645, from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, to Greensboro, NC, stopping in Charlotte, December 19, 2010, departing at 8:25 am. There were two at the counter, a younger man and the older black man, who is the one in question. I only mention his race for description purposes, no other reason.
I expect to have some response from US Airways and will hold off, temporarily until you respond, forwarding this letter to the many travel sites as well as the National Autism Society and the many other Children with Disabilities sites.

I will definitely search for flights on any other airline before even remotely considering yours.

Sincerely,

Ana Baidet
Key Largo, Florida
[protected]

My wife & I took a trip using US Airways this year for vacation booked by a travel agent at our 1st destination. We have both traveled a lot in the past but have never experienced the rudeness of the flight attendants and staff with any other airlines. I will NOT fly US Airways again even if they give me the tickets. 1st we observed not one but two flight attendants be rude to an elderly gentleman over his "bag not fitting all the way under the seat in front of him." He was very nice and trying to comply but they were rude and sarcastic. I was speechless at the time, but if I had been 10 years younger I would have probably berated this ### at minimum. If the male attendant had rebutted my verbal encounter, he would have lost some teeth for sure. 2nd US Airways canceled our connecting flight in Charlotte but never bothered to tell or help anyone to connect to another flight. After returning a half mile or so to their customer service desk, the staff their was sarcastic also, not to mention making a "personal" phone call while trying to halfway assist passengers in distress. She was no help and as I found out days later had even messed up the balance of our connections. They were dropped out of their system and I spent 2 hours repairing the damage the night before we were to leave out on the next leg of the trip. They actually ended up costing us $200 to rent a car to go one way to our next location and...never processed a refund for the portion not used. (I am working on that one presently) On part of our return portion of the trip, again in Charlotte NC, we came in on one end of the airport and had 20 minutes to go clear to the other end to make our next flight. We barely made it and our section has already boarded when the staff their made another sarcastic comment about why we were late. The truth is we were late because their previous flight ran late.
Never again US Airways. Our what I now refer to as US Scare ways. Travel at your own risk!

My daughter booked a flight to Hawaii on U.S. Airways but because of job commitments she had to cancel. They gave her a credit of equal value to the ticket to use anywhere U.S. Air flies. The ticket agent told her she had until September 18th to book a flight. She left it to the last minute of course but was booking a flight on the 16th & this agent told her that not only did she have to book the flight but complete it by the 18th. She got upset but to no avail. So my wife called them back & got a different agent & that agent told her that "oh know" that's not right she just has to book it. So they went through the routine again only to find out that the flight has to be completed by the 18th. Their agents do not know what their policies are on credits or vouchers. What can one expect they probably give them the usual two hour crash training course. The moral of the story is read the fine print & don't listen to their agents because they do not know what they are talking about.

Due to a death in my family, I was two days late in paying my USAirways Mastercard bill in November 2009. As a result, interest rate was increased to a whopping 26.24%

Since then, I have religiously paid on time and despite multiple requests, I have been denied an account review to receive a lower rate. I have called repeatedly and have been transferred to the Phillipines and India multiple times only to be told that I didn't qualify for an interest rate decrease. The litany usually goes with the initial operator telling me that I did qualify, followed by the relationship manager stating that there were currently no available offers for me.

Today, after speaking with Dan without a last name, but an identification code of OSCDUN at their Delaware processing center, I was again told that he was the highest manager I could reach without speaking to the president. Dan (who stated he didn't have a last name) refused to give me a phone number, his last name, or his manager's name upon request. I was told I could call back as many times as I wanted, but he was unable to tell me when a lower interest rate would be available. Plus, the only number he'd give me was the same insane number found on the back of my credit card.

In December of 2009, I booked a vacation to Kauai through Expedia. Months later, the return flight shifted so dramatically that Expedia allowed me to choose a new return path free of charge. I switched from a United return path to a codeshare path with US Airways hosting me from LIH to PHX, and PHX to ORD. From there, I was to hop on a flight from ORD to RDU that was United metal.

