Howard

I flew out of the C40-42 gates today. I arrived at the airport with plenty of time, so first I visited the UA club in Terminal B. When I left the UA club and arrived at the C40-42 security checkpoint, there were only 5 people in line, so it didn't take a long time. Still, I will be writing to AS to express my displeasure with this terminal area. Even if AS didn't request the terminal change, perhaps AS could attempt to change it again (this time for the better).

quasihumanist

Frankly, if I were a regular on this flight, I would love this new setup.

The gate area might be terrible with no amenities, but with the security checkpoint serving only one or two flights at a time and within shouting distance of the gate, I could plan to get to the airport 45 minutes before the flight instead of the hour and a half I'd plan for Terminal A. Even with a delay, I'd probably make it on the plane if I got there 20 minutes before flight time (though if they're overbooked and looking for an excuse to bump me without compensation, that might not be a good idea).

I love flying out of a tiny barely used airport like TOL, and I would love to be able to treat BOS like TOL.

PWMTrav

I agree. Some of it depends on how you get to the airport, though. If you're driving, you need to add extra time just in case central parking is full and you have to hike out to economy and ride the bus back.

Part of it is unique to folks coming from further away, but I can't cut it as close coming from Maine simply because I have to allow for uncertain traffic. Plus, if it's a family trip, we're usually going to want to eat dinner before an evening flight out. If BOS-SAN is at 7pm, I'd rather be at the airport eating at 5:30. Now I have to either add more time since we'll potentially clear security twice, unless one of the pre-security options at C is appealing. At least it's AS, where the buy on board food is at worst edible, and often very good.

Frex2014

I flew out of BOS on 3/3 to SEA on AS 15 from Terminal A. I arrived back in BOS on 3/7 in Terminal C and thought it was strange. My cabbie told me on my 3/10 flight back to SEA that the Terminals had changed and I called AS to confirm. And yes, in shabby, tiny Terminal C with no Pre Check and a long line. I agree with the poster who said that the walk from the entrance to the gate is now much shorter but AS is going from a brand new Terminal A to a 1990s style Terminal C. I asked the desk agent why no Pre Check and he said that AS did not have enough volume for one. I will just have to factor a bit more time in the security line, sigh.

CDKing

And factor in the prison pose scope or prison pose grope

SEAPlatinum

I was on AS25 yesterday (3/13/15) and in addition to the concerns around lack of pre-check and limited airside food and drink here are a number of other things over which I heard grumblings:

1. robotic JetBlue staff in Alaska uniforms reading their scripts
2. seat dupes caused by gate agent errors
3. running out of onboard food (I personally got one of the last Denver Scrambles even though I pre-ordred it and the FA admitted they didn't know who it belonged to as it wasn't in their paperwork). If there is no airside food available, properly catering the flight becomes even more important.
4. insufficient amount of personal entertainment devices onboarded
5. personal entertainment devices onboarded without having been charged by ground staff
6. only one airside restroom for 3 gates, 2 of which have 8:00am departures. The men's room has only one stall available which leads to long lines.

I realize that the catering issues may be a result of Alaska's processes however it appeared to me that most of these were terminal or ground staff related.

It was frustrating to look out at Terminal B from C41 and wonder why they didn't move there and contract ground service with AA (who afterall codeshares with them on AS25 whereas B6 is a non-partner competitor on the route).

jeverett

So I wrote a note to the AlaskaListens website stating my complaints about the terminal change. I wish I would have saved what I wrote word for word, but I got a very good response from an actual person with knowledge of the situation.

To summarize, Logan had to make room for a new international carrier, which required the move of a small national carrier. The only terminal with the capacity to take on the Alaska flights was the red headed step child section of C. Alaska was given moving orders with only 6 weeks notice. I was told it is common to get 14-16 weeks notice on a move of this nature.

I wrote that I was very frustrated with the lack of an expedited security line and also the lack of a TSA PreCheck line. I was told that while Alaska has a lot of flyers with status and precheck, it unfortunately doesn't meet the minimum requirements by TSA to have that level of staffing by itself. However, they are in the process of trying to get something figured out with TSA to make the experience more enjoyable.

