Originally Posted by
jonfriedman
Thank Alfred Kahn and the deregulation of the Airlines in 1978 for "more flights and paying less" but the reality is that: the airport experience is demeaning, you get nickled and dimed for everything including but not limited to checked luggage; Alaska's 737 is not a comfortable aircraft for a flight of any duration; the constantly oversold airplanes leads to problems with sufficient overhead space (aggravated by the charges associated w/checking luggage); Alaska-like all airlines pad their schedules to be able to show on time arrivals expecting delays one way or another. All in all, travel today stinks. I have no expectation to pay less for the same or more. I expect to get what I paid for. Alaska sold a product and then stripped it of its value. I actually prefer to use the word "strip" to "chip" because chip infers incremental changes for the worse. "Strip" says the whole panoply of changes have made the card worthless to me.
I don't follow the logic of your position. AS never sold you a product and then stripped it of its value: you buy tickets at most 360 days in advance, and the "value" of what you purchase changes very little, if at all, during that time period. Yes, the air travel experience has deteriorated over time and we comparatively fewer benefits than we have in the past. However, the "value" equation is not just how much you receive, but also how much you pay. Almost everyone seems to conveniently forget that while we get less, we're also paying less.
P.S. If you don't find the 737 to be comfortable, I don't know why you're even in this forum or how you've ever tolerated flying any airline in the past.
Originally Posted by
beckoa
For those based in Alaska fares have not gone down...we don't have the same market conditions as the lower 48...and other then AS taking over a charter route flown by Hawaiian Airlines for Hawaiian Vacations- we've been fairly stagnent with flights to/from Alaska- and even losing some including ANC-SFO/YVR and winter ANC-ORD. Yes the lower 48 and Hawaii have seen massive expansion, but from my home market not as much. I haven't bought a F companion cert but have had family members purchase... But its more I'm concerned what will happen next
On an inflation adjusted basis, I am relatively confident all fares - on average - have gone done. You could cherry pick various points in the past when fares were lower, but the sustained trend over the past 10, 20, or 30 years is a decline in fares and access to more routes and options.
If capacity out of Alaska has been stagnant, it is because demand is stagnant. Expecting AS to operate non-EAS routes on a charity basis for Alaska residents is idiotic.