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US Airways/American Airlines merger -"talks in advanced stages"

Tin Cup said:
Right. As of now, you can get to most of Europe direct from CLT which is awesome.
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Sadly, this part going away seems to be a foregone conclusion to most of the industry insiders that I've been reading in recent months. There's just no way the combined airline is going to keep the full slate of international flights from LGA, PHL, MIA and CLT going. And history has shown that they don't just cut back at each airport a similar amount. Instead they will eliminate routes from one or two airports and redirect traffic through the others.

The good news is that American has a lot more flights to Europe than US Air currently does, so you'll ultimately have more options, just without the direct flights.

In other US Air news, they jacked their Award Travel rates up more than 25% last week. I landed a first class seat to Scotland for 90k miles a few months ago. That same ticket now will be a minimum of 120k miles. Ugh.
 
CLT will probably net more flights, but lose a lot of international flights. The Pittsburgh scenario is very unlikely.
 
Tin Cup said:
Also, I was about to open a US Air MasterCard, but might hold out now. Thoughts?
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IMO, don't. Rumors I've read are that Barclays will be dropped and Citi will be providing a new card for the combined airline. No timetable yet, but it would suck to go to the trouble to get the card and have it rendered useless within the first year. That said, there are some blogs that still think getting the card is a good idea because it's so easy to rack up enough miles for a ticket or two in the first few months. Assuming you can either use those miles in the coming months, or the miles transfer at one-to-one into AAdvantage miles, it could still be a good short term credit card.
 
HeavyPetter said:
CLT will probably net more flights, but lose a lot of international flights. The Pittsburgh scenario is very unlikely.
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I agree it's unlikely, however I disagree about the airport netting more flights. The plan going forward for most airlines is to condense routes and charge more for the seats. US Air has been doing it in PHX for the last couple years.
 
2&2 Slider To Leyritz said:
That sucks if it changes, we use the Charlotte to Caribbean flights at least once a year. Tough to beat a 2-hour direct international flight to a great vacation destination, especially when traveling with kids.
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I'd guess it will take a few years at least for it all to sort out. We too were big fans of the 2-3 hour flights to Jamaica, the Dominican and Cancun.
 
Liquid Karma said:
Sadly, this part going away seems to be a foregone conclusion to most of the industry insiders that I've been reading in recent months. There's just no way the combined airline is going to keep the full slate of international flights from LGA, PHL, MIA and CLT going. And history has shown that they don't just cut back at each airport a similar amount. Instead they will eliminate routes from one or two airports and redirect traffic through the others.

The good news is that American has a lot more flights to Europe than US Air currently does, so you'll ultimately have more options, just without the direct flights.

In other US Air news, they jacked their Award Travel rates up more than 25% last week. I landed a first class seat to Scotland for 90k miles a few months ago. That same ticket now will be a minimum of 120k miles. Ugh.
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What are the odds the direct to Rome flight is gone by the end of August?
 
Liquid Karma said:
Sadly, this part going away seems to be a foregone conclusion to most of the industry insiders that I've been reading in recent months. There's just no way the combined airline is going to keep the full slate of international flights from LGA, PHL, MIA and CLT going. And history has shown that they don't just cut back at each airport a similar amount. Instead they will eliminate routes from one or two airports and redirect traffic through the others.

The good news is that American has a lot more flights to Europe than US Air currently does, so you'll ultimately have more options, just without the direct flights.

In other US Air news, they jacked their Award Travel rates up more than 25% last week. I landed a first class seat to Scotland for 90k miles a few months ago. That same ticket now will be a minimum of 120k miles. Ugh.
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The way around this is booking via a Star Alliance partner - which, sadly, appears to be going away.
 
Tin Cup said:
What are the odds the direct to Rome flight is gone by the end of August?
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Nil. The actual merger itself still needs approval from a bankruptcy judge and federal regulators. That will take months. I'd guess summertime at the earliest before the two entities are officially merged, and even after that it will probably take well over a year before we start to see any real changes in routes. They will spend the better part of the first year merging the two computer systems and award programs. PHX will see cuts in routes before CLT since they were already in the process of scaling down PHX.
 
siff said:
The way around this is booking via a Star Alliance partner - which, sadly, appears to be going away.
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Agreed. One World isn't bad if you want to fly to Europe or South America. Star Alliance was fantastic for heading out west and anything across the Pacific.
 
buckets said:
I hate AA's 500-mile upgrade program
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About the only thing I like about AA is their million miler program. You get lifetime gold status, which is pretty sweet.

US Air gives you lifetime Silver status, which isn't shit. I should hit the million mile mark in the next 2-3 years, so I'm hoping American will honor the accumulated miles from US Air.
 
What's good about AA gold status though? You don't really get anything and have no 500 mile upgrade vouchers.
 
buckets said:
What's good about AA gold status though? You don't really get anything and have no 500 mile upgrade vouchers.
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Having lifetime status would free me up to accrue miles on other airlines and keep elite status on multiple carriers, which comes in handy when you travel a lot.
 
I've always had significantly better luck booking award flights on AA compared to US. I especially like AA's option to book one-way award flights.
 
BubbaJean said:
I've always had significantly better luck booking award flights on AA compared to US. I especially like AA's option to book one-way award flights.
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Now that would be a nice perk!

I generally don't book on US Air for award travel. I've found the Star Alliance partners have way more options. You just have to know how to look.
 
So no unlimited UGs on American? That would suck.
 
Justice Department is suing to block the merger.
 
Liquid Karma said:
IMO, don't. Rumors I've read are that Barclays will be dropped and Citi will be providing a new card for the combined airline. No timetable yet, but it would suck to go to the trouble to get the card and have it rendered useless within the first year. That said, there are some blogs that still think getting the card is a good idea because it's so easy to rack up enough miles for a ticket or two in the first few months. Assuming you can either use those miles in the coming months, or the miles transfer at one-to-one into AAdvantage miles, it could still be a good short term credit card.
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Pretty much as soon as the deal gained bankruptcy court approval I got a US credit card even though I fly American and book on an AAdvantage credit card. Got 35000 miles for my first purchase that will transfer to the combined program. If the merger happens that is.

One World is an obvious downgrade from Star Alliance, otherwise I think this is a win for everyone (well, except for those who fly internationally out of CLT or PHL).
 
Liquid Karma said:
The US Airways maintenance department has been stockpiling parts for the American fleet for months now.

Word I'm hearing is that the merged airline will be keeping the hideous American Airlines livery.

My one real concern is that I really want the frequent flyer program to stay with US Air.
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Eh, American's is better if you care more about miles than upgrades or if you are a 100k+/yr flyer.

Since we know they're going One World regardless.
 
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