DL has been so aggressive with discounted F fares - particularly on routings via their SEA hub - that it's not surprising (and about time) that AS started offering some good value discounted premium cabin fares. I'm not surprised that they may be around same price as the higher coach fares.

For instance, DL is offering fares from LAS-YYC in First (A booking class) for $249 USD one way (and as an aside, with creative routings such as via MSP you can earn well over 4000 EQM).

Yet the DL coach class fares - even in the lowest fare buckets, earning only 25% EQM - are only $60-$70 lower.

It's definitely a step change - the days of F fares being in the several hundreds or even thousands for relatively short hops are changing. Carriers (in particular DL) are looking to monetise (even for "tens of dollars") every F seat rather than having to give it away to Elites for free.

It would only behoove AS to respond with some more deeply discounted F cabin fares where it makes economic and competitive sense.