Kinglobjaw's Blog

Posts Tagged ‘DCA’

All the hype started around June 21, 2010 when US Airways had just over 21,000 followers on Twitter. Between Tweets and various banners on USAirways.com, everyone realized June 28, 2010 would be the day to start your engines, and computers among other things.

While I expected a higher frequency of deals involving more cities from the US Airways route network, I’m having a heck of time and heaps of fun. Let’s go over the events of the week!

Monday, June 28, 2010

1) The clue being “One Love, One Heart” a few minutes later a Tweet : Phoenix to Montego Bay, Jamaica each way for $20 + tax.

2) The clue being “fireworks”, US Airways offered 4th of July fares to it’s hub, Philadelphia from 25 cities on the East Coast/ Midwest for only $18 each way + tax. This fare allowed for a day trip in either direction (those try to get away from Philly and those wanting to see the city.)

3) Next, a trivia giveaway. First person to answer the question received a $1,500 gift card for US Airways flights. Easy question: “What is US Airways’ longest flight from Philadelphia”. Obviously, Tel Aviv.

4) Clueing us in with a metion of the Nobel prize, US Airways offers $89 one way + tax from Philadelphia to Oslo, Norway.

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

1) US Airways was up bright and early today having woken up myself one hour after US Airways tweeted $79 + tax one way fares from Charlotte to Rio de Janeiro. Samba! What an awesome deal.

2) The high roller clue followed by a $49 one way + tax fare in First Class from Dallas to Las Vegas. Interesting thing is- fare books into “A” (think paid First Class) so you even earn class-of-service bonus miles.

3) The next clue was “betting” us- I knew it was regarding a gambling destination. Right I was, $49 one way + tax fare from Phoenix, Arizona to either Las Vegas or Reno, Nevada. Also in First Class!

4) A weaker give away today. Today’s trivia question yielded a 2011 Gold Preferred membership along with a year at the US Airways Club. All you had to do was be the first person to correctly list five of US Airways’ year- round European destinations.

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

1)  Seems like US Airways slept in this morning, and as soon as they woke up, they reached for the Tequilla bottle. $49 one way fares (+ tax, of course) from Charlotte, NC to either San Jose del Cabo or Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

2) Next up, Washington focus city gets some action. $19 one way + tax from Washington-Reagan (DCA) to either New Orleans or Charleston, SC.

3) Less events on this day, with a trivia question ending today’s specials. First person to tweet all four destinations in Hawaii that US Airways actually flies to (HNL, OGG, KOA, LIH- yes, but not ITO as many of you have tried to argue) gets two round trip tickets to anywhere in the world US Airways flies to. I’m assuming both are in coach and since they are free- no mileage earnings.

Thursday, July 1, 2010

1) 4th day of the weak nets four deals. First up, $9 + tax each way fares from New York LaGuardia to either Albany, NY; Burlington, VT; Ithaca, NY; Portland, ME or Rochester, NY.

2) First Class deal strikes again. $49 each way + tax from Charlotte to either West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale or Miami. The clue “Orange” confused me a bit since I wasn’t sure if these would be Orange County deals of Florida deals.

3) Trivia time! Once again, at stake- $1,500 US Airways gift card. First person to correctly name the new business class product (Envoy Suite) wins!

4) A deal so juicy, it could make you say “what about them apples?”. $99 one way + tax from Philadelphia to Tel Aviv, Israel. All I can say is Oh Wow!

We now await what Friday, July 2, 2010 brings!

Sure, they could offer more cities and more dates, but these dails are truly awesome! Especially the Tel Aviv one! How deals have I taken advantage of? None, as of yet. One way or another- either the dates don’t work out or I just don’t feel like going there right now. As for the trivia, I’m good- no doubt about it. I’m just not fast enough. Still, I’m having a great time, though my workout have taken a major hit this week. I’ve only gone to the gym once this week and the real work out? Running back to my house from the gym so I could catch a trivia question in time after getting a tweet while bench pressing!

I’ve also gotten to know alot of FlyerTalkers which I’ve been tweeting with constantly. It’s been a good week overall.

Proudly flying (and tweeting) with US!

-Mark

Double connections are getting harder to work with in terms of price, when it comes to US Airways domestic! This is not a complaint, nor a legit one, even if I tried, but it seems that when I force a double connect, US really bumps up the price. I mean really! I can’t do Chicago to San Diego via Vegas and Phoenix. I can’t do Seattle to Miami via Phoenix and Philadelphia. I can’t even do Boston to Ft. Myers via DC and Charlotte! It does change when I put in San Juan or international destinations- I can suddenly do up to 4 per direction keeping the same price!

Another exception is a flying from a “West” city to an “East” city. For example, a flight from Portland, Oregon (an America West only city) to Miami, FL (a US Airways only city). I have to route via both Phoenix and an eastern hub.

With the decent fares from Chicago to Ft. Myers, I’m looking at doing a leg from Ft. Myers out west-  maybe Denver or Salt Lake City? Definitely a ski destination so I can get 2,500 bonus miles and 5% off the fare to further maximise.

I’m planning to visit another friend in San Diego in November or December. I wonder how I can work a simple Chicago to San Diego trip to my advantage, or should I say to my DM account’s advantage. Hehe…

One final tidbit. I just realized the 757 I’m flying from Philly to Phoenix later this month actually an Envoy configuration! Must clear the upgrade on this one!

Have a nice clicK life,

-Mark

If you look into the Delta Shuttle operation, you’ll realize US Airways is king in the shuttle market.

First, Delta decided to add First Class to lure more passengers. Then they added WiFi internet. Didn’t really help. A few months later, Delta downsized the fleet, from the maddog (MD-88) to the Delta Connection outsourced EMB-170 cutting seats by almost half. That move doesn’t seem to help either, now does it?