After Expedia re-booked me, I received an email confirmation from United.com (not Expedia; this is in United/US Airways system) with new ticket numbers and a dedicated US Airways confirmation number. It instructed me to check-in with US Airways on my departure date. I did.

Around 14 hours prior to my departure, I managed to not only check-in for my US Airways and United flights online, but even select seats for my wife and myself. Curiously, I could only print boarding passes for the United (ORD to RDU) leg, but I printed off the USAirways.com confirmation showing my confirmation number, flight numbers/times and freshly assigned seats from within my US Airways account.

3.5 hours prior to my departure on August 31st, I show up at LIH to the US Airways check-in counter. The lady behind the desk takes our IDs and prints out what appears to be boarding passes from LIH to PHX and another pair for PHX to ORD. At the bottom of these passes, it read "FLIGHT COUPON REQUIRED." I had never seen this; I assumed it was nothing. The check-in lady looked over my passes and assured me all was well. Sure enough, the passes had the seat numbers I had logged into USAirways.com and selected. It was crystal clear to both of us that my wife and myself were registered, checked in, and cleared for takeoff on this flight.

Boy, were we wrong. My wife and I soared through TSA security, with what I have now learned wasn't actually a boarding pass. That's right. It seems as if US Airways prints you out something that looks exactly like a boarding pass, complete with your name, flight number, codeshare flight number, US Airways confirmation number, boarding zone and gate number, you can actually fool the TSA into thinking that you're *actually supposed to be getting on a flight you paid for*. Imagine that. I was able to weasel right through security with what US Airways now tells me isn't actually a boarding pass. Let's just say I'm siding with the TSA on this one -- I had a boarding pass.

9:15PM rolls around for our 10PM flight. Zone 1 is called. We both march up and have our passes scanned -- they say something's wrong, so we step aside. A few ladies attempt to figure out what's going on, and their systems show my prior flight path (the one Expedia allowed me to book out of months ago), and thus, they claim they cannot allow me to board the flight in which I checked in for, selected seats for, received a boarding pass for and sailed through TSA checkpoints with. Believe it. It happened.

Their argument was that Expedia never told US Airways' system the new ticket numbers, so in theory US Airways wasn't getting paid. Bull-hockey. 4 US Airways agents looked it over (including the obviously incompetent agent that printed my passes out 3.5 hours ago without saying even a word that something was awry), and I was told to call Expedia and get them to change something over in their systems that I knew nothing about. As if I understand airline system lingo. They all stared right at my boarding passes (albeit passes with FLIGHT COUPON REQUIRED on them) as well as my Expedia *and* United.com receipts and confirmations. They couldn't care less about how legitimately I was supposed to be on this flight. Literally could not possibly care less. They bickered with Expedia on the phone for a few minutes and then stood by stoically as my flight departed in front of my face. Then two of the agents got a particular kick out of printing off the final paperwork with "163... oh wait, 162, oh wait! 161!" passengers on board. They literally joked about this dwindling number in front of my face, knowing full well a system snafu and their indifference to it caused me to be completely screwed. No one came close to apologizing or even attempting to act sympathetic.

They even had the nerve to suggest I purchase a seat on this plane and then ask someone for a refund afterwards. Amazing. Never once did I raise my voice or curse at anyone at the airport. I remained as calm as a person in this predicament could be. After my flight had departed, I remained on the line with Expedia pleading for them to rebook me -- as, according to US Airways, it was Expedia's fault for not passing along the correct information in time. Which remains a line I only half-believe to be true.

I finally spoke to a supervisor who managed to book me on a far less suitable route the following day, forcing me to spend a night in a desolate place with no rental car, no food and not a soul in sight to give a ###. This return was on United from takeoff to touchdown, but rather than being in exit row seats as I was supposed to on US Airways, my wife and I were relegated to middle seats 7 rows apart near the back of the aircraft. Of the three flights it will take to get home, we aren't together on any of them. Tough luck, you might say, and on any other day I'd agree with you -- but the fact that Expedia wouldn't at least book us together after all of this (or -- dare I say -- first class?!), was astounding.

