Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan - will they ever fix the pdx QX terminal?

I know people on this board spend most of their time in the lounges, but I was wondering if anyone has heard anything about improving the horizon gates in portland... its easily the worst regional terminal i've ever used, even worse than slc which I thought was pretty bad. I get it that there isn't much room for expansion with the max line right there, but still

I know people on this board spend most of their time in the lounges, but I was wondering if anyone has heard anything about improving the horizon gates in portland... its easily the worst regional terminal i've ever used, even worse than slc which I thought was pretty bad. I get it that there isn't much room for expansion with the max line right there, but still

ugh... SLC pails in comparison IMO compared to PDX... :eek:

Wasn't PDX recently redone in the past 2-3 years?

What is wrong with it? Not enough starbucks stores? hudson news? food? artwork? seats? power outlets?

PDX's commuter area is a far more livable terminal than SEA by far.

What is wrong with it? Not enough starbucks stores? hudson news? food? artwork? seats? power outlets?

PDX's commuter area is a far more livable terminal than SEA by far.

Sometimes it can be a bit tighter for seating during the morning rush...

The QX side of the C gates in SEA is comparable to T3rdWorld in LAX, possibly worse. At least LAX doesn't have torn chair upholstery and you can find those Toshiba power stands in the seating areas- whereas I usually have to go sit on the floor next to the wall to get power near the PDX Shuttle gates (that is if there's space).

The QX side of the C gates in SEA is comparable to T3rdWorld in LAX, possibly worse. At least LAX doesn't have torn chair upholstery and you can find those Toshiba power stands in the seating areas- whereas I usually have to go sit on the floor next to the wall to get power near the PDX Shuttle gates (that is if there's space).

The C gates at SEA at least have the Pacific Marketplace nearby with decent dining options and, occasionally, an escape from the feeling that you're trapped in a grimy, poorly-lit cattle car. T3 is constant, unmitigated disaster. I'm so glad AS is moving.

Wasn't PDX recently redone in the past 2-3 years?

Yes, it was. It's much nicer now than it used to be. ^

Wasn't PDX recently redone in the past 2-3 years?

Yes, it was. It's much nicer now than it used to be. ^

As someone who's there every week, I agree. The only issues I have are lack of power in the A6-A12 section, and the fact that it can get a bit crowded. But having the Starbucks, Laurelwood Brewing, etc. down there its a lot nicer than it previously was.

As someone who's there every week, I agree. The only issues I have are lack of power in the A6-A12 section, and the fact that it can get a bit crowded. But having the Starbucks, Laurelwood Brewing, etc. down there its a lot nicer than it previously was.

Who needs those places when one has the BR :cool:

I started this thread thinking about the crowds and relative lack of windows at PDX, and also the one bathroom (and the low ceilings). Honestly although I agree its harder to find a seat in SEA, the rest of the experience in that terminal is nicer and there is a great view. Also QX in SEA will sometimes have those random departures out of the south satellite or wherever, whereas in PDX its the same gate every time. re LAX i've only ever done QX arrivals there but in the walk out it does always look terrible.

I don't think they're bad. Hell, last year I chose to spend a half hour there waiting on my flight rather than walk to the RCC so they can't be too terrible.

I have to agree with the OP. With all of the shift to QX flying at PDX, the little A area has gotten quite crowded. Especially on busy days...I noticed when I flew to OAK for Christmas, they have 4 flights scheduled to depart between 9:50 and 10:05 (SMF, SJC, OAK, YVR). With full flights, that's roughly 275 people (plus whoever is waiting for later flights) jammed into that tiny space! It's hard to even get to the podiums with lines of people snaking everywhere. While SEA doesn't have nearly as much seating, it feels much less like a bus station than PDX.

I know people on this board spend most of their time in the lounges

Well yes most of the time I am in the Board Room but i have had the unfortunate experience in hanging out in the A gates twice (the two times i actually flew QX out of PDX). I've never been there on a good day so i'm not sure they exist or not.

First time was a few years ago and the flight to SMF was delayed due to fog. I felt somewhat claustrophobic but it wasn't too bad as it was the only delayed flight. In January of this year i was trying to catch an early morning flight to SEA and left the BR at a time i thought would be close to boarding. Not so lucky there were three delayed flights they were trying to deal with along with the next flight that was also to be delayed. Its was such a cluster madhouse you couldn't tell what flight they were talking about or whose name they were calling.

Until PDX-SEA goes mainline or severely cuts frequency, I don't think it could get much better then it is

As someone who flies SEA-PDX for 50% of all my AS/QX flights, I can definitely tell you SEA is much, much worse than PDX. I love the separate area for flights going to SEA with the Starbucks at PDX. Always enough seating there and seems generally well kept up. Although yes, the other QX gates can get a bit overcrowded.

