Like most carriers, US Airways sometimes uses aircraft configured for international routes—those with the best First Class seats—on U.S. routes. That’s the key to getting the best seat when flying domestically on US Airways or its Star Alliance partners: Air Canada, United, and, by year-end, Continental.
Need to make a connection? The chart below shows some routes and flight numbers with better First Class seats. Sample itinerary: Detroit to Orlando. Flight options for Star Alliance members would be United connecting via
Washington, DC, in coach or US Airways connecting via Charlotte or Philadelphia: Choose US Airways connecting via Philadelphia on flight number 735, and enjoy a much better flight experience.
The carrier’s best seat (170-degree recline) is on its B767 fleet. The two other aircraft the carrier uses on international routes, the B757 and A330, have seats that recline 160 degrees. Both Business Class seats are known as US Airways Envoy Class. The B757 can be a bit tricky because US Airways has a few different ones in service. The best way to tell if you are booked on B757 is to look at the seat map: The Envoy class is offered on a 2x2 configuration and has three rows; the total number of seats is 12.
Getting the Seat Cheaper
Using miles for domestic travel is usually only recommended on transcontinental routes that offer the highest return-per-mile. On the Los Angeles to Philadelphia route, for instance, you’ll easily pay more than $2,200 for a First Class seat. US Airways charges 50,000 miles for that ticket, or 4.4¢ per mile. Transfer 40,000 Starwood points, though, and you’ll see a 5.5¢ return.[table_opt style="gray-header" id="1482 " width="" alignment="center" responsive="all" heading="thcenter" rows="tdcenter"]