I said that I was frustrated by the lack of a lounge/food options and was told that the existing infrastructure beyond security makes a bar not feasible, but that they are working on trying to get something in place to at least be able to order food from some of the other gate areas in Terminal C.

Of some positive notes, they are going to be performing a makeover of sorts to the terminal to make it feel more inviting. New podiums, carpets, paint, seating and charging stations Nothing major, but at least an attempt to make it feel nice.

My biggest complaint was that no PR was done about the move. I think anyone with an MVP status and higher with a flight booked to or from BOS should have been notified in advance of the changes, the problems and what they were planning on doing to make things better. Pre-emptive communication instead of showing up and be frustrated is better.

I didn't ask for how long we will be in the dungeon, but my guess is that this is for the long haul. Even though I was (am) really frustrated, I was pleased to have someone respond, but also respond with some real answers.

Guess I will put up with it and drink some of the Green Monstah IPA in the sports bar.

glitchy

That's not exactly true. Last week there was a long line being kept on the right side of that long ramp down to the checkpoint, but they were keeping the left side clear as a JetBlue "Even More Speed" line. (What, you wanted non-B6 expedited security? In C? Hah.)

On the very slightly brighter side the TSA "Expedited" handling (after spending a half-hour in line) actually included the normal trip through the metal detector. (Last time around it was "You can keep your shoes and jacket on but you're still going through the scanner. Oh, but if you're opting out, never mind, off they come.")

PWMTrav

You spent 30 minutes in line for security? Wow. This is not going to be what I'm used to.

glitchy

Yes, though to be fair it was probably the worst possible circumstances and timing. Friday evening crush, two Alaska flights and one JetBlue going out at about the same time, and what looked like a large backpacking group with maximal luggage all hitting the line in a group just before me. Usually I'd say it's in the 5-10 range.

Points Scrounger

I thought Jet Blue goes through the regular C security, not the 40 - 42 gates bottleneck?

glitchy

JetBlue does operate out of C42. Alaska has C40-C41 only.

PS: 17:15 today (for AS15), zero line, normal "Expedited" TSA, X-ray only even running on one side. Figured if I'm going to complain about the crappy parts of C40-42 I could at least point out that sometimes it's OK.

PPS: JetBlue customer service says, on the possibilities of a post-security connection to the other C gates, that they "do not see a change in the near future". (via email, 28 March) They're the only ones I could see driving such a change.

Piesco

I'm at C41 now awaiting AS15 back to Seattle. This terminal is really crappy compared to what Alaska used to have. My husband and I fly SEA<-->BOS 4-6 times a year to visit family in MA and CT. We usually drive back to Logan via Mass Pike, can't plan on traffic so arrive early - the Delta lounge was our refuge before the return flight - and we could get nice hand-made sandwiches in the terminal to eat on the plane. This is a huge step down. I have complained to Alaska. We will probably switch our east coast terminus for these trips to JFK later this year when AS starts flying there, or maybe even PHL though it's a longer drive.

PDXFlyBoy

Complain to Massport, they are the ones that made AS move gates. AS has no control over which gates are assigned to them, especially since they only have 4 dailies with an additional SEA seasonally and have a contractor working above & below the wing, unlike other airlines that serve BOS.

glitchy

I was back through C41 last week and they seem to be continuing to try to make it less painful, at least for frequent flyers.

The express line is now for the JetBlue "Even More Speed" customers (as before) but also Alaska MVP and First customers. (Not, however, preCheck.) It was either new within the last few days (as of 8 April) or comes and goes; neither would surprise me. New to the TSA too; I had to show the TSA guy where Alaska prints MP status on boarding passes.

For those keeping track of such things: with no line to wait in (about 30 people waiting in the regular line) and the "Expedited" TSA process, arrival at checkpoint to walking out the other side was 18 minutes. (Pretty much completely spent in the amazingly slow queue for baggage x-ray.)

I mostly fly Alaska, but I was back in A this morning off of a Delta flight and was kinda wistful about it. sniff. Now A even has ice cream (in the form of a Friendly's), replacing the (imho) utterly forgettable italamerican place that was on the right just as you come up the escalators.