I managed to ask the particularly spiteful US Airways agent if I could receive a taxi or hotel voucher due to my new situation, which would require me to spend another night away from a pressing job and dental surgery back in North Carolina. She phoned up some magical man, explained how Expedia (how dare we even consider blaming US Airways here?) had screwed me over, and then proceeded to be extraordinarily thrilled to hang up and inform me that US Airways could -- yet again -- not give two ### about my wife, myself or my future business with them. In other words: "You'll have to ask Expedia for a voucher, not us." Thanks, gal.

Expedia did manage to credit me a hotel voucher... which I couldn't use due to it being too late in the evening on August 31st. Instead, I had to search on my own to find a nearby hotel with a functioning shuttle and fork out my own money to stay the night. I assume Expedia thinks I actually care to ever use that voucher, or any of their services, ever again.

I'm scheduled to attempt this feat called "going home on a flight I paid dearly for" once again in a matter of hours. I have all sorts of doubts about it panning out.

Truth be told, this all reminds me of a shocking post I read from Michael Arrington in early August. At the time, I read the entire post and thought: "Man, I sure hope nothing like that ever happens to me." But here's the kicker: I came away feeling exactly like he did. In fact, I'll let him do the talking for my own emotions:

"But what I’d wish would happen is that some of these super expensive management consultants that are advising the airlines would just tell them one simple truth – I can live with no leg room, no food, dirty bathrooms and long delays. I can even live with lost bags.

If only a flight attendant, or baggage person, or whoever, would just commiserate with me for one moment. Maybe smile and say they’ll try their best to help. But until all that bad energy is gone, and the airlines have employees that don’t stare daggers at their customers, I’m out. I’ll stick to Virgin, Southwest and Jet Blue. Mostly Virgin because they have Internet. And if I can’t fly with them I’ll just cancel and use Skype video. Because life’s too short to deal with these ###s any longer."

Not once did these agents care to ask if I had a pressing job to get back to (I do; my entire team is at IFA / the Apple press event and it's vital that I'm on point), a dental emergency to deal with (I do; my bridge broke a few days ago and I have a Michael Strahan-sized gap in my mouth right now), or if my wife has paid photo sessions and a wedding to get home and shoot (if you couldn't guess, she does). They just got their jollies off by screwing over a relatively decent human being who was being hosed by computational mistakes that I had no power over. In Hawaii -- one of the kindest places in the world, to boot.

There's plenty of blame to go around. Expedia for not sending US Airways some magical number. US Airways for just generally not giving a ### whether I made this flight or ever flew with them again. And myself for ever thinking that US Airways could ever do anything right, ever.

I never once mentioned that I have a byline on one of the world's most widely read technology and travel sites on the web today. Frankly, I doubt it would've mattered to them. The two weeks preceding this flight just went a little too well, and I know life / fate enough to trust that bad stuff inevitably goes down shortly after amazing stuff. Hopefully I'll make it home this time and actually get this gap sealed up before the dentist closes for the weekend at 5PM on Thursday. But at least I can safely say that I'll pay to train with Michael Phelps and swim the length of the Pacific back to Hawaii before I ever step foot on a US Airways jet bridge again. And yes, I'd recommend you do likewise.

Incredibly rude and unprofessional flight attendant staff on my USAir International flight. Seem to resent their job and certainly resent providing any service. They wore no name tags and when I asked one attendant her name so I could identify her in a complaint to management, she refused to give me even her first name; said she didn't have to for security reasons.
Flight overall was dreadful. Movies didn't work for the first couple of hours, my overhead light never did work, they charge passengers for a bag of chips, and the list goes on.
Our 8 hours flight lasted over 14 hours as we were diverted from Philadelphia first to Harrisburg, PA, for a couple of hours, then to Atlantic City for awhile, and when we finally got into Philly, no gate was available, and when we got to a gate, no one was there to position the breezeway.
Avoid USAir.

