America "Not Worth it" Airline
Written: Sep 24 '00 (Updated Jan 20 '01)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Cheap airfares
Cons: Frequent cancellations
The Bottom Line: I would not recommend flying America West unless you really want a cheap airfare, and don't mind possible cancellations.
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| DrPepGirl's Full Review: America West |
Why I Chose America West:
I purchased a ticket to Denver, Colorado on America West for one reason: It was cheap! By flying America West to Denver, I saved $600.00. This was my first time flying with America West Airlines.
The Planes:
I flew on their deHavilland Dash-8. It held about 38 people. It was very loud. I also flew on their Boeing 737, which was in very good shape. Their planes were clean. I liked that you could listen to music on their flight with their music programming system. I was surprised they offered in since it was a shorter flight.
My Experience:
I flew from Palm Springs to Phoenix. My flight to Denver out of Phoenix left on time, and we even arrived early. It was problem-free. Check-in was no problem at all.
On my flight back, there were problems.
My flight back to Palm Springs was canceled because the flight attendants who were due to work on that flight had twisted their ankles and couldn't walk. Because of that, our flight was canceled. I found it unbelievable that they America West was unable to find a backup crew to do this flight.
When they finally got me onto another flight, they told me that my luggage was lost and that nobody could find it. They ended up not being able to find my luggage for a whole week. When they finally did find it, they delivered it to my house at midnight!
Customer Service:
I think their customer service quality really varies. In Palm Springs, they were pretty nice. In Phoenix, they were anything but helpful. In Denver, some were helpful, and some were just plain rude.
Their customer service phone people also differs. One woman that I spoke to was very friendly when she explained why I could not receive mileage, another was very unfriendly about it.
Mileage Program:
At the time, America West was offering a 2500 mileage bonus for new members upon completion of their first flight. They were also offering bonus miles for flights flown from Denver to Phoenix. I should have been able to have about 5,000 miles after my trip was done, but I was unable to get the miles.
America West also will not give you miles for their FlightFund program if you book through some online ticket vendors, CheapTickets in my case. For instance, I bought a ticket online, and I was told that I could not receive mileage credit for it because it was bought at a discount price. I found this unusual considering they asked me for my FlightFund card at the airport and told me that I could check my mileage account at any time by calling a toll-free number.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
DrPepGirl
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Location: Rancho Mirage, California
Reviews written: 20
Trusted by: 34 members
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