Currently, Delta is offering 3,000 miles for each segment instead of the usual 500. US Airways hasn’t matched yet, but do they really have to?

The fact of the matter is US Airways rules the shuttle market. They are far more convenient, offer a better product and a much more reliable service. Since Delta is merging with Northwest to become the world’s largest airline, I doubt it will drop the shuttle operation entirely, but DC to New York La Guardia seems to be Delta’s weakest of the three shuttle routes. They’d be foolish to downgrade the aircraft further as they’d loose any remaining premium traffic, but I see them reducing flights. To be fair, Northwest was never a big player in Boston, DC and New York, so they can’t bring in that many loyal customers to the new Delta.

Me? I’m just glad US Airways has a solid shuttle operation I can rely on. Including weekends! And those twelve First Class seats on every flight? They’re icing on the cake!

Have a nice clicK life,

-Mark

I was able to hold my US Airways flights for my trip to Phoenix & Los Angeles. Those are the “positioning” flights for my African journey in July! I’ve decided to stop in Phoenix for a few days to enjoy the 120+ F temps in Scottsdale. I have to say, the outbound is a little bland in terms of creativity.

I’m on the 5:15AM nonstop from Chicago to Phoenix. It’s a very convenient flight and gives you the whole day in Phoenix, but it’s just unbearable. I have to get to Prescott, AZ by 10AM as I have an appointment there, but I detest that morning flight! The good thing- upgrades, they’re so easy on that flight!

A few days in Phoenix, then on to L.A. Again, another boring nonstop flight. Still I shouldn’t complain- there’s always Southwest to complain about. I’m taking the nonstop flight, because it’s the responsible thing to do. I really can’t afford to miss my Frankfurt connection on Lufthansa.

Saving the best for last… Return is interesting. I was able to find a ‘U’ fare through a very odd connecting city on my way from L.A. back to Chicago- Raleigh-Durham! Can you believe it? I’m flying Los Angeles-Phoenix-Raleigh/Durham-Charlotte-Chicago! Triple connect! The first two return legs are West flights, followed by two mainline East flights. I haven’t been to the Raleigh airport yet, but fortunately I hear there is a nice club there. Better check it out now before US Airways switches terminals and and finds itself Clubless. My other option is to fly L.A-Phoenix-Washington-Philly to Chicago, but mixing DC and Philly in one day is too much to handle- especially on a Republic E-170 with summer weather delays.

I have to ticket this over the phone as I’m using an old US Airways Air Check Plus (E-TUV) voucher, but a recent US Airways memo now waives fees for all voucher related ticketing both over the phone and the ticket office locations. By ticket office I mean airport counters and the Company Store ticketing location at the US Airways Headquarters in Tempe, AZ.

Have a nice clicK life,

-Mark

For those who haven’t heard yet, US Airways was one of two airlines chosen for the new 2009 Q2 Brazil air services. That means, US’ service from PHL via CLT to GIG will commence in October 2009! Nice!

US is planning to use a 767 for this service, however there is a possibility of an upgrade to the A332 if all goes well and profitable.

Of all the carriers flying to GIG, I think Delta and United should fear the most. US Airways’ proximity of the CLT hub will most likely affect Delta’s ATL-GIG. United’s route from IAD will probably loose some passengers who will prefer to fly from DCA and connect through CLT instead of going out all the way to IAD. Fact of the matter is, DCA is so much more convenient than IAD and everyone knows it!

Again congrats and best of luck to US Airways on the route. May it do well an open up the possibility of new South American routes!

If you’d like to know what I think about US Airways opening an Envoy lounge in CLT, look here: http://www.usaviation.com/forums/index.php?s=&showtopic=45319&view=findpost&p=675396

Have a nice clicK life,

-Mark

Every Summer, US Airways beefs up it’s flights to Bermuda. While PHL service is offered year-round on an Airbus A320, come summer we see birds as large as the A330-300 or the B767 on the route. In addition, seasonal routes from other cities like MCO are offered. Let’s look at the full schedule.

PHILADELPHIA (PHL)- BERMUDA (BDA) * DAILY YEAR ROUND SERVICE*- SUMMER 2009 SERVICE ON B757

US1070 PHL (10:15AM)- BDA (1:35PM) B757
US1425 BDA (3:27PM) - PHL (4:45PM) B757

CHARLOTTE (CLT)- BERMUDA (BDA) *DAILY SERVICE* FROM MAY 28, 2009- September 8, 2009

US1067 CLT (11:21AM)- BDA (2:49PM) A319
US1047 BDA (4:30PM) - CLT (6:15PM) A319

WASHINGTON-REAGAN (DCA)- BERMUDA (BDA) *DAILY SERVICE* FROM JUNE 2, 2009- SEPTEMBER

US981  DCA (8:30AM)  - BDA (11:53AM) A319
US1635 BDA (12:45PM) - DCA (2:08PM)  A319

ORLANDO (MCO)- BERMUDA (BDA) *SATURDAY ONLY SERVICE* FROM JUNE 6, 2009- AUGUST 29, 2009

US1104 MCO (11:50AM)- BDA (3:28PM) A319
US1103 BDA (1:00PM) - MCO (2:47PM) A319

Summer 2009 schedule doesn’t show the Boston-Bermuda and New York-LGA operating at all. BOS-BDA last operated during Summer 2008, while LGA-BDA last operated during Summer 2007. Both were daily utilizing A319 aircraft.

I also remember US Airways applied with the DOT for permission to fly nonstop from Ft. Lauderdale (FLL) to Bermuda in 2003. I’m not sure if the flights ever materialized, but here is a press release regarding the flights.

Have a nice clicK life,

-Mark