USVI-On-Line

Just got back yesterday morning, thanks to US Airways! Will post a trip report later, getting ready for work. Will say one thing, I will NEVER fly US Airways again. Our flight from St. Thomas was supposed to leave at 2:50 pm. Sunday. I get up at 5:30 am to get packed, return rental vehicles and all that good stuff. Get to the airport at 1:00 pm. At 2:00 pm our plane gets in, unloads all the passengers and then an announcement is made that the plane is unsafe to fly to Philly and that there is nothing they can do to help us! We sat in the airport from 1 pm Sunday until 12:00 am Monday morning when a plane finally came to take us to Philly. We were locked inside the aiport like common criminals because we can only go through customs once a day. I did talk a representative a cigarette break at 5:00 pm. He said he would be in trouble with customs for letting us out, but at that point, I didn't give a rats ass! Out of the goodness of their hearts, US Airway gave us a $10.00 voucher to use at the snack bar that closed at 7:00 pm. So from that point on, no water, drinks or food. We arrive at Philly at 4:00 am, leave for Columbus, OH at 7:20 am, get home about 11:30 am and am dead tired. I am going to try to get something for losing a days sleep and a days work, but I am not holding my breath. I will never fly US Air again!

Can you tell I am a little pissed?

We did LOVE St. John and Villa Claudia. When I settle down, will post a trip report.

Thanks for letting me vent!

Denise

What an awful way to end your trip. I don't blame you for being pissed!

Jo Ann

Sorry for your troubles I wrote off US after Jan. trip I don't care how much cheaper it is.
Tom

Sounds horrible! Glad you are finally home!

Also referred to as US Scare Ways ... and that was by one of their flight attendants!

We fly US Despair alot never had any real troubles so far. They seem to always have some of the best deals to the Caribbean.Hope I'm not jinxing us for our trip next week.

Geeez..... What a story from hell. I got stuck in Charlotte NC overnight and thats a main hub for US Air. But to get stuck at STT..... I think I would have come unglued. I'm sticking with Spirit Air when I can. At least the planes are all new.

feeling your pain.....

The only thing you got from them was a $10 voucher for a snack?? You'd think they'd give everyone a $300 travel voucher or something for the trouble!! Not that you ever want to fly with them AGAIN.

And, oh yeah, that would mean that CUSTOMER SERVICE actually matters to them...

American Airlines did the same thing to family flying out of STT to Boston last January. They had to call a mechanic in from San Juan and when the mechanic arrived 6 hours later he did not have the part he needed, another 8 hour wait for part to arrive and jet to be fixed. 16+ hours at the airport in STT
The airline kept telling them it would be fixed in a few hours, if they had known how long it was really going to take they wouldve gone to a St Thomas hotel.

I am a past frequent traveler on US and have switched to Southwest where ever I can. As I am "special" on Continental I usually fly that airline.

I appreciate that you were tired and beaten up, and I also think the airline has poor morale generally but what would you have them do? Fly the plane with the broken part?

As I fly weekly about 4X a year the plane "breaks" - as I listen to the other passengers complain I am mystified. Don't you think that US would love to fly that plan top Philly? Of course.

And STJ being where it is, with only one or two flight per day they can't just go to a backup plane as they might at Charlotte. The customs rules are likely beyond their control.

Perhaps some empathy could have been shown by the local US staff but planes break - it costs them big $$ to send a 2nd plane so it's not arbitrary that they choose not to fly. And the decision is typically FAA mandated, i.e. if XYZ doesn't work you can or can't go.

All that said, I'll also skip US Scare!

Denise,

We were there, too!

My husband & I arrived early to wait for our flight on American Airlines that departed at 4:00.

We were in the terminal when they made your announcement.

My mouth almost hit the floor when I heard them say "There is nothing we can do for you!". I looked at my husband and said "Did they really say that?".

Then later the lady who was making the announcements actually said something like "Guys, let me say this again - if you leave the airport - you are on your own". The message was bad enough - but the "Guys" part was unbelievable.

So sorry that you had such an absolutely terrible experience.

Don't even get me started with US Air. I pity everyone who works with me who has had to hear me going off on how absolutely useless that Airline is from top to bottom. I even have a stupid $150 travel voucher from them that will expire in November sometime (that was given to me as consolation for the inexcusable "customer service" that I received from them). Needless to say, I don't even want to use the voucher!

Again, so sorry to hear that one of my forum family was affected by that situation.

P.S. Boo Hoo! I just "previewed" my post & realized that I needed to remove my vacation ticker. What a sad state of affairs that was!!

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"...an announcement is made that the plane is unsafe to fly to Philly..."

Call me foolish, but I'll wait as long as necessary to have a safe aircraft. I hope those who don't share my opinion of this never generate enough power to change the way the airlines (all of them) treat this sort of problem. I also don't understand why you needed to get up over nine hours before scheduled flight time and somehow this is the airline's problem.

On the other hand, the total lack of communication can drive a customer insane. They all do it, but at least JetBlue has now developed a passenger's bill of rights to remedy this situation - hopefully they'll all improve their information procedures.

"US Air employees stole our liquor package."

How can you be sure enough to make such an accusation? Please provide more information. Are you sure it wasn't someone from the TSA? How about another airline's employees with access to the baggage areas? What about the companies that service and clean the planes? Were there construction workers in the baggage or loading areas? Airport police or maintenance workers? There are a lot of possibilities beyond your claims.