Now that the US DOT has approved the proposed slot swap between Delta Air Lines and US Airways, the case for moving over to US Airways from United is slightly more compelling, but I’m not there yet. As I discussed in this post back in early June, I’m struggling with the idea of making the move even though I fly US Airways more than United, and I’m only a 15 to 20 minute cabride to DCA on a heavy traffic day. There’s no question that US Airways is a good option that’s about to get better for many travelers in and around Washington, DC.
There’s a little piece of me that can’t quite get over everything that happened to Dividend Miles following the 2 bankruptcies and takeover by America West. To say it’s a changed program since my time as a Dividend Miles Chairman’s Preferred would be an understatement. That said, the plethora of flights they have from the airport closest to me, their continued membership in Star Alliance, and the likelihood that US is an airline I can use more than any other right now make a worthy case for switching. I’m not going to do that just yet though. I want to see where US Airways actually winds up flying to and from DCA once this slot swap gets done. Not to mention, I wouldn’t mind a clearer picture on the labor relations front either. But I suppose that’s a risk you have to take with any airline nowadays.
I’m gonna be watching the developments at US Airways and Dividend Miles closely over the next few months. I’d bet I’m not the only DC area traveler that’s doing the same thing. Will I switch? I really don’t know. There’s always the possibility that I just keep accruing to MileagePlus and forgo the domestic upgrade opportunities in exchange for a better overall mileage program. I know some real mileage earners dabble in both programs, but I haven’t seen a way to make that work for me just yet. Any suggestions from those more experienced than me in things like this are always welcome.
[…] a “hit” in the Grand Slam. If you’ve been reading, you know that I’ve been debating some kind of move from United to US Airways for a while. On the face of it, I know that seems a […]
See I have to disagree with “ffi” about this if you live close to DCA. It’s almost faster for me to do DCA-PHX-LAX on US instead of IAD-LAX on UA. I live less than 10 minutes from DCA in Old Town Alexanria, so even with a 50 minute connection in PHX, it’s often shorter for me to take a 7 minute taxi to DCA than it is to drive 40 minutes to an hour (depending on the lovely traffic), park my car, and go through the mess that is IAD.
The upgrade rates on US are better for PP and CP than the anticipated rates with PP/GS/1K/Plat on UA. The CR-1s make up for that.
The problem for US is the lack of nonstop transcons from DCA.
I still go UA IAD-LAX nonstop anyday (and upgrade with miles/copay) over the 7 day almost guaranteed upgrade on US via PHX.
US may become a more compelling option after they install First Class cabins in their EMB 170/175 aircraft by the end of the year, since a big chunk of their flights from DCA are on those aircraft.
In my opinion, if you live in the District, it’s worth the switch to US just to avoid dealing with Dulles…
Sound advice as always, Gary. As much as it gets blogged about, I always tend to ignore BMI and I need to learn to get over that.
Remember that United won’t give you 500 mile minimums for your short-haul US AIrways flights. So consider crediting those to US AIrways anyway. Or do what I do — credit your ex-DCA short hop US Airways segments to bmi. They earn 600 mile minimums, DCA-CLT-AVL-CLT-DCA is 2400 miles. I’ll requalify for BD*G this year just on those US Airways short hops to LGA, PIT, etc.