Originally Posted by
Himeno
Maybe AA haven't sorted out how they are operating the ANC flights this year. They have been operated by 757s in the past. Aren't AA retiring a lot of their 757s?
It's shown as a 757 this year too, just a different flight number than in previous years.
Originally Posted by
Dr. HFH
I noticed the same thing over the past couple of weeks planning an AONE4. It's one of the few (only?) flights over 3,000 miles, so it gets you a huge bonus for the 2015 promotion; but no A class availability.
I think DFW-ANC remains the longest AA flight in continental N. America offering F/A.
Looking at EF, the completely blocked first class cabin on many days makes me think there might be some sort of contract at work here, possibly with one or more cruise lines. (This is a huge moneymaker route during the Alaska cruise season.)
It's also worth remembering that A is also an upgrade bucket (miles) on AA as well as an RTW bucket. You'll probably see some A capacity at T minus a couple of days, of course annoying for xONEx users.
As for relying on US metal out of PHX, honestly, the AA 757s are pretty miserable on those long sectors anyway, and while US' A320s are no dream machines, and you'll need to bring your own IFE, the 2500-mile flight from PHX isn't that much of a hardship if you really want to get to Alaska. I know it misses the AA bonus, but them's the breaks.
On an unrelated but very interesting front, it got past me that AA has started LAX-YVR service on Eagle's shiny new E175s (with nice J/D seats). This is the first time you can use an xONEx product between LAX and farther up the west coast than SFO. They've also started LAX-YEG (Edmonton) using a CR9 (also with a front cabin) but will be transitioning to an E175 at some point this spring. Compass is the contract carrier, but in Eagle livery, thus still eligible for RTWs, unlike all the Alaska codeshares AA uses on the west coast.