Star Alliance Gold vs US Standby list

I was done with work early so instead of waiting around until 9 pm I tried my chances at an earlier flight. Usually on United this results in a "you have a snowball's chance on the sun", but the agent at the first class/elite desk put me on the list with no commentary. I appreciated that because I already knew I had a snowball's chance! Flight when I got there was oversold and I was added to the list during boarding anyway so I had little hope.

Next flight was asking for volunteers and offering $450 in travel vouchers which is very generous for US.

Next flight was technically oversold (i think they said +2), but they were able to accommodate a few of the people I'd been waiting with, then a party of 2 didn't show so I got on as well as a lady traveling to DTW. She said she had been there since 11 am and needed to get on this flight or she'd miss her flight to DTW. I'm not sure what flight she was originally confirmed on, but I was called before she was and I was not connecting and I was confirmed for a flight in 3 hours.

After they called my name off the standby list the lady next to me in the waiting area asked how I got on an earlier flight so I told her about free standby and the Move Up program, but since no seats were confirmable there was no chance for move up. She was apparently just waiting there for all the Charlotte flights for no real reason! I didn't ask which flight she was confirmed on either, but I bet she was probably also on the last one of the night.

During Holiday rush star alliance gold beats standby again!

My fun recent airplane companions

These past 2 weeks have included some interesting characters on my flights home.

Last week I was on a redeye from Vegas. While waiting for my flight, I saw the gate agents deny boarding to a drunk man and then escort him outside the secured area. Then on my own flight right behind me was a man who kept loudly talking about how drunk he is, how he doesn't brush his teeth, how he's been kicked off flights before for being drunk. I thought about saying something, but I try not to be the one to ruin anyone's trip so I let it go. Luckily he fell asleep right after takeoff and woke up right after landing so the majority of the redeye was quiet. I did get some audio recorded on my phone, but I'm not sure what the recording laws are in situations like this so I'll keep it to myself for now. While exiting the plane I suggested to the FA that she should have kicked the man off the flight, but by then he was at his destination anyway.

Fast forward to today I got on an earlier flight and right in front of me was a little boy probably no more than 3 years old. His mom was in the window seat, he was in the middle, and big sis was in the aisle. Across the aisle was the aunt, father, and brother. Little boy (we'll call him 28B) was very loud. He had a stuffed blue bunny he kept tossing around and it came back into my row 3 times before takeoff. I blame this all on the selfish mother who took the window seat. During the taxi out to the runway the brother (28F) decided he needed to use the bathroom. Aunt and father get up, but the FA quickly tells them they need to sit down. FA phones up to the captain asking him to stall to allow the child to use the restroom. We had to wait for him to finish before reentering the queue. Luckily we were #3 in line. I've waited forever to take off in LGA before so #3 is OK with me. 28B is still yelling, kicking 27B's seat violently, etc. Aunt tried to get 28B to play games like counting the trucks outside. The mom was just telling the kid to calm down while she enjoyed her window seat. Everyone knows kids should always get window seats, not middles! During the flight the kid watched about 15 minutes of the Chipmunk movie, then some Barney, then something else. I don't think he finished anything before something else was started.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

My week of Thanksgiving travel actually wasn't too bad.

Flew out on Monday and the airport was fairly empty. I've flown out on Monday mornings for the past few weeks and had to queue about 15 minutes for security, but this week I had 3 people in front of me. On Tuesday I was booked on an 8 pm flight, but I was able to standby and get confirmed on a 3:30 pm flight.

Business as usual

Airtran to begin seat back advertising

Press release here. US Airways has had ads on tray tables for quite a while, but I almost never see them because I don't always put down my tray table. Now Airtran is placing ads on seat backs.

If this means lower ticket prices I can't really argue with this.

US Airways announces new redemption tiers

I am technically a US hub captive, but since I have been loyal to United since college they have always been my star alliance choice. I have put up with United and starnet blocking. I actually have fairly good redemption success including 2 coach tickets to SYD, 2 F tickets to SFO on US, and a few random bookings for friends.

I'm also a Delta lover because my family is from ATL and it's blasphemy to not like Coke or Delta (but I pass on Home Depot and UPS). Delta implemented a tiered system last year right before I booked 2 tickets to DUB. I got 2 coach tickets for 90,000 miles each when a low ticket would have been 50,000 and a low BE ticket would have been 100,000. the only F tickets were more than I had in my bank and the 2 coach tickets at 90k wiped me out.

Now US Airways is following Delta. Usually in the race to the bottom it's the other way around. US implemented charging for all beverages in flight and no one followed. Now that Delta and US have tiered programs I wonder if any other airlines will follow suit. The image posted above does remind me of the DL calendar that never shows the same tier for the same day 2 refreshes in a row. It seems like DL and US have the same development team judging by other things they seem to do at the same time (e.g. adding partner mileage numbers) so it wouldn't surprise me if US's calendar is a joke also. Oh well. I'll keep all my *A miles on United especially since they are adding elite upgrades.

I've been flying Airtran more than I'd like recently, but they actually have a fairly interesting program. I now have enough credits for a 1 way trip on FL, but I'm in no hurry to book anything on them if I don't have to.