I wonder how the ramp up of B6 flights has affected business for the US Shuttle, and what makes up pax between B6 and US in this market?

My Own Thoughts?

1. Mix of Passengers: Both carriers now have connections out of DCA so its not purely shuttle pax, and the flights are often full or near full.

2. Terminals: In BOS I prefer the US terminal, I think its closer from curb to gate and it still has its own security checkpoint. Although in BOS B6 pre-check at the main checkpoint is usually not too bad. For a while B6 used BOS gates 40-42 for the DC "shuttles" but they don't anymore usually now gates 25, 26, 28 which are convenient gates in the main B6 concourse. Now that B6 is in terminal B in DCA its largely a toss up with the US 35-45 terminal C gates.

3. BOS Agents, US:I prefer the BOS US shuttle agents because they have the same agents working shuttle flights from day to day to week to week to month to month. The agents know me more at BOS US. Also by working the same flights, the agents can get to know the passengers like once I overheard an agent saying that a particular pax is always late, and it wasn't me . Conversely, B6 seems to assign random agents to shuttle flights so they don't get to know the passengers and don't get to know the rhythm of this market. It would be like having the same cop on a neighborhood beat or having different people every day. B6 doesn't advertise any differentiation with the BOS DCA flights. Also as B6 has expanded and gotten to be the biggest carrier at Boston Logan, and won a bunch of awards which who knows if thats fixed; I think they have become more arrogant, and I imagine turn over is increased and it might be harder to hire the best of the best when you have a large operation. This isn't a problem specific to B6, I think its characteristic when an airline dominates a hub or a city that the service isn't as personal and gets more scripted and indifferent. Think UA at ORD or EWR or IAD! Yes, there are some gems at UA in IAD and at B6 in BOS, but is that the norm? I literally think some of the US shuttle agents have been there for 20 years the same agents.

4. DCA Agents, toss up: I don't notice as much of a diffference with agents at DCA. I've had trouble at the DCA shuttle ticket counter with them not being able to handle unusual situations. At DCA with B6 sometimes for in particular the last flight of the night, they are trying to close it early, and they will call the cell phone in the PNR for pax that have not yet boarded to see if they will make the flight. This is a nice touch, but once I was not going to make the flight and they said I would have to call the 800 number to change my flight. I know they can't change it while they are pushing the flight, but they could change it after push back. I used to know more of the DC shuttle agents and I don't know how consistent they are now.

5. In flight Service and hard product: I prefer US with near 100% WiFi, free drinks for anyone with Shuttle and or Executive Platinum service, first class, etc. I especially prefer first class in the winter when they will hang your coat. Pre account merger in to AA I would have nearly a 95% upgrade success rate on the US Shuttle if I booked it in advance.

6. Airline policies, B6: As I alluded too, the US $200 change fee is a huge deal braker. Also there Move Up program is stupid, sometimes I want to Move Back and not Move Up, and the 6 hour time frame for Move Up is really bad, and you can't Move Up by phone. That being said of course a gate agent with any airline can override any policy but it means you have to haggle with them or coax them at the gate; which I'm good at but its extra work. With B6, I can change to any open Y seat any time that day and confirm it by calling the Mosaic line. Its a little annoying you have to call before the flight departs, but this can be mitigated if you just book the last flight of the night if your not sure when you'll want to leave. Also its annoying B6 tech is so flaky, and that you can't make same day changes in the app, but you can't with US either. I use Expert Flyer to monitor the available seats on the flight, so for instance, I might create an alert for when 1 Y seat opens up if I am trying to get on a same day change to a full flight. Also as noted, the origional post, the issues with B6 gate agents not adding me to the standby list 15 minutes before departure. But on balance, B6 wins here because of there complete waiver of change and cancellation fees for their Mosaics! That is the single most important part of Mosaic, and before that feature, I could care less if I was Mosaic and I didn't give Mosaic a 2nd thought. But that feature is huge, it is probably the best thing to happen to Boston flyers in the last 10 or 20 years! I would be curious if you agree or disagree, and why or why not?

7. Epelogue: I did the 30K Miles to No Where so now I'm both AA Exec Plat and B6 Mosaic. Which one will I keep, or both? I know when US intigrates in to Sabre they are going to retire the Move Up, thank god, and basically for free AA elites will be able to standby for earlier or later same day flights, and Exec Plats will be able to do free same day confirmed on earlier or later same day flights although I think it books in to E class rather than Y class so it will be interesting how AA manages E class on shuttle flights and if pax will be able to make these changes via a self service mechanism preferrably in the AA mobiel app. But then again, I haven't heard that AA will ditch its $200 change fee for Boston flyers.