It is quite easy to say that AY follows the other airlines and is no worse than the rest. But if you compare the whole service concept AY is often the lowest:

AY vs SK
No free meals, no free alcohol, no free seat reservation, both offer free coffee ad tea, AY charge for newspapers and SK offer them free (at the gate), SK Eurobonus charge very little for taxes for award flights, SK miles are valid 5 years vs AY points 3 years. SK offer cheap one way flights and cheap upgrades through optiontown when you choose the limited network of Blue1

AY vs BA
Both offer free snacks, BA offer free alcohol, no free seat reservation apart from elites, BA offer free newspapers (at the gate) at least out of LHR, both AY+ and BA Executive Club charge a lot of taxes for award flights. AY points are valid 3 years, BA points are valid forever (if you spend/earn at least 1 point/year). BA sell cheap one-way flights and extremely cheap C class tickets

AY vs LO
Both offer free coffee and tea, LO offers free alcohol and sandwiches, newspapers I do not remember. Probably not free advance seat reservation.

AY vs KLM
Both offer free coffee, tea and snacks, KL offers free alcohol, no newspapers on both carriers, lousy FF programmes although Flying Blue miles never expire if you earn a single mile at least every 20 years or if you are at least a silver member (easy just 15 ow flights). Both offer expensive C class tickets and OW tickets. Neither airline offer free seat reservations for European routes.

AY vs LH
Both offer free snacks, coffee and tea, LH offers free alcohol, free newspapers near the gate at their hubs and free newspapers, LH miles are valid forever if you are at least silver, difficult to earn gold status like AY+. Reasonable C class fares to Europe (800 € vs 1800 € for AY, some destinations like BER cheap OW Y fares). Neither airline offer free choice of seats for non-elites.

In summary:
No method of AY cost-saving is unknown for the competitors but AY's total package is usually the worst of all. The only asset of AY is the European non-stop network from Helsinki.