Issues with orbitz/usair/winair

Nohero

SBH Member
I use a bank miles program for airline points and it books through orbitz. I am having an issue booking the full flight which is Charlotte to SXM then to SBH for our Feb trip. In the past we booked the whole trip and got boarding passes all the way. Even the phone rep with our program can't get the flight to go through. I was looking at First class as a surprise and thought the issue might be that. But even economy tickets will not process. It keeps saying the flights are currently unavailable after we select them. The rep thinks it may be issues with the merger. She said the return is listed as AA and that might be the issue. Today I tried pulling up CLT to SXM and then separately the winair flight and was able to do it that way but did not book. Anyone else having issues? What do you experts think..keep trying or book separately. It's been nice to be booked all the way through before. Thanks for any help, Scott
 
Using USAIR/Winair, I have not been able to use FF miles SXM/SBH on Winair even using USAIR agents.
 
Thanks Andy, This is not a regular FF program. I have points with the program but the flights are bought then I get a credit back. So to the airline/orbitz it is a bought ticket. Sorry I should have said that. It's a nice program with no block outs and can use the credits in whatever amounts I want. The agent I was taking with is with my program. They use orbitz to book and that seems to be the issue. When I try orbitz directly the same thing happens. I can pull up the flights like normal but when I pick the flights no matter how many different ways I do it orbitz says that fare is not available pick another flight. Even with you pick a much higher fare it still says not available. I hope I am explaining in a way that makes sense. I can do the same flights separably. CLT round trip to SXM and then round trip SXM to SBH. Booking online directly with Usair just to see if I could and they say the do not go to SBH???
 
I understand. And it's a good guess that the merger may have something to do with it. I have roundtrip tix with USAIR in Feb/March. Hope there is no change.
 
Last week I was able to book flights for next Feb. to/from SBH via CLT/SXM through Orbitz on USAir, no problem. Jim
 
Just got off the phone with US Airways. Effective August 1st, they no longer have a ticketing agreement with Winair. It doesn't affect tickets already issued. But I can no longer book through US Airways my usual PIT-CLT-SXM-SBH. That was great since bags were checked all the way through to SBH and US Airways issued Winair boarding passes to me in Pittsburgh. I spoke tonight with 2 separate agents that confirmed the above happened August 1st due to the merger with American. At least my trip later this month and in November are already booked.
 
Very interesting, Cole . . . thanks for the "heads-up." I was able to get an "interline" connection from SXM to SBH on WinAir when I booked tickets about a week ago. The interesting thing about it, however, was that it couldn't be done using an AA flight number . . . by changing to a US Air flight number (same plane), it worked.
 
UGH! If there is no longer an agreement between USAIR (AA) and WINAIR, we will have to collect our bags in SXM and stand again the the lines there and recheck them to our ongoing destinations. That would be a serious pain at peak time in SXM! Let's hope this changes in the coming months.
NOHERO- We have found booking USAIR and WINAIR separately, if you are paying in $ rather than miles, is cheaper than booking all the way to SBH in one transaction. Also for next year ST. Barth Commuter in February at least, which is when we travel, is considerably less expensive than WINAIR.
I ask the veteran SBH Forum members- Has ST. Barth Commuter generally been lower priced than WINAIR?
 
FYI - I thought I would follow up on this thread. We just came back from SBH via US air and they would not check through to SBH via Winair on our reservation booked in February,2014. However, coming back they did honor it and book through. I'm not sure why. Anyway, I suspect all of these issues have everything to do with US air/AA wanting those baggage fees. Another thing to note. This is the second year that we have had our luggage arrive the following day when arriving in Charlotte. It appears that when you come in late to Charlotte that TSA will hang on to your bags until the following day. I'm assuming this is because of the sheer volume of luggage they are getting from all the traffic and they are simply not able to screen it all. The other piece of the issue may be customs delays. They seem to struggle getting people processed.
 
Coming home from SBH, Winair will book you thru. They don't care where you bought your tix. BTW AA has canceled its pact with Orbitz and I guess so will USAIR before they become all AA.
 
A MERICAN AIRLINES BACK ON ORBITZ Three days after American Airlines pulled its flight listings from Orbitz, the online travel agency announced late Friday that it had reached an agreement to again list the carrier’s fares. The world’s biggest airline, which pays Orbitz for bookings that come through its site, had said last week that fliers no longer would be able to book their tickets on Orbitz because the two companies had failed to reach an agreement on those costs.
 
Yup, the only thing you can count on is change!

Serenity Prayer by Reinhold Niebuhr (1892-1971):

God grant me the serenity

to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.
 
Top