USVI-On-Line

Hi, I found really great airfare through United but flying US Air through CLT. I am a bit hesitant because I have read about some forumites having bad experiences with US Air especially through CLT. Any frequent travelers that fly this route to STT that have any feedback? Thanks,

Gigi

We live in Charlotte so we don't have connecting flights.

We have flown to STT at least 8-10 times, never a problem and no delays that I remember. At least no significant ones that made us late or anything.

In fact we often arrive 15-20 minutes early, which is always a nice when that happens.

They don't have the most luxurious planes, but who does...

We fly USAir connecting through CLT on every flight to STT. We have had no problems with either USAir or with the airport at CLT. In fact, we find CLT very easy to manuver around and a very pleasant place to wait on flights.

We'vbe connected through CLT a couple of times on USAir. In our case, I remember one flight that was delayed for five hours (maintenance), and a couple of oversold flights. The terminal is pretty nice though, so that helps.

WOW. i never thought of leaving from CLT. i live on the north side of raleigh, i guess about 180 miles to charlotte. it might be worth a 3hr drive to save $200+ on 4 tickets, plus a non-stop flight . hmmmmm.

We have left from Charlotte on the non stops a number of times and have never had any problems or delays over 15 minutes.

shelli0001 wrote:WOW. i never thought of leaving from CLT. i live on the north side of raleigh, i guess about 180 miles to charlotte. it might be worth a 3hr drive to save $200+ on 4 tickets, plus a non-stop flight . hmmmmm.

I've pondered it, in advance, for our next trip, but the 3-hour drive home after a long flight back to the states makes me shiver.

BUT...the alternatives on Delta aren't looking good once I run out of Sky Miles. I've started an email campaign to both RDU and Spirit to come help me out.

Never in my wildest dreams did I think people would save money by flying out of Charlotte.

It has traditionally been one of the most expensive airports. I am hoping this is a trend, after routinely paying $600 plus for tickets to STT. We have found it for lower but also higher.

Luckily we have lots of frequent flyer miles and usually only have to buy one or two.

CLT is a BIG airport with USAir in three different wings of the terminal. One piece of advice - don't rely on what they tell you while you are on the first plane about what gate your next plane will be leaving from, or for that matter, what it says on your boarding pass. We found out the hard way that it is important to check the board when you get off the first plane to see where your next plane is leaving from.

It's a nice airport (we saw a lot of it, LOL).

On our return flight there was "weather" all along the east coast. Our flight to Boston was due to take off at 10:00. When we arrived in CLT (at 9:15 pm) the 6:00 plane to Boston had not yet left, se we were pretty worried...USAir kept assuring us that our plane would leave on time. I wasn't buying it because there was no plane at our gate...but alas - a plane pulled in at 9:45 and we took off at 10:15! Not bad! However, neither of our flights (6pm departure from STT and 10pm departure from CLT) offered dinner! Thankfully there were plenty of choices for dinner in CLT.

Good luck!

the bagel restaurant in councourse D (usually the concourse where STT flights leave) has an awesome chicken caeser bagel sandwich, (on an asiago cheese bagel) that is to die for...

the boxed things for sale in flight are ok, but they have run out before so we don't count on it. plus we are now addicted to THE sandwich.

I've been a chairman level frequent flyer on USAir for about 10 years now. Here's some feedback for you:

1. Charlotte is one of their hubs, so yes alot of their planes go through there.
2. Its a more reliable hub than Philadelphia, because the weather is better and the runways there aren't affected as badly by rain or low cloud cover. That's another story for another time.
3. Definitely check the flight boards at the airport when you arrive for connections. The gates change all the time, this is true of every airline. This is especially true when flight delays are occuring due to weather.
4. If weather is screwing up air space on the east coast, make sure you brought extra undies....anything can happen, and often will. The airlines can't control alot of this, they do the best they can in a bad situation.
5. I often try to connect in Charlotte for east coast flights, because it is so reliable.

That being said, Philly is alot better now than it was maybe 5 years ago. USAir has done a good job there.

Bottom line, don't worry about going through Charlotte. Geneally speaking, I try to connect there especially during the winter whenver possible. For a vacation, it's even more important to connect in a southern airport, or get direct flights from up north.

have fun!

We've flown US air out of Clt ...and didnt have any problems..The thing I didnt like about it was having to park so far away and then waiting when you get back to get on the bus to take you to the parking area.(was pouring the rain) We have flown 2 times out of MB. Its a smaller airport and I find that Spirit's prices are better.I just bought 2 tickets for 510.00 (I still have to pay for seating if I want.. and we do carry on)..we have a layover in Ftl. but that doesnt bother us as long as we get there. We are pretty much Central to ClT RDU and MB being near Rockingham.

We typically fly out of Charlotte. We go the night before, get a room at Embassy Suites. Have a WONDERFUL breakfast the next morning and have the shuttle take us to the airport, leaving our car at the hotel! Worked perfectly except for one time - our car had a flat tire when we returned. No biggee - fixed it and on our way! We love the "pre" vacation get away. And from Apex - only about 2 1/2 hours. This year however, we're flying out of Myrtle for about $1000 cheaper (for 5 tix).

We flew through CLT from Boston on our way down three weeks ago. No problems at all - in fact, we arrived 15 minutes early. The plane was a new 767 which was very big. So big that the pilot had a little trouble stopping on the available runway (he did - with about 10 feet left - and the passengers broke out in applause when it stopped!!!!)

I will always pick a Charlotte connection over a Philadelphia one if possible. Can't think of problems we've had there, but definitely Phillie problems.
Charlotte has a Jamba Juice too which makes me very happy