US Airways, Nickels and Dimes

As I returned from Columbus, Oh. I am absolutely frustrated beyond words.

I read in the USA Today last week that US Airways lost $567 Million Dollars in the first quarter of 2008. First of all, I find this hard to believe, because every flight I have been on these last four months have been full. The first few months of the year, I received incredible customer service. Recently, I have felt betrayed and raped by US Air"WORST"

1) I used miles to fly my daughter to Cleveland, OH (50,000miles) they charged me $50 to use my miles. Seriously?

2) I get to the airport, and they charged me $200 to fly her because she was not 15 years old yet. Now most major air carriers UM (unaccompanied minors) age limit is 14 or 13; not US Air"WORST" their's is 15, and low and behold, they just changed their UM policy to charge customers $100 each way of travel. Seriously?

3) As of July 1st, they are charging $15 for the first bag and $25 for the second bag checked. Now this isn't a big deal to me, however, the ripples in the water are. For example, since there is a fee to check a bag, travelers are now NOT checking bags, and carrying on. This does a couple of things, one; it overloads the overhead bin space, so the last few travelers are going to be forced to pay either way. Two, now the aisles are more stuffed than before, causing flight delays and all other kinds of abnormalities. Seriously?

4) To top it all off, US Air "WORST" is now going to charge each traveler $2.00 to receive a soft drink, water or coffee. In addition, they are increasing their cost of alcoholic beverages to $7.00 per drink. Seriously?

Now, the big problem! I have been traveling with US Air "WORST" for the last 14 years. Even when they were America West. I have been trapped at an airport with America West Employees during the blizzard of 2006 in Denver. I have had flights canceled. None of which has caused me as much frustration as I feel now. What Knucklehead thought of the brilliant idea of charging $2.00 for each soft drink? This is the person that does not know the strength of long term investing.

Let me explain. These little short fixes for US Air"WORST" will only cause harm in the long run. Since I have been traveling, I have seen the likes of Southwest, United and Continental. I simply refuse to fly NorthWORST for customer service reasons. Organizations like Southwest really inspire me to travel with them for the long term. Southwest builds a relationship with their customers, to keep them coming back. US Air "WORST" is just in it for the money.

I use a business philosophy, if you nickel and dime, you will get nickel and dime! US Airways is nickel and diming their largest customer base, their frequent fliers. This will harm them in the long run. I will now avoid US Airways when I travel on long halls. Simply because they are blinded by the dollar. They want to fix now, and not the future. You want to know why? Well! They cannot see the future. They are blinded by their losses. They are blinded by nickel and dimes. SERIOUSLY!!!