On August 13th, 2010, while boarding US Airways flight 1669 from Punta Cana to Charlotte we experienced the most embarrassing situation perpetrated by an employee of Ventura Security, a "security company" outsourced by US Airways to handle a second tier of security measures for passengers boarding a US flight to the mainland. I was traveling with six passengers, two of which were senior citizens, 86 and 88, on wheel chairs. After going to Customs (Agriculture) and the (Dominican Republic) main security check point, we sat for over 1 and a half hour at Gate 5 waiting for the final call to board US Airways 1669. Mr. Martinez, an employee of Swissport provided two wheel chairs and assisted my in-laws to be transported in the wheel chairs from Gate 5 to the tarmac and to board the plane. One of my in-laws a passenger of US Airways flight 1669 had been ill for two days. He had been treated for an intestinal problem and possible dehydration by Dr. Rodriguez at the Bahia Principe Hotel (verification of illness is available). Alerted to his condition Mr. Martinez, the Swissport employee, proceeded to move the whole family and the wheel chair occupants expeditiously through the last check point. He respectfully addressed an employee by the name Yafreisi Mendez (Ventura Security employee) that we were all traveling together and that one of the passengers was not feeling well. The response from this Ventura Company employee could be best described as boisterous and unfriendly response to Mr. Martinez and I quote: "you ought to do your job and let me do mine." At this juncture, she pointed out at my wife and told her that she needed to open her carry-on bag. My wife is a diabetic, had her insulin, a doctor's note and syringes left for her use in the plane. This brusque woman yelled loud in an aggressive tone in front of a whole crowd of passengers that she had too many syringes and that she could not proceed to board the plane. We asked her what particular protocol she was following since we have traveled with syringes without any problem through the entire planet. We also showed her the doctor’s note and the prescription which stated 5 syringes per day.
To no avail and for lack of any other explanation, this woman was in a "power frenzy" rush and made it impossible for my family members to proceed to board the plane. The two senior citizens were waiting outdoor for a period of 15-minutes under the scorching sun, waiting for her to give permission to board the plane. Be aware that Punta Cana's airport services are still “Spartan" and passengers must proceed through the tarmac, escorted by airport employees to walk through an inordinate number of aircraft that are parked outside.
Ms. Yafreisi Mendez claimed that she had called a manager whom later on I was informed was a security manager for Swissport by the name of Angelo Mercedes. Since all the passengers had boarded the plane and we had remained behind, we told her that she could have all the syringes and let us proceed to board the plane. To this she replied: "I am not finished" and told my wife that she needed to frisk her. She took her time to do this procedure and did it "twice". She also claimed that she would need to contact the pilot in order for us to board the plane. After some persuasion from another US Airways employee who was working at Gate 5 and with a degree of frustration, this US Airways employee told the security employee to keep the syringes and to let us proceed to the plane without further delays because all other passengers were already on board. She finally gave in and allowed us to proceed to the tarmac where the two senior passengers on wheel chairs had remained under the care of Mr. Martinez. We walked hastily to the end of the tarmac to board the plane.

While aboard I asked Mary Dell, one of the US Airways flight attendants, if I could speak to the Captain and relate to him that my wife was a diabetic and needed her syringes. Captain Gregg Heckrodt immediately responded left the cockpit, identified himself and approached me. Subsequently, I related to him the unfortunate incident that had just occurred. During our conversation he confirmed that he had never received any telephone call to authorize us to proceed to the plane or any request for syringes to be allowed for my wife's use. In summary, he was unaware of any incident that was purportedly reported by Ventura Security employee or manager. He was quite taken back when I related to him that the security person, Yafreisi Mendez's, had quoted a minimum number of syringes to be allowed in a plane. He was quite surprised because as a pilot, he had never heard of such rule.
Approximately after five minutes elapsed after boarding the plane, I was told that security personnel were coming to the plane. Soon after, Mr. Angelo Mercedes, a Swissport employee came in. He had the syringes in his hands and proceeded to look around and told the attendants that he was looking for two passengers in the plane. He did not know the name of the passengers and was scanning the crowd to find them (don’t know what criteria he was using?) At this point, I approached and told him that the syringes were mine. I also asked him that an apology was in place. He was quite cocky and told me that I could go ahead and complaint in a "mocking" way. I realized later that he was not a Ventura employee; however, under the circumstances he should have exhibited a more courteous and professional demeanor.
This has been quite an embarrassing situation for my wife and my whole family. The 1669 flight crowd was in a frenzy trying to understand what was going on and why we had been detained. Imagine this scenario, a passenger gets stop for carrying syringes and a whole family is detained at the gate. Rumors and comments were circulating in various languages!