The only redeeming quality of the QX gates at SEA is the proximity of the board room. I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have that membership.

As someone who flies SEA-PDX for 50% of all my AS/QX flights, I can definitely tell you SEA is much, much worse than PDX. I love the separate area for flights going to SEA with the Starbucks at PDX. Always enough seating there and seems generally well kept up. Although yes, the other QX gates can get a bit overcrowded.

The only redeeming quality of the QX gates at SEA is the proximity of the board room. I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have that membership.

hmm... so perhaps a PDX QX boardroom for members and those in 'S' class at the A gates ;)

As someone who flies SEA-PDX for 50% of all my AS/QX flights, I can definitely tell you SEA is much, much worse than PDX. I love the separate area for flights going to SEA with the Starbucks at PDX. Always enough seating there and seems generally well kept up. Although yes, the other QX gates can get a bit overcrowded.

The only redeeming quality of the QX gates at SEA is the proximity of the board room. I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have that membership.

Agreed!

Although the A gates at PDX are a longer walk than the C2 mess in Seattle, I really appreciate not having to carry my roller up and down the stairs.

To bad QX doesn't have the space in SEA to construct a BOI-style gate complex.

hmm... so perhaps a PDX QX boardroom for members and those in 'S' class at the A gates ;)

Well perhaps they can hire the staff from the YVR boardroom they're closing in a couple of days. :rolleyes:

Honestly I've had simply miserable experiences with Horizon in the last two weeks. They just cancelled my 17:55 QX YVR->Seattle flight tonight "because they have too many broken planes"; making me have to overnight in Seattle on my way to San Jose.\

I was just kicked out of the YVR boardroom - "we're closing early for our goodbye party" so I'm sulking here in the hard seats paying $9.00 for a plastic cup of bad wine.

QX - Fix the planes first please. We'd care less about what we waited in, if we didn't have to wait so long, so often. I'm beginning to believe the Q400 "Comfortably Greener" advertising applies simply because they fly less often then a dependable plane.

I'll take the C2x area at SEA over the A6-12 area at PDX any day. Always just feels greasy and grimy down there, I just try to get through and off to where I'm going as quickly as possible. The C2x area at SEA is a significant upgrade on what was there when I started going through back in '04 - the PDX area hasn't changed a bit in that time that I can recall. Heck, even the E-80+ gates at SLC are luxury by comparison.

I can never get over the amount of empty space in the QX gate area at BOI though - just screams out for a BR, if only for the morning rush where I swear half the pax are Golds.

Honestly I've had simply miserable experiences with Horizon in the last two weeks. They just cancelled my 17:55 QX YVR->Seattle flight tonight "because they have too many broken planes"; making me have to overnight in Seattle on my way to San Jose.

Yeah Horizon is not running a good operation. Their December on-time results came out: 67%. That is absolutely pathetic for an airline that has 2/3rd of its planes with heads-up guidance systems in the cockpit. Heck Alaska was at 80% and they usually are in the bottom pile.

Yeah Horizon is not running a good operation. Their December on-time results came out: 67%. That is absolutely pathetic for an airline that has 2/3rd of its planes with heads-up guidance systems in the cockpit. Heck Alaska was at 80% and they usually are in the bottom pile.

AS has been leading the pack w/ flights... not sure why they dropped down to 80 percent... :eek:

Yeah Horizon is not running a good operation. Their December on-time results came out: 67%. That is absolutely pathetic for an airline that has 2/3rd of its planes with heads-up guidance systems in the cockpit. Heck Alaska was at 80% and they usually are in the bottom pile.

:confused: Bottom pile? I guess if you're not number one, you're not on the top of the pile, but number 2 behind Hawaiian is pretty darn impressive.

Yeah Horizon is not running a good operation. Their December on-time results came out: 67%. That is absolutely pathetic for an airline that has 2/3rd of its planes with heads-up guidance systems in the cockpit. Heck Alaska was at 80% and they usually are in the bottom pile.

Twice this past year I've seen an on-time QX departure missed because the FA and GA were bickering over
the passenger count.

Twice this past year I've seen an on-time QX departure missed because the FA and GA were bickering over
the passenger count.

Had this happen in PDX Monday... wasn't too bad... but the cause was a lap child...

Twice this past year I've seen an on-time QX departure missed because the FA and GA were bickering over
the passenger count.

Had this happen in PDX Monday... wasn't too bad... but the cause was a lap child...

When I've seen it happen, it's been due to either a lap child or someone sitting on the wrong plane. At least we no longer experience people trying to get to North Bend sitting on our flights to Redmond (Bend) since QX stopped flying to OTH!

in my recent experience with delays on QX it also seems to me that the block times are tighter than they used to be and a 10 minute delay closing the doors adds another 10 at the taxiway while we wait for a new block from the hub, and sometimes also a further 10 on arrival waiting for an open gate. just my speculation...