This type of incident should have never occurred if proper training and protocol were followed. It was a pissing match between employees who wanted another employee to know that she had "the power". US Airways needs to investigate, put in place propel protocol, require Ventura Security employees or any other company which they have surrendered their passenger's security to be properly trained and to ensure that passengers are treated in the most basic respectful and humane way and that no one should be subjected to any form of embarrassment in front of the public.

I also have a few questions that need to be answered and require US Airways to respond in writing:
1. Under what authority has US Airways given to Ventura employees to physically detain passengers because one diabetic passenger had syringes in her possession for medical reasons?

2. What purpose does the Ventura Company provide for US Airways and how are their procedures consistent with ATA or Homeland Security guidelines?

3. If passengers have gone through a check point by Dominican Republic employees at a security point, what power does Ventura Security employees have under Dominican law/statutes or a proxy by US entities to detain passengers?

4. If this is the company that handles US Airways Security issues in a foreign land, I am quite appalled and also apprehensive about the US Airways ability to handle a "real security" bridge or major security incident involving US nationals in a foreign country.

Attentively yours,
Dr. Pedro L. Martinez

Re: Complaint
Date: July 13, 2010

Dear Sir:
Please accept this letter as a complaint in reference to a trip I took on to flight #227 from Washington, D.C via Charlotte North Carolina to Atlanta, Ga. on Jul 11, 2010.
The ticket agent was very rude and disrespectful to us passengers, because of questions we put before him, we want to knowif he could put us on a earlier flight. His response was "shut" up in a very threaten manner. Then he announce flight placement on different flights, he could have been a little sensitive about the change, but he was very impolite I feel this matter could be having been hand in a respectful matter.
We were told by another ticket agent that flight 1429 to Atlanta had mechanical problems and we were rerouting to different flights. My flight was to leave for Atlanta at 11:40 this was my second plane to atlanta. We boarder the plane left the airport, but while waiting on the run way the captain told us this plane had mechanical problem with the air-condition, we turn around and went back to the airport to chance plane again. We waited until they got another plane, finally we all board and the plane left for Atlanta.
Because of the rude and disrespect behavior of the ticket agentI, and the inconvenience of missing important events during Sunday service.

Because my flight was to arrive in Atlanta at 9:00 am Sunday morning. I did not arrive in Atlanta until 4:00 pm on July 11, 201l0. Futhermore I did perchance a ticket that assurance me a seat and arriving on time in the Atlanta, Ga for July 11, 2010 at 9:AM
Because of the above resons I feel, I should be compensated for my incovence.
Thank you

Beatrice Burton

i am a diabetic. there no vending machines in sections d & e. after 2300 hrs everything is closed down. police swept the concourses to make sure no-one spent the night in the terminal. my flight on (u.s air) was on time, and i was told to report to gate e-4, which i did. the airline ticketing individual (female) said my flight was on time. five minuted before departure time, it was anounced the flight would be delayed thirty minutes, ok i guess. five minutes befor the new departure time, it was anounced the flight was cancelled, no reason given. having checked all possible excuses, the only one remaining, was there were only a few passangers to the final destination, and u.s. air. didn't want to spend the fuel and time for us. no compensation was offered, that we were on our own. end of case.